Emerging from a Musical Wilderness
We have been in the wilderness.
It’s been five years since the last Whittlesea album was released.
This means that it has been more than six years since we were in the studio. That’s an incredibly long time between recordings. It still hasn’t completely sunk in that it really will be happening. It is going to happen though.
In two days time we will be back in the trusted surroundings of Sing Sing Studios in Metslawier.
A lot has transpired in six years.
On a personal level certain bonds have been established and others broken. New relationships have been formed and some old ones have been lost. Even children have been born. Thankfully they are more resilient and have not yet been lost.
We are all sleeping with different roofs over our heads and, I assume, in different beds.
The band itself has split like a biological cell and evolved into two bands. The players from six years ago are not all the same and we have forged new partnerships to fill the voids. New musical relationships have grown and developed.
It has been quite a trip.
There will be surprises.
Are we ready to do this? Probably not as ready as we should be, but we have to start somewhere before another six years go by.
I’m looking forward to it. I always do.
As a songwriter the studio is a fantastic place. It’s where your creation gets set in stone. That is not to say that it remains static and doesn’t change afterwards. It’s more that a solid foundation is established which can be built on. The songs get to put on long pants.
It means that for the first time you really get to hear everything that’s going on musically.
There will be surprises. Choices will have to be made. Sometimes, due to the constraints of time, some of the decisions made will be radical.
The best part of it all is that you are given the opportunity to devote everything you have to the creation of your art.
You are free to go wild. This encourages you to be all you can be.
Sing Sing Studio is special because you are essentially in the middle of nowhere and will not be disturbed. You are in a bubble. A bubble that gives you the freedom to fully express yourself.
Mistakes don’t exist there, only happy accidents.
Not everyone gets to do this.
I fully expect great things to happen this weekend.
We will hear songs that we have been working on for years finally come together.
They probably won’t be finished in one weekend but the basis for a complete recording will be laid down. We will leave the studio on Monday with a better idea of where we are.
We may even leave with more.
Most of all we will have fun. Being creative is fun. Having the freedom to do it undisturbed is truly a blessing. To have the opportunity to do this with good friends and musical compadres is the icing on the cake. It is also something extremely rare.
Not everyone gets to do this.
One thing is certain. In a few days time we will no longer be in the wilderness.
