Day One of Recording
We arrived nice and sharp to be greeted by Romesh. We spent the previous night shacked up in a lovely hotel that Mike's cousins got us (Cheers Heather and Jessica - we owe you proper!!!) as they didn't want us camping in a random field somewhere in Newport.
We laid some guide tracks to a click so the Big Man (Romesh) had a rough idea of what the songs sound like, he even made some suggestions for Bull Rider so it's slight different but much improved. We spent the rest of the day watching Ross hammer out some massive beats and fills.
Danny and Ally have put a press up pact in place - 10 press ups every half hour for Danny and 10 press ups every hour for Ally. It's meant to last all week but there are signs of a struggle already.
Day Two
Day two started with Ross completing all his blasting beats much to everyones approval. Ally filled out the afternoon with the recording of all the bass lines, leaving Chris and Mike to see out the day acquiring a guitar sound from the heavens and then knocking out the first half of the new super charged Bull Rider.
Romesh took us out on the town at night, leaving our musical thoughts behind, to induldge in some alcoholic beverages and some terrible dancing.
Danny and Ally's press up pact fell apart after a strong first day. They were too sore to do press ups so they changed it to sit ups for the day and managed about 30 between them before giving up.
Day Three
Day three started later than the previous two due to the late night had by all. The hangovers were quickly out of sight and mind, making way for some rapid pace guitar work with Mike and Chris blasting out riff after riff. Mike impressed by recording most of Where It Belongs in one take only to realise later that his guitar was out of tune.
The rhythm tracks were recorded using a lovely Gibson SG that had its head snapped off and stuck back on again, and the solos were recorded using a Gibson Les Paul.
The day's work was complete rather early which gave the band a chance for a well deserved night of relaxation.
Day Four
The final day in the studio brought everything together. With the music all complete the day before, all that was left to do were the vocals. Of course Danny was up first, with the rest of the band leaving the room to minimise distractions - good thing there was an Xbox, a 42" plasma TV and crates of Monster energy drink in the 'chill-out' room to keep us occupied.
After Danny belted out his parts, Mike and Ross added their harmonies to the mix. Ross even managed his in one take. We rounded off the day by adding some gang vocals to Free, with Ally and Chris participating for the first time on vocals with instruction from Romesh.
Our goodbyes included presenting Rob and Romesh with their very own Detours t-shirts and a bottle of Sailor Jerry. By five o'clock the van was back on the road heading for Bristol for the final time.