Today we are in at 301 studios in Sydney doing some live recording for an itunes session. 301 has a huge live room which we have set up in. Its massive space with high celling, timber floors and enough acoustic baffling to create a very open and live sound.. its one of those rooms where if you fart it will echo until the day aliens finally land to have their way with us..

We played a had full of tracks some off the new record and some not with just one or two passes at each then listened back and chose the ones we feel were the best.

Things sounded really good in the studio today.. it was all very relaxed and free forming.. good buzz. It may have something to do with the fact that everyone had a slight bender last night not that i’m endorsing such behavior but what ever works right?

There’s a lot to be said about self medicating..

Posted by : Kenny

Today we are in Sydney to perform and record a short private show involving Flip cameras. Basically we have hired out Studio 301’s main live room and will set up all our gear in there for a live recording and have invited 40 guests from the public to come down and watch us showcase a handful of our new material. 20 of those guests will be given Flip cameras to record the show then we will take the footage and edit into usable footage.

We get to the studio early in the morning and bump in all of our gear. Studio 301 is a very prestigious studio and I for one am quite excited to be in its walls and curious of its inner workings.
We are reunited with our good friend and provocateur, producer extraordinaire Scott Horscroft. He is here to record and mix the session. Last time we saw him was the final days of recording the album in Sweden which ended in a toxic chemical bath after an incident involving fire extinguishers in doors.

We spend most of the day setting up and pulling sounds. We booked 45 different coloured bean bags, we production line them into the studio and place them around until the studio floor looks like it is covered in giant jelly beans. Kenny joins us just as we are set to go and we go through a few songs.

Our guests start to arrive around 530 and we let them into the studio at 6. Rosco gives them a short address then we enter and start to play. The vibe is relaxed and fun, the set is short and we invite everyone to stick around for pizza and a sneaky listen to the new album in the control room through the studio monitors.

Everyone is super nice and it was great to meet fans of the band on a personal level. I even bummed some smokes off a nice couple in the courtyard.

After the show wind up and still revelling over the success of the evening we decide to head to crown street for a few after drinks. The others endure a near death experience as Scott displays the power and traction controls of his new GTA muscle car on the streets of Sydney.

We drink some tequilas to toast our friend Maddy’s birthday. Glenn and I have chosen this venue, the Dolphin Arms because it houses our obsession and religious altar; Big Buck Safari Pro!

I would like to say that I beat Glenn at Buck and went on to enjoy an evening of glowing adulation but it is just not true. I suffered a crushing defeat and bitter rage followed.

We bowl back to Scott’s apartment for a night cap, I manage to annoy everyone in my rage and decide it’s time to go to bed. The others stay to watch Ricki Gervais dvds.

Tomorrow we are back in the studio to do some more recording.

BIRDS OF TOKYO - 301 Live Session

Posted by : Adam Spark

I know it’s cliché, but there’s an inviting and almost kooky presence about a hometown crowd and show. Maybe it had something to do with the fact some of us have parents that bring a deck chair into a club at capacity and park their ass where they see fit, or a 60 something that battles their way through the crowds to make front and centre or just the excited flailing of arms up in the top tiers. We just try not to make eye contact otherwise mistakes are bound to be made!

In other news, as Jacko spends 23 waking hours each day on facebook and other chat related programs, there is a ritual like practise that dates back as far as last year, where if Jacko leaves his computer or his phone alone and still logged in, then his account gets sabotaged by any one of us. All sorts of posts are then left for the rest of the community to comment on, but alas it’s usually only a few minutes these days before he finds out on his way to make a status update. What a time to be alive!

Posted by : Adam W