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kidd-uk · 8 years ago

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WATSP - Track By Track

WHERE ARE THE STRANGE PEOPLE?

KiDD

Making The Album - Track By Track

1. Little Flower. The backing track was created the day I bought a new synth. An Arturia Microbrute. It’s got this great little programmable arpeggiator function that I fed some notes into randomly. I played about with that until I found some chords that sounded nice over it and left it at that for a while. It was a while before I returned to it with the idea that a set of lyrics I had written on holiday one year in Italy might fit. The original idea had been floating around for a few years with a more fingerpicked guitar-style tune behind them, but I never really finished it. I tried them over this little improvised piece and they fitted nicely so I discarded the original tune and used them here. It’s all about the synths in the background for me though!

2. An Afternoon In April. This one stemmed entirely from a little thumb piano I found lying around The Tolbooth in Stirling that didn’t really make any kind of sensible notes but a really great wee honk. I made a little rhythmic pattern and recorded it to my phone knowing that at some point I could use it somewhere. It’s the little loop you hear at the start of the song. All the music was written around that and the lyrics came much later once the whole thing had been arranged and recorded. Very rarely do I leave lyrics until the end, but like most of the tracks on this album, the tune came first and I was really into making sounds rather than writing songs at first. I had learned a lot of new recording and production techniques whilst working with Joe Kane on the Dr Cosmos stuff, and a lot of what you hear on this record is me at home, attempting to get to grips with a lot of them. The lyrics came from the title, which was one picked at random from my little book of titles that I keep for days when I fancy a bit of random inspiration!

3. Cyan Seren. This was one of my ‘dice games.’ I had previously developed a way of writing by chance using dice, something that was heavily inspired by Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies and the novel ‘The Dice Man’ by Luke Reinhart. By rolling the dice several times before composing, certain writing and arrangement decision are made for me. These are determined by several categories, each containing six different variables in each, leaving me to ‘fill in the blanks’ as it were. Musically this entire song was written using that method, and even the title. The lyrics were inspired by a very dear friend of ours who had recently passed away and a star we bought in her name to remember her by. She will be forever in our skies.

4. Independence Day. Ian Thistlethwaite is a chap who played strings on the Poundstore Riot album, and came via Ash Cooke, my co-writing partner for that particular project. I’ve never met him, or even spoke to him, but one day he sent me a demo of a song and asked me to record a version of it. I re-arranged the whole thing, added some bits here and there and sent it back to him. I’d say it’s probably about 70% his, but I loved how it turned out and it really fitted with the other songs I had recorded up until then, so I asked him if I could put it on my album. I was chuffed when he agreed. A lot of the tracks on this album have a kind of Joe Meek/Sci-Fi vibe to them. This fitted right in!

5. Satellites. I was flying alone to New York a while ago to meet the rest of Gulp who I was drumming with at the time. On the flight, I ended up sitting beside a chap who was from somewhere like Bradford but who had lived in New York for years working for a company navigating satellites that circled the earth. His job was to steer them around to certain places at certain times for various reasons and I got the impression it was some kind of espionage. I started to conjure up all sorts of images as him as some kind of secret service space-age spy and immediately the ‘this would make a song’ function in my brain started to whirr. By the time I’d gotten through customs, most of the idea for this song was in my head and the little loop you hear at the beginning came from an app on my phone I programmed random notes into and then sung the melody over. I had to borrow ma Da’s Stratocaster for the guitar parts at the end, as the Casino just wasn’t cutting the mustard.

6. Callisto. Callisto is the second largest moon that orbits Jupiter. I loved the name and it fitted nicely over this tune that sounded to me like it could have been one of the satellites being steered around by the chap from the previous song. This was recorded on my old Tascam 4 track cassette recorder and then fed into the laptop and left exactly as it was aside from a few backwards guitar bits. It began life with me playing a drone with a few wine glasses over a mic’d up snare drum and tuning my guitar to DADDAD. Using an old delay pedal I began to steer the satellite around Callisto with the mysteries of the universe twinkling in the background…

7. Modified Radio Birdsong. Another ‘dice composition’ that began life on the Tascam 4 track. I cut up a length of tape, stuck it back into the cassette and made some random loops which I then mixed together and fed into the laptop. There it remained for some time as an instrumental, before I added lyrics at the 11th hour when I had a sick day from work (genuine!). Possibly because I was pretty feverish, I felt a bit self-conscious about them so I heavily disguised them with a vocoder and buried them a bit in the mix almost as soon as I’d recorded them, and then left it as it was. This was probably the first thing I recorded for the album, and the last one I finished.

8. Baby Bird. Friends of mine had recently had a little baby girl. They sent us a picture and she just had this really beautiful wee face. Her eyes were closed in the picture and her mouth slightly open. For some reason it reminded me of when I was young and my Dad used to lift me up to peer into a bird box nailed to the garden shed when there were little baby blue-tits in it. I would always pester him to lift me up again to look at them as soon as the parents flew off to find a worm or two to feed them. As I thought of that memory, the lyrics pretty much all appeared fully formed, the idea the parents will work tirelessly for the wellbeing of their offspring. Something which I myself now understand first hand!

9. Misty’s Golden Years. This came from the book of titles and was another ‘dice composition’. The idea for the title and the story came to me when I was leaving work one day and it stuck with me for ages before I finally sat down and tried to flesh out the lyrics. It started off with a little guitar loop I played through a filter which you can hear at various points over the arrangement. I ended up with far too many ideas for this one, and it took me some time to settle on a final arrangement with a lot of cutting and pasting going on. How very untraditional, I can almost see Neil Young furrow his brow. I kept hearing brass through it, but settled for mouth brass as I’d never fit a brass section in my cupboard. It was also the last thing the old Casio VL-tone played before the batteries melted the insides and it had to get put down. Gutted.

10. Looking For The Way Out. I wrote this the day the idiots of Britain outvoted the good to leave the EU. I’m still in disbelief. This is probably the most political I’ll ever get.

11. Where Are The Strange People? (part 2). This was written in Italy when I was on holiday and had a little two octave USB keyboard with me. I spent the whole holiday just recording little melodies on it with a view to coming home and writing Enoesque soundscapes over them all. I ended up with about six or seven that I really liked and have indeed created the soundscapes, but they are yet to see the light of day. This one was one of my favourites. The title came to me when I was in Wrexham, again with Gulp strangely enough! I re-recorded the whole thing after I composed another bunch of 4 track cassette loops that just fitted the overall vibe of the tune. I was listening a lot to EDIT by Linden around this time, and if you know that album, you’ll immediately hear the influence!!

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kidd-uk · 8 years ago

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Interview with KiDD

Interview conducted by A.C. Vermouth for the Thrillington Times 15/12/17

Q: "Why did you decide to make a solo album?"

KiDD: Well I play in quite a few different bands and write for some of them too. On the occasion that I write alone, I decide what would be good for the Wellgreen, or for Dr Cosmos Tape Lab etc, others that don’t quite fit those moulds, I record myself.

Q: "Were you influenced by John's adventures with the Plastic Ono Band, and Ringo's solo LP?"

KiDD: Probably somewhere along the lines, but I’m more influenced by my Da’s.

Q: "Are all songs by KiDD alone?"

KiDD: No, one was a co-write with a chap called Ian Thistlethwaite, whom I have never met in person, but he sent me some chords and some lyrics, for his own project, and I added some more bits and sent it back to him. I like it so much I asked him if I could keep it. He seems a lovely chap. He said yes.

Q: "Will they be so credited: KiDD?"

KiDD: well….aye…. apart from that one

Q: "Did you enjoy working as a solo?"

KiDD: Yes I do very much, but I always prefer to collaborate. I am very lucky to be able to write songs with two of my musical heroes, Marco Rea and Joe Kane. I will ALWAYS prefer that option to writing alone.

Q: "What is Linda's contribution?"

KiDD: Linda is a lovely lady who lives upstairs. She never complains about the noise.

Q: "Where was the album recorded?"

KiDD: At home and I did some of the drums in a rehearsal room using two mics.

Q: "What is your home equipment (in some detail)?"

KiDD: A Focusrite Interface, a Joe Meek VC3Q and an Audio Technica condenser mic. That’s it.

Q: "Why did you choose to work in the studios you chose?"

KiDD: I don’t charge myself expensive rates to use them

Q: "The album was not known about until it was nearly completed. Was this deliberate?"

KiDD: Not really, nobody asked

Q: "Why?"

KIDD: Dunno, I never asked

Q: "Are you able to describe the texture or the feel of the album in a few words?"

KiDD: Home-Fi, Sci-Fi, Melodic, the sound of someone wrestling with equipment he doesn’t fully understand

Q: "How long did it take to complete?"

KiDD: Probably about three or four months. I was just absent mindedly recording songs until I felt like stopping.

Q: "Assuming all the songs are new to the public, how new are they to you? Are they recent"

KiDD: Yes these were all written around the same period, apart from Little Flower which was musically fresh, but I’d had the lyrics to a different tune for a few years. Modified Radio Birdsong was also an instrumental for a long time before I decided it needed some Vocoder.

: Q: "Which instruments have you played on the album?"

KiDD: All of them! A lot of the songs were triggered by little phone recordings I chopped up, sampled and looped, and then coloured it all in with guitars, synths, drums and bass.

Q: "Have you played all these instruments on earlier recordings?"

KiDD: "Yes"

Q: "Why did you do all the instruments yourself?"

KiDD: Everyone else was probably busy at the time.

Q: "Will Linda be heard on all future records?"

KiDD: "Could be. Depends if she does the hoovering during a particularly sensitive vocal"

Q: "Will Paul and Linda become a John and Yoko?"

KiDD: xvze\sazh’’’hou (I let Jude answer that one)

Q: "What has recording alone taught you?"

KiDD: That sometimes the mistakes you make can end up influencing the direction of the arrangement thereafter, so go with it. I also learned to trust my own instinct as there was nobody there to tell me my ideas were either good or shite.

Q: "Who has done the artwork?"

KiDD: The very brilliant Adam Smith, who did all the artwork and narration for the Dr Cosmo’s Tape Lab album Beyond The Silver Sea. You can find his album artwork on many Glasgow albums from The Owsley Sunshine to Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5. To those in the know, he’s THE man. He is a phenomenal talent.

Q: "Is it true that neither Allen Klein nor ABKCO have been nor will be in any way involved with the production, manufacturing, distribution or promotion of this new album?"

KiDD: Absolutely 100% true. Beware of ABKCO.

Q: "Did you miss the other Da’s and Uncle Da? Was there a moment when you thought, 'I wish Ringo were here for this break?'"

KiDD: I always wish Ringo was here.

Q: "Assuming this is a very big hit album, will you do another?"

KiDD: For as long as my brain and fingers work, so will I

Q: "Are you planning a new album or single with The Wellgreen"

KiDD: "We are indeed. Marco, Daniel and I have contributed solo songs and Marco and I have written a few together. I love it. It has a more upbeat vibe to it and has been really great to be writing with ma Da again."

Q: "Is this album a rest away from The Wellgreen or the start of a solo career?"

KiDD: "It is neither. It’s just a further extension of my perpetual need to be creative."

Q: "Is your break with Dr Cosmo’s Tape Lab temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical ones?"

KiDD: "Not at all. Joe and I actually have another record in the bag already, but recently have found it difficult to find the time to work together. So he does his thing when he can, and I do mine.

Q: "Do you foresee a time when Kane/Kidd becomes an active songwriting partnership again?"

KiDD: Absolutely

Q: "What do you feel about John's peace effort? The Plastic Ono Band? Giving back the MBE? Yoko's influence? Yoko?"

KiDD: "I love John. I love Yoko. John loved Yoko. Yoko Loved John. All you need is Love"

Q: "Were any of the songs on the album originally written with The Wellgreen in mind?"

KiDD: Actually no. A lot of these songs were written using dice. I got heavily into Brian Eno around that time and loved his Oblique Strategies and recording by chance. I also read The Dice Man by Luke Reinhart about a guy who makes every life decision by rolling dice. I came up with the idea to combine the two and developed a system whereby I would let the roll of a dice dictate a lot of my decisions. The result was what you can hear on the album. Cyan Seren was the first attempt. It turned out great so I kept going.

Q: "Were you pleased with 'Grin And Bear It'? Was it musically restricting"

KiDD: " I was very pleased with it. Still am. It’s a great record. It’s me an ma Da.

Q: "What is your relationship with Javi?"

KiDD: "He’s a Da."

Q: "What is your relationship with Pretty Olivia Records?"

KiDD: "Well we released Summer Rain by The Wellgreen through them and built up a great working relationship and friendship with Javi. Thanks to him we have a following in Spain, so when I finished this record, it was a natural decision to offer it to Javi for release. I am grateful he said yes. His Wife also makes a tremendous Gazpacho Soup"

Q: "Have you any plans to set up an independent production company?"

KiDD: "Skiddmark Productions."

Q: "What sort of music has influenced you on this album?"

KiDD: "I was very influenced by the recording techniques I had observed when working with Joe on the Dr Cosmos records, although my techniques are a bit more throw at the wall and see what sticks. Brian Eno was on a lot and I listened to Wild Honey a fair amount around then too… but then, I always do. Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump was on heavy rotation and as always The Super Furry Animals"

Q: "Are you writing more prolifically now? Or less so?"

KiDD: "I have been on a writing flurry for about a year and a half. With the news I was going to be a dad, I decided to get as much done as possible before the due date. I have another album finished and one actually released one a week ago, which was a collaboration with a teacher I work with who has written a children’s book called Tinkle And The Big Whoosh." I’m also currently working on another project, and I hope to begin recording very soon. I have around 20 songs for it and it’s another concept album. I love a concept album.

Q: "What are your plans now? A holiday? A musical? A movie? Retirement?"

KiDD: "A bowl of lentil soup, and a walk with Jude in the pram!"

#interview music musician scottish songwriter

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