One of the ideas was this: Start the music on SoundTools. Transfer to 2
ADat machines. So 16 tracks to record with. Fill them up with Noise. When
complete mix in Worldwide Studios. Return to Soundtools for final layering
and edits. Finished. We managed to do this but many unpredictable things
went on as well. I'll try and explain some things, without getting too
boring.
Schwarma is nothing to do with films whatsoever, but Dance does come into
it. An idea which I'd used when working with Rosemary Butcher suddenly
presented itself. Last year I was in Israel collecting sounds for a project
with Rosemary. It was called "After The Last Sky". I missed many sounds,
generally, as we drove past them, but with having enough time to think
of space and time speeds I was able to record randomly. I've been listening
to the radio since I could put one under my pillow, so the sound of today
in say Jerusalem is in fact familiar. In New Jerusalem in one street I
recorded so much the whole tape was a CD in itself. So taping sounds has
always been a big idea in my thoughts. My dad, Richard, who was a submariner,
bought one home for me, after he'd worked under the sea in the Far East.
I must have been 11 years old, maybe 15. no less, because when I moved
to Grape St I was 14. I lived with the King family, or rather the kids,
and Mum. She worked for Walls Ice Cream. Irene King. Soho was my stomping
ground, but I had a bicycle, so exploration was inevitable. I was spotted
by a policeman who'd never seen a recording device like the one in my hand
so he thought I'd stolen it. I'm trying to remember, oh yes, 14. Music.
I moved to a flat just off Oxford St, near Marble Arch. The Rolling Stones
played. I didn't go. I was still making travel Space trips with my 2 detuned
radios. I was playing and recording things as soon as daddy gave me that
recorder. We were in Plympton, across the Tamar Bridge. Mimma was my new
step mum, dad was home after 6 months or so. This stranger every time.
My dad, and it, went from a boat to a Tank, then the portable recording
device, so... uh... I have to say I love to travel and eat and drink too.
But listening is free... so is recording.
There are voices on this music, some spoken, called Found Sounds now. It's
like "World Music". Everybody has a recorder. What's this new game? So...
We have location sound. Brixton. Antigua. Berlin. Tokyo. Tapes and recordings
of samples of sound, basic simple rhythms. This is what Russell Haswell
started with. Sounds recorded somewhere else and changed to make sense
to us, knowing we were taking the whole sound to the next stage. The A
DATs. Clean, but not perfect. You can't cut them in half and cut and splice.
We hoped for 20 days recording spread over 7 months... 10 days for mixing...
My W30 Workstation had a broken LCD, so... let's not let that stop us.
When I eventually got it mended it cost #150...
I took the DATs home between recordings and transferred onto the 'Revox',
my ever faithful sound on sound recorder. Ta Studer.
In a way, I think I worked out the next layer instrumentally, but having
the chance to test ideas onto tape. When we started the first three day
session, I think Kevin the engineer was as confused as I was. The backing
tracks from the first SoundTools session lasted about 48 mins. An album
already. But PK will Piquet all that later, and turn Schwarma into Sh.
I suppose "Sketch Pad" might be a way of thinking to start with and then
it's filling in the colours and collageing and painting. Guitars were mine
and I used my petrol can amp. It's small and red and very powerful. Another
bargain. The Casio SK1 was also on hand for quick ideas. It only remembers
samples for a few minutes unless you tape it down. Gaffa invaluable. The
pieces quickly came into sahpe in one way or another at this stage. We
only kept bits, fragments we liked, so as not to fill out everything too
quickly. The big joy, really, with Schwarma, was having time... to listen...
at home... experiment... fail. Other musicians started to creep into my
mind, and singers too. Meanwhile I'd discovered what was to become an integral
part of the record. Listening to some DATs from France, recorded for no
reason, really, I found the best bits were when I De Tuned the radio, so
the song playing was very distorted and sampleable and different. So I
sat on a roundabout in Berlin, tuned my tiny Sony, De Tuned in, and just
spent half an hour or so, traipsing from station to station. Classical,
Jazz, Rock, it didn't matter, as long as it was loopable we had it. Whatever
IT was. We looped sounds from all over the globe. Some old, but mostly
new-ISH. Luckily we were playing Blue concerts still. I made a map. It's
in the CD booklet and any idea was written on it and if a musician came
to mind, we'd write them in too. They didn't all make it. But most did.
My singing has always worried me, so I thought... Jocelyn... We had worked
on Rosemary's last piece at Bracknell and Guildford. This woman has a voice
to die for. Perfect. Incredible range, and great. I don't know how to describe
it, but I felt because we got on, so would her voice, and it did. Totally
surprising. Remarkable. The singing was all improvised and we had books
and cuts to help us. For instance I can't sing, "I'm seventeen and you're
gorgeous. Your legs fit like a squirrel in a tree to me" with too much
conviction. So that's my problem. Sincere lyrics. What do they mean? So
I've gone for the nonsense approach generally and you can make up your
own mind. Nasia Hadin sang in Persian. The poems are hers. It was difficult
for her, as she's a writer, not a performer, but her contributions, to
my ear, sound beautiful. Quintin's poems I undertsood fully. We've worked
together on Live Blue shows and just around a piano, at the ICA, at his
home. I love his voice and him too. So there. It's been fun during the
last year to compile thoughts. Shwarma is there always. At an early stage
we very much wanted to hear Bruce Mitchell whisking away with his brushes.
Vinni also on guitar, but again it seemed impossible to pull it together
without changing the whole operational idea. We are sorry, but next time,
I hope. We do have cello bass and Tilda Swinton Bass and Israeli Lorry
Bass instead. Also de/tuned guitars. Mandolin and piano.
I've accidentally left a lot of information off the CD cover booklet but
you'd really want to get into the cracks to notice, so I've left ehm. Time,
as I've said before, was on our side. Daniel asked if it would be ready
by Autumn 96. It is.
We want to play live, so we're starting with the small blues combo. No
Martyn, but Sergio, Shinator and I hope Jos.
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