I’ve been slow on the updates, I know, but I wanted to take a minute to mention that it’s 20 years since I released my first proper album Before Dawn (which you can find a link to download in the Music section), I’ve been thinking about how much I’ve matured as a person since then.
The Discogs listing brought up some memories. For instance, I made up the credits of 22-Photography and KMODO Designs because I didn’t think at the time it would seem professional if I just put my own name on everything. The picture was taken on an old Kyocera digital camera, if I recall, and it’s a photo of the harbour in Bray, Co. Wicklow. It was the start of me using real images for my album covers.
The graphical side was done in Corel Paint, I think. I loved doing my logo in negative space, and reused that idea when I did the Arrows cover.
The PC I made that album on was an old HP Windows ME machine, and I rewired Fruity Loops 3.5 through Cubase. Fruity Loops was for the sequencing and Cubase was used to edit and sink the audio, with audio loops also being made in Sound Forge. I was in college in Bray at the time, studying Sound Recording & Music Technology, so that gave me access to some decent equipment for recording some of the collaborators, but most of my own vocal recordings were done at home in my bedroom on a budget mic or recorded on a Sony stereo mic into a Mini Disc recorder, and synched up later.
Speaking of collabs, that album is really carried by the vocals of Becky, Beka, and Mick (not to mention Peter Murphy’s little guitar bits on Going Down). In particular Becky’s vocals on “4am Symphony” are incredible and I really should have credited her more for the vocal arrangement. The way it worked back then is that I would give Becky the lyrics and the instrumental and let her figure it out – even though I did have an idea of the melody, I felt it was more organic to let her just sing. And it was entirely her idea to multitrack the backing vocals, which elevate the song even more. It’s still one of my more successful tracks and I think it’s down to that freedom to perform.
My own vocals, I kind of cringe at nowadays. I had some interesting lyrics written but I certainly didn’t have the talent to perform and I wasn’t very comfortable doing it. I’m still not! But these days I don’t try to add unnecessary lyrics.
Going back to made-up credits, the Super-French remixes were also by me. Again, I felt it added some more mystic by making it seem like more folk were involved than actually were. But it also fitted in with the EDM producers at the time, who also did similar remixes under different pseudonyms.
On a deeply personal note, I don’t think I could have done that album without my late father. Dad pushed me all the way and, as well as putting me through college, financed the CD duplication. Which for a working class family wasn’t a cheap endeavour. I will always be grateful for the belief my Dad showed in me. He is missed tremendously in my life, both as a father and a mentor.
Anyway, I’ve rambled on long enough, but I just wanted to share some “fun facts” about that album on its anniversary.
Much Love,
Styli <3
