so my new drink of choice is gin… it used to be brandy, but that’s so passe. it makes you feel old and bloated, like ya dad on christmas day, passing out in front of the queen’s speech or some crappy animated show about poverty. but gin… god, it’s a different league. it’s got that element of class (not femininity) about it. people think it’s a girls drink, but i’m all man, so i wear it well. but whatever, it sips well, and gets you pissed.

i’m currently sat in the control room of the studio, in front of a table full of jack daniels, southern comfort, gordons gin and sloe gin. they sit amongst the biggest array of dried fruit and nuts you’ll ever see. we’ve spent the past 4 days recording the live tracks for 10 of our songs. looking at the alcohol at this time of day makes me feel giddy, but i know it will help us get through the final 4 songs tonight.

we’re about to start the tracking for Time now. we’ve just finished Lightbulbs and it’s sounding super. we completed Cliffer and It’s Over, It’s Over, It’s Over yesterday and they are sounding really experimental. It’s Over is taking on some interesting influences. i don’t really wanna jump the gun, but this record may even have samples of trumpets and strings on it. then again, it might not. we really are leaving things til the last minute to keep the ideas fresh and spontanious. we work best this way.

i hate blogging as i have nothing clever to say. but this is my first attempt so i’ll try and get better.

anyways, i’m needed now, so i’ll write again soon.

martin x

p.s. a question that was troubling us yesterday: do nuts grow …

so we’ve been recording for 2 weeks now and we’re all knackered. i could sleep for a week seriously, but the tracks are sounding incredible. i usually hate this bit, halfway through recording, the OCD in me really comes out, i just hate leaving things unfinished. we’ve bene off the farm for a few days now, having some time off before i start my vocals on wednesday. pat’s gone off to America for 10 days and i’m currently visiting my parents home because i’m finding it too strange being back home.

i’m looking forward to going back to the farm. dave’s an amazing producer and such a great person to be around. we’re doing alright out of this; home cooked meals each night, outdoor table tennis (me and ben are reaching pro standard now, but still get our asses kicked by gemma, she is stupidly good), it’s a beautiful place to make a record.

we’re really missing playing live as well. it’s only been a few weeks since our last gig, but we’ve never really gone more than a couple of weeks without playing. we’re trying to sort out some tours for january/february 2009, but as it stands we only have 1 date confirmed for this year; we’ll be playing a Shake It Shake It christmas show at Star and Garter in Manchester on friday 12th december with Dutch Uncles. this. will. be. historic. any gig with them boys is.

in other news, we’re about to sign a record deal with Heist or Hit. this is a small indie label, recently set up by a friend of the band who has an incredible grasp of music, the industry, and the way it all works. he’s been such a pillar of strength for us recently, and we couldn’t think of anyone …

It’s answering machine bassist and table tennis extrordinaire Gemma here.

After three weeks recording in our countryside retreat Warren House Farm it was finally time to pack up and head down to the big smoke to get involved in some mixing. I was sad to have to leave my beloved table tennis table behind, but after a while, winning all the time became a little dull! And i’m sure repeatedly losing to a girl was doing nothing for the lads’ confidence levels. So off to London with us where we must survive on our own, prepare all our own meals, navigate public transport and even spend money from our own pockets. 

Although i’m not in the studio for the next three days (alas i write this from my office desk) i can imagine that currently pat and martin are sat with a bottle of evian in hand swapping the same old crude jokes with Dave whilst getting quite excited at how amazing things are sounding. After so long imagining what our debut album is going to be like it feels a little strange to be increasingly close to actually finding out. Ideas about artwork are getting banded about and even the scary question of what is actually going to be on the album has been raised. God knows how we’ll pick the first single! 

Right this has taken me about an hour to write as i keep having to tab off screen everytime my boss walks in and pretend like i’m doing some work (in case your wondering i haven’t actually done any work today, unless you count www.yearbookyourself.com as work, hours of fun!)

Coming soon: A picture of Ben and Martin in matching woolly jumpers looking like two metrosexual guys from a 1970’s catalogue. It must not be missed!…