Any time I start doing vocals, the words of my friend Liam Bradley come into my mind. As well as being a phenomenal drummer, he’s a great singer whose only advice to any vocalist is exactly the title of this post – without the asterisks…
Just sing the fucking song
Vocal histrionics make him seethe with rage. Was it Whitney Houston who started all that nonsense where every note had to be wiggled and wobbled and oversung within an inch of it’s life? I’m sure it was all going on well before that. Only a few singers are gifted enough – and funky enough to get away with that sort of stuff. I can tolerate Stevie Wonder doing whatever the hell he wants because he’s just mind-blowing. Or Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin… for some reason in that context it doesn’t seem so annoying because the music is really grooving behind them. It’s when a song is simple that this kind of insane warbling gets to me.
I am fairly pleased to say I’m not one of those types – not through any reasons of theology or geometry, taste or decency, but through sheer lack of physical ability. In fact, my main inspiration for vocals is Mark Knopfler. I’ve said this before but it’s so fundamentally important to how I’ve been approaching the vocals that I’m damn well going to say it again. I just need to sing the fucking song.
Its quite hilarious trying to get vocals done at home. I need to get both kids to bed first, of course. Then, as I get the mic, preamp and interface set up, the neighbours’ washing machine goes into a spin cycle rattling our oven like a pair of maracas. Police sirens and distant traffic I don’t mind, Sainsburys delivery vans reversing beeps are rather more annoying (as happened half way through a delicate verse in Writing Home), and forgetting to turn my mobile off is an unforgivable no-no (Jez confirming he can play tennis tomorrow just as I was hitting the second chorus of Riversong).
Anyway, I’m not really match fit for singing. Might have a couple of good takes in there, but I won’t know until the cold light of morning. I’m just going to watch some snooker highlights and have a cuppa.
In other news, Matt Rudd has finished his development of the new Ramshackle Crow logo, so a new site theme is coming soon. He’s such a killer designer, it’s been a real privilege to have him working on this stuff with such a joyous energy.