15/2/05
TREVOR JONES: Marcus and I meet up with Mark Edwards of the Sunday Times, in leafy Hampstead. Mark is doing a feature on Miracle Mile for the 'Culture' section. We eat pizza, take baby drugs and talk for four hours, me waffling horribly! Four hours and he only got to ask 2 questions! Nice man who seemed to like us... he gave 'Stories...' a 4 star review, so hope he can edit the verbiage!

MARCUS CLIFFE: yes a nice man indeed and our first 'proper' interview together. Trev and I can talk for England, so no worries for a journalist there!

16/2/05
TREVOR JONES: In my absence Marcus has done some string arrangements: 'Off the Wall'... still not sure if that's the title, could become 'Heels for Dust'. In fact, there it is. It is!! It is such a simple arrangement (voice/guitar/double bass) that it suits the economy of a well placed quartet. Marcus has come up with a simple and lovely arrangement that works a treat. 'Glow' Blimey...it sounds like God! Starts very small and intimate and builds to a holy din, complete with strings, gong and tubular bells. Fantastic!

'Beads without a Chain' Marcus has done a woodwind arrangement that echoes 'Five Points of Light'. I love this song, with it's 3/4 rhythm and clunky upright piano/double bass and...it just got better!

'Average Sadness' We add some percussion (shaker/tambo/cymbals) it is barely hanging together, but we like that.

Off for a curry. We're nothing if not predictable. You should stay downwind of the studio!

MARCUS CLIFFE: I had been working on the album over the last week doing string and woodwind arrangements, which fortunately work well. I like to see Trev when I play him things that I have been working on in his absence. He will usually listen through twice and invariably like what I've done; that's the great thing about our working relationship. The curry was a cracker that night (I'm writing this 6 weeks after the event)

17/2/05
TREVOR JONES: I have a new song 'Your Latest Graze'. I've been enjoying the latest Elvis Costello album 'The Delivery Man'... In the CD's booklet is a photo of Elvis and band at a funfair, by a stand that boasts: 'The Latest Craze'. I misread it, liked the title and took it from there. I record an acoustic part on Marcus's 70 quider and then do a vocal. It's an intimate song, so I'm as close micked as poss'. Marcus fires up the Hammond and plays from V2 onwards. It sounds like 'Whiter Shade of Pale'. We like that, and decide that it's done... Maybe 3 hours start to finish.

MARCUS CLIFFE: Great song that just worked and we both new when enough was enough, a simple song, with a simple arrangement, perfect.

TREVOR JONES: 'Hey Light of Day' This track is building nicely even though it still has no drum track. Marcus puts a bass part down and I add a guitar motif to the chorus which sounds great. We double track it on the blonde Epiphone, then I play the same part an octave higher, track that and add some subliminal beefy chords to the M8.

Tonight we eat Turkish. Posh kebabs and beer.

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