Escape Act have pretty much been off the radar for much of the last 12 months, but we haven’t been resting on the laurels of our first album, even though we were more than chuffed with the response it got. Instead we got stuck into a new album almost right away, and the first fruits of that labour can now be heard on our music page, and even downloaded in return for an email address.
Throughout this period we’ve been capturing video footage from the studio, gigs and other exploits. With a little help from our friend Tim Newell, we’ll be producing a series of video blogs and retrospectives on the recording process. The first one is on our youtube channel: www.youtube.com/escapeact
After the release of ‘Loosely Based On Fiction’ we realised that in order to keep things moving along in between work, life and what have you, we had to go straight back into another recording process. This started with Chris, a hard drive recorder and many late nights towards the end of 2008 – the result being 14 songs demoed. Several of these had been knocked about by the band in the practice room, but many were brand new ideas for what is now an album entitled ‘Balance’.
February 2009 saw a three-day stint at Chem19 in Hamilton with our friend and producer Andy Miller. This session was basically a drumming marathon and saw Alan putting down the foundation that would be built upon over the subsequent 11 months. Between March and July we returned to Chem19 five more times, building up guitars, vocals, bass and many other parts. At the same time Chris was working with musicians in Belfast writing, arranging and recording various parts for strings and brass.
By the end of July, Andy Miller had finished work on his own masterpiece – Gargleblast Studios, not far from Chem19. Gargleblast would be our home from that point forward and five more sessions concluded the recording process and 11 songs, finishing up in December.
2009 also saw some line-ups changes. Firstly we were joined by Ross Neely on guitar, keyboard, vocals and melodica. Ross has been helping us develop our live sound and add a new dimension to that experience. During early summer it became clear that drummer Alan, would have little choice but to follow his career over to a new post in Leicester. This saw the extremely talented Michael Samson join the band in time for a show at Dublin’s HWCH festival. Alan’s role in the band always reached beyond the drum stool however, and he still contributes distinctive artwork to our activities. (look out for new stickers at gigs!)
We’re really proud of what we have achieved with the creation of this new record. It was been a challenge, it has been a lot of hard work, it has tested every bit of musical motivation we have, but it has ultimately left us with a profound sense of gratitude and achievement that we look forward to sharing over the coming months.
Summer 2010 will see the release of ‘Balance’ along with ongoing activities surrounding particular songs. In the spirit of the new, empowered, independent music industry we intend to continue our policy of novel and interesting release and promotional activities. Our regular video blog updates, email newsletter and twitter will keep folks up to date on what we’re doing, but we’re eager to hear from fans who’d like to get involved in helping us release songs, make video, packaging, remixes, hold listening parties or anything else we haven’t thought of.
Rich Dale
- Feb 2010
Links:
New mailing list subscribers can download 3 exclusive live tracks from our Radio1 session.
For video blogs and more visit: www.youtube.com/escapeact
Facebook fans: www.facebook.com/escapeact
Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/escapeact
Tags: band, belfast music, new music, recording // Add Comment »
‘Balance’ is an incredible piece of work, and our proudest moment so far. Recorded during 2009 over 15 sessions at Chem19 and Gargleblast Studios in Hamiton, Scotland, it features 11 tracks recorded and produced by Andy Miller.
