So, here comes A Season In Hull. Vinyl only, no digital, one microphone. Sounds perfect, even if the title reminds of punsters like Half Man Half Biscuit.
Says Tattersall,
Darren Hayman suggested to me that The Wave Pictures make an album with one microphone. Everybody together in one room playing live into one microphone. You get the picture right once and you capture it. No mixing later. The idea appealed to me enormously. It’s a really beautiful sound, the one microphone sound. The results tend to be mysterious and lively, and it’s a very romantic way to record, too. It’s how Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys did it, after all (and that’s how bluegrass music destroyed John Fahey’s life).
Thanks, then, are due to Darren for the idea and to Giles Barrett and Simon Trought for pulling it off. Thanks also to Paul at the Adelphi. The Wave Pictures always have a good time when we visit Hull.
This album is dedicated to the memory of Blind Owl Wilson.
http://figure8magazine.co.uk/default/there-is-a-sense-of-space-that-you-cannot-have-with-multi-tracking-the-wave-pictures-interviewed/
“There Is A Sense Of Space That You Cannot Have With Multi-tracking”:
The Wave Pictures Interviewed.
Never a being a band who cares about perfection, the prolific Wave Pictures are back for another album ‘A Season In Hull’ released on their own Wymeswold Records (named after the Leicestershire town the band originate from). This time around the band has recorded the album over the course of lead singer Dave Tattersall’s birthday, using only one microphone. And in a move just as unconventional as it’s recording, the album is a vinyl only release.
We fired over some questions to Dave covering everything from the decision to record in such an old fashioned manner, to his opinion about the works of Rimbaud.
What inspired the idea to record everything into one microphone?
Dave Tattersall: It appealed to me for a few different reasons. It was Darren Hayman’s idea, not my idea! I thought it was a good idea!
It’s like taking a picture. You don’t HAVE to put it all on separate tracks first, with one microphone (at least) for each instrument. Instead, you just get the microphone in the right place and record everything! No mixing later. And it shows up in your ears when you listen to the record. There is a sense of space that you cannot have with multi-tracking. You can fake it, but you can’t get the real thing. You always want to hear the room: when you listen to a record you should always hear the room that the record was recorded in. Well, you really get the sound of the room with only one microphone.
I was particularly thinking of Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, ‘Blue Yodel Number 7′. It’s a great record that will always sound fresh and real. I wanted to get that kind of a sound. It has a wildness to it. That’s the one microphone sound! That’s how they used to it!
I was reading ”How Bluegrass Music Ruined My Life” by John Fahey, and in that book he talks about the first time he heard ‘Blue Yodel number 7′ and it completely blew his mind. Best record he ever heard in his life! It just knocked him across the room. It’s a good story and it got me thinking about one microphone recording.
Finally, I wanted to have some fun on my birthday, so I booked the studio and we went in to record.
Do you find changing the circumstances in which you record a way of keeping things fresh?
Dave Tattersall: It can be stimulating. I don’t think of it as strictly necessary, though.
Dave Tattersall: It can be stimulating. I don’t think of it as strictly necessary, though.
What was the writing process like this time?
Dave Tattersall: Really fast. I wrote all of the songs very quickly. It was fast and easy and enjoyable. It isn’t always like that. But sometimes you get on a roll. It’s easier to write ten songs together all at once, than it is to get ten songs by writing them one at a time.
Why have you decided to make this a vinyl only release?
Dave Tattersall: It was a romantic idea. I liked the idea that the songs would only be available in this way. It’s like a message in a bottle, thrown out to sea.
Of all the albums you have made, which one are you most proud of?
Dave Tattersall: It’s definitely A Season In Hull at the moment. It’s always the latest one that I like the best.
This is your first release on your new label, why did you decide to make the leap to self releasing?
Dave Tattersall: It was just that we are the only people who wanted to do it! We wanted to put out a vinyl only, and we hope that it works and people buy it, so that we can do it again. We need to sell 2000 of them, then it all pays for itself and we can do more fun projects like this in future. We might do some vinyl only live albums and things like that. But we don’t know if it’s going to be financially viable or not! I hope it works out, because I love vinyl records and I love the idea of putting out more stuff in this way. I think it’s a really nice thing.
When you were on record labels, were you given a lot of space to be prolific?
Dave Tattersall: Yes, plenty of space. We’re still with Moshi Moshi, they are going to release our next album, but A Season In Hull was only supposed to be a vinyl only album, and Moshi Moshi didn’t want to do that. So, we decided to do it ourselves.
We’re all sort of sick of the internet, to be perfectly honest. Something that has certain practical advantages seems to have taken over too many areas of life. It seemed nice to make it vinyl only, so that it didn’t even exist in a digital form. It’s a totally futile, but rather romantic gesture. That’s all that it is, but I like it that way. A little romance before the machines take over completely. It’s only a matter of time before what happened in the Terminator movies happens for real.
But things are still good between us and our record label. They’ve been very kind to us, and they completely stay out of the way and let us make our own choices. We’ve always had total freedom; it’s been essential to us.
The title is a play on words with a Arthur Rimbaud poem, are you a big fan of his work?
Dave Tattersall: No, not a big fan, but then I don’t speak French. I’ve read translations of Rimbaud, but I’ll never be able to read the real thing. I didn’t like the versions I read at first. I found that there are some translations that are better than others, but I’m not sure that you can translate something like that at all. So, no – not a fan to be honest. The only poet that I really enjoy reading is Charles Bukowski.
Have you had any ideas about the next album yet?
Dave Tattersall: We’ve got another album finished, and another one that we are half way through. It’s very exciting! It’s the golden age of The Wave Pictures!
If someone was curious about getting into the Wave Pictures, where would you suggest they start?
Dave Tattersall: City Forgiveness.
Have you ever considered releasing a best of for all the Wave Pictures neophytes out there?
Dave Tattersall: No, I’ve never thought about it. I don’t really like the idea at all. I imagine someone will want to do something like that at some point but it doesn’t appeal to me very much. I just want to keep moving forward myself.
Words by Matthew Shearn.
