So how does it feel to have finally recorded an album?
"It feels really good that we're finally getting somewhere. We were very lucky
to have been given the chance to develop as much as we have. The record company got involved about a year before we actually signed and they
paid us to record shitty demos for them. It feels good to actually work with
a decent producer."
I take it that the recording of the album went as well as you hoped?
"It was actually quite difficult. We spent a lot of time on the road last year because we wanted to do as many live shows as possible. We did over a
hundred gigs. In that time we had to try and write and record the album. We went in for a month and laid down about twenty new songs. It was straight in
we didn't use any pre-production. It turned out really well."
Jon's tone as he spoke his last sentence hinted at surprise. He continues,
"The first month originally was just going to be the live set. To just go in,
bang it down and then go back out for another tour."
The hundred gigs as Jon explained weren't a set target. They practically accepted any decent gig. In his own words "to build and build and build" the band found themselves even supporting Muse and Embrace. Only when on a chance counting of gigs did they discover exactly how many they done.
Sadly there were no rock 'n' roll celebrations to discuss as the hundredth gig
had passed them by unnoticed.
After all the hard work the band spent two months in the luxury surroundings
of the Great Linford Manor Studio in Newport Pagnell. With the British
weather behaving itself the band frequently made use of the Manor house's five-aside football pitch.
Given all that the band had achieved, with recent memories of recording still fresh in his mind could Jon still remember what the first band practice was like?
He laughs, "It's pretty much like they are now, it stinks. We rent a unit on a farm surrounded with pigs. There's lots of cut and shut respray mechanics
and dodgy stuff." >>