January 2012
36 posts
WatchIl pleut…
Day 7 Part 2: See You, Crack you
Tommy has nailed the vocal, it’s got great feel. Much equivocation over mics, compressors, EQs, but we’re there. It’s a good feeling.
Rich has done his guitar overdubs. They’re phat, apparently. Certainly, some great voicings.
And then I got the opportunity to have a full body Thai massage, which all of FranKo have had. This has nothing to do with FranKo, but I want to...
Day 7: Dan Weller's Shit Reflex & The Golden Cock...
“If you’re feeling sick, you stick your fingers down your throat, right?” muses Dan. “Something I’ve eaten at lunch has disagreed with me. I don’t feel sick, it’s all in my stomach. I’m going to need to destroy a toilet.”
“Yes, but you have a gag reflex in your throat,” I offer. “That’s how it works.”
...
Day 6 (cont.): See You
And so the 2nd song is going to be ‘See You’.
Never been played live, but has a chorus that just won’t quit. All of us have always loved it, but it never felt quite finished. But it does now.
It’s all going to be a bit of a shock, ‘Nobody Knows’ has had a thorough make-over, and now a bit that was culled from it has made a triumphant return in ‘See...
Day 6: "Can you...
….take this all in?” asks Dan. “My penis, that is,” he adds. He’s going for an energy change.
It’s a Monday, and 50% of FranKo are feeling it. After the high of Silverlake and a party last night.
Dan goes into the live room to fiddle with some tech. “Tell Dan he looks great bent over,” quips Tim.
To be fair, Dan is asking them to chop and change a...
Day 5: Karma is 2
After yesterday’s events, it was a quiet one today. Just as well for me. Endless water and resting up.
Chris & Ricky went fishing (caught 6 fish), Tommy was re-jigging and re-inventing lyrics and Rich was helping out around Karma.
I could hear the Karma 2nd anniversary party going on tonight, and I gather it went off well…
I think we’re all looking forward to getting...
Day 4: Silverlake Pt. 2
FranKo at Silverlake, then. Rocking. Big crowd, big screens.
FranKo are amused that one of the sponsors is ‘CP’, and those initials are writ large all over the festival site.
Troopers. Rich was getting large electric shocks through his mic for the whole set, the Korg power supply died 5 mins before we started & Richie’s cable loom also chose that moment to stop working. Fun...
Day 4: Silverlake
Everyone was up early this morning, but not everyone is happy about it. Some of us are suffering from ‘2nd degree jet lag’. Which means it’s biting them in the ass again.
A wonderfully colourful Japanese drummer was in Karma rehearsing this morning, he’s also playing at Silverlake: Akira Jimbo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVlpueHo4ok - Ricky and he got on very well :)
...
Day 3: It's Late
We’ve all just crawled upstairs. ‘Nobody Knows’ has a structure, and the drums, bass and guitar are just about done.
Dan is talking brass section and organ. There are conversations about spooky chords and ‘the Beatles-y’ bit.
Ricky fell asleep in the afternoon and Richie drew a cock on him with a permanent marker. I have photographic evidence. Tommy then fell asleep...
Day 3: The Click
“Just listen to the click,” offers Dan.
“What? We’re supposed to listen to the click?” asks Richie innocently.
“You’re in no position to mock,” replies Dan. “You just f*cked it up!”
‘Nobody Knows’ is taking on a whole new shape. Radically different.
Last night, things were flagging a little, and Dan suggested to Ricky that...
Remembering new parts
“Your memory’s like mine, isn’t it, Chris?” says Dan.
“Ah, thank you.”
“Errr…”
“Oh, I thought it was a compliment.”
“No. But I’ve been nice to you loads today already…”
Crikey. “Nobody Knows” sounds a bit different.
If music be the food of Karma...
….then it’s delicious.
After yet another tremendous meal, it’s back into the live room. Suddenly, other songs arrive. Now ‘Lucky’ and ‘See You’ are on the menu, too.
Experiments in rhythm. Re-arrangement. Trying stuff out. The band are really tight, no click in sight.
Now it’s back to ‘Nobody Knows’. And it’s getting a short back...
Jet lagggggg
Some of us are still groggy today. It’s weird. And Tommy has been bitten on the face by something. Twice. They got me in the forehead.
This morning, Dan and FranKo will decide which songs they are going to focus on. In the frame: ‘Nobody Knows’, ‘Get The Message’, ‘Speak Up’ and ‘Information Overload’. Fans will know ‘NK’ and...
"Do you want to...."
10.25pm. We’re back from the fish restaurant.
“Do you want to record something?” says Dan.
“No.” Richard.
“Just for the f*ck of it. Come on,” says Dan.
FranKo are in the live room.
“Come and hear the richness of tone,” says Dan afterwards. They have just been running “Speak Up” and “Information Overload”. Dan has...
"I can't hear my drums..."
“Yeah, you need to hit them first….”
And so it has begun. Day 1. Drums. Thud thud thud. Thud. Thuddity thud thud.
The day starts with a live radio interview for Pattaya People Radio in, yup, Pattaya. Barry the (Brit) DJ chats for 10 minutes or so with the guys and then puts Love For Fame vid on rotation on one of their local TV channels. The interview will go out with the vid 6...
WatchKarma… Enough said!
Safe at Karma
We’re here. And it’s beautiful!
Tommy and I had next to no sleep on the planes, I’m not sure the others fared much better.
Turning in soon, but we have looked at the live rooms and sussed out the facilities. It’s 30 degrees here! Chris & Ricky in the pool, the others are engaged in a furious table tennis tournament! Except Tommy, who crawled to a settee after supper...
Planes, trains and autos and Karma.
On the train into London.
Poor Dan has had to have some emergency work done on a tooth at the last minute… Hope he’s doing ok..
We’ll be juggling with weight restrictions very soon now. Then two looooong flights (longest I’ve ever done, anyway) to Bangkok via Delhi.
Then a road trip to Karma Sound Studios. Check it: www.karmasoundstudios.com - which will be our...
What would you do with a 20 hour journey?
Read.
Listen.
Write.
Plan.
Sleep.
Play.
Film.
Watch.
BLOG!
We’ll see. One day to go. Only boring people get bored.
Radio (Video hasn't quite killed it - but Spotify...
Just heard that FranKo are going to be asked to go on local radio in Pattaya the day after we arrive… just hope the jet laggggg isn’t too crummy.
Also, we have been invited to do a UK radio interview for UK Undiscovered Radio (UKUR - based in Manchester) on 11th Feb, the day we are due to be playing at Moho Live with Ivyrise. We are going to ‘take over’ for a whole...
Airplanes
So we can take 32kg per person.
I think Ricky could fit into an overhead locker if we fold him a coupla times :)
But does a snare count as hand-luggage?
Fun and games for Heathrow on Monday, I guess.
Not long now, last minute prep and an impending sense of excitement :) And green curry. And red curry. Just Thai curry generally. Happy CP
Dan Weller & Enter Shikari
Enter Shikari have just exploded into the public consciousness with their 3rd long player, with Dan Weller producing.
We are so psyched that Dan is going to be working on the new FranKo material. He has come along to check the guys out in rehearsal and identified which songs he thinks we should work on…
I can’t wait to see how the new stuff turns out after what Dan did with...
Ivyrise tour
More prep for Feb. Tickets selling really well in Birmingham, Manchester, London, Nottingham…… - that nice Ben Falinski has given us extra allocation in the busier areas…
The red van has had a full service and the sleeping bags are on standby for our return from Thailand!
Life on the road! Hopefully we can crowbar in some acoustic gigs at people’s houses like we did...
Righto - this is probably overdue!
Ok, so I am going to start a FranKo blog.
It’s all about the music, and that’s where we are starting! We are all off to Thailand next week to start work on new recordings, with the legend that is Dan Weller sitting in the pilot’s seat.
He has already produced the awesome ‘Eye of the Storm’ for FranKo, and we firmly believe he will wring some more magic out of them...
