Making “Collection” with KC Jones

When Karen and Colin Jones from the folk duo KC Jones asked me to record their new album Collection, I was delighted – but also a little nervous.

This would be their third album, and the previous one had been recorded by Mick Bisiker, who had done a cracking job. That album received great reviews, so I knew I had to do a damn good job or risk looking rather silly.

I’d seen KC Jones perform live on many occasions and knew they were both excellent singers and could do wonderful harmonies. I also knew that Karen and Colin were talented multi-instrumentalists. So, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, watching a duo perform live isn’t quite the same as working with them.

Making an album means spending a lot of time together and you never really know for sure if the chemistry will work. Everything might be fine at the beginning, but what happens when you’re on Take 20 of a solo and someone makes a joke that could be taken out of context and comes across as a criticism? Will everyone still be smiling then? Will I need to be a peacemaker – or will I get the blame?

Also, would they like the way I work?

I have my own way of doing things. It works for me, but would it work for them? I like to keep sessions moving. When musicians are in full flow, I don’t want them sitting around waiting while I fiddle with cables. At the same time, things need to be done properly. Microphones must be positioned correctly, tracks need to be prepared, and overdubs and new tracks take time to set up. And yes, I make mistakes like everyone.

You never really know if you’ll work well together until you’re sitting in the studio, everyone is quiet, and I press Record.  That’s the moment you find out whether we are all going to get along.

There are, of course, many different ways to achieve the same result. Karen and Colin are both experienced musicians and they knew exactly what they wanted to achieve.

They also wanted to bring in some guest musicians into the studio, which was absolutely fine with me.

My old buddy Keith Donnelly was coming in to play guitar and sing as a pirate (no change there then). They wanted strings on several tracks, and I suggested session musician Marion Fleetwood who would record them remotely. Karen and Colin agreed (again Marion did a wonderful job, adding violin to three tracks and also playing viola and cello on one of them).

They also asked Bob Powell to play banjo on “Stop That Train”. I’d worked with Bob before and he’d performed on one of my own albums, so no problem there either.

Before we started recording, Karen and Colin had a few questions.

Karen: “We want to record each part separately rather than playing live. Is that OK?”

Me: “Good. I prefer that.” I can record live if that’s what artists want, but I generally prefer recording parts separately. At the end of the day, it’s their choice and I’m happy either way.

Colin: “We like to work to a click track.”

Me: “Good. Me too.”

Then Karen added:

Karen: “I want Colin to leave the room when I’m singing or playing, and I want to leave the room when Colin is singing or playing.”

Me: “No problem.” I can understand this – it has never happened before but it was no problem.

Then came Colin’s next request.

Colin: “We want you to have regular breaks.” We agreed to stop around midday each day for lunch. This was slightly unusual for me.

Normally I have a working lunch, a working tea, and a working supper. Basically, I keep going until my brain resembles scrambled eggs.

“No problem,” I said, knowing Louise would be pleased.

Then Karen paused…. this was a big one… I steadied myself.

Karen: … Bill, I’m very fussy. You’ll probably hate me because I’m so fussy. If something isn’t right I want to do it again, and I also want to be in control of my own work”

Me: Bliss!

I am ridiculously fussy myself. I’d much rather record something twenty times and get it right than settle for “that’ll do”. I am also a big believer in the sound engineer needs to be there to support the artist. The artist should be in control. If they want help, advice, if they want choices that isn’t a problem – I will try to facilitate whatever they want but at the end of the day it’s their album.

At this point I knew we’d get along just fine.

We got down to work.

One challenge with my current studio in Leamington Spa is its size (the next one will be much bigger!). Three people can fill the room very quickly, and when instruments, microphone stands and cables are being moved around, it’s easy to trip over leads, knock over a microphone or bang into a guitar. (I am on my 5th lava lamp because I keep breaking them). It would be easy to get frustrated if you were impatient.

Karen and Colin were brilliant throughout.

They were really patient with me and them with each other.

They were exceptionally well rehearsed, and always arrived knowing exactly what they wanted to achieve that day. They knew the tempos and keys of their songs, they knew their harmonies and they were both incredibly organised.

As a result, the recording process went very smoothly. At the end of each day I burnt off a hard copy CD of the tracks and sent copies to them over via WhatsApp for review.

We recorded a variety of acoustic guitars, bass guitars, banjos, pianos, organs, harmonicas, melodeons, cajón’s, various types of drum, tambourines, and lots of other different instrument, for me the vocals stood out – a little bit of reverb made them sound great and sit in the mix. Some vocals and guitars were duplicated, others not – it depended on the track. It was their choice.

One thing that happens during any recording project is that you begin listening differently to music. You listen intently – to everything. Karen and Colin were good listeners. In fact Karen was brilliant at this – she must have perfect pitch because she could spot anything not quite right and we would edit or just re-record depending on the problem.

Once all the tracks had been recorded, I mastered the album and sent the final mixes over for comments. We checked overall levels, tone and balance, making a few tweaks along the way. It is difficult because a track might sound one way in my studio, sound differently in a car, and differently again on an iPhone or a decent hi-fi system. The challenge is making sure it sounds right everywhere.

There’s also the issue of perception. The start of a quiet song can sometimes sound too soft or too loud simply because it’s following a track in a different style. Getting the balance right across an entire album takes time.

Eventually, we got it exactly where they wanted it and album “Collection” was born.

All we needed to do then was to complete the artwork using Karen and Colin’s designs and original images and send the DDP master off to the duplication company.

And that was it.

The album was finished.

A few weeks later, I was lucky enough to attend the album launch concert, where Collection was very warmly received.

KC Jones were an absolute pleasure to have in the studio. They were talented, organised, professional and great company.

If you’d like to find out more about KC Jones, visit their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/kcjmusic