News

The catch-up #95

22nd Jan 2010

We called up Dan to hear lots of news about The Feeling's third album, as well as Dan and Rich's encounter with giraffes in Nashville. Thanks to Richard for the pictures. Leave you comments below, and if you have a question for Richard next time, please email it to feedback@thefeeling.com. Thanks!

Hi Dan, how are you?
I'm very well, thank you. I just got back from Nashville actually.

Wow. What were you doing there?
A bit of pre-production for the new record, working with a guy called Bob Ezrin. He's going to produce the new record.

How did you pick him, over other producers?
It kind of happened naturally. Richard knew a friend of a friend of his. He's a classic producer. He's just done Peter Gabriel's record and he's worked with Pink Floyd and people like that. He produced records like The Wall. He's a great producer. We wanted someone to work alongside us and take things somewhere a bit different and he's just been helping with that.

Is it strange to finally be working with a producer?
Well, it's a new experience, but it's good. It's helping to make the writing more concise. And because we're trying to develop and grow up as a band I think it's important to have a bit of experience that'll help oversee it. Another set of ears that you can trust is always good. And he's a good guy. He's a Canadian bloke. He's only been living in Nashville for a couple of months, but he loves it there because they've got great studios.

Is a producer a bit like a football manager? They have to tell the star players what they have to do.
It is very much like that. There's different types of production, though. Pop producers essentially write a backing track and then some pop singer comes in and sings over it. Some people just record you, they're essentially just engineers, but that's often called production as well. Traditional production, which is what we wanted and what Bob does, is someone who watches what you're doing, questions you when you need to be questioned and oversees the whole project so that you feel you can be really creative and dynamic and do what you want, without things going too awry. So in a way it allows us to take more risks, because there's someone overseeing it. That's nice as an artist. Before now, we've always had to do that ourselves and it gets in the way when you want to try something a bit crazy. You want someone to keep an eye on it and make sure that at the end of the day, it's going to work. It's been really good working with him.

Have you been to Nashville before?
No, never. We've toured all over America, but not there. We got as far as Atlanta, but didn't get as far as Tennessee. It was great fun. To tell the truth, we spent most of the time in the studio. Between the hotel and the studio, we didn't see very much else. But on the last day, when we had to do a load of boring things like downloading and transferring of files, we did some of the touristy stuff. The studio engineer's girlfriend works at the zoo, so we went there. She looks after the giraffes, which we went and played with. That was brilliant fun. I'd never been up close with a giraffe before. It was headbutting us. And licking my head with its very long tongue. They're very playful.

Let us pause the catch-up here and revel in giraffe pictures...

And we continue...

What else did you do?
We went to the Hall of Fame and the studio where Elvis recorded. And there's a picture of me sitting at a piano which is on all the Elvis and Everley Brothers records.

Clearly Dan was overcome with emotion...

Did you play it?
I did have a little play, yeah. It was a very geeky, muss thing to do, but I loved it. It was an old 40s Steinway which has been in that studio for years.

Did the whole band go?
No, it was just me and Rich. Because it was pre-production, which is really figuring out what's going to be played when we all get in the studio, as far as song arrangements are concerned. So it's kind of making sure that none of the songs are too long, that all the verses are in the right place and the songs are doing the right thing. And also tidying up some of the lyrics. I spent a bit of time with Bob going through lines and asking him what he thought of them. It was really helpful. I think it made my writing a lot better. And I feel like I'm learning now the more you go on, the more you have to work at your writing, really.

So the idea is that now you're ready to record?
Exactly. Making sure that when we go in the studio to record we can do it in a week. As opposed to going into a £2,000 a day studio and not quite knowing what we're doing. I want this record to be recorded in proper hi-fi sound, which is something we've never done before, really. This is very much a process where we've got the demos, we've written the demos, we've produced the demos and they're great, but now I want to go in and play it so it feels more like a live record, with that real posh production thing. There's no point in having someone like Bob Ezrin on board and not having a beautiful hi-fi record.

Sounds like you've got a fair idea of which songs are going on the album?
Yeah. We're not 100%. I do plan to write another couple of songs in the next couple of weeks, before going in. But we'll be going in really soon, because we need to get in the studio before we go to the Alps. And I want to make sure it comes out this year at some point!

Crikey, we're just looking at Bob Ezrin's Wikipedia page. He produced Berlin by Lou Reed!
Yes. The guy has done a lot of big records. And important records. He really pushes artists to get a bit more out of them and you can see that on his discography. He's great. It's good for us to have a big daddy like that on the project who can oversee it. It allows us to be a bit more childlike and silly and piss around a bit more. Someone else can we sensible, we can just be creative.

When do you think you'll record it?
In about three or four weeks' time.

And where?
In London. But I'm not exactly sure where yet. There's still a lot of figuring out to do. But I'm confident with the material we have that it's going to be, artistically speaking, our best record. I'm really proud of it. I hope the world of music will see it as a great record, because we've certainly gone somewhere new with it and I think the quality of the material is really high.

Unlike the dreadful cover of Rosé which we heard in Superdrug yesterday.
Oh really?

Why don't they just play the original?
Because if they do their own version, they don't have to pay acts the mechanical royalty. So they do these horrible versions.

Hopefully nobody thought it was the Feeling. It really was terrible.
Haha! Unfortunately there's no way you can stop anybody doing a cover of your song. Which I suppose is a good thing, because it stops people being too precious. However if you want to use it in anything visual like film or TV, then you do have to get permission. Or if you wanted to make a video. The rules are quite bizarre.

So anyone can cover your song and you can do nothing?
Exactly. People assume that you can stop it, but you can't. There is an argument that you should be able to list songs like you can list buildings, which is quite a fun theory. So you'd have some sort of body saying, "This song is listed. You can not cover it unless we give it planning consent".

You'll be pleased to hear that our local Wilkinsons and M&S Simply Food shops both regularly play Feeling originals.
Well, kudos to them then!

How's it shaping up for Little World Festival?
Yeah, really good. We've got some new acts coming on board soon. It's very exciting. I haven't thought about it all that much, but I'm looking forward to it.

And you're selling tickets to individual shows now.
Yes, in case people can't afford the season pass. For value for money and for getting into the VIP area on the big free show, it is worth getting the season pass. But we were aware that paying for a whole week's entertainment might be a bit much for some people.

Were you pleased with the response to your Christmas video?
Yeah, it was lovely. I was first of all surprised that so many people bothered to send in pictures and then a little bit disappointed that I couldn't fit everyone in. That was a shame. But I was pleased with how it turned out.

Right, readers' questions. Marisa would like to know if you'll be showcasing new material soon.
I think we'll definitely end up playing a couple of new tunes at the festival, yeah. We'll have just recorded them at that stage, so we should know how to play them by then!

Kimiyo in Japan would like to know if you were born in 1978 or 1979. There is, it seems, some confusion.
I was born in September 1978.

Finally, LewisW would like to know if there's one song from the new album which particularly sums it up.
I normally write the last song from the album first. Like, some ridiculous epic thing. And this one has got a song which has the line "Together we were made" in it. That's kind of the line for the end of the album. And then the other title that song has is Undeniable.

Are Undeniable and Together We Were Made contenders for the album title?
Rich thinks Together We Were Made is a good one, but I don't know yet.

Let's look on AllMusic and see if any albums are called that already.
Ooh, yes, have a look.

No! There has never, ever been an album called that.
Well, there you go then. It's definitely a contender!

Comments

Showing 1 to 19 of 19

From	Comment
aleeexis 31/01/10	im getting anxious!
sam2691 31/01/10	This is great news, i'm even more excited about the 3rd album now, i just can't wait! :D
krusty 30/01/10	I can't wait for the new album :)
jackiedenise 29/01/10	Really looking forward to this album, sounds like it is going to be great. My hubby has The Wall. Also loved the giraffes.
lister26 24/01/10	fab catch up dan cant wait for the new album and tour
suziewon 24/01/10	brilliant catch up dan glad to hear the album is coming along nicely cant wait to buy it and blast it and bugg the neighbours :-) keep up the good work love susan xxxx
mattleeds 23/01/10	Brilliant catch up Dan, thank you! How exciting, looking forward to hearing those new tunes real soon! Happy New Year everyone, lets hope it's a great fun Feeling-filled one! xxx
lizc 23/01/10	Great catch up x
dianam 23/01/10	Fantastic catch up, just what we'd been waiting for. Thanks Dan. Can't wait for the album. xx
wildbilltx 23/01/10	Wow, interesting choice of producer. I doubt it will be a stripped down affair with Bob Ezrin. He has a gift for crafting big productions. BTW Alvin & The Chipmunks released a CD last year called "Undeniable", sorry guys!
doughty27m 22/01/10	YEAH MY QUESTION GOT ANSWERED! THANKS DAN, CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEW MATERIAL!
feelingfan14 22/01/10	Awesome catch up Dan. I'm really looking forward to the new album. Its gonna be fantastic!
mad4enrique 22/01/10	Great news, cant wait for the album & the tour xx
agrasso 22/01/10	I also updated the band page on Wikipedia with the latest on the album. For today I think it's enough! ;)
agrasso 22/01/10	I've added the info about the new production on Ezrin's Wikipedia page. I must say, though, that I don't like "Together We Were Made" as an album title...I hope they will come our with a different one. ;)
agrasso 22/01/10	http://www.tonic.com/about/advisors/bio/bob-ezrin/
bigbird75 22/01/10	Thanks Dan! xx
nikki_h 22/01/10	wonderful catch-up, I'm getting so excited about the album right now (which is a little embarrassing as I am at school....) lol can't wait!!!!!!!!
kimiyo 22/01/10	What a surprise! Dan changed his hair style. When I saw the first pic, I didn't recognise it was Dan. Thank you very much for answering my question, Dan! Can't wait for the 3rd album.

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