Jul 01 2003
A Day In The Office: craig borlase
So it’s always nice to get an offer of a free lunch, yes? That’s what I thought when Mr Smee called and suggested a trip down to the chrome-plated wonderland that is Furious Records. But of course, there was a catch: signing up for the grub meant listening to some new Delirious tunes and talking about future plans for the album. Negotiations followed, and when Merchy’s Chicken Salad made its way onto the menu, we had ourselves a deal.
The score – for any of you lot not keeping it right now – is this: the D:five are in the studio putting together their next album. Working alongside producer and friend Julian Kindred, the band have a little over a dozen tracks to choose from, and so far, they’re making all the right noises.
First stop on arrival is the issue of Andy Hutch’s record collection. The twin cardboard boxes (bearing the logo of some lesser-known ‘feminine hygiene’ product) have been taking up too much space for too long. The video game boy is pleased to be reunited and spends a considerable amount of time flicking through the contents with a medicated look in his eye and a running commentary dribbling from his mouth. He soon gives up when we leave him to it.
To business. Along with boys from the label and band, we walk down the road to the studio where Martin and Stu G are tweaking, twiddling and grunting about things we nod unwisely about. I take the time to look around, a detective on the hunt for clues about the identity of this latest D:album. What do I find? A Dictionary of Rhyme. How fine/sublime/refine(d).
The songs – Rain Down and Majesty – have it all going on. A fine dub bassline from Jon for the latter, acres of good old Delirious high vibes from the former. We listen and all leave, heading back to the office, dissecting these two tracks and the five sent out at the weekend.
So here we are, sitting round the lounge. Tony’s leading things and I’m feeling surprised. There I was expecting a whole load of chat about marketing and strategy, and the manager tees off with the big stuff: so what are you all about? What do you want to do with yourselves? What’s God got to say about all this?
There’s nothing quite like a bit of Q&A to get the interest levels up, especially when the Q’s are good and the A’s are having to be thought about pretty hard. I find myself listening to a band who are into their second decade yet still talk with the enthusiasm of freshmen. There’s an excitement about the future, but a refreshing honesty about past failings. Here we are, nice office and bulging families, but they still sound pretty similar to the five blokes who spent the mid 1990s in a van playing churches up and down the UK. They’re still keen to sing for the masses as well as to play cheerleader to the church. ‘We want to be able to encourage people’ says Martin. And they do.
Then it’s onto the album. There are working titles, design ideas and all the rest. The overwhelming sense is that now it’s time to ‘give something back to the fans’, but quite what that will look like is up for grabs. But here’s one thing that’s for sure: this next album sees a return to some of the former frailty and fragility that punctuated their earlier albums. Cutting Edge 4 and King of Fools were written in the shadow of Martin & Jon’s near-fatal car crash. This latest offering has been brought into the world to the heavy sound of bereavement, the band struggling to come to terms with the early death of pastor and relative John T.
Lunch is all that it was promised and now it’s time to go off and talk with Jon about things. He shows me an email from a fan doing a bit of positive PR. It seems that D: have made it onto one person’s list of Christian bands corrupted and gone bad – the reason, if you’re interested, is that D:boys sound like Coldplay and that Chris Martin wiggles his hips too much on stage. Is Jon worried? ‘No,’ he says ‘the fans are already on to it.’
I notice some freed up desk space and am reminded that things have changed at the office lately. Things are slimming down as Furious tightens its focus once again on a handful of key acts. This has meant saying some goodbyes to staff: to Ness, Amanda, Dan Armstrong and Rachael (Mrs Damo). It’s sad, and all the band feel it. The place won’t be the same without them.
The bassist breaks off to show me the result of his spring cleaning of the site. I pretend to understand the concept, but don’t quite manage. All I can tell you is that the D:experience section now has a decent looking video archive: Fire tour intro, Waiting For The Summer, It’s OK, In Pursuit Of Happiness, Everything and See The Star.
Hot Seat: There’s also time to talk about how the album’s going, and particularly to get my head around the idea of just who exactly is this Julian Kindred bloke who has been tweaking, twiddling and grunting along with the best of them. Time to get him in the hot seat…
Life Story: I was born very young in a musical home. I grew up, became a studio rat, made records in Canada. Did the same in America, Britain's next, Watch Out Saxons!
Describe Self: Optimistic, Meticulous, Kind, Pensive, Hopeful. The guys would say I'm diplomatic.
Influences: The Beatles, 60's/70's Motown, The Smiths, Debussy, Kraftwerk.
Canadian/American Differences: Canadians act like they're British, while Americans act like they run the British Empire. No, actually it's that Canadians already know what Wheetabix and Smarties taste like. I have American friends, I must be careful.
High Point In Making D: Album: There've been several. One day the studio was boiling hot and we recorded one of the songs with our shirts off, acted stupid and laughed to death at each other. It was pandemonium, a sort of male bonding moment. Some of the guys would say that was the low point. Actually, I'm just thrilled with how they've performed, I've known them for five years now and they've just grown into an incredible performing force. Stu G is just unstoppable, he and Martin are writing better than ever. Martin's vocals have just been fantastic. He sounds stunning. Jon is always pushing things forward into new territory. Tim always challenges the whole thing to great affect. But the most exciting thing is that Stew has been playing like a house on fire!
Low Point In Making D: Album: The day we were reminded our time in the studio was gonna come to an end. We've been having great time. You'd have to ask the guys, but it may have been the day that I made everyone tea.
Describe D: Album: Melodic, Ferocious, Soaring, Inspired, Multi-Platinum.
How You Became Involved with Delirious: There was an ad in the NME looking for someone to lock themselves in a studio with five guys who wanted to try every sonic experiment they could think of with no end in sight, and I was mad enough to respond, Ha Ha. The truth is, we met through an A&R person in America who we had both worked with.
What's Up Next: I've had some recent offers, but haven't settled on anything yet. Just trying to focus on the D Record. We're putting a lot of energy into it and I think it'll show. I'd really like to get to know some of the acts here in Britain that I'm unfamiliar with.
Best Gigs This Year: The Flaming Lip at London Forum - Don't miss the Lips, whatever you do. Sigur Ros at Hammersmith Apollo was perfect to me. Groove Armada at Brixton Academy was a highlight. I saw Jurassic 5 there too - incredible showmen.
Worst Gig This Year: I saw one of my heroes, Al Green, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. His band wasn't very rehearsed at all - it was very surprising. He still sang like an angel though.
Album You Wish You Had Produced: OK Computer by Radiohead still gets me everytime I hear it!
Album You Wish You Were Teaboy On: Exodus by Bob Marley and the Wailers - Jamaica in the mid 70's, a powerful moment in musical history. I was seven then so that would have been hard to do.
Who Makes The Best Tea: Man, I can't believe I have to answer that. OK, they're all good - actually Tim has never made me a cup of tea in his life! But since there can only be one, I'd have to say Stew Smee.
So that’s the score, is it? Fair enough. Time to go soon, but not before a quick raid of the freebie cupboard. Got it all already though. And once again I forget to see if there are any new tops worth blagging, but there you go.
And that’s it. Back in the car and off home. A good day, one which has left me excited about the album. But there’s more to it than that, something far more important: it has left me excited about the D:. I like what they stand for and I like the fact that they’re still keen to learn, to take risks and to be vulnerable. I still don’t know what the album will sound like, but I know exactly how it’s going to feel… like coming home.
So it’s always nice to get an offer of a free lunch, yes? That’s what I thought when Mr Smee called and suggested a trip down to the chrome-plated wonderland that is Furious Records. But of course, there was a catch: signing up for the grub meant listening to some new Delirious tunes and talking about future plans for the album. Negotiations followed, and when Merchy’s Chicken Salad made its way onto the menu, we had ourselves a deal.
The score – for any of you lot not keeping it right now – is this: the D:five are in the studio putting together their next album. Working alongside producer and friend Julian Kindred, the band have a little over a dozen tracks to choose from, and so far, they’re making all the right noises.
First stop on arrival is the issue of Andy Hutch’s record collection. The twin cardboard boxes (bearing the logo of some lesser-known ‘feminine hygiene’ product) have been taking up too much space for too long. The video game boy is pleased to be reunited and spends a considerable amount of time flicking through the contents with a medicated look in his eye and a running commentary dribbling from his mouth. He soon gives up when we leave him to it.
To business. Along with boys from the label and band, we walk down the road to the studio where Martin and Stu G are tweaking, twiddling and grunting about things we nod unwisely about. I take the time to look around, a detective on the hunt for clues about the identity of this latest D:album. What do I find? A Dictionary of Rhyme. How fine/sublime/refine(d).
The songs – Rain Down and Majesty – have it all going on. A fine dub bassline from Jon for the latter, acres of good old Delirious high vibes from the former. We listen and all leave, heading back to the office, dissecting these two tracks and the five sent out at the weekend.
So here we are, sitting round the lounge. Tony’s leading things and I’m feeling surprised. There I was expecting a whole load of chat about marketing and strategy, and the manager tees off with the big stuff: so what are you all about? What do you want to do with yourselves? What’s God got to say about all this?
There’s nothing quite like a bit of Q&A to get the interest levels up, especially when the Q’s are good and the A’s are having to be thought about pretty hard. I find myself listening to a band who are into their second decade yet still talk with the enthusiasm of freshmen. There’s an excitement about the future, but a refreshing honesty about past failings. Here we are, nice office and bulging families, but they still sound pretty similar to the five blokes who spent the mid 1990s in a van playing churches up and down the UK. They’re still keen to sing for the masses as well as to play cheerleader to the church. ‘We want to be able to encourage people’ says Martin. And they do.
Then it’s onto the album. There are working titles, design ideas and all the rest. The overwhelming sense is that now it’s time to ‘give something back to the fans’, but quite what that will look like is up for grabs. But here’s one thing that’s for sure: this next album sees a return to some of the former frailty and fragility that punctuated their earlier albums. Cutting Edge 4 and King of Fools were written in the shadow of Martin & Jon’s near-fatal car crash. This latest offering has been brought into the world to the heavy sound of bereavement, the band struggling to come to terms with the early death of pastor and relative John T.
Lunch is all that it was promised and now it’s time to go off and talk with Jon about things. He shows me an email from a fan doing a bit of positive PR. It seems that D: have made it onto one person’s list of Christian bands corrupted and gone bad – the reason, if you’re interested, is that D:boys sound like Coldplay and that Chris Martin wiggles his hips too much on stage. Is Jon worried? ‘No,’ he says ‘the fans are already on to it.’
I notice some freed up desk space and am reminded that things have changed at the office lately. Things are slimming down as Furious tightens its focus once again on a handful of key acts. This has meant saying some goodbyes to staff: to Ness, Amanda, Dan Armstrong and Rachael (Mrs Damo). It’s sad, and all the band feel it. The place won’t be the same without them.
The bassist breaks off to show me the result of his spring cleaning of the site. I pretend to understand the concept, but don’t quite manage. All I can tell you is that the D:experience section now has a decent looking video archive: Fire tour intro, Waiting For The Summer, It’s OK, In Pursuit Of Happiness, Everything and See The Star.
Hot Seat: There’s also time to talk about how the album’s going, and particularly to get my head around the idea of just who exactly is this Julian Kindred bloke who has been tweaking, twiddling and grunting along with the best of them. Time to get him in the hot seat…
Life Story: I was born very young in a musical home. I grew up, became a studio rat, made records in Canada. Did the same in America, Britain's next, Watch Out Saxons!
Describe Self: Optimistic, Meticulous, Kind, Pensive, Hopeful. The guys would say I'm diplomatic.
Influences: The Beatles, 60's/70's Motown, The Smiths, Debussy, Kraftwerk.
Canadian/American Differences: Canadians act like they're British, while Americans act like they run the British Empire. No, actually it's that Canadians already know what Wheetabix and Smarties taste like. I have American friends, I must be careful.
High Point In Making D: Album: There've been several. One day the studio was boiling hot and we recorded one of the songs with our shirts off, acted stupid and laughed to death at each other. It was pandemonium, a sort of male bonding moment. Some of the guys would say that was the low point. Actually, I'm just thrilled with how they've performed, I've known them for five years now and they've just grown into an incredible performing force. Stu G is just unstoppable, he and Martin are writing better than ever. Martin's vocals have just been fantastic. He sounds stunning. Jon is always pushing things forward into new territory. Tim always challenges the whole thing to great affect. But the most exciting thing is that Stew has been playing like a house on fire!
Low Point In Making D: Album: The day we were reminded our time in the studio was gonna come to an end. We've been having great time. You'd have to ask the guys, but it may have been the day that I made everyone tea.
Describe D: Album: Melodic, Ferocious, Soaring, Inspired, Multi-Platinum.
How You Became Involved with Delirious: There was an ad in the NME looking for someone to lock themselves in a studio with five guys who wanted to try every sonic experiment they could think of with no end in sight, and I was mad enough to respond, Ha Ha. The truth is, we met through an A&R person in America who we had both worked with.
What's Up Next: I've had some recent offers, but haven't settled on anything yet. Just trying to focus on the D Record. We're putting a lot of energy into it and I think it'll show. I'd really like to get to know some of the acts here in Britain that I'm unfamiliar with.
Best Gigs This Year: The Flaming Lip at London Forum - Don't miss the Lips, whatever you do. Sigur Ros at Hammersmith Apollo was perfect to me. Groove Armada at Brixton Academy was a highlight. I saw Jurassic 5 there too - incredible showmen.
Worst Gig This Year: I saw one of my heroes, Al Green, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. His band wasn't very rehearsed at all - it was very surprising. He still sang like an angel though.
Album You Wish You Had Produced: OK Computer by Radiohead still gets me everytime I hear it!
Album You Wish You Were Teaboy On: Exodus by Bob Marley and the Wailers - Jamaica in the mid 70's, a powerful moment in musical history. I was seven then so that would have been hard to do.
Who Makes The Best Tea: Man, I can't believe I have to answer that. OK, they're all good - actually Tim has never made me a cup of tea in his life! But since there can only be one, I'd have to say Stew Smee.
So that’s the score, is it? Fair enough. Time to go soon, but not before a quick raid of the freebie cupboard. Got it all already though. And once again I forget to see if there are any new tops worth blagging, but there you go.
And that’s it. Back in the car and off home. A good day, one which has left me excited about the album. But there’s more to it than that, something far more important: it has left me excited about the D:. I like what they stand for and I like the fact that they’re still keen to learn, to take risks and to be vulnerable. I still don’t know what the album will sound like, but I know exactly how it’s going to feel… like coming home.
