We record things ourselves.
It’s a blessing and it’s a curse. The very distractions that inspire us to get it together are indeed the same that also, well, distract.
Since we started demoing songs for this new album in 2009, the obstacles in the way of it’s timely fruition have been many and constant.
Liam’s building reputation as an audiophile & engineer of uncommon cunning has seen him open the doors to his parents’ family home in the Blue Mountains to several bands and solo artists. It is there where he has recorded, produced, mixed and re-mixed all manner of music. His efforts with Cloud Control’s highly praised debut LP ‘Bliss Release’ speak for themselves.
Aidan’s acclaimed solo act, The Maple Trail, has grown into a luscious and adaptable alter ego, sharing stages with the likes of Laura Marling. Then there’s his jaw dropping Tubular Bells For Two project where he and good friend Danny recreate Mike Oldfield’s opus, playing an impossible number of instruments to packed houses and disbelieving audiences live on national radio.
Kent’s numerous side projects have him playing drums, keys, sampler and even singing. He might have even done live sound for your band on a Friday night in Kings Cross lately too.
Joe & Lauren meanwhile, while not only finding their feet in the Belles lineup, have been wowing crowds where ever they play in yet another sibling outfit, Sister Jane, who Liam also plays guitar for. Yep and they’ve just completed self recorded album at the Judson cottage as well.
Amidst all this frentic activity, Belles Will Ring needed to do something a little special to make an album that would stand tall and breath deep.
The only answer was to get away.
We secured the use of a house on a walnut farm just outside of Oberon, west of The Blue Mountains in rural NSW, loaded up our cars with recording equipment, instruments, food & booze, and left the city behind. We spent two weekends out there, in Dec ‘09 and Feb ‘10, surrounded by snakes, bushfires and skies big enough for a chorus line of ghost riders.
Here are some of Lauren’s 35mm slide photos from those first tracking sessions out in the country. We had them blown up and stuck to the walls at the ‘Come to the Village” film clip launch party at Oxford Art Factory last month and they looked great.
We’ll be adding more photos from Aidan and Lauren soon. Hopefully Joe will develop the Lomo film rolls in the near future too. There’s also an awesome little treat in the works that Aidan is compiling especially for this page.
Stay with us. It’s about to get really fun.
