We recorded our album at Scumbag College. A noisy, carpeted box under Wellington airport. During the session the room was an ear crushing pressure cooker of cymbals and drone. Ben is not quiet drummer. Everything was obliterated except for the bass and rhythm. After playing for 45 minutes straight and with a severe bout of ear fatigue we retired to the control room. Listening back at low volumes on these super-sweet monitor speakers we were flabbergasted! Everything that had seemed so loud and brutish in creation was nuanced and restrained. I’ve never had the joy of seeing Earth live (bucket list) but apparently they play at apocalyptic volumes. The strange thing is I’ve always listened to their albums quietly and find them so soothing and meditative. I imagine that when playing live some of the subtlety would go out the window but in its place body-vibrating chords. A fair trade off!

Exuberance is the piece where this loud/quiet dichotomy was most apparent. At the time it was all rapid pulse rhythms and blocks of noise – devoid of any sort of compositional structure. However, listening back it does have some develpoment; a pulse gradually swelling in intensity until everything is on 11 then subsiding! I hope you enjoy. X abc

DOWNLOAD: The All Seeing Hand “Exuberance”