Mastering is Complete
We could not be happier. Quite amazing the difference good mastering can make. Also amazing, perhaps even more so, is how we stumbled upon our mastering engineer, Patrick Bird.
“I wonder who mastered Teenage Fanclub,” I thought lazily on my computer. Googled and arrived at PSB Music. I read the engineer’s credentials and my jaw dropped.
Here’s a sampling:
Björk • Blur • Crowded House • David Bowie • Donovan • Elvis Presley • Everything But The Girl • Iggy Pop & The Stooges • INXS • Jamiroquai • Jimi Hendrix • Joy Division • Killing Joke • Lou Reed • Marc Bolan • Marvin Gaye • MC5 • Mick Ronson • Noel Gallagher • Oasis • Paul Weller • Primal Scream • Pulp • Ramones • Saint Etienne • Stephen Duffy • Suede • Super Furry Animals • Teenage Fanclub • The Boo Radleys • The Cure • The Fall • The Orb • The Yardbirds • T-Rex • Tricky • Underworld • Van Morrison • Wet Wet Wet
I wrote in asking if it’d be the same engineer working on my job and Patrick himself replied yes.
Off we went. Professional. Stress free. Accommodating. Generous.
We lucked out.
One of Patrick’s recent post-production work is ‘Black to Comm’ by Primal Scream & MC5.
ISRC for Shelves
Learned recently that there’s such a thing called an International Standard Recording Code (ISRC). It’s a unique code that helps identify your track on digital music players such as iTunes and most CD players. With it, it’s able to know your band name, song and album title, everything. So it’s quite important if you want your music out there on the Internet and want some way to track how it’s doing. That’s how royalties are measured.
The codes available are finite, naturally. Every country has a certain designated set, and each country offers subsets of these codes to music labels which then assign them to songs.
The authority that assigns these locally is Recording Industry Association (Singapore). I wrote to them for one and got it within three days.
But first I asked around to see who had gotten them. Surprisingly few bands have. One replied to say that this is only necessary for big ticket bands. I wasn’t so sure.
We got one anyway, and we are well pleased. It technically means that we are now able to assign our own internationally recognised codes to songs and videos. We are practically our own music label. How more independent can you get?
Last Minute Song Change
We’ve replaced one of the songs planned for the album. ‘Unlike Other Guys’ just didn’t sound right. I think it’s probably best recorded live. Doing it track by track didn’t work for the song. In its place is an acoustic number called ‘Superstar’. It’s an old one about an imagined pop star and his fame. Think it actually makes the album stronger now. Can’t wait to get to the end of everything.
Destroying Home with Friends and Wives
We play again at HOME Club. This time with friends Interlude and Obedient Wives Club. Raucous fuzzy indie pop will rule the night, with an interlude, appropriately, by Interlude. The familiar faces among you will know that Interlude is helmed by Joseph Tan, who was frontman of the mighty Livonia, also Robin’s former band.
Below are the bands’ bio I got off the Facebook event page:
INTERLUDE – An intervening period. A space before the end. Interlude is an experimental synth rock band from Singapore that embraces the dark roots of early synthesizer music and its potential for making the brightest pop. Against pulsing backbeats and slight wavering of guitar, Interlude invites you to a space where their songs contemplates and celebrates the everyday beauty of the human condition. Between the start and the end, between rupture and rapture.
OBEDIENT WIVES CLUB – Obedient Wives Club was conceived on the rooftop of Tapas bar over Sangria and Coke Light. Fueled by Keith Tan’s (rhythm guitar, ex-Johnny Shameless & His Minions) almost unhealthy obsession with Phil Spector-inspired, fuzz-pop girl-fronted bands like Best Coast, Dum Dum Girls, Frankie Rose & The Outs, the idea was brought up to Robin Ng (lead guitar, ex-Camra), and thus, the band was born. Roping in Lennat Mak (ex-Midnight Marvel) on drums, and by serendipity, newcomer YinQi Lee was brought in as vocalist, based on her penchant for polka dots, and a voice you’d want to make love to. Completing the lineup is Sulaiman Supian, sometime bassist and effects man for The Stoned Revivals. Obedient Wives Club intends to bring fuzzed out girl group indie pop that is missing from the Singapore indie scene.
So come.
We will make merry, pass inappropriate comments and dance ourselves silly to the sounds of Beat! later with Ginette and Joe.
Mixed By An Oddfellow
My first CD came free with an issue of BigO. On that CD was a song from The Oddfellows called ‘Song About Caroline’. My brother and I absolutely loved it, especially the solo at the end, and we would play the solo on any instrument we could find: folk guitar, upright piano, portable keyboard, xylophone. It was the first local indie song I really knew or liked.
Two weeks ago, Patrick Chng agreed to mix our album. We were ecstatic. He loves power pop as much as I do, if not more, so I know he would get where Shelves is coming from.
Patrick became a father a few days ago to Matthew Chng. Go congratulate him if you haven’t already!
Solo at the Pigeonhole
I did an open mic recently at the Pigeonhole. Hosted by Wang Wei Yang of MONSTER CAT. There were a total of 5 acts. We drew lots at 7:45PM for our slots. Anyway, someone couldn’t do the last slot, so I agreed to take it. Sort of a bad idea, because it meant I was pretty plastered by the time I got onstage at around 10:30PM. I think I shouted into the mic for the earlier two songs. This last song was the one I wasn’t sure whether to play. The melody wasn’t never an obvious one. The laughing you hear largely came from Jay, my counterpart in Silverspy. Most of my friends were equally plastered. I did a lot of banter in-between songs, which must have felt–at least to this bunch of drunks–just like stand-up.
SHELVESTHEBAND.COM
Joy. We’ve now got our own domain name. Next, the world.
Incidentally, the URL was inspired by Pavement’s, which isn’t around anymore: PAVEMENTTHEROCKBAND.COM
Sussed Out Captured
One song on tape. Thanks to Little who shot this. I brought my Vado and had already attached it to the mixing console to capture the set. Second song in, I realised I’d forgotten to press Record.
Mistakes made here with my playing. Whole chords pressed wrong.
It Was A Blast…
Thanks to everyone to came on down to watch us tonight at HOME Club. It was our first time supporting a foreign act (in this case, it was Noughts & Exes from Hong Kong) & it was really special. Things might not have gone down well during some moments (bass problems, lack of monitor volumes etc) but we really had fun. So cheers for making it a great time for us.
Here’s tonight setlist, for those of you who wanna know what are the songs that were played. See ya at the next one…
