JoskiBlog

Hey - So we did it!

We recorded our new EP - ‘Catch the Rising Sun’ - It is now mastered and about to be printed and copied as I write this little billet-doux!

We went to The Premesis in the end - as we got a good deal - and because it has a really good reputation as a live studio. We were in Studio A - that is the Solar powered one - so we were very green doin our biz in there! we were very happy to be in that studio recording - it was great fun!

First session was March 3rd - and we were very well rehearsed having spent a few weeks at Pulse Rehearsal Studios getting the songs tight. It was still very ambitious tho - trying to get seven songs down in one day with a whole band - that IS very cheeky!

It always takes a lot of time to get drums set up - sounds working - foldback and monitoring levels and trying to control the spill from the guitar amp or bass amp. Keyboards were easy to record as they didn’t go thru an amp. Guitar was tricky as Col. Joski didn’t want the amp to be quiet!

Xande and engineer jason worked on getting a good modern ’70’s’ drum sound  - moving kick mics and snare tunings etc until they were set - then the bass mic and D/I and same for the guitar.

We rattled off our songs usually in three or four takes so that we could choose the best one later. We did:

She Loves
Howard Roark
Catch the Rising Sun
Finest
Whadya Want
Feel Loved
I Know we’re from the Stars

…and that is a loty of songs in one 7 hr day!

The Premesis is a cool place to work in - lots of studios and rehearsal rooms in one rambling tenement style block on Hackney Road, East London. They even have a cat - Mrs Dawkins - who is on Twitter. Lots of names record there. While we were in they also had Skunk Anansie and Peter Green.

The next session was to do the lead vocals. We did most of the backing vocals at home - Joski with Jenty at the home studio and Sara did her BV’s at her gaff with Xande. The lead vox are always fraught with a bit of tension but luckily Joski knows his songs quite well and pitching was good and we got all the main vocals down in about five hours. This was at the second session on 23rd March. This left about an hour to do a rough mix of ‘Catch the Rising Sun’.

Then came the third session on 3rd April. This was to mix the seven mighty songs. However it did prove a challenge and we did rush a bit in the early stages which ended up with five songs mixed but not with the best overall sound. We found the kick drum was a little wooly and the lower mid was getting indistinct. Part of the problem was aiming to undertake tooooo many songs in one day originally! Now we had spent another day (day 3) and we weren’t getting close to finishing!

Luckily jason the engineer is very experienced and we decided to do another full day (April 12th) and work on the basics first. This meant we were more able to control the sounds and get the frequencies sorted on one song before spreading that out to the other songs and mixing them.

It worked - we did a humungous amount of mixing work and managed to get all seven songs mixed and sounding really good!!! Next stage was to check everything and make sure we were all happy with the mixes.

We wondered about Mastering. Mastering is where you take the final mixes to be finished off and given that sheen and clarity that recordings you buy have. It is also the process that maximises the volume of the tracks so that they compare well when played on radio etc.

I sent one track to MediaShack in Ireland - ‘Finest’ and was very happy with the final result. I have now sent the other six tracks and am awaiting the final results. Then we can finish off the cover and get em out there!!!

I used to always record songs at home and build up tracks on seperatly recorded drum sessions. However, after recording at The Premesis, despite any challenges, I will never bother recording at home again! You just can’t get a big sound at home and need the out-board gear that they have in The Premesis and similar places. Home studio is just for rough demo’s from now on!!

Ciao,

Joski

Hi

We are mastering our new recordings - Having finished the recording at The Premesis in Hackney - and are now mastering them in Ireland at our old friends MediaShack.

Any minute now they will be available at our gigs on CD or as downloads on this site and others. It has been a lot quicker than Joski’s original plans allowed for - Phew

New strapline - Our hearts and our riffs are true….

So a couple of them have come back - but where are all the others????

I thought WordPress was good… Server side?

A - A - A - Chooooooo!!!

Glitch city! - I have logged in and see that I have lost the last three months of blog posts! They must have zoomed out there into the ether and are on their way to Mars - where they will of course find a happy home…

DagNabit!

JOSKI and Smash!

Well, Club Smash! has been up and running for six months now! - July to December. It has been fun and will continue to be.

It is also a challenge! We always try to book four bands and give free backline and 40 minute sets with the proviso that bands should bring five punters along to see them. Quite often we get three bands showing up (including us) and the fourth mysteriously, quite often, is not in contact and just dosen’t show up. It is funny seeing band life from the side of the promoter for a change. We can see that a lot of bands out there are lacking in the ‘professional’ attitude or even basic courtesy!

Still, this isn’t a rant. We love doing smash! and are awaiting the time when huge numbers of fans force us to a bigger venue on a better night! We have had stacks of really good bands play at Smash! It shows that there are a lot of acts out there with their own sound and really good delivery! Songwriting is often really good too with arrangements to match.

December smash! was great for us. We got to play a humungous set of ten songs - Sara and Xande were fantastic in the bass drums rythmn section powerhouse that they are - Jenty was jumping around on her keyboards and I got to flash my legs in sliver tights and Kerrang lots of noise out of my brand new white Fender Stratocaster guitar!

That guitar is so easy to play that it makes the Les Paul even harder to play or use for many songs. Currently the only song I use it on is ‘Feel Loved’.

Thered ain’t gonna be a January Smash as we will be hibernating! There will be a Feb Smash! and we will report news and waffles then.

Ciao a bingo me hearties!

Joski

Hi All,

We are playing Club Smash! again this month - after all - it is our residency! This month is 21st Sept - stage time 9:10pm - be nice to see you all there! Remember to get the flyer from the bottom of the homepage so that you can get in a bit cheaper!

We have a really good band line-up now. Sara Farina has joined us on bass. Sara is a consumate musician - tremendous experience and musical ability - and still young! She also plays with The V.i.Ps. with Sara and Xande and Jenty and Joski we now have a fabulous line up of talent within one lovely band!

Laters,

Joski

Hi Pop pickers!

CLUB SMASH! is all set for Monday July 20th launch at The Comedy Pub - 7 Oxendon St, Piccadilly, London SW1Y 4EE.

Four great bands:

The ViPs - Indighost - JOSKI - The Smackhounds

Download this flyer to get a quid off your £6 door entry.

Each band gets a 40 minute set - this is a feature of Club Smash! so that we can have a longer time to embellish our music and performance. we are reacting against promoters who want to screw unsigned bands by making them provide a large audience or making the band pay cash when they don’t hit unfair targets.

Club Smash! requires bands to bring a minimum of 5 punters - not 25! “We still want bands to bring an audience though”, says Joski, “At least this way it is a bit fairer and more about the music, we want to make a nice vibe for bands and people to want to come see bands at every Smash! nite”.

For full details visit www.joskimusic.com or www.myspace.com/clubsmash1

Ciao,
Joski

Hi peeps,

We are going to be playing live again! First at Tommy Flynn’s at Camden on Sun 12th July.- Then - our own night! at the newly created ‘CLUB SMASH! with three other great bands. This will be on Monday 20th July starting at 7:30.

Club smash is at The Comedy Pub at 7 Oxendon St London SW1 - Mon 20th July - Joski on at 9:10
www.myspace.com/clubsmash1 for full details!

We have lots planned for entertaining you guys - not including going butt naked unless asked! A summer of JOSKI fun is envisaged!

On Thursday we were in a small room at lovely Pulse Studios in Walthamstow - which is where we rehearse. It was only meant to fit three - and there are four of us, usually - BUT - Jenty had to stay home with the nipper this time as baby-sitter meltdown occured.

Of course it was diff without the supertastic synthy sounds of the Jenter’ but we got some good noises down. We are right near to gigging status now and Kukat and me can boogie, Xande and Kukat can boogie too. With Xande and Jenty holding station we can flit around!

Coke a plenty - fizz of course - and our alloted 3 hours went in a flash! Looking forward to recording with Xande - pronounced Xan Xhe.

Laters,

J

Hi out there on this lovely sunny May 1st!

We are on IM Radio today! This is the international Music Radio of Indepependant Musicians based in Chicago but plays music from all round the world 24/7.

JOSKI tracks ‘Howard Roark; and ‘Whadya Want’ are being rotated on the United Kingdom Rock channel:http://www.imradio.com/

Location - United Kingdom
Genre - Rock

Have fun!

J