So this is Boxing Day, and what have you done?

*cue singing kids and Yoko*

I bet you haven’t been atop mountains? Here are some Christmas day photos from your favourite half-Swiss drummer, just prior to a potentially lethal descent…

Oh, hi!

But life isn’t all sub-zero temperatures and freaky ski-masks, for some it’s sub-zero temperatures and seemingly endless cello editing. I’d be lying to myself if I said the bulk of it was done, but it makes me feel better so… THE BULK OF IT IS DONE! IT IS!!!

Putting problematic string parts to one side, next week should see a full day of bass parts and acoustic guitar recording – hopefully then things will start to take shape and I can postpone manic depression for another few months.

Current listening: Tegan and Sara, Sufjan Stevens, PJ Harvey and The Bush The Tree And Me.

Currently glistening: my sweaty brow, the snow-capped mountaintops of Arosa, my salt-encrusted windscreen.

Right, off to play with my Furby/Micro Machines/Stretch Armstrong/Clackers/Slinky… seriously, why did all early-90′s toys have such suggestive names?

Crabb

…and then there were two.

Clutching nothing but a Swiss ID card, a snowboard and an extra long jumper from Peacocks, Aaron left our cold and rainy shores today, for the colder and snowier climbs of Arosa, Switzerland.

In his wake, countless drum and cello takes for me and Ian to edit. Here is Ian in action – cutting, muting and bouncing down like the rock god he is.

Ian’s bedroom will serve as control room/live room/mastering suite/vocal booth and will be our base for the next 5 or 6 months, until Aaron returns. At which point we’ll have a finished CD and a full compliment of members with which to promote hawk it.

At least, that’s the plan.

Drum editing is done, cello editing should be finished in a couple of sessions, and then the real fun can begin.

At least, that’s the plan.

Crabb

p.s. Just to make us all jealous, I will ask Aaron to send photos/updates from his snowy Christmas paradise mountain…

So, armed with halogen heaters (environment schmenvironment), we returned to the world’s coldest room to record cello parts.

As usual, we had way too much on our plate and with 2 hours gone we had barely made a dent in our programme. Aaron heroically battled on as I bellowed orders and Ian gyrated to keep warm.

Halfway through the session, a kind of hysteria set in and we found ourselves laughing uncontrollably at Fred Durst vocal impressions. A manic and disturbed laughter. We would’ve welcomed death.

As the temperature continued to plummet, so did our standards. At 7.30pm we were demanding 13 takes of each part, by 9.30pm we were happy with the bare minimum, which was 5 takes. By the time 11pm rolled around, we lowered the minimum to 3 takes.

30 minutes later we were scraping our car windscreens and heading home. Uncertainty loomed over the quality of the takes, but by this point we were past caring.

Crabb