Weller-what-now?! The Madness of Recording Keith Donnelly (Again)

One of the most joyfully ridiculous recording sessions I’ve ever had the pleasure (and occasional panic) of being involved in was capturing Keith Donnelly’s epic take on Nathan Evans’ sea-shanty smash hit, Wellerman.

Now, recording Keith is nothing new—I’ve done it hundreds of times. We’ve recorded a triple CD (because a double just wasn’t enough), a wonderful Christmas album (because obviously Keith + tinsel = magic), and an ever-growing pile of sonic oddities. So when he said, “I want to do Wellerman,” I thought, “Sure. Simple enough.”

Foolish me.

The audio recording? Easy. A walk in the park. A calm sea. But Keith doesn’t just do a song. No, no. He builds a multimedia experience. This time, he wanted a video. And if you know Keith, you know that when he says “video,” what he really means is “chaotic cartoon-themed audio-visual comedy explosion.”

The man has more ideas than a dog let loose in a sausage factory. Sound effects! Visual gags! Crashes, smashes, broken guitars, an almost broken hand and ….. well, I won’t spoil the surprises—mainly because I’m still not entirely sure what happened myself.

All I can say is: watch the video. Then watch it again. Seriously. You will definitely miss half the jokes the first time. Possibly even the second time. Keith works in layers. Like a lasagna of lunacy—every layer more crazy than the last

Oh, and watch out for his next adventure – Elvis!!!