Skiing Day!

Alex took some time off and went to Who Valley (Vemdalen) with his family, to get some fresh air and clear the mind. Next week, it's some more keys needing pressing and sometimes a recreational timeout is the right medicine!


Alex and Clara being silly on the Nose Slope (Nääsbacken)

Recording Day 8-9: Metal meltdown and rockers galore

This weekend it was time for the guitars to enter the studio and contribute to the album! Mike tried out a new (old style) microphone to capture the soaring sound of the mesa/boogie, and it was even better than expected!


Thomas sais something along the lines of: "I sure told that Magnus Uggla guy that this here is my music, with real guitars man, and whatever he gets off to is not my fancy!"

You see, Thomas came in for a quality check and smiled as Robert started to record the heavy guitars on Lullaby for Heroes (Thomas is a true "connoisseur" in heavy guitar sound). Now since can be only one guitarist (softly, with the voice of S Connery) on this album, Robert took his chance to use both his les paul and strats to beef up the sound, and together with his new mesa/boogie amp it really sounds heavier this time. Actually you could almost see his hair and beard grow as he played through the tracklist. Mike, hand me the Jack Daniels…



A rumor is out that a drum solo has been recorded and sent to some owl!!?? Strange things happens here :-)



/ Rocking Rob.

Recording Day 7: Sneak Bass

A rumour is stiring that the axe-man entered the studio to polish the line on one of the tracks. As nobody was around (save Micke) he typically took this opportunity to lay down one mother of a solo in the intro of the track as well. Allegedly, he uttered something like: "Well, I kind of reckoned nobody would mind, and since I didn't have anyone to ask, I kind of went right ahead...."

This could possibly raise some attention from the other band members, and we look forward with great excitement to what this will bring. Will this bring the production to new heights? Will the base player be assigned a chaperon from now on?

Is anything of this true, or is it in fact just a rumour? Only Micke knows for sure...



/Bassebus

Recording Day 6: Need some padding

Since Alex just came back from a trip to York, he was all wound up in the studio, couldn't sit down and all he went about was their friendly atmosphere, great beer and horrid food. Once in a while, he managed to sit down and play some while Micke and Robert were talking loudly in the control room about miscellaneous things, pretty much everything from spoon feeding to gory trash metal. Anyway, we had a fine evening together, Thomas came by and once we kicked him out we actually got some things done :-)

Quite some beautiful pads, one last Clavia CP70 overlay and an eerie background theme for the Chemical Sleep song.

Picture: Robert's secret book with annotations about the songs, the musicians and who knows what else. After this shot was taken, the book slipped into hiding and the photographer was never seen again..

Recording Day 5: Sounding my Organ

Second day of ebony and ivory,

Finishing up the pianos, the organs, most of the Nord Electro piano stuff and all of the muffins. Micke was in a good mood today and Janne & Sebastian paid us a visit in the studio. Perhaps I (alex) was far too focused on the task at hand to chat to remember much of what we talked about earlier this evening, but at least I got a good picture of them in Micke's designated Vocalist's nap couch.



Lastly, another fine study of Alex hammering away on his contribution to a very promising album.

Recording Day 4: Black n´White galore

Friends and fans,

Keyboard jockey Alex Jonsson enters the arena for a session in the Over the Hill studio. Micke is up early and makes that great coffee of his and while we wait for Robert (as usual) we decide to crack open the Moog and see what's inside because it's starting to sound funny. After a while we find the culprit being a couple of not-quite-correct-solderings who now had given way for the wear and tear of time.

Notice especially Micke's captivating smile, the lemon flavored muffins and the three VHS tapes taken secretly of the previous sessions from a hidden camera stashed up a bookshelf (exhibits "maze1", "maze2" and "maze3").

Alex had just got his Roland stage piano back from the shop (Thanks Putte for lending me that other one), and could show what many hours of practice can result in without having to fight with a bad case of inconsistent key velocity reading - another way of saying he previously played well but it sounded near awful :-). But now it sounded great and most of the piano sections were dealt with, in harmony with feeling.




"Keeping the Maze clean since 2004"

Recording Day 3: Placeholder lyrics

This Tuesday evening, Jan, Robert and Jesper ended up in the Over the Hill studio for some touch-up on the bass and laying down some guiding lyrics for Jesper's coming contributions. Robert had a stuffy nose and it sounded partially excellent and partly kind o' muffled one could say.

Robert is pondering on the meaning of it all, question for the rest of us is whether or not we should be happy that he can transform only a small fraction of these thoughts into lyrics, whereas others lay untouched inside that winding brain of his :-)

Recording Day 2: Foundation wrap-up

Today Thomas and Janne proved themselves by delivering consistent, high-quality stuff right at us! Robert, Jesper and myself were really, really pleased with what we heard and find it appropriate to send some cred their way. Therefore, today's pics are dedicated to them, even though the rest of us think we are quite photogenic as well :-)


Thomas relaxing after a job well done!


Janne listening in to one of the tracks, pleased with the results.


Disussing with Robert about that count-in, was there eight or only seven beats?

Now we're gonna go easter-hibernation for a couple of days, next recording day is on Saturday, March 29th. Thomas and Janne can be very pleased with the events, but guys, don't eat to many eggs!

Recording Day 1: Drum & Bass

AY! The unvirginalization of the new album is a fact.

A splendid day in the studio where Tomas ”100%” Nordh, well almost anyway, delivered superb beats. Five tracks drums and bass in a day is nothing less than extraordinary.

Thomas had his Yamaha 9000 Recording set up already when the rest of us arrived this morning. Everyone brought their best to this first day of recording. Janne finally brought his 5-string Fender Jazz Bass Special instead of his much lighter Yamaha Bass.

Alex only brought 3(!) of his synthesizers; a Nord Lead 3, Nord Electro 2 and a substitute mother keyboard since his own still isn't returned from the repair shop.

Robert heard a rumor that he was supposed to play through a Line 6 POD, making him frown and brought his VOX - instant success.


To-do list of the day, according to Thomas. Doen't he look a bit like Chuck Norris?

Everyone needs a comforting shoulder...

..and we have Micke, who assisted Thomas with authority (and Jesper) in setting up drums today. The white 'Recording' set is once again prepped with overheads and the SM57 as snare mike. Now, we're very close to entering the event horizon, where Saturday, March 15th means showtime. Another milestone for the mazekeepers and the beginning of a new recording blog!

Three cheers, and let's see some f-n hands!

/axl