Currently on tour in support of his latest album, Razia’s Shadow - A Musical, Forgive Durden frontman Thomas Dutton took a few minutes out of his day to discuss the album and other fun stuff with A&SB.
If you missed our gushing review of Razia’s Shadow, give it a once over HERE
A&SB: Can you give me a regular day in your life while you were recording this album?
Thomas Dutton: It was kind of an interesting process for the recording. It took much longer and dragged out more than most recordings often take. We recorded it with Casey Bates, who did our last record, and I basically lived there for a month and a half while we were really heavily writing and recording it, and was in and out for the next six months just tweaking things.
While I was there I would usually wake up… I’m kind of a night owl, so I would usually sleep in a little bit and wake up around 11 and start. For the most part with the exception of a few most of these songs started out as just acoustic guitar - vocal songs and we just built on it from there. So I would wake up and start working on whatever song I was working on at the time. I was working on lyrics and melodies and the structure of the songs. Then I would probably go to the studio and get it down and send it to my brother.
My brother is in school, he cowrote it with me, but he was only there on the weekends. So I was just constantly sending him stuff during the week to see what he thought of it.
I would kinda just hang out and then stay up all night writing some more. On the weekends, my brother was actually there and we were every second in the actual studio just creating all the crazy arrangements and orchestra parts.
A beautiful video for a beautiful song. This video for “Everything Is Free” was made by Emmy Larsson & Karin Landers & the song is taken from The Tiny´s latest album Starring; Someone Like You. The song was originally written Gillian Welch / David Rawlings.
It’s finally worn off now… Well, except for Jason. Tim Williams will complete his Mother review tonight, then I will have an exclusive Q&A with Forgive Durden up this weekend early next week. God Bless America
It’s election day and this is a reminder to not only go VOTE but to check out the new, free, politically charged Sleep Station album, Blood of Our Fathers. Also, check out the video below of David Debiak of Sleep Station performing the song “Where Love Used To Grow” at an Obama fundraiser in Ridgewood, NJ.
With precision eerily reminiscent of Coldplay, Copeland has created an album in which every tiny note is a deliberate step toward an atmosphere - You Are My Sunshine - that carries all the joy of this phrase and it’s solemn dependence.
Copeland’s latest is a box of pop treats from a group of guys who have mastered the technical wizardry required to make an epic modern rock disk. But sometimes, you can’t help but think you’ve heard this album before.
Mashups aren’t anything new to the world of music, but rarely do we get to hear a truly well produced and well crafted set of songs. In the case of Viva La Hova, Terry Urban and Mick Boogie do a fantastic job showcasing some of the best songs from Jay Z’s library to date, by meshing them with the smooth sounds of Coldplay. The result is undeniable satisfaction resonating through the listener’s earlobes.
Viva La Hova is a collection of twenty mashups, several produced by Boogie and Urban, and the work they do here is fun to dive into. Things get moving quickly with “Public Speeding” as Jay-Z’s infectious beats chime in with the introductory lines “Allow me to re-introduce myself/ My name is Hov’, OH, H-to-the-O-V/ I used to move snowflakes by the O-Z/ I guess even back then you can call me/ CEO of the R-O-C, Hov’!”
The chorus to this mashup is reserved for the distinct vocal prowess of Chris Martin as the Coldplay song “Higher Speed” takes off in the chorus. While a strong start, the sounds only get stronger.
Many apologies for the lack of postage, but I’m (Bassey) totally moving to New York tomorrow so I can review some live shows, interview more bands and generally be a media elite. We’ll have a new column from Tim Williams up tonight, but until then, this video is awesome. Don’t forget to vote Nov 4! You totally promised Dave
From the first tones of the opening track “Genesis,” an epic makes itself apparent. Forgive Durden’s latest album, Razia’s Shadow: A Musical, is just that - an ambitious piece performed as stagecraft and backed by instrumentation reminiscent of the orchestra pit.
What stands out most, however, is the endlessly imaginative writing of Thomas and Paul Dutton, who construct a world, inflict it with love and tear it all down over the course of 13 tracks.
Indeed, Razia’s Shadow is a reminder that the best music isn’t all that different from a good book. Each builds a landscape in your mind with full characters that are enriched - not confused - by an endless smattering of new detail.
So have you gotten a chance to check out Justice? What about getting the time together in your hectic schedule to see them live? Even better… What about being cool enough to be “back stage”? Probably not. Thanks to multi-award winning directors and intimate friends of the band Romain Gavras (”Stress” director) and So-Me (”D.A.N.C.E.”, “DVNO”, Justice will have a live DVD/CD/Documentary hit shelves on December 9th, just in time for you to buy it as a gift for your preferred religious holiday. This documentary covers their 3 week US March tour and shows you every gory detail of life on the road of this Grammy-nominated French duo. Check out the trailer after the jump.
Welcome to Air & Sea Battle. What is this site exactly? It’s a web magazine, a record label, a hobby, a passion, a creative outlet and a positive community. Sometimes we recommend great products to you and sometimes we even make those products on our own. We’re artists, journalists, musicians and individuals looking to finally implement ideas that we have had outside of our day jobs. This isn’t about selling ourselves, it’s about spreading the word on great ideas and quality entertainment as well as bringing to light issues we are passionate about.
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