Having left the fairly luxurious and safe confines of a major record
label, we were once again faced with the limitations that any of you
who are in bands will know well. These limitations stem predominantly
from a lack of financial resources, leading to problems regarding both
touring and recording (the two key aspects of any band's life). Upon
first leaving Independiente, we had not intended to produce or record
any material independently for future release - we fully intended to
sign a new record deal with an unspecified label who would save us
from all our woes at the time.

Towards the end of our relationship with our former record company,
however, we had invested in some equipment which would transform the
direction of the band at that time. At our rehearsal studios (The
Greenhouse, or G2, in Manchester, in case anyone was wondering), we
noticed a poster advertising a Digidesign Digi 001 for sale. Having
some speculative interest in recording techniques and the like, I knew
that we could use this device to run Pro Tools - a recording program
we has used throughout the recording of Handshakes For Bullets. We
eventually convinced ourselves that this would be a good investment,
as we would be able to record new demos for Independiente (remember -
we're still with them at this point!) without having to pay
extortionate studio costs. One of the first things you learn as a
member of a band is how expensive the recording studio can be. Even
for a small demo studio run by a deaf engineer you should expect to
pay around £20 an hour. If a band intends to undertake any serious
course of recording, the costs will quickly add up to monstrous
amounts.

Armed with our new Digi 001, we rushed into our rehearsal rooms
without much idea about both what we were doing and how we were going
to go about it. If I remember correctly, we first positioned eight
vocal microphones (SM58s) around a drumkit and recorded Neil by
himself. It sounded awful, but we managed to convince ourselves that
we had created something great. It's strangely empowering to suddenly
realise that all the 'magic' a producer creates in a studio can be
created by anybody with a couple of hundred pounds and the time to
experiment with various microphones. After a couple of rough demos of
new songs we had been working on, we felt we were achieving something
and rushed out to a music shop in Manchester to invest in some
'quality' microphones. We returned with a set of six drum microphones
that cost around £350 and a Behringer condenser microphone that cost
around £250. We used these cheap and cheerful microphones to record
all of 'You Are Being Lied To', with a few borrowed SM58s popping up
here and there (particularly whilst recording guitars).

With our new toys, we recorded what was perhaps the first decent demo
we had handled ourselves. As far as I remember, there was a working
version of the song 'You Are Being Lied To' as well as three other
tracks. Independiente were not, however, overly jubilant about our
efforts, and we began to tout this recording around via our manager.
Unfortunately, this was to no avail, although a small label named
'Captions Of Industry' offered to put out an EP for us. Excited by
this proposition, we returned to our ramshackle studio, which had now
been bolstered by the addition of a mixing desk to the room, and began
work on four tracks. In the end, only one of these ended up appearing
on the album, but at the time, these songs were deemed good enough
that Paul Tipler offered to mix them free of charge in an expensive
London studio. We took up this offer and found that our efforts and
recording our own music were actually rather good - Paul Tipler was
able to make our £500 worth of microphones stand up top any commercial
record at the moment. The EP never came about - we decided instead to
concentrate on recording an entire album by ourselves. Perhaps the
success of the four tracks Tipler mixed went to our head... Anyway, we
were filled with excitement and headed back up north to begin.

Whilst we were learning the basics of the recording technique (how to
use EQ, why drums should be louder than guitars in the mix) we decided
to invite our live sound engineer, Adam 'Clem' Bennett, up top
Manchester to record a couple of songs. I remember we recorded 'Have
My Sympathy' and 'I Am the Light' with Clem, but any other tracks
escape my memory - I'm sure there were some though. Bringing Clem into
the fold was something of a turning point. He offered us general
advice on mixing techniques and showed us little tricks that made all
the difference to the finished sound. We ended up re-recording 'Have
My Sympathy' (the only song from this session that made the album),
but it is a testament to Clem's abilities that we were able to reuse
virtually all the guitars he had recorded for us. We were, finally, on
our way to bringing 'You Are Being Lied To' into the sphere of reality
and away from the confines our our minds.

We were fairly methodical in our recording techniques throughout the
actual 'album sessions'. A white board was strung up above the mixing
desk, containing a list of the song titles we had at the moment and
details about which stage they were at - whether they needed some more
guitars or vocals or whatever. As songs were completed, each of us put
our initials next to the song in question, indicating whether or not
we believed it should make the album. If a song was popular amongst
us, it would invariably have four initials next to its title. If it
was not, the initials would be conspicuous only by their absence. Thus
we began to build up a coherent notion of what the album would be like
as a whole. At this stage, I think it is fair to say that we were
fairly excited.

The recording of a typical song would usually go something like this:
The four of us would practice the song until we believed it was ready
to be recorded. We would then, as a group, decide upon the tempo of
the song ,and create a click track. The drums would then be set up and
microphones placed around it until we found a sound we liked. This
usually happened at around 11pm at night - as soon as every other band
in the rehearsal complex had gone home, we would occupy the large,
stone walled room housing the pool table and drinks machines. Neil
would play drums for a couple of hours at least, until he was happy
that he had nailed a strong take of any particular track. Next came
the arduous process of 'comping' a drum track. At first, I would spend
hours doing this until Neil proved himself massively quicker than
myself. Drums that were slightly out of time would be dragged back
milliseconds in order that a rhythm be maintained meticulously. Upon
completing this stage, Tom would be invited in and we would lay down a
strong bass track. Usually we would mic up his Ampeg with at least two
microphones and couple this with a DI send from the bass which we
would later re-amp. When happy with this process, myself and Michael
would begin layering guitar tracks over what we already had. Sometimes
this proved to be an easy process. Other times we would play for hours
and hours on end with no end results emerging. If we had got to this
stage, Michael would then begin his vocal warm ups before hollering
into a microphone for a few hours until we had something resembling a
take. Then came the addition of backing vocals (involving all of the
band at times) followed by any drum machine programming or additional
instruments such as pianos or strings. All this would have taken up
around three days so far.

Although we mixed the entire album ourselves at first (perhaps one day
these mixes will see the light of day...?) we were lucky enough to
have the wonderful Captains Of Industry contact Matt Elliss, a
talented engineer and mixer based at Axis Studios in Doncaster. Matt
mixed the tracks at a rate of around one and a half songs a day,
meaning that within a week and a half of sending him the tracks, we
were able to hear the finished songs in all their (supposed) glory.
This mixing of the record, it should be noted, took place nearly a
year after we initially planned to record the album. I think we can
establish that if we ever make a record together again, the process
will not be so long and drawn out. The album took around two months to
actually record, costing us around £800 in rehearsal studio fees. In
total, it can probably be argued, the entire album cost us around
£2000 to make. Consider that we spent around £2000 a day making
Handshakes For Bullets, and I think it can be said that the making of
You Are Being Lied To was a triumph for us itself. Whether the NME
liked it or not, or people bought it not, as an exercise in guerilla
recording, success can be the only word to describe the album. I feel
immensely proud of You Are Being Lied To, not just for the songs that
are contained within it, but for the process we undertook in making
it. It really feels like we were at our most 'together' when bringing
the album to fruition. I have great memories of Michael, Neil and Tom
all contributing exciting recording ideas and of the group dynamic
being at its strongest.

I considered, when writing this piece, including much more technical
information. The guitars we used, how we achieved certain sounds, or
the amount of compression we applied to the drums at certain stages. I
figured this would bore the pants off most people, so decided against
it. If, however, sufficient interest is shown from those among you who
are interested in such things (I know there must be some) or are in
bands yourself, I may write a more technical account of the recording
process. I hope, however, that this throws some more light into what
went into the making of 'You Are Being Lied To'.

Conor