Happy Christmas from The Layers.

Written by neil on 22 December, 2019 in Recording and Uncategorized with no comments.

As Christmas Day gets closer and the pressure to spend gets greater, building like a sprout-laden fart during the Queen’s Speech, remember that life goes on after Christmas too and there may be a few things that you’d like to lay a tenner aside for in January. A new Layers album perhaps? Yes, it will […]

Pre-Christmas presents from The Layers! And a discount!!

Written by neil on 22 November, 2019 in Recording and Uncategorized with no comments.

“Regular” readers of The Layers’ blog might well be forgiven for thinking they’ve Rip Van Winkled their way through an entire calendar year, given that entries are appearing at a rate not seen since Neil was a teacher and had marking to avoid. Fear not, like one of those serial killers from a grim movie, […]

Nothing fills a stocking like…

Written by neil on 19 November, 2019 in Recording and Uncategorized with no comments.

…Caleb’s frankly magnificent calf muscles. But you can’t have those for Christmas, you weirdo, you’ll have to get a Layers CD instead. Yes, our third studio album, “Fistful of Change” is taking shape in the studio and we’re optimistic that it should be ready to be piled onto reindeer-driven sleds covering for striking Royal Mail […]

Recording update

Written by neil on 29 October, 2019 in Recording and Uncategorized with no comments.

Ahoy-hoy, gentlefolks. It’s a third Layers blog entry in a quarter of a year and if that isn’t a harbinger of the end of days, well we don’t know what is. We’re doing all we can to let everyone know what’s going on with the current recording, so if you’ve missed the crowd-funding campaign, go […]

All good things to those who wait…

Written by neil on 2 September, 2019 in Recording with no comments.

All good things to those who wait[1] …of course, while you wait, a lot of other stuff might come your way too, like a Layers blog post but, hey, you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth, right? The news for those of you eagerly awaiting a new Layers album though, is rather splendidly […]

Is it a bird, is it a plane…

Written by neil on 17 July, 2019 in Recording and Uncategorized with no comments.

…is it our Lord and saviour, Jesus H[i] Christ, riding a bicycle with a flying pig following along on one of those extendible dog leashes? It’s none of those things; it’s the even rarer sight of a new Layers album taking shape in the studio! Regular readers of the Layers blog (or at least, those […]

The myriad joys of recording – volume 3

Written by neil on 18 February, 2015 in Ramblings and Recording with no comments.

“When I were t’lad we ‘ad to do wi’owt bloody MIDI. In my day we ‘ad to spend three days attaching microphones to a drum kit before you could even think of recording. And by then your drummer ‘ad like as not choked on ‘is own vomit.” “Aye, an’ the recordin’ software were dead clunky. […]

New Year’s unresolved issues…

Written by neil on 17 January, 2013 in Recording with no comments.

As two-faced Janus watches Father Time cut the Gordian knot and let slip the dogs of war, I reflect that my New Year’s resolution to use less pretentious metaphors may have gone out of the window already. Even now it feels like 2013 has been with us forever and whatever belly full of Olympic sunshine […]

Goats in the machine

Written by neil on 20 November, 2012 in Recording with one comment.

Star date 36-24-36, if I’m lucky. Chief Science officer’s log. Captain of the USS Layers – her five year mission to boldly explore new ways to cock up perfectly good songs – is absent from the bridge and not, for a change, because he’s nipped out for a piss. In front of us is a […]

(Fanfare, please…)

Written by neil on 19 November, 2009 in Recording with no comments.

Yes, with many a hooray, pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-paaaahs and airborne millinery, we are delighted to fulfil the promise that we made in our last post and announce the lavish gala that is the album launch. All over the UK, renters of Armani tuxedos, stretch limos and ear defenders are greasing the mechanisms of their tills in anticipation […]