On Track with Long Track

The music scene in Colchester is the envy of many a town, and new city, in the area, with an ever-growing number of artists and venues for lucky music lovers to choose from every night of the week. But it’s not all about the gigs, with many artists taking to the studio to record EPs and albums for their fans and to push their music farther afield. I recently for together for a chat with husband and wife team Nathan and Sarah Wacey of Long Track Studios in Marks Tey who work hard behind the scenes producing the amazing recorded sounds of artists from Colchester and beyond.

Photograph by jjdoyle.com

When did you open the studio and why? What was/is your vision for the studio?

Nathan: Our production company and the studio officially opened in January 2009. I had previously been working out of a unit on an industrial estate in Witham, but as we were looking to move house it made sense to find somewhere with space for a studio that could be built to my specifications using the best parts of the many big and small studios I’ve been in over the years. My vision was to create a pro-level place which could rival the London studios in quality of output, technical spec and creative atmosphere, but that was still accessible to independent and local musicians.

How many people work at Long Track?

Sarah: Long Track Studios is a partnership - therefore the studio building is effectively our home office, and it’s just me and Nathan - we don’t have any employees. Nathan is the producer and engineer and I manage the business side, bookings, accounts website etc. I do occasionally get involved in the creative process as I’m also a musician, but it’s very much Nathan’s studio!

Nathan and Sarah Wacey

What is your background in music? What training and experience do you have as an engineer and producer?

Nathan: I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12 or 13. I joined my first band and started recording and gigging at 15 so I’ve been engineering sound for 18 years! At 16 I did a music course in Cambridge, and in between studying and gigging in the evenings, I helped out at a venue called The Boat Race where I worked with many now large bands such as Oasis and Snow Patrol. I dabbled in many different areas of the music business, but recording became my main focus, and playing my outlet for fun. Later on I studied at SAE London. I set up my first proper studio with my friend, Ben Cahill, who is now an acoustics consultant with some very impressive projects under his belt. He also co-designed the acoustics for the Long Track studio building. I’ve now lost track of the number of albums and EPs I’ve worked on, but I’m pretty sure I’ve worked on most music genres.

Is there an area you specialise in/excel at?

Nathan:  I consider my job as an engineer to be to provide the musician with the sound they want, in the way they want, and most importantly being the person thinking five steps ahead so as to avoid problems later on in the process. That can often be highly demanding, so I’d say I excel at being flexible. At Long Track we have covered most genres, and ways of working. I really enjoyed all of them, but as a producer I do prefer to work on anything adventurous that pushes the boundaries of sound and genre.

Do you play in a band yourself? What kind of music do you play?

Nathan: I play guitar in an indie band called Manic Minor - we’re a three piece and mainly play gigs locally. We’ve been playing together for a long time now and it’s become my way to relax. Producing your own albums and EPs can be a challenge although I’m excited about our upcoming EP - it’s a totally different approach than anything we have done before, and may surprise a few people. I am also part of a production duo with Greg Blackman called P.O.G. and we have loads of releases coming up this year, one single or album a month, provisionally called project 2012.

Which artists have you worked with at Long Track?

Nathan: I’m bound to leave someone important out here, but the list includes New Town Kings, DJ Vadim, Greg Blackman, Ady Johnson, Sanctorum, Housework, Surfquake, The 633, ICH, The Faceless Dolls, RedKites, Her Majesty’s Request, Bridalveil, Batman Bigshot, Stuart Moffat, BOF!, Crownstreet, Kegs, and more. I’ve also done mastering for lots of other bands and artists.

Photograph by jjdoyle.com

What part of the process do you enjoy the most?

Nathan: There is nothing like getting handed a final pressed copy of something you’ve put your heart and soul into for months, so that’s great, but I also really love a traditional recording session - always unpredictable, I’m constantly having to adjust and fit what I need to do around the artists so those sessions are full of adrenaline. I also really love the final mastering stage – mastering is a bit of a dark art , many people don’t really know or understand what you can do, its pretty much the most scientific, precise and frankly geeky part of making a record, but you can take something a band thought was great and make something totally amazing .

What do you believe Long Track's USP is?

Sarah: Well, when we first started we thought this was going to be the quality of the acoustics and the equipment we have for the prices we charge - i.e. good value for money. The studio was very carefully acoustically designed and the live room sounds great, and we’re also very proud of the Neve desk and Apogee converters - both being something you don’t often find outside London. However, I’m told time and time again by returning clients that above and beyond the great results they get, people come back for the relaxed atmosphere. We try and make people feel at home in the studio and maybe it helps that it actually IS our home and our house is 100 yards away, I don’t know, but people seem to feel comfortable with us, which is really great to know.

Describe a typical day

Nathan: There is no such thing as a typical day and that’s what I love about my job! One day I could be recording vocals for a few hours, or midi programming, another day could be a mammoth drum tracking session or a live full band recording. It’s never predictable, and much harder work than you’d imagine - especially listening to the same thing over and over - but it’s also very rewarding.

So there you have it. Not only is Colchester at the forefront of the area's live music scene, at Long Track studios in Marks Tey Nathan and Sarah are working hard behind the scenes to make our hardworking local bands sound as good on in your car and on your iPod as they do when you catch them live around Colchester, and beyond.

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I run Media48, a Colchester based graphic and website design and marketing agency where we know a thing or two about how to market a business. If you would like to find out more about what we can do for your business then give us a call on 0800 756 1470 (we even pay for the call) or email me simon@media48.co.uk

A New Twist on The Twist

And so it was finally upon us, the weekend of the reopening of The Twist on Military Road. This much missed local music venue is now in the hands of new owners who have invested a lot of money to turn it into a live music destination that can compete with the likes of The Bull on Crouch Street, which has become a mecca for local music lovers, The Judge and Jury a stone’s throw away at St Botolph’s Circus, and of course the Arts Centre. Is there room in Colchester for all these venues? I certainly hope so. More venues means more opportunities for local bands to get gigs, and a bit of competition between the venues to get people away from their TVs and through their doors can only be a good thing for the local music scene.

Friday night saw The Twist’s launch weekend kick off with their own ‘Twist Club Night’ featuring a number of DJ sets, but my mission was to go along on Monday for the second part of the celebration, the ‘Band Night’ featuring Tallowah, The Gulls, Animal Noise and New Town Kings, with Colchester’s very own Mr Cool, Ben Howard, DJing before, between and after the bands.

We arrived just in time to catch Animal Noise’s set. Now, I know I’d seen them just a week before at the Wivenhoe May Fair, but this is one of my favourite local bands and I’ll take any opportunity to see Colchester trio Josh, Jack and Birdy belt out a set of their distinctive bruised, battered and beaten acoustic dance tunes. By the time we arrived the place was already packed, but even though there was a big crowd at the bar it didn’t take too long to get our drinks then find ourselves a spot to stand.

My first ever visit to The Twist was some years ago to see Colchester punk band Special Duties who had recently reformed, and standing in the venue on Monday night I guestimated that even though the place had been completely remodelled since then and the bar moved from the centre of the room to the corner, I was standing almost exactly where I had stood all those years ago. Goodtimes.

Animal Noise took to the stage and immediately it went off, with the band’s loyal followers, and new fans alike, giving it all they’d got. This is a band who look like they are going places, and who only the other week were one of three bands handpicked by Radio One’s Huw Stephens for his weekly podcast. And it’s not surprising why they are getting so much attention, with Josh’s guitar licks and soulful vocals, the imposing figure of Birdy playing the bass for all he is worth, and Jack’s incessant drumming combining to make their music oh so irresistible, and hard for even the most non-partisan members of the crowd not to enjoy. There were some technical problems, but in spite of these issues they played an outstanding set to the delight of a very receptive crowd in a venue that was getting hotter and sweatier by the minute. A set that was over way too quick but left me thinking “That was their best gig yet”. But then I think that after all their gigs because they just keep getting better and better.

You can read my Colchester 101 magazine interview with Animal Noise HERE.

Ben Howard

Cometh the hour, cometh the Kings. New Town Kings to be precise.  And one thing is for sure, they are guaranteed to rock the place to its rafters.

Now, the stage at the Twist isn’t exactly small, but with nine members in the band New Town Kings pretty much filled up every available inch of real estate up there as they set about doing what they do best, belting out song after song to the packed venue. They were as tight as ever, and as we have come to expect from New Town Kings it was fun and energetic, with the crowd dancing, and singing along to favourites like Dynamite and News Stand. They are a hard working band, they play a lot of gigs, and it shows. By the bucket load. And what I like so much at their shows is that as well as the amazing atmosphere they create it is clear they are having as much fun as we are. If not more, so it’s little wonder that this ska/reggae band, who are fast becoming local legends, are so in demand by venues and festivals. And long may that continue as they go on to bigger and better things.

You can read my Colchester 101 magazine interview with New Town Kings HERE.

So The Twist came back with a bang, and Colchester’s music lovers are now spoiled for choice. We have so many great bands in the town, and now another great venue to see them in.

I run Media48, a Colchester based graphic and website design and marketing agency where we know a thing or two about how to market a business. If you would like to find out more about what we can do for your business then give us a call on 0800 756 1470 (we even pay for the call) or email me simon@media48.co.uk

May Fair on Film

The local newspaper want may its readers to think that two arrests for minor incidents was worthy of a sensationalising headline, along with an accompanying article, claiming the future of the May Fair is in doubt. As I have previously written, my experience of this year's fair was an extremely enjoyable one, a sentiment I saw shared by many on their Facebooks over the next couple of days, with "The best May Fair ever!" posted many times by people who had obviously enjoyed it as much as I had. And I rather suspect that most of the 5000 or so other people who were there also enjoyed their day on the King George V playing field. Whether you were there for the music, the stalls, to sit in the sun with a drink, experience some of the 'gourmet street food' on offer, or a mixture of all, Wivenhoe May Fair was a fantastic day out enjoyed by locals, and others from Colchester and beyond, of all ages.

With this in mind I'm delighted to share this short film by talented Wivenhoe film maker Sam King that beautifully captures the atmosphere of the day, along with some of the folk who gave up their time to make this special day happen.

If you want to see more of Sam's work you can follow his YouTube channel HERE.


I run Media48, a Colchester based graphic and website design and marketing agency where we know a thing or two about how to market a business. If you would like to find out more about what we can do for your business then give us a call on 0800 756 1470 (we even pay for the call) or email me simon@media48.co.uk

Final Pictures of Layer Road

My first ever trip to Layer Road was with my dad and brother to see Colchester United take on the might of Derby County in a 4^th round FA Cup tie. I stood on top of an upturned milk crate on the Clock End terrace that afternoon as the Us battled for a well-earned draw. I made a few more visits after that, but didn’t really get hooked until after the infamous 8 - nil drubbing in October 1988 by Leyton Orient that saw manager Roger Brown sacked and replaced with the legendary Jock Wallace, and coach Alan Ball. Amazingly they managed to steer the club, who were languishing at the bottom of the old 4th Division, to league safety in an epic race for points with Darlington and saved us from the dreaded drop into the GM Vauxhall Conference. Well, for that season at least.

I was immediately hooked, and for several years rarely missed a game. Home or away. The Barside terrace was my second home... after a catching up with friends over a couple of pints at the nearby Drury Arms of course. It was a place to enjoy the terrace chants, the banter, a cup of Bovril and a meat pie at half-time, and of course cheer on the 11 players on the pitch through thick and thin. We had laughs aplenty, and crushing disappointment in equal measure. Such was life on the terraces.

The Barside and Layer Road End terraces as seen from the Main Stand.

The clink of the turnstiles, the terrace chants with the guys at the back often banging along in time on the corrugated iron wall behind, the shower of rust when the ball hit the roof, shouting at an evening game for the lights above our heads to be turned off again after half-time so we could see the game, the queue at the pie hut, scrambling over the wall to get onto that hallowed turf when the referee blew the whistle at the end of the final home game of the season and so much more are now just memories. The Us have long since vacated the ground we all loved and moved up the road to the shiny new Weston Homes Community Stadium  to the north of the town, but it’s only recently that the bulldozers have finally moved in. We might all have known for many years that to survive and have any chance of success in the modern day game Colchester United needed a stadium worthy of their ambitions, and with facilities to boost their income, but to see Layer Road disappearing forever was heart breaking when I made the trip over there this morning with my camera for one last look before it is gone forever.

All that remains of the ticket office and the back of the Layer Road End terrace.

Making easy work of demolishing the Main Stand.

The steps up to the Layer Road End terrace now go nowhere.

Not a sight I ever thought I'd see.

The supporters club bar still stands. For now.

The Club Shop canopy lies abandoned in front of the exits from the turnstiles having miraculously survived intact.

All that remains of the club shop. A changing room mirror now reflects the overgrown pitch instead of a proud Us fan trying on the new season's shirt.

How many thousands of corners must have taken from this spot? In the background the trees that were once hidden from view by the Main Stand.

All that remains of my beloved Barside. A pile of rubble.

Once the bulldozers are gone Layer Road will be the site of 58new homes, with all traces of the football ground eradicated forever. Except in the memories of generations of Us fans.

Goodbye Layer Road, gone but not forgotten.

All the Fun of the May Fair

This the story of my 2012 Wivenhoe May Fair. Other people's mileage may of course vary.

Since moving to Wivenhoe the town’s annual May Fair on the King George V playing field has been one of my favourite days of the year. When my children were younger May Fair day was a day for their mother and I to pack us up a picnic, some cold beers and a bottle or two of wine, not forgetting of course soft drinks for the little ones, then meeting up with friends for an afternoon of browsing the stalls and basking in the sun. The kids, armed with a few quid from mum and dad would excitedly come and go from our little base of blankets on the grass armed with ice creams and other purchases such a necklaces and bracelets that were usually broken by the next morning. I even remember one year in those heady days a little enclosure at the top of the field where little kids could have endless fun knocking nails into scraps of wood with hammers and nails kindly provided by the people running the attraction. I shudder to think of the potential injuries and what a health and safety officer would have to say about that today!

Oh yes, there was also some music going on somewhere down the bottom of the field, but that was never really on our radar back then.

Fast forward a few years and the kids are now teenagers, hanging out on May Fair day with their teenage friends, and dad is now more interested in the music than having  a picnic. This is due in part to the amazing musical talent available these days from the Wivenhoe and Colchester areas, and that, at least in my perception, our May Fair has in recent years evolved into more of a mini festival. It’s certainly not the same event that we used to let the kids wander around on their own with the words “Make sure you stay together… “ ringing in their ears.

After the problems of last year, which have been well documented and don’t need rehashing here, the organisers, in their collective wisdom, decided to turn back the clock and try to take the fair back towards its original peace festival roots. So, for its 30^th Anniversary, the May Fair was taken from its usual bank holiday Monday slot and moved to Saturday, on a different weekend, in an attempt to keep the numbers more manageable. To help turn back the clock a ‘70s vibe’  fancy dress theme was announced, and the musical talent was drawn primarily from Wivenhoe rather than, as happened last year, using big names from Colchester to swell the crowd.

Arriving around 12.30 my first port of call was to catch up with old friend Dave Beard who I heard would be setting up his stall on the King George V. Sure enough Beardy was there and it was good to see him back behind his stall doing what he loves.

Beardy on his stall

After browsing the other stalls, and stopping for a chat with friends Patrick Auer and Jo Weatherall on their stall selling jewellery and watches, a hearty lunch of Jamaican food followed, curried goat with rice and a fish patty, which was consumed before heading down to the Tree Stage in time to catch local favourites Hobo Chang, a band that never fails to deliver, and yep, you guessed it, to the delight of their home crowd they delivered with their usual earthy mix of blues, jazz, reggae and ska.

Now, there’s three Colchester bands that I love to see whenever I get the opportunity… Surfquake, Animal Noise and Dingus Khan, and wouldn’t you just know it but the May Fair’s lovely organisers had seen fit put two of them on. So first up were the Animal Noise boys, Jack (Drums), Birdy (Bass and vocals) and Josh (Guitar and vocals) who served us up a blinding set of their distinctive bruised battered and beaten acoustic dance tunes which had a large crowd at the front dancing in the baking sun like their lives depended on it. Thankfully local legend Martin Newell was on hand to compere between the acts and made a point of reminding them to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. Wise words Martin.

If you would like to find out more about Animal Noise you can read my interview with them from the November 2011 issue of Colchester 101 magazine. Read it here.

 Next up, and all the way from Kentucky in the good ole US of A, was Buddy Lee Dickens. Animal Noise are a tough act to follow and that stage must have seemed like a big, empty space after Martin had introduced him and left him alone on it, but Buddy made it his own, delighting the crowd with his take on the theme to Spiderman, the self-penned Root Beer, and even had people running to the stage to dance when he launched into the theme to the hit TV show The Big Bang Theory. Totally awesome dude.

 A trip to the bar followed to refill my thermal insulated mug that was the envy of many who spotted me sipping my ice cold beer from it. This baby mug holds two bottles’ worth of beer… next year I’m bringing its brother, the mighty Big Red Mug that can hold the contents of four cans of Carlsberg and keep it the same temperature it came out of the fridge for the afternoon. Goodtimes.

We returned in time to catch the last song of Lou Terry’s set, then it wasn’t long before Martin was introducing Surfquake to the eager crowd who were then treated to a mix of surf guitar rock including classic TV themes and their own songs. Surfquake, comprising Swell (Go-go Guitar), The Dune (Surf Drums), and Wivenhoe locals Hannah Lulu (Quayboards) and Noserider (Hotrod Bass) are a popular festival band, and as expected proved a huge hit with this crowd.
 

If you would like to read my interview with Swell, aka New Model Army’s Nelson, from January’s Colchester 101 magazine click here.

 

A trip up to the Sunrise Stage followed to catch the amazing Rhonda Merrick, a prolific blues and soul singer / songwriter hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana. Rhonda’s presence was a real coup for the May Fair and those lucky enough to be in the packed tent knew they were listening to someone with a very special talent as she delighted all assembled.

To round off the afternoon it was back to the Tree Stage again to catch funkateer and soulsmith Greg Blackman’s set. I’ve seen Greg perform a couple of times before, once in Colchester’s Circle Bar and a few weeks later in the front bar of the Bull on Crouch Street, and was very curious about what this incredibly talented and charismatic musician was going to bring to the main stage of a big outdoor event. Well… Greg owned it, smashed it, nailed it, and all the other clichés… he did the lot of them! For the next half hour or so it was Greg’s stage, and he was up there having the time of his life in the blazing May sunshine showing the crowd, which down at the front of the stage was growing by the minute, just what to expect when you are in the presence of true talent. For many who had seen his name on the line up but weren’t sure what Greg Blackman was going to be all about this turned out to be the highlight of their day, and it may not be too long before Greg is achieving the huge success and recognition he deserves and they are telling people how lucky they were to see him for free at the Wivenhoe May Fair.

If you want to read my interview with Greg in the April 2011 issue of Colchester 101 magazine click here

The crowd, including members of the New Town Kings,watching Greg Blackman's set

And that was it for me. Time to make the short walk home, put my feet up and apply lashings of aftersun to my sunburned neck.

Thank you to the May Fair committee and all those involved with putting together such an amazing day for all who attended.