I had heard 'Black Horse & A Cherry Tree' and 'Suddenly I See' on the radio when they came out and of course totally fell in love with both songs. But I didn't really know much about KT Tunstall. It wasn't until the other day when I was just perusing through the internet and came across her wikipedia page. So naturally I read about her, checked out some youtube stuff and listened to the whole of 'Eye To The Telescope.' By then, I had become a fan...
But hearing the following interview just made me respect KT Tunstall so much more than most of the musicians I'm into these days. 1. Because she's realistic. and 2. because a lot, if not all of the things she talks about I've experienced both as a solo artist and with Syren. And I only hope that if I ever get anywhere as successful as her that I can accept such an honor and privilege with the grace and humbleness that I hear in this interview.
If you haven't listened to KT Tunstall's music, I strongly suggest you do so as it's some of the most deep, pure and real music out there today amogst so much shallow, turgid shite!
KT Tunstall Explains It All
Love,
Erin
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Recording The New Syren Album....
It's been a year and a half since we first set foot inside Studio Nemesis , Den Helder to start recording pre-production tracks for Syren's new album. I really can't believe it's been that long. I know a lot of you are anxious to hear the new album and I've been getting a ton of emails asking me what tracks are on it, when it will be available, etc...and due to such interest I thought it might be nice just to share with you all what it was like....the process of recording the 'Something Has To Separate' album from start to finish.
December 2009
Syren were based in Holland. Schedules were pretty tight as we had shows booked every week and had to juggle rehearsals in with getting into the studio. But somehow we managed. We were introduced to Petrus Ramdayal, owner of Nemesis through a friend and he quickly became a great friend of ours. He taught me the in's and out's of all the gear inside the studio and what a fantastic teacher he was/is. That meant we had more flexibility as I was able to engineer recordings even if Petrus himself couldn't be in the studio that day.
(This was a really exciting time for me personally as I would be in the studio every day from about 9am to about 7pm just getting to know the gear, recording new songs as I wrote them and even taking the time to record other artists who had booked time at Nemesis. I consider it to be one hell of an internship.)
Typically Syren were in 3 or 4 days of the week running through our live set and producing new songs that were due to go on the album. Once we got the new album material to a satisfactory point we began recording the first demo.
Time off for Christmas and New Year...The demo had been recorded and we'd taken a month or two to listen to it over and over again getting ideas for production and really chiseling each song into what we considered to be perfection. Once we were happy we returned to Nemesis and began recording drums for the actual album. This was actually one of my favorite parts of the whole process. First because I have always been a huge fan of Jo's drumming and it's a real treat to see her in such an exclusive setting doing what she does best...(after all I started my career as her live drum tech) and Second because as an engineer it was fun to experiment with different micing techniques. I had one hell of a drum sound to compete with since John Brandt really captured the best of Jo's kit and her playing on the 'Dehumanized' album so I took a good 4 days to make sure everything was exactly how Jo and I wanted to hear it. Anytime I ran into a snag Petrus was there to help and offer advice.
Within a week all the drums were down and I was going over takes with Jo making sure she was happy with what she'd done.
I believe at this point we had a few shows down in the south of Holland so we took a short break to go on the road.
April 2010
Now came Amanda's turn. Anyone who has ever seen her play live will tell you that she takes her audience through a spiritual journey and once you leave the show, you'll be thinking and talking about her performance for weeks. So if you can, imagine her playing in a studio with no one there...her true self comes out and that's what makes her recordings so damn captivating. A true professional and I'm proud to say my mentor.
Micing Amanda's gear up was pretty quick and stress free. She has had the same dominating, fretless bass sound for years and knows her stuff like the back of her own hand. So most of the work was done before she set foot inside the studio. It took her a week and voila, bass was down.
June - July 2010
May was a gigging month, with time taking back for rehearsal and trying out a new set featuring some new album songs. We had been working really hard in the studio so after the shows we each took some time to relax and spend time with friends. Personally, my time involved ice creams and tree climbing in Vaals, shooting promo videos for RainSong guitars in Scotland
but then eventually getting back to the studio to hone some skills. In the beginning of June I started recording the acoustic guitar tracks for the album. It was pretty straightforward and painless but it did take a good couple of weeks as I had just received a new Rain Song guitar and wanted to make sure it was captured flawlessly. Mid June saw me recording electric guitar which was slightly more involved for me. Being new to the world of guitar effects and processors I wanted to take everything slowly so that the guitar sound was relevant to the atmosphere of the song. It took a few trial and error sessions but in the end I managed to get it done by the end of the month.
Throughout July I was getting a basic mix on each song so we could all sit and listen and make sure for the last time that we were 100% happy with our takes. Then it was on to Vocals...
August 2010
This was the most emotional part of the whole album recording process. I mean officially it was amazing to hear the music of songs I'd written come together so beautifully. Every song meant so much to me and upon listening to the tracks I was taken back to the exact frame of mind I was in when I wrote them. But nothing could have prepared me for the vocal takes.
We'd been through so much as a band and as people that I wanted these vocals to really embody the overall atmosphere of Syren...that atmosphere being that something had to change...something had to give and something had to separate. (I can never 100% relay to anyone the utter bliss, pain, satisfaction and longing that this life of being on the road playing with these two formidable musicians has brought. But I hope that in listening to this album you can get a glimpse of what we all went through making it.)
I recorded every song as if it was the last thing I was going to sing in this lifetime. And that was it. Officially we were finished....
Jo and I spent 1 last month in the studio REALLY nit picking and producing and then packed up the Syren bus and returned to the UK with the album files.
September 2010 - April 2011
These 6 months were taken back for each of us to recover from not just the stressful recording process but from our lifestyle of being on the road constantly and sacrificing every personal moment for the love of our art. Please don't get me wrong, our entire lives have been and will always be dedicated to creating music, but I think after pouring out our hearts and souls into this album, we needed some time to get ourselves back and figure out who we were. After all we'd all changed so much.
In the beginning of April after having settled into a new home in Scotland, I re opened the album files and finished the last few bits of editing and began running through production ideas with Jo.
With nothing else left to do we let our baby go and sent her on her way to John Brandt in Jakarta, Indonesia.
July 2011
Now it's all done. John is working his magic as we speak and preparations are being made for the album's release later this year. It's true, this whole thing has taken longer than any of us would have liked...but like they say, great art takes time....
None of this ever could have happened if it weren't for the sheer support of people like Petrus Ramdayal and all of our fans who came out in the freezing cold winter or the boiling hot summer just to remind us that even though the music industry today relies on everyone to be between the ages of 16 and 23 and either incredibly good looking or just alternative enough for teenagers to 'get into;' some people are awake enough to listen to music written, produced and delivered by the people that genuinely want to touch the lives of the listener.
Thanks to everyone for reading this. And I hope you enjoy this album like no other.
Lots of Love,
Erin
P.S.
For info on the upcoming album's release date please follow us on facebook!
December 2009
Syren were based in Holland. Schedules were pretty tight as we had shows booked every week and had to juggle rehearsals in with getting into the studio. But somehow we managed. We were introduced to Petrus Ramdayal, owner of Nemesis through a friend and he quickly became a great friend of ours. He taught me the in's and out's of all the gear inside the studio and what a fantastic teacher he was/is. That meant we had more flexibility as I was able to engineer recordings even if Petrus himself couldn't be in the studio that day.
(This was a really exciting time for me personally as I would be in the studio every day from about 9am to about 7pm just getting to know the gear, recording new songs as I wrote them and even taking the time to record other artists who had booked time at Nemesis. I consider it to be one hell of an internship.)
Typically Syren were in 3 or 4 days of the week running through our live set and producing new songs that were due to go on the album. Once we got the new album material to a satisfactory point we began recording the first demo.
Still taken from a video of me recording guitar.
March 2010Time off for Christmas and New Year...The demo had been recorded and we'd taken a month or two to listen to it over and over again getting ideas for production and really chiseling each song into what we considered to be perfection. Once we were happy we returned to Nemesis and began recording drums for the actual album. This was actually one of my favorite parts of the whole process. First because I have always been a huge fan of Jo's drumming and it's a real treat to see her in such an exclusive setting doing what she does best...(after all I started my career as her live drum tech) and Second because as an engineer it was fun to experiment with different micing techniques. I had one hell of a drum sound to compete with since John Brandt really captured the best of Jo's kit and her playing on the 'Dehumanized' album so I took a good 4 days to make sure everything was exactly how Jo and I wanted to hear it. Anytime I ran into a snag Petrus was there to help and offer advice.
Within a week all the drums were down and I was going over takes with Jo making sure she was happy with what she'd done.
Drum Micing Photo By Me
April 2010
Now came Amanda's turn. Anyone who has ever seen her play live will tell you that she takes her audience through a spiritual journey and once you leave the show, you'll be thinking and talking about her performance for weeks. So if you can, imagine her playing in a studio with no one there...her true self comes out and that's what makes her recordings so damn captivating. A true professional and I'm proud to say my mentor.
Micing Amanda's gear up was pretty quick and stress free. She has had the same dominating, fretless bass sound for years and knows her stuff like the back of her own hand. So most of the work was done before she set foot inside the studio. It took her a week and voila, bass was down.
June - July 2010
May was a gigging month, with time taking back for rehearsal and trying out a new set featuring some new album songs. We had been working really hard in the studio so after the shows we each took some time to relax and spend time with friends. Personally, my time involved ice creams and tree climbing in Vaals, shooting promo videos for RainSong guitars in Scotland
but then eventually getting back to the studio to hone some skills. In the beginning of June I started recording the acoustic guitar tracks for the album. It was pretty straightforward and painless but it did take a good couple of weeks as I had just received a new Rain Song guitar and wanted to make sure it was captured flawlessly. Mid June saw me recording electric guitar which was slightly more involved for me. Being new to the world of guitar effects and processors I wanted to take everything slowly so that the guitar sound was relevant to the atmosphere of the song. It took a few trial and error sessions but in the end I managed to get it done by the end of the month.
Throughout July I was getting a basic mix on each song so we could all sit and listen and make sure for the last time that we were 100% happy with our takes. Then it was on to Vocals...
The RainSong OM1000 Hybrid SeriesPhoto By Me
August 2010
This was the most emotional part of the whole album recording process. I mean officially it was amazing to hear the music of songs I'd written come together so beautifully. Every song meant so much to me and upon listening to the tracks I was taken back to the exact frame of mind I was in when I wrote them. But nothing could have prepared me for the vocal takes.
We'd been through so much as a band and as people that I wanted these vocals to really embody the overall atmosphere of Syren...that atmosphere being that something had to change...something had to give and something had to separate. (I can never 100% relay to anyone the utter bliss, pain, satisfaction and longing that this life of being on the road playing with these two formidable musicians has brought. But I hope that in listening to this album you can get a glimpse of what we all went through making it.)
I recorded every song as if it was the last thing I was going to sing in this lifetime. And that was it. Officially we were finished....
Jo and I spent 1 last month in the studio REALLY nit picking and producing and then packed up the Syren bus and returned to the UK with the album files.
Recording Vocals Photo By: Daan Photo
September 2010 - April 2011
These 6 months were taken back for each of us to recover from not just the stressful recording process but from our lifestyle of being on the road constantly and sacrificing every personal moment for the love of our art. Please don't get me wrong, our entire lives have been and will always be dedicated to creating music, but I think after pouring out our hearts and souls into this album, we needed some time to get ourselves back and figure out who we were. After all we'd all changed so much.
In the beginning of April after having settled into a new home in Scotland, I re opened the album files and finished the last few bits of editing and began running through production ideas with Jo.
With nothing else left to do we let our baby go and sent her on her way to John Brandt in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Now it's all done. John is working his magic as we speak and preparations are being made for the album's release later this year. It's true, this whole thing has taken longer than any of us would have liked...but like they say, great art takes time....
None of this ever could have happened if it weren't for the sheer support of people like Petrus Ramdayal and all of our fans who came out in the freezing cold winter or the boiling hot summer just to remind us that even though the music industry today relies on everyone to be between the ages of 16 and 23 and either incredibly good looking or just alternative enough for teenagers to 'get into;' some people are awake enough to listen to music written, produced and delivered by the people that genuinely want to touch the lives of the listener.
Backstage at Nottingham Rock City
Thanks to everyone for reading this. And I hope you enjoy this album like no other.
Lots of Love,
Erin
P.S.
For info on the upcoming album's release date please follow us on facebook!
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
New to this blogging thing...
I remember being 13 and having a livejournal account. Boy did that make me cool or what? (Note the sarcasm...) It was one of those online things where you could write your inner most thoughts and feelings and know that all your friends would read it and 'get to know the real you...' blah blah blah.
In all actuality it never made one damn bit of difference to anything, really. I kind of figure people publicly broadcasted really personal things for attention or sympathy...or to goad others into random desired reactions. Eventually I came to these conclusions and deleted the account but not before printing off all the entries. :)
It's true, I'm a journal person. I like getting random little thoughts and writing them down in a secret notepad, quietly celebrating my profundity. Ha! Seriously, though...I've always been a writer. A writer of lyrics, poetry, silly little tid bits...I just love writing! There's something really therapeutic about spilling your thoughts. I seriously think that releasing all the stuff swimming around in your head adds years onto your life. Also in an artistic way it's creation, existing for the sake of no one or no thing but ART.
So, in the search for website content I realized that a popular thing for musicians to do is blog. Most people do the lazy version and type one sentence updates into facebook or twitter. I've just about got the facebook thing, but twitter I simply cannot stand. I find it odd that we've entered an era where 1.people give a shit that you've just gotten out of the shower, or other random daily tasks... and 2. you refer to people you've shared intimate moments with as, '@so and so' I mean, seriously?
Maybe it's just me and I'm becoming one of those people who like to complain about the modernization of the world we live in but I can't help but think there was something more magical about the days when writing a novel meant you sat down with a shit load of paper and a pen and WROTE the thing....or had to find the nearest pay phone to phone someone and remind them where you were and when you were coming home. Who knows?
That's not to say that I think technology is bad. After all I am sitting on a computer typing this right now. But I like to nostalgically look back and try to get reconnected with that old school way of life.
In all actuality it never made one damn bit of difference to anything, really. I kind of figure people publicly broadcasted really personal things for attention or sympathy...or to goad others into random desired reactions. Eventually I came to these conclusions and deleted the account but not before printing off all the entries. :)
It's true, I'm a journal person. I like getting random little thoughts and writing them down in a secret notepad, quietly celebrating my profundity. Ha! Seriously, though...I've always been a writer. A writer of lyrics, poetry, silly little tid bits...I just love writing! There's something really therapeutic about spilling your thoughts. I seriously think that releasing all the stuff swimming around in your head adds years onto your life. Also in an artistic way it's creation, existing for the sake of no one or no thing but ART.
So, in the search for website content I realized that a popular thing for musicians to do is blog. Most people do the lazy version and type one sentence updates into facebook or twitter. I've just about got the facebook thing, but twitter I simply cannot stand. I find it odd that we've entered an era where 1.people give a shit that you've just gotten out of the shower, or other random daily tasks... and 2. you refer to people you've shared intimate moments with as, '@so and so' I mean, seriously?
Maybe it's just me and I'm becoming one of those people who like to complain about the modernization of the world we live in but I can't help but think there was something more magical about the days when writing a novel meant you sat down with a shit load of paper and a pen and WROTE the thing....or had to find the nearest pay phone to phone someone and remind them where you were and when you were coming home. Who knows?
That's not to say that I think technology is bad. After all I am sitting on a computer typing this right now. But I like to nostalgically look back and try to get reconnected with that old school way of life.
*Pushes soap box to one side*
So hello everyone, I'm Erin Bennett. I'm a professional singer/songwriter and musician. In this blog I'll try to share some photos, videos and entries about some pretty cool moments in my life. Mostly I'm doing it for me, but I know there are people who are interested so I guess this is for you as well.
Please feel free to leave me messages or comments regarding anything I've posted. At the very least it will be a nice conversation starter. I do not intend to post anything radically controversial, but if I do please be aware that any offensive or absurd remarks will be deleted, so you'd only be wasting your time typing it all out.
Lots of Love
Erin
xxx
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