Nightlife on Mars

Yes it done and I'm really proud of it it sounds fantastic if I do say so my self.

I went up to Sydney and spent 4 days camping out at DG's with Russell Pilling n Paul Scott Mixing and adding some magic.

As with all mixes we worked up from the drums and really focused on how we wanted them to sound eq wise as well as which mics we heard most of , what sort of compression etc and on some a tiny bit of gain to grit them up.

Muz was on fire there was much nudging at all and they were all clean takes ...with the occasional overdubbed extra cymbal and percussion patterns ..

Then we worked the songs up with guitars and bass with an emphasis on raw acoustic sounds or if the guitars were electric we only used really small amps low wattage amps like the orange crush or Vox AC15 with a close mic and a room mic and we kept the sounds as clean as possible. I had my 1972 Fender Twin on hand just in case..

We had a great armory of guitars for e.g. a National Dobro , a Taylor classical , a 64 Fender Jag 12 string , A gibson spirit, A MArtin HD28 , a beat up Japanese classical with a hole in it , a 72 custom tele , A Gibson L5 solid body, 1964 Gibson 345, A 60's lap slide , A Maton Acoustic , an Ibanez 12 string acoustic , an olde beat cheap strat , a early 80's P Bass with old wooly strings and an old Epiphone J45 Acoustic....

It was all a matter of hearing which guitar suited the song the best and really hearing its natural sound.

Although one of my favourite sounds is using my ebow on the dobro in the song nightlife on mars its kinda haunting...

Next were the vocals On all the tracks I double tracked the vocals plus double tracked different mic choices so once again we had the luxury of choice a mic tone from a dodgy old sm57 and a radio mic to the Neumans , AKG's etc sorry I can't remember all the mics..

The Mix was building and because there was minimal to not comping it was all about finding the best sounds for the piece and deciding what the needed and what wasn't .

the harmonies we quadruple tracked and stacked so it was just a matter of placement back n forth...

and then it was placing the orchestration that paul did in his home studio...

hey there was plenty to do and more stories to tell ..."A true gentleman is one whom can play the Tuba but refrains".

So the mixes were completed ....but hang on a minute what happen to "would you be missed" one of my favourite songs ahhhh paul left it on his computer at home ....

Ahhh well I was still happy for I had 12 great songs that flow beautifully together and that sat really well together as an Album ....Nightlife on Mars is born....

The Mastering ....

Marshall being a true gentleman offered to get the mastering done with his mate n mine Andy Beck and Paul Scott,

The Boys really tuned into the overall attitude and tone of the Album and whilst I had to go back to Melbs to get working I fully trusted the guys to master it up without me.

Then during this process I receive an email ...Paul the cheeky man and Andy had mixed "Would you be missed" it was like finding a long lost child I was sooooo happy cause I was kinda secretly sad that it wasn't on the Album but still happy all the same ....and now I am ecstatic I have a cracking new Album and couldn't wish for anything more it is done.

Nightlife on Mars will be released early in the New Year 2008 and Im currently looking for a label to work with me and my Publisher Fogsongs in getting it out there.

Speak Soon

Patrick Carr