Stayed with my sister last night as today is her birthday. After a rousing dawn chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ we shared an early breakfast as she was off to have a birthday lunch with family and friends in Glasgow (all my family are from Glasgow except me – my family moved East before I was born) and I was off to the studio to catch up with the guys.
Arrived at the studio at 10.15am. It was eerily quiet as I entered the building (a former police station and cells in a previous incarnation, dating back a couple of hundred years). Gordon wasn’t around this time as he was currently touring around France with his family, but Stuart had arranged to meet me there and run through a few of the things I had in mind. After a quick catch up over a very much appreciated cup of tea, we set to work… On the website at the moment we have created a section of ‘words’ – some bits and pieces I’d written over the years, and I thought it might be an idea if I put my voice to some of the files currently on there. It seemed strange to me that although people may be aware of the sound of my singing voice, they wouldn’t necessarily be aware of the sound of my speaking voice and what these ‘words’ sounded like to me at the time I created them in my head. So we decided to voice a few of these as a kind of experiment and also to put a vocal melody, which had been running around in my mind, to another one called ‘whisper’.
Later in the day Fraser, who works on the audio -visual side of things at the studio, arrived camera in hand. So while Stuart and I worked on, Fraser moved around us filming various bits and pieces, which I’m sure will turn up on the internet sometime soon. I have to admit that having a camera pointed at me is not something I’ve ever been completely comfortable with if I’m honest, and is probably why, after some pretty excruciating photographic sessions in the past, I decided to start taking my own album cover shots…’The Heart Within’ being one such example. It’s ok with guys like Fraser and photographers I know and feel comfortable around and It can be an incredibly creative time, but I’ve really got to know someone well enough to allow myself to open up to the situation.
Later that afternoon we once again experienced some dramatic changes in the weather as we watched, spellbound, the most dramatic thunder and lightning storm… The sky turned completely black and ominous and then that fantastically powerful sound of thunder…
At 6 pm with the rain still sweeping across the streets, we left the studio and headed for home. It had been good to catch up with the guys again…It’s always like coming home.