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UPDATE
Unfortunately due to contract issues the release of Rage of the Common Sense is postponed till further notice
We'll keep you updated!
THE RECORDING OF RAGE OF THE COMMON SENSE
Saturday 13 May 2K:
The plane was late. A big thunderstorm in Toronto had delayed the plane 5 hours, so we'd waited at home.
Peter had arrived earlier in the day from the UK, but was rescued from a long wait at Schipol by Martijn. When our flight finally took off the ride was fine, although the food somehow was not so good. Anyway, we arrived at Toronto International Airport at 11.15pm. After a few minor details at Customs, we entered Canada, and met Mark Berry, producer of the new Journeys End album, so far untitled. We were stuffed inside a Nissan Pathfinder and were driven to the Scarborough Inn. The place is not really something to write about, so we'll leave that out. However, we had a good night's rest.
Sunday 14 May 2K: Today we have done something close to nothing. Martijn has watched Star Trek all day, Steven, Paul, Frans and Peter have discovered the Wal-Mart and had coffee and breakfast there. It was good day for settling in and getting used to the time difference. We had a beer at the corner.
Monday 15 May 2K:
This has been a strange day. Around 11am Mark picked us up at the Scarborough Inn and drove us to Phase One Studios. Here we met up with Jay thomas (JT heads up the day to day operations at Attack), and assistant engineers, Dave and Jason. JT told us about his soccer career.
Around 1pm the gear arrived at the studio and setting up started. Martijn set up the drumkit. He has brought his own snare drum and cymbals. The drumkit is a Yamaha Sessions DrumKit. The drumkit is now surrounded by micropohones, set up to record every detail. After the drumkit has been set up, the bass amplifier and guitar amplifiers were set up. Frans is using his own bass guitars (Musicman Stingray & Fender). The amplifier he is using is an Ampeg 300. Steven is using two amplifiers, a Mesa 5150 and a Fender Twin Reverb and plays his own guitars (Fender strat & Ibanez Artist). Paul is playing on a Marshall JCM 800 and a Fender TwinCab, and his own guitars (Fender).
After set up, the soundcheck started. This took 3 hours, especially as the bassdrum and toms played up. Around 7pm we were all ready to record a few songs. We recorded all the potential songs on DAT, just to have them for reference and producer's interest. Recording is an energy-consuming process, which led to us ending the session at about 11pm.
Tuesday 16 May 2000:
We are now set to begin recording for real. Details on the recorded songs will eventually be announced, but not yet! Paul and Steven record some ideas for a song on DAT, to keep for later. Frans and Martijn are waiting for the producer and technician to arrive. Peter is watching the recording from the control room. Our engineer is Dave Tedesco, assisted by Jason Sanger with Mark producing.
It's Drum & Bass time. The coming four days will be dedicated to recording the Drum and Bass tracks.
Friday 19th May 2K:
Left the studio at 1.00am this morning with Martijn having completed all the drum tracks!! Good job! Today has been spent with Frans laying down some exellent bass tracks, eating mexican food & bagels, and drinking lots of coffee. The bass stuff should be finished tomorrow, Sunday off and then onto the guitar & vocal tracks from Monday.
No gossip I'm afraid, its been all studio & sleep so far!!
Saturday 20th May 2K:
Today Peter was up early, as usual. He walked to the studio to watch 'his' Chelsea play on tv. However, he couldn't find it on the 78 channels, so he looked it up on the internet later and found out they had won 1-0, FA cup winners again! Frans went to the Wallmart to have breakfast and do some shopping, then he walked to the studio to finish off his basstracks, (Paul, Steve and Martijn were still asleep when he left the motel). Five more songs to go and the new Journey's End album has got the basic ryth'ms! Standing next to Dave and Jason at the desk, he played the songs, and when the lazy bunch came walking in, there were only three songs to go. At 23.00h all finished, everybody was tired but satisfied and went home with Sunday off.
Sunday 21st May 2K:
In the morning, Peter woke up the band, as usual, with orange juice, coffee and bagels! Then off they were, to do the tourist bit, taking the subway to downtown Toronto, getting off at Kings. Wow! Like most big cities in the world, Toronto has got a lot to offer! Walking down one of the avenues they were waved into the entrance of CFNY 102.1 (the Edge) radio station by the DJ, Visnja who was broadcasting live from the foyer! When she found out the guys were a band from Europe, recording their debut album in Phase One Studio's in Scarborough, she offered to put the band on the guestlist for a party that night in the Whiskey Saigon, a popular club on Richmond Street, offering three stories of entertainment!
After having a coffee and some real serious food at the Torontonian Hardrock-cafe, the band dragged their manager, who is afraid of heights, up the world's tallest construction, the CN-tower. In the end, he was OK, enjoyed the fantastic view, although he wouldn't walk on the glass floor. While they were up there, enjoying a beer, they witnessed an accident way below them on the freeway, resulting in a car being upside down, with lots of police cars, fire engines, ambulance etc.
Later, arriving at the Whiskey Saigon, the band passed the queue at the door and walked right in upon mentioning the name Journey's End. They played a game of pool, had a few beers and checked out the floors upstairs, to find two eighties disco-parties with lots of lasers going on. Because Steve has got to be fresh in the morning to begin his guitar tracks, and the band had a train to catch, they left around midnight.
Thursday 25 May 2K:
The last few days, Steven has been working on the guitar-sounds. This is very difficult and time-consuming thing, so the last days the rest of the band is laid-back and they're listening to the sounds of the guitars. Today is different. Paul has been putting the vocals to the songs and Martijn has put some backing-vocals on track too. Furthermore, some songs are being finished in terms of percussion and guitar-solos.
Friday 26 May 2K:
After a couple of hours, the recording-crew was ready to start another vocal-session with Paul. This time different songs were done and again the whole band is giving input into the overall sound of the songs. Peter has had discussions with Jay Thomas about the marketing-plan for the new album and the way in which Attack likes to proceed with the masters of the songs. Paul and Peter had a swim in the swimming pool, which is in the same building and is free of use for people who work in the building. There is also a sauna and a gym.
Saturday 27 May 2K:
Paul and Steven are working on a song in Studio B. The song has a lot of different guitar-tracks, played by both Paul and Steven, so they are working together on this "project". The song is almost finished. Martijn and Frans have rented a car (Ford Explorer) for Sunday.
Sunday 28 May 2K:
Today is the second day off. The band has set their mind on going to Niagara Falls. 12.30 AM they left for Niagara Falls by taking the Queen Elisabeth Way towards Hamilton. This road leads all the way to the border with the USA at Fort Erie. About 25 kilometres before Fort Erie, the car has turned east to Niagara Falls. At the first sight of the Falls, Paul jumped out of the car, while the rest were trying to find a parking spot. This was found after a 3 mile drive to the edge of town where the 'People Mover' took' em back to the Falls.
The Falls are pretty impressive, but the biggest surprise was the town of Niagara Falls. It is the most touristic town in Canada. It looks like a fun-park! There's a casino, very many shops with souvenir T-shirts and more shit like that. Anyway, the band had a meal in the restaurant and then strolled on in wonder of this strange city.
After the visit to Niagara Falls, Paul thought it would be fun to visit the States. The bridge in Niagara Falls separates Canada from the USA, so by crossing the bridge, the band arrived in the state of New York. Because they hadn't yet been into the States, they had to leave the car and their passports behind, which were sent to the Immigration and Naturalization-office. At the office every band-member had to fill in a form in which they declared not to have been part of the Nazi-regime between '33 and '45 and not to carry any drugs or guns into the country. After this (and $6) they entered the States. Back to the car. Paul wanted to have has picture taken under a sign saying, "Welcome to New York", but as he got out of the car and walked over to sign, a US-customs officer shouted at him. Paul got back into the car, but the officer came to the car anyway. He thought a picture of him was being taken and that's probably not allowed.
The ride took the band to Buffalo, NY, a town completely empty, except for a religious parade. After driving through Buffalo for half an hour, the band wound up in a bar having beer. At 10 PM the drive back started, which took us through Niagara Falls again. The Falls are illuminated at night, so that was a pretty sight. After this, there was only the QEW to take us home to the Scarborough Inn Motel. Monday 29 May 2K: Peter, Paul and Frans got up early and left on foot to the studio. Steven and Martijn returned the car to Avis and went to the bank. After this they took the bus to the studio. Upon arrival, Paul was already singing the first verses to a song. At this point, Steven, Paul and Frans are in the studio working on the recordings of guitar-tracks. This week will see the end of the recording and the start of mixing the record.
Tuesday 30 May 2K: With most of the tracks now having guitar-tracks on them, we are entering the phase in which we are listening to the songs and deciding on what kind of "extra's" should go on the album. Things that come to mind are backing vocals, harmonies, percussion, extra guitar tracks with experimental sounds. Let's call it the fine-tuning of the album. With David Tedesco being off for a couple of days, David Keen has reappeared as sound engineer. Together with Steven he has worked in Studio A on the 'feedback'-guitar tracks. Martijn and Frans have been supervising the recording of this part. As another 'somewhat famous' band is about to start recording in Studio A, we can only use this studio for one day.
On the other hand, a grand piano has been set up in Studio A and Martijn takes the opportunity to record some piano-tracks for two songs.
The sound of a real piano can't be beat. Meanwhile Paul has been singing quite a few tracks with Mark behind the console. In the evening, the band gathered for a session of working out different ideas in regard to the songs currently under construction. The sound is great, the feeling of recording a great album is there! Wednesday 31 May 2K: Today Peter went home. Private matters in England made him decide that he needed to catch a plane earlier than hoped for. The band now have to take care of themselves! Recordingwise, solo-guitartracks and lead vocals have been taking up much of the day's time. David Tedesco is back to record.
Thursday 1 June 2K:
Again, today has seen most of the time going into recording lead vocals and guitar tracks. But the end is near. The schedule has been brought back to one sheet of remarks. There is however a Dutch saying: "The last bits are the hardest". Martijn has taken the opportunity to visit a cinema and watch: "Mission Impossible 2". Frans has taken care of the food, while Steven and Paul are recording.
Friday 2 June 2K: Today was OK! A lot of songs are now becoming more and more finished and we are wondering about the mixes. It will take enough time to finish the actual record so we are working hard to that final goal. Today has been about backing vocals and percussion. We've worked untill 4 in the morning.
Saturday 3 June 2K: Not so early out of bed I'm afraid. The days are getting longer and longer. Starting time is 12 noon, we finish in the middle of the night. And still we are working on the final thoughts of this record. Basically we are recording all kinds of stuff: vocals, backing vocals, guitar solos, percussion, synthesizers etc. All of this will be on the record - or not. That will be decided on by producer, engineer and band.
It's 4 in the morning: we're done! It's all on tape now. All we have to do is mixing. Tomorrow will be a lazy day. Staying in and around the motel. Playing football, watching TV, talking and drinking coffee.
Tuesday 6 June 2K:
The first days of mixing have resulted in a enormous sound. The quality of the band is now showing. To some songs you can't stop dancing. It's hot!! It's coming together.
Yesterday Karin and her husband Bob dropped by, Karin is Steven and Martijn's Canadian cousin from Missasauga. Impressed with the music and the studio, they and the band went for coffee, while Dave Tedesco worked on another mix.
Tomorrow we'll be flying for Schiphol, Amsterdam and we'll leave the place that we've spent three and a half weeks in behind.
Thursday 8 June 2K:
We're back in Holland. A couple of strange things happened on the way. We almost missed the plane because some band members were too occupied with the staff of a tax-free shop. Karin showed up to wish us all a safe flight home and gave us some Canadian presents. Martijn struggled for a place next to the window, but eventually wound up with two seats next to each other so Frans joined him.
Paul and Steven had some physical interaction during the landing in Montreal.
Back at Schiphol after a calm flight, the real world came around the corner again and we all were welcomed by friend, parents and a load of girls. Too bad the girls weren't there for Journeys End. Oh well… Thanks for reading. Get ready for Journeys End! We'll be out there!!!
NEWS
BAND OF THE MONTH
Journeys End are pronounced Band of the Month March by the POPUNIE.
Saturday 13 May 2K:
Today we have done something close to nothing. Martijn has watched Star Trek all day, Steven, Paul, Frans and Peter have discovered the Wal-Mart and had coffee and breakfast there. It was good day for settling in and getting used to the time difference. We had a beer at the corner.
Friday 19th May 2K:
After having a coffee and some real serious food at the Torontonian Hardrock-cafe, the band dragged their manager, who is afraid of heights, up the world's tallest construction, the CN-tower. In the end, he was OK, enjoyed the fantastic view, although he wouldn't walk on the glass floor. While they were up there, enjoying a beer, they witnessed an accident way below them on the freeway, resulting in a car being upside down, with lots of police cars, fire engines, ambulance etc.
The Falls are pretty impressive, but the biggest surprise was the town of Niagara Falls. It is the most touristic town in Canada. It looks like a fun-park! There's a casino, very many shops with souvenir T-shirts and more shit like that. Anyway, the band had a meal in the restaurant and then strolled on in wonder of this strange city.
With most of the tracks now having guitar-tracks on them, we are entering the phase in which we are listening to the songs and deciding on what kind of "extra's" should go on the album. Things that come to mind are backing vocals, harmonies, percussion, extra guitar tracks with experimental sounds. Let's call it the fine-tuning of the album. With David Tedesco being off for a couple of days, David Keen has reappeared as sound engineer. Together with Steven he has worked in Studio A on the 'feedback'-guitar tracks. Martijn and Frans have been supervising the recording of this part. As another 'somewhat famous' band is about to start recording in Studio A, we can only use this studio for one day.
Thursday 1 June 2K:
Not so early out of bed I'm afraid. The days are getting longer and longer. Starting time is 12 noon, we finish in the middle of the night. And still we are working on the final thoughts of this record. Basically we are recording all kinds of stuff: vocals, backing vocals, guitar solos, percussion, synthesizers etc. All of this will be on the record - or not. That will be decided on by producer, engineer and band.
Paul and Steven had some physical interaction during the landing in Montreal.