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 26 November 2004
TREVOR JONES:First up is 'What Kate Did Next', another very new song. I like the idea of writing quickly; shortening the time between the thought, the notion, and the writing of it. The hope is to make it more honest and direct. The danger is that it might come out sloppy or half arsed. You have to take care. Words are important to me. Music is a matter of taste, words are different. Songs are a one way street, more hope of connection than communication. You have to be believed, so you need to be honest. Sometimes I have to speak and hear my voice, before I understand what I'm saying. The challenge for me is to make the everyday stuff, the mundane, commonplace pulses of life, seem interesting to others. There's the connection, illuminating something ordinary and vital, that you've never noticed before. In attempting to find my own voice, and understand my world, I try to invest my words with what Ezra Pound called "an accuracy of statement". If I ever start losing track of what I'm doing I often return to the economical writing of Raymond Carver, in particular an essay 'On Writing' where he considers what controls his style. I agree with his dislike of forced style or affectation, "...no tricks!" I'm not trying to impress, only connect. It's good to have touchstones, but ultimately, to set yourself apart, to make people want to listen to you, you need to develop your own style, and have people like it. 'What Kate Did Next' starts with a Rhodes piano and a vocal. I don't have a Middle 8 so Marcus and I knock around some chords and come up with a really nice twist. We get a visit mid vocal take, from Marcus's tailless cat. She rattles around the studio for a while before we realise she's there. She probably appears on more MM recordings than we know! Once the vocal is done we listen back and think Bacharach style brass would work nicely. We hope to get Chris Bachelor to do an arrangement. Chris is an old friend of Marcus. He used to play with Jazz greats, Loose Tubes, and did lovely arrangements on 'As We Speak' and 'Lost and Found' (from 'Stories...') I love it when we bring in folk to add to the stew. We work in such a controlled environment, that it's nice to invite people in to our bubble to play. I'm always amazed at the generosity of fellow musicians. Their contribution, invariably subtle, makes a world of difference. Chris's arrangement on 'As We Speak' elevated the song, took it somewhere we'd not foreseen, a lovely gift!
Intro /25 Nov 04 / 26 Nov 04 / 9-10-13-15 Dec 04
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By Trevor Jones and Marcus Cliffe