Fatherson follow in footsteps of legends
New album recorded at world famous studio
They’ve come a long way from playing shows in the assembly hall at Kilmarnock Academy.
And Ayrshire’s own Fatherson had to pinch themselves when they recorded their new album at the world- famous Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales.
Top bands such as Queen, The Stone Roses and Oasis have laid down tracks in the hallowed studio and Ross Leighton, Marc Strain and Greg Walkinshaw are one of the latest to record there.
Bassist Marc said: “It was pretty crazy, to be honest.
“The day we started recording was the 40th anniversary of Bohemian Rhapsody getting released, and that was recorded in the studio we were sitting in.
“At the end of the first day we put Bohemian Rhapsody on like four times in a row, thinking what is going on here – why are we in this place recording our album?
“It’s dead secluded. It felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, but it turns out there was a big town and a housing estate about two minutes’ drive away, but we didnt have a car so we were just in the studio with no outside contact for a few weeks.
“We got to fully immerse ourselves into it and work at whatever time we wanted to.
“If you were ever feeling a bit tired, you’d just go tell yourselves all these famous songs were recorded here, these guys have been here - let’s get to it.”
Fatherson’s new album Open Book, recorded at Rockfield, is out this Friday and follows on from their succesful debut release, I Am An Island.
The band have previewed tracks from Open Book to a great response from their fans, and Marc says he can’t wait for them to finally hear the new album this Friday.
He said: “We recorded it last year and we put a few songs out but we’re ready to get the full length album out and see what people think.
“We sat on the first album for a year before releasing it whereas this one, the writing and recording process was done in the space of a couple of months, it was quite fast paced.
“As soon as the album was finished and we had it mixed we put Always, the first single, out.
“We wanted to have a steady stream of things coming out to get people excited for the album.
“The reaction has been great. You don’t always know exactly what people think about the songs until you start playing it live.
“On our recent tours it was great to see people jumping and singing along more to the new songs than the old ones in places.”
After the release of the new album, the next big landmark for Fatherson comes when they play for the fourth time at the legendary T In The Park festival this summer.
Marc said: “It was the first big music festival we’ve ever played and its nice to go back.
“We didn’t play last year, we had a wee year off, so it’s going to be nice.
“The last year we played it was just after we released our first album, and it’ll be a similar timescale for this one, and that was really special for us.”
You don’t know exactly what people think about the songs until you start playing it live