Hi, all. Went to the early session as someone pulled out. Incredibly grateful to have been offered a place and managed to attend.
The studio was in leafy North London with doors opening 20 mins before the event started. I was struck by how small the guest list was, probably 18 to 20 people including a couple of familiar faces as well a couple of younger signed musical artists and people associated with the label and studio.
There were four rows of seats and I sat at the front. Having just come from a work meeting it maybe looked like I was more of a label person than a fan. The room itself was surrounded by visual screens, with some really comfy looking chair to the left of me. No speakers to be seen, they were all embedded.
The studio manager welcomed us all then Paul Sexton kicked off events and we watched the Under the Volcano segment as an intro. Then John and Guy entered the room and sat right in front of me so I had a great spot. Paul ran through some familiar questions about the making of the album but was great to hear John and Guy talk in such a relaxed way. The conversation was interspersed with atmos extracts from the album. BIA was first up and the thunder in the intro sounded incredible. Then Mans Too Strong some more conversation and then into So Far Away and Your Latest Trick. The mix on the latter sounded really immersive, incredible in fact.
The second part of the event was focussed on San Antonio. RATR went down really well indeed. Guy confirmed that there were no fixes or edits on SA, and commented how powerful and good he thought the toms sounded on the drums. The reason Houston wasn't used was due only to the fact the audience mics didn't record properly and Guy wanted the ambience. What was really interesting is that I truly believe the band don't really have much of an idea what was recorded during the tour and what wasn't, they were just focussed on the job.
I was pleased that Paul Sexton asked a couple of questions I put forward (sorry they wanted them at short notice so had to think on my feet without reading this thread first). I asked about the process of mixing San Antonio and whether Guy found it more creative than the atmos mix of the album. He said he did and that had really enjoyed mixing the album which was setup at his home then finished at BG. Also asked a question about how the songs evolved from Mews house to album. John said he enjoyed playing them in the round, interesting guy that there was maybe one song that didn't make the album but he didn't go further than that. Also that one song had to be re-recorded due to digital tape failure. The question about whether there would be any more releases didn't fare so well...."where are the tapes" coming up again, but John spoke about the Old Waldorf concert and having been given acetates of the show or radio show only lps post broadcast.
At the end of the event I managed to say hello to John.. proper nice bloke who said it was like hearing the album again for the first time...that was a nice moment. Guy seemed busy with another person and I had to leave but I did want to say thanks. They clearly make time for the fans (even ones dressed for work) and that was very impressive.
Got a cupcake on the way out. The event was filmed I think so watch out for some clips at the very least. Couldn't take many photos, sorry.
