Pocket Rocket in the studio: Day 3

Day 3: Vocals

I don't usually take multi-vitamins, or supplements, and all that nonsense. Waste of money. Don't believe they make a difference on a daily basis, unless you eat crap all day, every day. The only thing I have on a daily basis is a banana milk shake, comprising four bananas, very ripe, and and pint of skimmed milk. I do, however, take multi-vitamins when I feel a cold coming on. Or at times like this week, when I am due to sing with the band, and there is a cold in the family; this particular virus belongs to my daughter and includes a free sore throat.

So that's what I have been doing. I've been doubling the dose too, which I'm sure makes no difference, but it makes me feel doubly confident that I will not catch her cold. And I didn't - thank god.

So after 'One-Take' Wilson re-recorded his bass lines, I took to the booth with just a few bananas in my belly, and with a glass of water in my hand. I always feel slightly unnerved when I first step into the booth, my breathing is slightly shallow, but after a few takes, and the realisation that in 3-5 of these I'm going to have enough to construct a strong lead vocal track, I begin to relax into it, and enjoy it.

Without a guitar around my neck I am able to scrutinise my vocals in a way I rarely get to. It's interesting. You have to think about your breathing, and about the length of words and lines, and ending your words clearly, all in a way that you don't in live performance.

With vocals down, it's over to the boys to sing backing vocals. After a quick smoke outside, they take turns to unconfidently enter the booth. We construct a couple of two and three part harmonies for each of the songs, around the backing vocals that they usually sing live. We then put them through the tuning-software-me-jig to get them in tune and tidy them up a bit, and Crosby, Stills and Nash's your uncle... we got perfect harmonies.

Job done, with half an hour to listen to a playback, and pat each other on the back a bit more.