Mastering. It's a special moment. Sitting in the softly carpeted space of a mastering studio taking in the banks of analogue and audio equipment twinkling away like traffic lights on aphetimines. I still get a slighty nervous sensation when handing over a CD of brand new tunes ready for a bit of tweak and boost. Whilst I didn't make them, I still feel intimately linked with the music. I've chosen it, filtered it from other tracks which didn't strike that chord within me. So, I'm a nervous A&R I suppose. But i'm not worrying about if it will sell or whether the shops will take 5 or 50. I'm worried if people will like it, love it, play it every monring when they get up and before they go to bed. Longevity is a word that pops into my mind regularly and is something that you can rarely predict. I hope, as I'm sitting there listening to Jason EQing, that the tunes playing out before me will be listened to 10, 20 or 50 years from now, the vinyl passed through generations, lovingly played and cherished, and kept unconditionally.
And I do feel that both Clouds's "Mighty Eyeball Rays" and Healing of the Nation's "Talks of the Prejudiced" (Clouds Version) will stand the test of time, and not just be another big tune that is played for 2 months and then relagated to the has been pile. But I supposed I'll have to let the public decide that one.
Big up to Jason, Leon and Chefal at Transition. Always a fantastic experience sitting in the studio with you, seeing and hearing you do your thing and putting the world to rights. Bless up!
