In August of 2017 we went to the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, to write and record at a place called Black Bay Studio. (It’s a super remote and lovely studio in the Outer Hebrides, and if you’re into that side of things you should definitely check it out). The 4 of us had been working under an old moniker since meeting in school, and we’d decided to change our name and start fresh.
We came home from this session with a handful of songs that (despite being recorded immaculately by our good friend Pete Fletcher) didn’t really work. This kickstarted a big change in us stylistically, and we started writing songs that would become the genesis of Do Nothing. I remember “New Life”, “Sunshine State”, and “Waitress” being written not long after this.
In that session, we tracked a piano ballad called “Mercy Seat”, the pre-chorus of which ended up becoming the latter part of the bridge for “Handshakes” about a year later.
Revisiting these pictures brought on a flood of memories. I remember Chris getting me to eat an olive each day we were there, to try and train my tastebuds into liking them (it didn’t work, but 6 years later I finally love them). I remember playing chess with Charlie and getting trounced every time. I remember Andrew learning shorthand for a journalism course he was doing, and being interested in it but finding it completely alien. Pete introduced me to the idea of putting gin in the freezer, which made it a whole lot more palatable to me.
When Chris records his vocals, the rest of us leave the studio to give him the space he needs to get the performance right. We stopped by the only shop for miles and grabbed some cans of Tennent’s and set up shop by the sea for the day. We played for hours with Cosmo, the studio dog. I took this photo of Andy, which is one of my favourites of him.
I then came down with some sort of flu for a few days, and didn’t leave the room I was sleeping in. Hearing music being made down the hall was soothing, but I also felt like I was missing out big time.
When I recovered, me and Chris sat late into the night listening to songs we loved the production of on the amazing studio speakers (lots of Adult Jazz). It totally changes music when you hear it as the band must have been hearing it as they neared the end of the recording process. Looking back I’m so glad we had this session. It set us on the path we’re currently on, and now our debut album is out, after 10+ years playing together. I’m immensely proud of where we are right now, with “Snake Sideways” out in the world, about to embark on our longest tour yet. In a few weeks we’ll be playing some of our favourite venues, with the iconic Rock City and London’s Koko being our biggest headline shows ever.
The album is out in three weeks.
