TN:139 KASABIAN

Album: Happenings

John joins Kasabian producer, songwriter, and frontman Serge Pizzorno to discuss the band’s latest record, ‘Happenings’.

Kasabian, an English rock band formed in the late 1990s, burst onto the scene in the early 2000s with iconic anthems like ‘LSF’ and ‘Club Foot’. Since then, they have released eight albums, earning multiple NME Awards and a Brit Award for Best British Group in 2010.

Sitting down with guitarist and co-founder Serge Pizzorno, the conversation dives into his production journey—from experimenting with a loop pedal at eleven years old to collaborating with renowned producer Mark Ralph. Serge shares insights into his hours-long loop jams, reveals how he transformed an Asda voice note into a fully-fledged track, and discusses the secrets behind crafting iconic riffs.

Tracks discussed: Call, Coming Back To Me Good, G.O.A.T.

 

Full Transcript:

00:00:05.402 –> 00:00:11.002
John Kennedy: Hello and welcome to Tape Notes, the podcast that looks behind the scenes at the magic of recording and producing music.

00:00:11.422 –> 00:00:17.982
John Kennedy: Every episode, we’ll be reuniting an artist and producer and talking through some of the highlights from their collaboration in the studio.

00:00:18.382 –> 00:00:24.842
John Kennedy: So join us as we lift the lid on the creative process and the inner workings of music production to see what lies beneath.

00:00:31.130 –> 00:00:38.430
John Kennedy: Hello, I’m John Kennedy, and joining me for this episode of Tape Notes are Casabian, to talk about how they wrote, recorded and produced the album Happenings.

00:00:39.050 –> 00:00:49.310
John Kennedy: Casabian are an English rock band from Leicester, consisting of guitarist Tim Carter, Chris Edwards on bass, drummer Ian Matthews and Serge Pizzorno as frontman, guitarist and songwriter.

00:00:49.810 –> 00:00:54.050
John Kennedy: The founding members, including the band’s early frontman Tom Meehan, met in school.

00:00:54.310 –> 00:01:02.050
John Kennedy: Inspired by the hip hop, crowd rock and rave music scenes, in 1997, they decided to form a band, initially under the name Syracuse.

00:01:02.470 –> 00:01:07.590
John Kennedy: After recording and releasing several EPs together, the group began to gain recognition for their musical talent.

00:01:07.790 –> 00:01:13.130
John Kennedy: And in 2002, signed with BMG Records, eventually changing their name to Casabian.

00:01:13.570 –> 00:01:16.830
John Kennedy: In 2004, they released their self-titled debut album.

00:01:17.050 –> 00:01:25.350
John Kennedy: Featuring the tracks Cut Off and LSF, the record captured the attention of fans with Tom’s monotonic snarl and Serge’s swirling guitar riffs at its core.

00:01:25.770 –> 00:01:28.990
John Kennedy: Since then, the band released a further seven studio albums.

00:01:29.230 –> 00:01:37.990
John Kennedy: Each of which has reached number one in the UK charts, with their singles including the anthems Fire, Club Foot and Underdog becoming multi-platinum selling.

00:01:38.470 –> 00:01:53.570
John Kennedy: Their latest record, Happenings, with Serge once more at helm, sees the band draw inspiration from psychedelic gigs of the 1960s, creating a joyous modern pop record that this time brings their signature grooves and infectious guitar lines to the dance floor.

00:01:54.350 –> 00:02:01.950
John Kennedy: Today, I join Serge at his home studio, The Surgery in Leicester, and what better way to start our conversation than by hearing something from the record.

00:02:02.970 –> 00:02:04.210
John Kennedy: This is Darkest Lullaby.

00:03:15.192 –> 00:03:25.872
John Kennedy: It is Casabian with Darkest Lullaby from the new album Happenings, and I’m very pleased to say that I am sat in the surgery with Serge Pizzorno from Casabian, where it’s all out, Serge.

00:03:25.892 –> 00:03:26.192
John Kennedy: Hello.

00:03:26.292 –> 00:03:26.932
Serge Pizzorno: How’s it going?

00:03:27.212 –> 00:03:28.512
John Kennedy: It’s very exciting.

00:03:28.672 –> 00:03:30.052
John Kennedy: I’m really excited to be here.

00:03:30.072 –> 00:03:32.572
John Kennedy: Thanks so much for having us to visit you here.

00:03:32.812 –> 00:03:35.132
John Kennedy: So this is where it’s all been happening for the last few years.

00:03:35.452 –> 00:03:36.972
John Kennedy: How many albums have you made here now?

00:03:36.992 –> 00:03:37.292
Serge Pizzorno: Two.

00:03:37.532 –> 00:03:40.772
Serge Pizzorno: So Alchemist and then Happenings.

00:03:40.792 –> 00:03:43.972
Serge Pizzorno: Started lockdown, it was built.

00:03:44.612 –> 00:03:45.792
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, it’s huge, isn’t it?

00:03:45.812 –> 00:03:46.452
John Kennedy: It is big.

00:03:46.872 –> 00:03:48.852
John Kennedy: It feels a bit like a spaceship in a way.

00:03:49.052 –> 00:03:53.892
John Kennedy: But it’s got a big window out front so I can see fields with some sheep in.

00:03:54.172 –> 00:03:55.712
John Kennedy: And there’s a window on the right.

00:03:56.012 –> 00:03:57.992
John Kennedy: So there’s a lot of daylight in here.

00:03:58.092 –> 00:04:02.252
John Kennedy: But then you also have these really cool looking lights, which are green in the shape of a cross.

00:04:02.272 –> 00:04:05.232
John Kennedy: So it has a kind of pharmacy feel in a way.

00:04:05.292 –> 00:04:06.032
Serge Pizzorno: The surgery.

00:04:06.052 –> 00:04:06.672
John Kennedy: The surgery.

00:04:06.692 –> 00:04:06.992
Serge Pizzorno: Of course.

00:04:07.012 –> 00:04:08.532
Serge Pizzorno: I can’t claim that one.

00:04:08.552 –> 00:04:11.492
Serge Pizzorno: My pal sent me a plaque.

00:04:11.512 –> 00:04:13.632
Serge Pizzorno: He said, they’ve got to call your studio the Surgery.

00:04:13.652 –> 00:04:14.912
Serge Pizzorno: I was like, that is pretty funny.

00:04:14.932 –> 00:04:15.972
Serge Pizzorno: So yeah, that’s what it’s.

00:04:16.132 –> 00:04:17.092
Serge Pizzorno: It’s not an ego thing.

00:04:17.112 –> 00:04:19.132
Serge Pizzorno: I promise it was just a mate.

00:04:19.852 –> 00:04:21.032
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, I absolutely love it.

00:04:21.052 –> 00:04:29.852
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, you know, my first studio was like a bedroom, you know, my mom and dad’s when I was like 15 or something.

00:04:29.952 –> 00:04:38.692
Serge Pizzorno: So this process has been, you know, I learned to make records before I could even play any instruments, you know what I mean?

00:04:38.712 –> 00:04:41.312
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, this has kind of been my life really.

00:04:41.532 –> 00:04:41.792
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:04:41.852 –> 00:05:01.272
Serge Pizzorno: So, and then as I moved house, the spare rooms got converted into studios and then finally graduated to, you know, sort of based on like Shibuya, like the shopping in Shibuya, I wanted it to feel like, you know, one of those sort of little stores.

00:05:01.552 –> 00:05:02.272
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah.

00:05:02.292 –> 00:05:03.052
John Kennedy: How’s that kind of feel?

00:05:03.072 –> 00:05:07.232
John Kennedy: And yet at the same time, it’s full of instruments and there’s a lot of space.

00:05:07.252 –> 00:05:14.012
John Kennedy: So we can’t actually see it with our eyes, but behind a whole load of handmade baffles is a big drum kit.

00:05:14.352 –> 00:05:16.792
John Kennedy: We’ve got a kind of baby grand piano in the corner.

00:05:17.092 –> 00:05:25.172
John Kennedy: Behind me are banks of different keyboards and various different amplifiers that I’m not sure what era those come from.

00:05:25.312 –> 00:05:26.532
Serge Pizzorno: I like sort of old gear.

00:05:26.552 –> 00:05:30.852
Serge Pizzorno: I like things that are broken and battered and things you’ve never heard of.

00:05:30.892 –> 00:05:37.032
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, the synth obsession has kind of stayed, that’s my geek sort of corner, you know what I mean?

00:05:37.632 –> 00:05:39.712
Serge Pizzorno: So yeah, I just love gear.

00:05:39.872 –> 00:05:40.352
Serge Pizzorno: I love it.

00:05:40.772 –> 00:05:43.012
John Kennedy: But then bang in the center of it is this desk.

00:05:43.032 –> 00:05:57.532
John Kennedy: So you’ve got a desk set up, which we’re sat in front of and you’ve got a big screen, which you’re gonna be using to play all the stems and everything for us, but you’ve got some nice looking speakers, but the desk seems to have been built around the piece of equipment that you’d have bought.

00:05:57.552 –> 00:05:58.732
John Kennedy: What kind of a desk is that?

00:05:58.892 –> 00:06:00.172
Serge Pizzorno: It’s nothing interesting.

00:06:00.192 –> 00:06:01.952
Serge Pizzorno: It’s just a controller desk.

00:06:02.172 –> 00:06:02.432
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:06:02.912 –> 00:06:05.512
Serge Pizzorno: And then in the side here, I’ve got all my sort of channels.

00:06:06.212 –> 00:06:10.512
Serge Pizzorno: You know, I’m obsessed with that late 60s, early 70s sort of crunch.

00:06:10.532 –> 00:06:14.152
Serge Pizzorno: And so anything, any kit that can give me that sound.

00:06:14.532 –> 00:06:16.432
Serge Pizzorno: Dusty, I like the dust from that era.

00:06:16.452 –> 00:06:17.032
Serge Pizzorno: You know what I mean?

00:06:17.052 –> 00:06:20.552
Serge Pizzorno: So that’s just facilitates the faders.

00:06:20.572 –> 00:06:21.932
Serge Pizzorno: It doesn’t do anything sonically.

00:06:22.232 –> 00:06:25.872
Serge Pizzorno: But I like to have everything, everything is plugged in.

00:06:25.892 –> 00:06:28.472
Serge Pizzorno: So every synth’s plugged in, the kit’s mic’d up.

00:06:29.392 –> 00:06:40.112
Serge Pizzorno: But I have worked so fast as I can, because I feel what I’ve learned is always the first essence of an idea that is it, that’s the moment.

00:06:40.292 –> 00:06:42.652
Serge Pizzorno: So I need to be able to capture that as quickly as possible.

00:06:42.672 –> 00:06:46.292
Serge Pizzorno: So I don’t want to be messing around with mic techniques.

00:06:46.312 –> 00:06:51.352
Serge Pizzorno: And sadly, I’m not the engineer guy, like I’m just get it down as fast as possible.

00:06:51.392 –> 00:06:59.732
Serge Pizzorno: And whatever makes the sound, whether it’s at the top of the speaker is your kick drum, and that’s what’s the kick drum, you know.

00:07:00.472 –> 00:07:03.972
John Kennedy: And so, I mean, generally, it’s just you in here then, mucking about.

00:07:03.972 –> 00:07:10.392
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, and Tim, Tim Carter, who’s an absolute genius that I work with closely.

00:07:10.412 –> 00:07:15.952
Serge Pizzorno: He’s amazing and he plays with his life, but he’s a huge part of it as well.

00:07:16.992 –> 00:07:18.772
John Kennedy: So Happenings is the new record.

00:07:19.192 –> 00:07:20.852
John Kennedy: When did it start happening?

00:07:22.292 –> 00:07:25.532
Serge Pizzorno: Really quickly after making The Alchemist’s Euphoria.

00:07:25.552 –> 00:07:31.832
Serge Pizzorno: It was a tough album to make because a lot has happened to the band.

00:07:32.752 –> 00:07:37.112
Serge Pizzorno: So it was kind of a, in a lot of ways, a relief that it went so well.

00:07:37.772 –> 00:07:46.452
Serge Pizzorno: And I just wanted to, on that sort of energy, get in the studio as quick as possible and start something.

00:07:46.472 –> 00:07:51.632
Serge Pizzorno: You know, I didn’t know what it was super early, but I just knew I wanted to get in the studio.

00:07:52.472 –> 00:08:05.552
Serge Pizzorno: And the first few things that were coming out were, you could feel that I’d been on tour and that we’d been playing huge venues, huge gigs, huge outdoor spaces.

00:08:06.132 –> 00:08:10.592
Serge Pizzorno: So those early sort of songs reflected that for sure.

00:08:11.692 –> 00:08:13.332
John Kennedy: And some of them made it onto the record?

00:08:13.772 –> 00:08:14.492
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, all of them.

00:08:15.032 –> 00:08:16.952
John Kennedy: Yeah, because this is a high energy album.

00:08:17.392 –> 00:08:18.312
Serge Pizzorno: It is, yeah.

00:08:18.372 –> 00:08:39.112
Serge Pizzorno: And I, from the start, I knew that like call, which we’re going to start with, I had something and I had it sort of around making the last record, but I didn’t, every now and again, you get a riff, you know, as you can hear by my previous work, I’m obsessed, I love riffs.

00:08:39.812 –> 00:08:44.232
Serge Pizzorno: They’re up there with my favourite things and loops, so I can listen to things.

00:08:44.652 –> 00:08:50.592
Serge Pizzorno: It’s probably part of the superpower I have is I’m capable of listening to the same thing over and over and over again.

00:08:51.592 –> 00:09:03.572
Serge Pizzorno: And so this riff and this beat, it felt really fresh new and it felt now and it felt like, man, I want to hear that at a gig, a festival.

00:09:05.952 –> 00:09:08.532
Serge Pizzorno: And I didn’t want it to be very long.

00:09:08.552 –> 00:09:11.612
Serge Pizzorno: I thought two minutes, two thirty, let’s keep…

00:09:11.632 –> 00:09:21.152
Serge Pizzorno: And then so that was kind of like, when that was finished, it was like, okay, there’s something in this, whatever this is, the vibe, the feeling, the directness.

00:09:22.032 –> 00:09:26.072
Serge Pizzorno: There’s also the thing that could only be Cassabian.

00:09:27.332 –> 00:09:30.232
Serge Pizzorno: That song, there’s no other band in the world that could make it.

00:09:31.092 –> 00:09:36.932
Serge Pizzorno: And as a writer, I’ve written every tune from day one, so that’s my sound.

00:09:36.952 –> 00:09:40.532
Serge Pizzorno: I know that is unique to what I do.

00:09:40.552 –> 00:09:43.312
Serge Pizzorno: And I was like, wow, that’s really exciting.

00:09:43.332 –> 00:10:00.632
Serge Pizzorno: So it kind of, in the same way, something like, I don’t know, LSF or Underdog, it started similar, very similar to how they started with this little bit of gold that you go, I know there’s something huge in that, but I just got to find it.

00:10:00.632 –> 00:10:07.172
Serge Pizzorno: And I think that drop, that mosh pit drop, like, you know, irresponsible.

00:10:07.552 –> 00:10:08.032
John Kennedy: Excellent.

00:10:08.372 –> 00:10:13.172
John Kennedy: Well, we should hear a blast of The Master of Cool then, as that’s the first song we’re going to listen to.

00:10:13.492 –> 00:10:17.912
John Kennedy: And then we can dig in to that first sound you found and how it evolved from there.

00:10:17.932 –> 00:10:19.552
John Kennedy: So, if you’ll do the honest search.

00:11:18.044 –> 00:11:20.424
John Kennedy: Excellent, it is an instant party, I would say.

00:11:20.444 –> 00:11:22.144
John Kennedy: That is called by Kasabian.

00:11:22.144 –> 00:11:27.344
John Kennedy: So you mentioned that you found this sound or this riff, and that got things going.

00:11:27.364 –> 00:11:30.744
John Kennedy: So, I mean, when you’re creating that, what are you creating it on?

00:11:31.564 –> 00:11:43.104
Serge Pizzorno: Okay, so like, I’ll be in here, you know, 10 to five, every day, if I’m not taking one of the kids to like football training or skateboarding or something, you know what I’m saying?

00:11:43.124 –> 00:11:46.144
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, that’s the only thing that pulls me away is my youngins, right?

00:11:46.164 –> 00:12:02.964
Serge Pizzorno: So I’m in here and I’m just, once the decision’s been made, right, record, then I’m just, I’m on and I’m just trying anything I can, squeezing any bit of like creativity, whatever it is that I’ve got to find the sound.

00:12:03.884 –> 00:12:16.044
Serge Pizzorno: So I’m, you know, listening to music, watching films, like walking around in circles, turning on synths, turning, listening to just voice notes.

00:12:16.064 –> 00:12:26.484
Serge Pizzorno: There’s just, you know, just a constant bombardment of trying to find anything that I can sort of get to, you know, that makes me go, wow, okay, we got something.

00:12:26.844 –> 00:12:31.084
John Kennedy: Well, it sounds like you’ve always created your own little space to get on with it.

00:12:31.444 –> 00:12:33.104
John Kennedy: Yes, exactly.

00:12:33.304 –> 00:12:36.784
John Kennedy: So it’s almost like you then you enter that space and then you’re in the zone.

00:12:36.784 –> 00:12:37.264
Serge Pizzorno: Totally.

00:12:37.564 –> 00:12:53.244
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, I don’t know, like, I sort of, I like, I always see, you know, see artists like in a hotel room or, you know, you sort of see like Tyler the Creator and like the Alps or something with a little laptop and it looks, I’m like, that looks good.

00:12:53.264 –> 00:12:54.404
Serge Pizzorno: I need to be doing that.

00:12:55.144 –> 00:13:01.104
Serge Pizzorno: But then I sort of tend to get places like that and just go, I can’t, I can’t think of anything.

00:13:01.124 –> 00:13:08.444
Serge Pizzorno: Whereas here, Leicester, whatever it is, the source, I feel like this is where I do my thing, you know what I mean?

00:13:08.464 –> 00:13:09.484
John Kennedy: Because it can work the other way.

00:13:09.504 –> 00:13:21.924
John Kennedy: I know that Liam Howlett spent some of his hard earned money on building a studio and then hated it there and couldn’t work there and kind of tried everything to avoid going there.

00:13:22.404 –> 00:13:26.144
John Kennedy: And then eventually kind of wrote an album in bed with his laptop.

00:13:26.164 –> 00:13:26.644
Serge Pizzorno: Totally.

00:13:26.924 –> 00:13:30.724
Serge Pizzorno: It’s mad, like songwriting, like I’m obsessed with it.

00:13:30.744 –> 00:13:37.944
Serge Pizzorno: Like it’s the one thing, you know, like you’re so lucky that you find the thing you that’s everything to you.

00:13:37.964 –> 00:13:42.484
Serge Pizzorno: Like, you know, I was 11, maybe 12 when I got like a sampler.

00:13:42.504 –> 00:13:48.544
Serge Pizzorno: My first musical instrument was like a sampler, like, and it only could only get six seconds.

00:13:48.944 –> 00:13:49.984
John Kennedy: But can you remember what it was?

00:13:50.244 –> 00:13:58.184
Serge Pizzorno: It kind of was a bit of DJ equipment that you could loop off a deck, but then you could record from.

00:13:58.604 –> 00:14:00.624
Serge Pizzorno: So you could make a couple, I can’t remember.

00:14:00.644 –> 00:14:16.844
Serge Pizzorno: It was, I want to say Tascam, but I don’t think it was, but it was one of those sort of plastic, horrible things, you know, and then, then I got an Atari and then I was like into, I had Octomed and Fruity Loops and essentially it’s for people that aren’t musicians, but love making stuff.

00:14:16.864 –> 00:14:20.744
Serge Pizzorno: So, you know, you would got loops and they were sort of preloaded.

00:14:20.824 –> 00:14:21.864
Serge Pizzorno: Octomed was amazing.

00:14:21.884 –> 00:14:26.164
Serge Pizzorno: I’ve seen people use it now, you get that old rave sound, it’s amazing.

00:14:26.184 –> 00:14:27.924
Serge Pizzorno: You play off the keys, off the F keys.

00:14:28.844 –> 00:14:38.184
Serge Pizzorno: So even though I didn’t really know back then that that would become my life, like I was just obsessed with it, of production and making.

00:14:39.004 –> 00:14:45.584
Serge Pizzorno: The fact that in the morning something didn’t exist and then by the evening something was there, like that to me was like, that was the moment.

00:14:45.604 –> 00:14:47.664
Serge Pizzorno: I was like, I need to dedicate my life to that.

00:14:47.944 –> 00:14:53.244
Serge Pizzorno: Whether it was music or art or film, I just knew that was waiting for me, you know.

00:14:53.984 –> 00:14:58.344
Serge Pizzorno: But songwriting is just like, I’m just obsessed every morning.

00:14:59.224 –> 00:15:01.084
Serge Pizzorno: It’s just, this could be the day.

00:15:01.644 –> 00:15:01.964
John Kennedy: Right.

00:15:02.244 –> 00:15:03.144
Serge Pizzorno: This could be the day.

00:15:03.164 –> 00:15:15.344
Serge Pizzorno: And I went for a period of like, maybe an album sort of six, five or six, well, and then sometimes you’d get a bit like way down by the weight of, can you do it again?

00:15:15.364 –> 00:15:22.104
Serge Pizzorno: If you’ve got any more ideas and being the studio was like a bit of a like, oh, I don’t want to open the door.

00:15:22.124 –> 00:15:23.764
Serge Pizzorno: Like I don’t want to go in there.

00:15:23.784 –> 00:15:24.484
Serge Pizzorno: You know what I mean?

00:15:25.624 –> 00:15:29.864
Serge Pizzorno: But I’ve come through the other side and now I’m just like a scholar.

00:15:29.884 –> 00:15:34.324
Serge Pizzorno: Like I’m now I’m like, I need to learn and I need to learn off everyone.

00:15:35.324 –> 00:15:43.284
Serge Pizzorno: Like I’m as interested as how pops made, as how those early psychedelic records made, electronic.

00:15:43.304 –> 00:15:45.584
Serge Pizzorno: Like I’m in to the whole thing.

00:15:46.044 –> 00:16:06.184
Serge Pizzorno: And this record was, I was thinking about like making a, I mean, I sort of don’t really want to say pop record because it sort of feels weird to me, but definitely structurally and the directness of this album, there’s no every four bars, every eight bars, I’ve dug into it so hard.

00:16:06.204 –> 00:16:17.124
Serge Pizzorno: And, you know, working with Mark Ralph co-production, like he has been like the most amazing find because like I can get things right in the surgery.

00:16:17.144 –> 00:16:24.364
Serge Pizzorno: And, you know, I’ll show you examples of like the way I record it sounds so bad, but I love it so much.

00:16:24.884 –> 00:16:30.924
Serge Pizzorno: But then I’d sort of, we’d go to Mark’s and the beauty of it is the idea is fully formed.

00:16:30.944 –> 00:16:38.204
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s not like you’re sat in a studio because I don’t really like that feeling of being in the studio and going, oh, you need, you know, if you’ve got any ideas.

00:16:38.224 –> 00:16:42.344
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, no, I like to go with something that’s pretty much knows exactly where it wants to be.

00:16:42.364 –> 00:16:53.324
Serge Pizzorno: But then being in Mark’s and going, showing him a sound and him then just digging in and then making it sound like it was recorded at bloody, you know, air studios.

00:16:53.344 –> 00:16:54.984
Serge Pizzorno: And you’re like, fuck, that sounds amazing.

00:16:55.724 –> 00:16:59.544
Serge Pizzorno: And he has been like, you know, he’s a total genius, you know?

00:16:59.844 –> 00:17:15.124
Serge Pizzorno: And we’ve sort of slotted in, like, it’s complemented, like great producers do, just understood the way I like to do it and then just added where we could and especially getting down the vocals.

00:17:15.284 –> 00:17:26.184
Serge Pizzorno: And I like to sort of, I work very visually, so I’m very much like, oh, that’s sounding, you know, RoboCop and he’ll be like, I don’t know what you mean.

00:17:26.204 –> 00:17:33.104
Serge Pizzorno: And then I’ll sort of play it and he’ll go, oh, okay, that’s a symph and then that’s that delay and then it will be that, do you know what I mean?

00:17:33.124 –> 00:17:39.884
Serge Pizzorno: And you nail it and it’s not like, usually people can go and they’ll show you some like Korg M1 and you go, no, it’s definitely not that, mate, you know what I mean?

00:17:39.904 –> 00:17:46.204
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, so it was like really quick and obviously could tap into where I was seeing things.

00:17:46.224 –> 00:18:07.924
Serge Pizzorno: And so, you know, that has been an absolute, and I think the way he’s made, you know, we’ve obviously mixed it and been a part of it, but you know, the way he made it hit like a pop record, but still keep the eccentric side of the band and where it was sort of was recorded in, you know, innocently, I think we’ve did something really great there.

00:18:07.924 –> 00:18:09.384
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah, fantastic.

00:18:09.424 –> 00:18:10.844
John Kennedy: So we’ve got call lined up.

00:18:10.864 –> 00:18:11.584
Serge Pizzorno: This is cool, yeah.

00:18:11.804 –> 00:18:18.744
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, I can show you like a really early version of this, which is kind of a good, good sort of example of what I’m saying.

00:18:20.204 –> 00:18:21.524
Serge Pizzorno: So I’ve got this going on.

00:18:22.884 –> 00:18:23.844
John Kennedy: So is that a real bass?

00:18:24.444 –> 00:18:25.564
Serge Pizzorno: So that’s a real bass.

00:18:28.484 –> 00:18:30.864
Serge Pizzorno: And that would have been a voice note.

00:18:31.684 –> 00:18:35.284
Serge Pizzorno: So that would have me me going, don, don, don, don.

00:18:35.384 –> 00:18:48.404
Serge Pizzorno: And I’ll be like, you know, in Asda, people looking at me like this guy’s gone, you know, anywhere, and I’ll just be going in my phone going bom bom bom bom, bom bom, and I’m going, yeah, that is, I know that’s it.

00:18:48.464 –> 00:18:49.324
Serge Pizzorno: I know that’s it.

00:18:49.344 –> 00:18:58.304
Serge Pizzorno: So then I’ll get, you know, get into here and then go, right, there’s something going on there that’s, and I know that bounce is going to be big.

00:18:58.804 –> 00:19:02.064
John Kennedy: But I mean, we’re hearing a drum in there as well.

00:19:02.304 –> 00:19:05.404
Serge Pizzorno: So that’s just, in fact, I mean-

00:19:05.424 –> 00:19:07.744
John Kennedy: So would you find something to create a tempo for yourself?

00:19:07.764 –> 00:19:17.584
Serge Pizzorno: So exactly, that’ll be then, then the sort of next stage will be making sure the tempo is ready for the mosh.

00:19:17.764 –> 00:19:31.304
Serge Pizzorno: So it is literally, right, I’ll be listening to tunes that get that, just get the crowd bouncing, looking at tempos, analysing the tempos, going what is the perfect bounce tempo?

00:19:31.684 –> 00:19:32.524
Serge Pizzorno: What do we finish out?

00:19:32.544 –> 00:19:34.944
Serge Pizzorno: I think this is, I think this is 128.

00:19:34.964 –> 00:19:41.644
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, this is 128, which is a real nice, little bit faster than your sort of disco, but it’s got into that push.

00:19:42.164 –> 00:20:05.144
Serge Pizzorno: So at this point I’m going, that’s what I was saying, this was written about near the end of that album, so I know this is in the back pocket, and weirdly, already at this stage, I can hear where it’s gonna go, but obviously most people will hear that and go, that’s pretty fun, but you know, it’s not a song, but in my mind I’m going, no, no, no, I’m already headlining Redden and Leeds with this, you know.

00:20:06.644 –> 00:20:07.744
John Kennedy: So what do you do next?

00:20:07.764 –> 00:20:10.604
John Kennedy: I mean, you’ve got this killer bass line, you’ve got the tempo.

00:20:11.144 –> 00:20:17.384
Serge Pizzorno: So I’ll just play you where this goes, so then I just get the mic, and then I’m just making stuff up.

00:20:18.304 –> 00:20:25.284
Serge Pizzorno: This melody didn’t actually make it on to it, but you’ll kind of hear me just messing.

00:20:29.604 –> 00:20:30.564
Serge Pizzorno: So I’m just…

00:20:30.584 –> 00:20:31.984
Serge Pizzorno: this is nonsense.

00:20:32.104 –> 00:20:35.844
Serge Pizzorno: I probably use some of these lyrics in other songs or I might use this melody in other songs.

00:20:38.324 –> 00:20:40.184
Serge Pizzorno: So this is all spontaneous now.

00:20:43.804 –> 00:20:45.564
Serge Pizzorno: I don’t know where this is coming from.

00:20:45.584 –> 00:20:47.484
Serge Pizzorno: This is like song gods or whatever, you know.

00:20:47.504 –> 00:20:47.884
John Kennedy: You know.

00:20:52.304 –> 00:20:57.004
John Kennedy: So in effect, you’re kind of humming along to the first bit of tune you’ve got.

00:20:57.024 –> 00:20:57.204
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah.

00:20:57.824 –> 00:21:01.244
John Kennedy: And so how many, you’re kind of firing any ideas that come off the top of your head.

00:21:01.264 –> 00:21:06.684
John Kennedy: So as you were saying earlier, you can kind of listen to things for a long time without getting bored.

00:21:06.704 –> 00:21:10.344
John Kennedy: So you can listen to that and keep making passes at it.

00:21:10.364 –> 00:21:11.224
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, exactly.

00:21:11.224 –> 00:21:20.324
Serge Pizzorno: Like I can, like I’m at that point there, that is blisteringly loud and I am bouncing all over the place.

00:21:20.344 –> 00:21:22.124
Serge Pizzorno: Like I’m sort of getting into character.

00:21:22.144 –> 00:21:23.744
Serge Pizzorno: I’ll have the mic.

00:21:24.104 –> 00:21:25.104
John Kennedy: So you’ve got a handheld mic.

00:21:25.124 –> 00:21:32.924
Serge Pizzorno: So I’ve got a handheld mic and I’ll, physically I’ll get into a shape, you know, like I’ll become the beat.

00:21:33.204 –> 00:21:36.924
Serge Pizzorno: Like, you know, I’m sort of, do you know what I mean?

00:21:36.944 –> 00:21:41.064
Serge Pizzorno: I’m just trying to immerse myself in what that makes me feel like I can do.

00:21:41.764 –> 00:21:45.404
Serge Pizzorno: So then that kind of develops the character of the delivery of the voice.

00:21:45.424 –> 00:21:48.924
Serge Pizzorno: So I quite like that kind of, ah, ah, ah, ah.

00:21:48.944 –> 00:21:52.204
Serge Pizzorno: So that tone at the back of my throat, I’m going, okay, I like that.

00:21:52.824 –> 00:21:59.644
Serge Pizzorno: And then I’ll just play it, record, and then just keep sort of just seeing what happens.

00:22:00.344 –> 00:22:03.904
Serge Pizzorno: And then I land on, I love it when you call.

00:22:03.924 –> 00:22:06.744
Serge Pizzorno: And I was going, so what I’m saying there was I love it when you call.

00:22:06.764 –> 00:22:08.544
Serge Pizzorno: And then I go, that’s it, done.

00:22:08.604 –> 00:22:09.324
Serge Pizzorno: That’ll be it.

00:22:09.764 –> 00:22:17.444
Serge Pizzorno: And try not to overthink it because that element of play and that element of what is the first thing that you do always is the best.

00:22:17.464 –> 00:22:20.524
Serge Pizzorno: I’ve tried a million times to re-record stuff, not worth it.

00:22:21.264 –> 00:22:26.804
Serge Pizzorno: I will continue to try and re-record it because you’d never know, but it always, you always go back to it.

00:22:26.824 –> 00:22:29.624
Serge Pizzorno: So that’s when I’m like, right, that’s melody.

00:22:30.144 –> 00:22:33.044
Serge Pizzorno: That is the, I love when you call, that’ll do me that.

00:22:33.124 –> 00:22:36.244
Serge Pizzorno: I don’t want it to make this album very simple in the sentiment.

00:22:36.484 –> 00:22:41.284
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s just when the person that you buzz off calls you, that’s like, that’ll do.

00:22:41.324 –> 00:22:47.904
Serge Pizzorno: That’s all like those, you know, those early Beatles songs, whatever, those early sort of rock and roll songs, those early great songs.

00:22:48.924 –> 00:22:52.904
Serge Pizzorno: There’s a simple story, I love when you call, that’ll do, makes no sense at all that, I mean.

00:22:53.204 –> 00:22:56.004
John Kennedy: Yeah, so those are the ingredients, the key ingredients.

00:22:56.184 –> 00:22:57.164
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly, exactly.

00:22:57.184 –> 00:23:05.164
Serge Pizzorno: And those original, so there’s an electronic drum kit and then Ian came and played along to that.

00:23:05.504 –> 00:23:06.744
Serge Pizzorno: So they’re the drums that are on it.

00:23:06.824 –> 00:23:08.584
Serge Pizzorno: I think that’s the bass that stayed on it.

00:23:09.044 –> 00:23:09.324
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah.

00:23:09.784 –> 00:23:10.064
John Kennedy: Right.

00:23:10.124 –> 00:23:13.064
John Kennedy: So then some real drums go down to that tempo.

00:23:13.284 –> 00:23:24.724
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, so what happened is we did those with Mark, essentially set all the tempos up and then had some electronic drums doing the vibe, but then we’d record the live drums with Mark.

00:23:24.844 –> 00:23:25.164
John Kennedy: Right.

00:23:25.344 –> 00:23:25.604
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:23:25.664 –> 00:23:27.464
Serge Pizzorno: And that sort of ties it all together.

00:23:27.544 –> 00:23:29.064
Serge Pizzorno: That’s in London at his studio, yeah.

00:23:29.444 –> 00:23:51.384
Serge Pizzorno: The live drums, it definitely ties it all together because without that, it can go into sort of electro punk or it’s amazing, a real kit, you sound like a band again, which I’ve been all over the place with styles and genres and all that, but I think it was nice to feel like a band playing this record.

00:23:51.404 –> 00:23:51.624
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah.

00:23:51.944 –> 00:23:53.604
John Kennedy: Yet it still sounds really tight.

00:23:53.864 –> 00:23:54.264
John Kennedy: Yes.

00:23:54.524 –> 00:23:55.624
Serge Pizzorno: Yes, super tight, yeah.

00:23:55.904 –> 00:23:59.184
John Kennedy: So what else should we hear from Cole?

00:23:59.944 –> 00:24:05.344
Serge Pizzorno: So we’re going to go to the mass, well, the, you know, like what it became.

00:24:06.744 –> 00:24:14.744
Serge Pizzorno: So we get into, yeah, just in that key, maybe not, I don’t know.

00:24:17.644 –> 00:24:21.284
Serge Pizzorno: So yeah, from that, then I’m into this vibe.

00:24:28.218 –> 00:24:36.498
Serge Pizzorno: And then, I sort of felt that it was building towards something, and then the chant came.

00:24:36.938 –> 00:24:45.918
Serge Pizzorno: And that’s when it was like, right, that’s a big moment, when you can feel, okay, that is everyone, ay-ay-ay-ay.

00:24:46.158 –> 00:24:47.598
Serge Pizzorno: And that brings us all together.

00:24:47.618 –> 00:25:06.898
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, you know, that is the moment in the set where everyone understands what’s about to happen, and then create this huge build to just quiet, loud, nirvana, you know, just get everyone ready, and then just let it release to a monster source.

00:25:07.038 –> 00:25:08.298
John Kennedy: Yeah, well, we should hear that.

00:25:08.638 –> 00:25:18.618
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, so in this section, I didn’t solo it in the last one, but like, you know, this synth, that was in that, you know, that’s the early sort of demo-ish part.

00:25:22.058 –> 00:25:32.718
Serge Pizzorno: But I think that’s a real kind of, like that feels like such a Kasabian sort of signature, sort of out of tune, 2600, like it’s sort of not quite.

00:25:32.738 –> 00:25:34.078
John Kennedy: So is that in this room?

00:25:34.098 –> 00:25:35.538
Serge Pizzorno: That’s in that piece of kit there, yeah.

00:25:35.558 –> 00:25:36.458
John Kennedy: The bank over there.

00:25:36.538 –> 00:25:36.858
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah.

00:25:37.738 –> 00:25:46.198
Serge Pizzorno: And then we’ve got, you know, everything drums out, building to everyone, just losing their shit.

00:25:46.758 –> 00:25:49.198
Serge Pizzorno: At this point I’m like in now as well.

00:25:49.198 –> 00:25:50.398
Serge Pizzorno: Like recording it.

00:25:54.618 –> 00:25:55.638
Serge Pizzorno: And it’s game over now.

00:25:56.638 –> 00:25:58.778
Serge Pizzorno: And I can relax because I’ve got one in the bag.

00:25:58.998 –> 00:25:59.338
John Kennedy: Right.

00:26:00.178 –> 00:26:00.838
Serge Pizzorno: And I’m like, yo!

00:26:02.738 –> 00:26:04.798
John Kennedy: It’s great that you’re thinking in those terms.

00:26:04.818 –> 00:26:08.558
John Kennedy: You’re thinking in terms of seeing a thousand people going absolutely crazy.

00:26:09.358 –> 00:26:13.258
John Kennedy: And everybody’s singing that instantly, whether they know it or not, they don’t need to know it.

00:26:13.298 –> 00:26:13.878
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly.

00:26:14.458 –> 00:26:19.198
Serge Pizzorno: This section here, I just love this section because there’s sort of flow on this.

00:26:21.178 –> 00:26:22.138
Serge Pizzorno: We just got the…

00:26:22.158 –> 00:26:26.518
Serge Pizzorno: I mean…

00:26:28.538 –> 00:26:29.138
Serge Pizzorno: That’s it.

00:26:31.318 –> 00:26:31.898
Serge Pizzorno: Jon, that’s…

00:26:32.158 –> 00:26:33.218
Serge Pizzorno: for me, that’s it.

00:26:33.318 –> 00:26:34.858
Serge Pizzorno: Like, I’m absolutely…

00:26:34.878 –> 00:26:35.758
Serge Pizzorno: that is the world.

00:26:36.518 –> 00:26:38.138
Serge Pizzorno: Because once you got that little pop there…

00:26:40.898 –> 00:26:45.818
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, I’d love to just do really stupidly long, like, mixes of these where…

00:26:45.838 –> 00:26:48.378
Serge Pizzorno: Because there’s so much stuff that’s just like…

00:26:49.138 –> 00:26:54.518
John Kennedy: There’s lovely little details that when you listen to the whole, you might not pick out immediately, but they really hold it together.

00:26:54.538 –> 00:26:55.418
Serge Pizzorno: Totally.

00:26:55.818 –> 00:26:59.798
Serge Pizzorno: And like, you know, when I’m here, I can just go for the hours.

00:27:00.278 –> 00:27:03.078
Serge Pizzorno: Just get in, you know, just mute in and just…

00:27:03.438 –> 00:27:04.058
Serge Pizzorno: do you know what I mean?

00:27:04.058 –> 00:27:04.418
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:27:05.658 –> 00:27:09.378
John Kennedy: So when you go in for your tea, and they say, What have you been doing?

00:27:09.398 –> 00:27:11.198
John Kennedy: I’ve been listening to the same bassline for five hours.

00:27:11.238 –> 00:27:12.118
John Kennedy: It’s been amazing!

00:27:13.698 –> 00:27:15.998
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I suppose I am.

00:27:24.158 –> 00:27:25.138
John Kennedy: And what is that sound?

00:27:25.158 –> 00:27:25.378
John Kennedy: That…

00:27:26.238 –> 00:27:27.518
Serge Pizzorno: That’s just this thing.

00:27:29.418 –> 00:27:31.238
Serge Pizzorno: Again, it’s just something lying around.

00:27:31.538 –> 00:27:33.598
Serge Pizzorno: And a lot of the times I just like…

00:27:34.498 –> 00:27:41.898
Serge Pizzorno: Like, I just hear something rhythmically, and then usually probably just use the voice version.

00:27:42.198 –> 00:27:42.578
John Kennedy: Right.

00:27:42.598 –> 00:27:44.538
Serge Pizzorno: But then every now and again just pull out.

00:27:44.558 –> 00:27:48.158
John Kennedy: Right, so you’ll often hum it or make it with your mouth.

00:27:48.278 –> 00:27:50.698
Serge Pizzorno: A lot of the times, yeah.

00:27:51.578 –> 00:28:03.738
Serge Pizzorno: And then that was kind of all well and good, and it was like, right, that feels like, you know, a really kind of like interesting sort of new wave dancey punky thing that starts it all off.

00:28:03.781 –> 00:28:06.561
Serge Pizzorno: But then, there’s always a surprise.

00:28:07.301 –> 00:28:19.161
Serge Pizzorno: Think listening to those sort of late 60s psych records where, for no reason whatsoever, they just, the song, the genre changed, they just, it just changed, go into something completely different.

00:28:19.761 –> 00:28:27.901
Serge Pizzorno: There was a Cornelius record, and I can’t remember one of the songs, and that was two songs, and he actually pressed the tape, like he was flipping the tape over.

00:28:28.081 –> 00:28:30.481
Serge Pizzorno: It was a different song, and I always thought, I always loved that.

00:28:30.501 –> 00:28:32.121
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s like, I do that quite a lot.

00:28:32.521 –> 00:28:36.221
Serge Pizzorno: So it was like, what can we do to the second half of the track?

00:28:36.761 –> 00:28:41.901
Serge Pizzorno: So it just doesn’t, you know, it could just do the big riff again, and everyone would be happy with that.

00:28:43.041 –> 00:28:47.241
Serge Pizzorno: But I was like, we need something way more interesting than that.

00:28:47.261 –> 00:28:50.501
Serge Pizzorno: So I got the, it was a Coronado guitar.

00:28:53.821 –> 00:29:06.741
Serge Pizzorno: So I was just playing along to the riff, but then I thought that takes, that sort of softens it in a way, but sort of makes it pure euphoria at the end.

00:29:10.081 –> 00:29:11.701
Serge Pizzorno: So when we go into this end section.

00:29:18.632 –> 00:29:22.692
Serge Pizzorno: Well, there’s something, so that’s like, that just takes it into a whole different direction.

00:29:23.652 –> 00:29:25.412
Serge Pizzorno: And then you get a big, big drop.

00:29:27.032 –> 00:29:33.092
Serge Pizzorno: So you’re back in, everyone’s just bouncing, and then you bring that back.

00:29:37.772 –> 00:29:42.232
Serge Pizzorno: Which is, I love this, then it always goes rave-y now, like.

00:29:45.212 –> 00:29:49.352
Serge Pizzorno: And then like, you know, like the piano is just, it’s pure rave time.

00:29:56.846 –> 00:30:02.046
Serge Pizzorno: It’s gonna be like Jamie XX, Fred again world, you know what I mean?

00:30:02.066 –> 00:30:11.946
Serge Pizzorno: Like this, the sort of, you just give it a little kick, and it’ll snare.

00:30:11.966 –> 00:30:15.126
Serge Pizzorno: And now, again, I’ll be into that for a few hours, don’t worry about that.

00:30:21.746 –> 00:30:27.426
Serge Pizzorno: And then, you know, so that’s kind of like ending it in that sort of big kind of end.

00:30:28.566 –> 00:30:32.486
John Kennedy: Yeah, it’s really interesting because a lot happens in a really short space of time.

00:30:32.506 –> 00:30:36.246
John Kennedy: I mean, the whole track is two and a half minutes long or something.

00:30:37.626 –> 00:30:42.106
John Kennedy: And yet, in a way, you’ve skipped about four genres within that.

00:30:42.526 –> 00:30:43.346
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:30:43.366 –> 00:30:50.606
John Kennedy: Interesting, and the way what you were saying about writing a song a bit like an early rock and roll song where the sentiment and the idea is quite simple.

00:30:50.626 –> 00:30:51.866
John Kennedy: It communicates one message.

00:30:51.886 –> 00:30:52.986
John Kennedy: I love it when you call it.

00:30:53.006 –> 00:30:53.766
John Kennedy: That’s the gist of it.

00:30:53.786 –> 00:30:54.166
Serge Pizzorno: That’s it.

00:30:54.306 –> 00:31:02.026
John Kennedy: But because you established that, then it allows you to journey musically with some other things for a little bit very quickly.

00:31:02.066 –> 00:31:02.566
Serge Pizzorno: Totally.

00:31:02.586 –> 00:31:16.366
John Kennedy: But yeah, it’s really interesting how you’ve got all those things going on, but because they’re piled on top of each other to a certain extent, it allows you to still have that beat running through and we’re still jumping up and down.

00:31:16.386 –> 00:31:16.886
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, yeah.

00:31:16.906 –> 00:31:17.646
Serge Pizzorno: That’s the thing.

00:31:17.666 –> 00:31:33.486
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, I got into making really short songs and the last album that annoyed me, everything was short and I was like, I want to make it really long, because deep down, you’re a wind up merchant anyway.

00:31:33.506 –> 00:31:35.166
Serge Pizzorno: Everyone else is doing, you want to do the opposite.

00:31:35.186 –> 00:31:45.166
Serge Pizzorno: But I imagine having the parameters of making things short, not having any intros straight in, I got really excited about that.

00:31:45.346 –> 00:31:49.786
Serge Pizzorno: And how can you get from here to here within this short space of time?

00:31:50.606 –> 00:31:53.306
Serge Pizzorno: And it also, I think it makes it really unique, you know what I mean?

00:31:53.386 –> 00:31:57.126
Serge Pizzorno: Especially through the lens of how I’m right.

00:31:57.146 –> 00:32:01.986
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, well, I’ve not really made a record like that, so that’s the rules.

00:32:02.006 –> 00:32:04.606
Serge Pizzorno: So that kind of set the rules for everything else.

00:32:06.166 –> 00:32:17.746
Serge Pizzorno: Even if it was a different sounding song to this, I still wanted to make sure every four bars, every eight bars, something happens, something is added, and try and not put too many layers on.

00:32:17.766 –> 00:32:21.746
Serge Pizzorno: So when a hi-hat is added, it feels massive, you know what I mean?

00:32:21.746 –> 00:32:24.966
Serge Pizzorno: When a guitar is added, it feels big because it happens at the right time.

00:32:25.306 –> 00:32:25.586
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:32:25.946 –> 00:32:32.726
John Kennedy: And when you’re recording the drums, as an example, so you did have the live kit, do you put processing on the kit?

00:32:32.726 –> 00:32:33.406
John Kennedy: I mean, do you…

00:32:33.726 –> 00:32:35.006
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, yeah.

00:32:35.026 –> 00:32:38.106
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, really trying to make everything sound old.

00:32:39.246 –> 00:32:42.006
Serge Pizzorno: So like, do you know what?

00:32:42.026 –> 00:32:45.346
Serge Pizzorno: Like there’s a decapitator and the vahala.

00:32:45.726 –> 00:32:50.686
Serge Pizzorno: That pretty much is the chain for a lot of things for the last few albums.

00:32:50.706 –> 00:32:56.866
Serge Pizzorno: Just, I think it sounds great, but it also is fast and it kind of gets where you need to get pretty quick.

00:32:57.366 –> 00:33:01.706
Serge Pizzorno: But I definitely always a little bit of crunch and a lot of compression.

00:33:02.386 –> 00:33:07.906
Serge Pizzorno: There’s a period of time where drums, we’ve not better that sound, you know what I mean?

00:33:07.946 –> 00:33:09.366
Serge Pizzorno: So live drums especially.

00:33:10.206 –> 00:33:13.946
Serge Pizzorno: So, we’re trying to get to that point every time.

00:33:14.506 –> 00:33:18.006
Serge Pizzorno: And it’s sort of backed with the electronic kit.

00:33:18.626 –> 00:33:30.926
Serge Pizzorno: So it just has those sort of early hip hop records, there’s always an 808 and there’s always, there’s always like a sort of been backed up by an electronic flavor as well.

00:33:31.146 –> 00:33:34.786
Serge Pizzorno: So it just gives it a little bit more than just the drum sound.

00:33:35.246 –> 00:33:36.046
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah.

00:33:36.606 –> 00:33:40.006
John Kennedy: Should we just have one more blast of The Master of Call?

00:33:40.246 –> 00:33:42.946
John Kennedy: Then we’ll have a quick break and then we’re going to look at another one of the songs.

00:33:43.206 –> 00:33:43.506
Serge Pizzorno: Great.

00:33:43.966 –> 00:33:45.666
Serge Pizzorno: I’ll play it from the second verse.

00:33:45.846 –> 00:33:46.106
Serge Pizzorno: Cool.

00:34:18.665 –> 00:34:20.265
John Kennedy: How do you create that?

00:34:20.285 –> 00:34:22.405
John Kennedy: Because it does sound almost like a crowd.

00:34:22.825 –> 00:34:27.665
John Kennedy: Like there’s a kind of massive size element to somehow with that vocal.

00:34:27.685 –> 00:34:30.665
John Kennedy: Like you have got a crowd of a thousand people chanting at you.

00:34:30.685 –> 00:34:32.465
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, there is a hell of a lot of us.

00:34:32.485 –> 00:34:34.065
Serge Pizzorno: There’s a lot of us singing at that point.

00:34:34.385 –> 00:34:35.425
John Kennedy: So is that layered?

00:34:44.405 –> 00:34:46.125
Serge Pizzorno: It’s layered vocals, yeah.

00:34:46.145 –> 00:34:47.285
Serge Pizzorno: There’s a few of us in there.

00:34:47.465 –> 00:34:53.225
Serge Pizzorno: Chris and Tim and myself, we did a lot of harmony and backing.

00:34:54.125 –> 00:34:54.905
Serge Pizzorno: Dibs blessed him.

00:34:54.925 –> 00:35:00.845
Serge Pizzorno: Like he’s like vocals all over it now and he was never, I mean he was like not on his radar, but he’s killed it.

00:35:03.925 –> 00:35:06.465
John Kennedy: It’s great, it really creates that effect you’re looking for though.

00:35:06.965 –> 00:35:17.185
Serge Pizzorno: I think you know with that pop sensibility of like you know like maybe like a Beyonce record where there’s a hundred takes of vocal and it’s like cut to like the miniscule.

00:35:17.745 –> 00:35:25.165
Serge Pizzorno: We sort of went down that road of just let’s just put loads of vocals on but like tightly like produced.

00:35:25.325 –> 00:35:25.565
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:35:26.005 –> 00:35:51.125
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s sort of you know I think once you go to that place as well things like pop out especially like it’s getting played on the radio and sounds like the legit don’t sound like you know some like schmindi indie thing it’s like oh it’s like no no this is like you want this to be played after you know whoever if it’s sandwiched between Dua Lipa and what and you know whoever it’s like yeah this sounds great.

00:35:51.825 –> 00:35:52.125
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:35:52.805 –> 00:35:53.885
John Kennedy: It works totally.

00:35:54.025 –> 00:35:54.305
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah.

00:35:54.905 –> 00:35:58.805
John Kennedy: We’re going to take a quick break, and we’ll be back to look at another tune from Happenings.

00:36:11.163 –> 00:36:16.403
John Kennedy: This episode is supported by Museversal, an amazing new service for working with session musicians remotely.

00:36:16.663 –> 00:36:21.983
John Kennedy: If you use session musicians or would like to, but it’s been too expensive or hard to organize, this is for you.

00:36:22.063 –> 00:36:29.803
John Kennedy: And we have a special offer for any tape notes listeners, 25% off for the first three months, and you get to skip the wait list, but more on that in a moment.

00:36:30.163 –> 00:36:32.943
John Kennedy: I’ve got David from Museversal here to tell us all about it.

00:36:33.123 –> 00:36:35.183
John Kennedy: Hello, David, what is Museversal?

00:36:35.423 –> 00:36:37.323
David: Hey, John, thank you so much for having us on here.

00:36:37.343 –> 00:36:38.303
David: Appreciate it a ton.

00:36:38.703 –> 00:36:49.483
David: Museversal is an online remote recording studio for artists, producers, composers, anyone who’s a music creator to work with session musicians remotely.

00:36:49.783 –> 00:36:58.263
David: In a couple of clicks, you can go on and you can book a session with a drummer or a guitar player, a piano player, you name it, they’re on the platform.

00:36:58.943 –> 00:37:02.663
David: And so the way that it works is all of the sessions are hosted over live stream.

00:37:03.003 –> 00:37:13.783
David: So all of the revisions and feedback and all of the different little, hey, would you mind moving to the ride symbol for the fourth bar?

00:37:13.783 –> 00:37:17.383
David: Or would you mind finger plucking instead of using a pick?

00:37:17.383 –> 00:37:23.403
David: All of those types of creative choices can happen quite literally as if the musician is in the room just done over live stream.

00:37:23.883 –> 00:37:24.743
John Kennedy: It sounds amazing.

00:37:24.863 –> 00:37:36.523
John Kennedy: And in a way, the clue is in the name, musicversal, it means that whether you’re a beginner or whether you’re somebody with a lot of experience, you can still get access to the same kind of level of musicianship and creativity.

00:37:36.763 –> 00:37:54.223
David: Yeah, it’s amazing because it allows the music to have expression on it and musicianship that, if I’m sitting in my basement playing piano versus a piano player that’s played for, Jay-Z or has been playing for 25 plus years, the material that comes out of that is gonna sound night and day.

00:37:54.423 –> 00:37:55.223
John Kennedy: What does it cost?

00:37:55.503 –> 00:38:00.863
David: So the service is $200 a month, US, and included in that is all of the sessions.

00:38:00.983 –> 00:38:02.783
David: So there’s no additional fees or anything.

00:38:03.363 –> 00:38:05.923
David: You get to book as many sessions as you can have per month.

00:38:06.263 –> 00:38:11.923
David: To put it in perspective, the average user probably books about five to seven sessions per month.

00:38:12.283 –> 00:38:16.103
David: But we actually have some users booking 10, 12, 15 sessions per month.

00:38:16.123 –> 00:38:18.343
David: So, I mean, you could do the math on 200.

00:38:18.363 –> 00:38:24.323
David: The deal really is awesome and it allows people to work with incredible musicians and not break the bank.

00:38:25.183 –> 00:38:25.903
John Kennedy: It sounds great.

00:38:25.983 –> 00:38:28.503
John Kennedy: Can you remind us what the offer is for Tape Notes listeners?

00:38:28.743 –> 00:38:31.523
David: Well, look, we’re so thankful that you guys are having us on here.

00:38:31.963 –> 00:38:36.983
David: What we would love to do is offer 25% off per month for their first three months.

00:38:37.083 –> 00:38:39.603
David: And then the other cool part is they get to skip our wait list.

00:38:39.743 –> 00:38:41.803
David: So, you know, we usually run a wait list.

00:38:41.823 –> 00:38:47.243
David: It’s about two weeks long, but in this case, you know, finding us through this episode, you could have a session as early as tomorrow.

00:38:47.703 –> 00:38:48.303
John Kennedy: Fantastic.

00:38:48.443 –> 00:38:52.643
John Kennedy: And to get the offer, all you have to do is find the link in any of our recent episode show notes.

00:38:52.903 –> 00:38:54.483
John Kennedy: David, thank you so much for speaking to us.

00:38:54.503 –> 00:38:59.363
John Kennedy: And maybe one day we’ll be talking about a piece of music that’s been created using Museversal.

00:38:59.583 –> 00:39:00.523
David: That would be incredible.

00:39:00.543 –> 00:39:01.623
David: We cannot wait for that day.

00:39:04.463 –> 00:39:08.283
John Kennedy: The next song we’re going to look at from Happenings is Coming Back to Me Good.

00:39:08.763 –> 00:39:10.183
John Kennedy: And Serge, you’re going to play us the master.

00:40:09.458 –> 00:40:14.918
John Kennedy: So it’s interesting hearing that after having heard call, because a call kind of set the stall out in a way.

00:40:14.938 –> 00:40:16.078
John Kennedy: You know, it inspired you.

00:40:16.398 –> 00:40:19.258
John Kennedy: You thought, right, I’m gonna go for this in this direction.

00:40:19.278 –> 00:40:20.758
John Kennedy: But this is quite different again, isn’t it?

00:40:20.817 –> 00:40:22.677
John Kennedy: It’s much more of a disco kind of thing.

00:40:22.977 –> 00:40:25.997
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, I think I just get bored so quickly.

00:40:26.777 –> 00:40:33.097
Serge Pizzorno: And again, I just follow the, like I just try and stay and follow the instinct.

00:40:33.157 –> 00:40:36.357
Serge Pizzorno: Because yeah, I think it has to do with that.

00:40:36.377 –> 00:40:39.577
Serge Pizzorno: Like just felt like, ah, this is pretty, I’m into this.

00:40:39.597 –> 00:40:41.997
Serge Pizzorno: We’ll just make it and see where it takes us.

00:40:42.017 –> 00:40:54.737
Serge Pizzorno: But definitely like, you know, that sentiment of rebirth and being sort of, you know, it’s kind of got that soul Motown feel where, you know, like don’t give up, it’s not too late.

00:40:54.757 –> 00:40:58.397
Serge Pizzorno: Like I sort of felt, it felt right on the album.

00:40:59.277 –> 00:41:01.717
John Kennedy: So how did this song start?

00:41:02.597 –> 00:41:04.677
Serge Pizzorno: You know what, I’m gonna play.

00:41:05.917 –> 00:41:12.577
Serge Pizzorno: It was funny when I, you know, found out I was gonna do this, cause I love the show so much.

00:41:12.597 –> 00:41:13.917
Serge Pizzorno: I think you’re doing an amazing job, man.

00:41:14.017 –> 00:41:14.537
John Kennedy: Thanks, Serge.

00:41:14.557 –> 00:41:15.477
Serge Pizzorno: Respect, honestly.

00:41:15.697 –> 00:41:26.157
Serge Pizzorno: And I think, God, if I had this like starting out, like if I had this access to this, these amount of people to hear how they make their records, like it’s unbelievable.

00:41:26.437 –> 00:41:36.737
Serge Pizzorno: Like, you know, I’m sat there with an Atari and Octamed trying to, you know, I’m like trying to make beats and I can’t even work out how to record vocals longer than 10 seconds.

00:41:36.757 –> 00:41:38.397
Serge Pizzorno: Cause that’s all the sample rates.

00:41:38.917 –> 00:41:44.637
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, but like every week, like you’re just hearing people’s process and it’s amazing.

00:41:45.277 –> 00:41:47.677
Serge Pizzorno: And you know, I love this game, man.

00:41:47.697 –> 00:41:48.637
Serge Pizzorno: Like I love it.

00:41:48.977 –> 00:41:49.277
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:41:49.497 –> 00:41:54.757
Serge Pizzorno: And the funny thing about this is like, well, I need to find the original sort of idea.

00:41:54.797 –> 00:42:08.237
Serge Pizzorno: Cause it’s just a good example of showing people like, that’s how it ended up, but man, it started in here, you know, like it ends up in, I don’t know, San Francisco, but it started in, you know, Tokyo or something.

00:42:08.257 –> 00:42:08.797
Serge Pizzorno: You know what I mean?

00:42:08.817 –> 00:42:17.577
Serge Pizzorno: Like it’s just like, it’s so it’s, it’s, but I can’t find any old stuff cause I call stuff like, this is to find this, right?

00:42:18.337 –> 00:42:20.157
Serge Pizzorno: The file was called Jogwheel.

00:42:21.157 –> 00:42:25.937
Serge Pizzorno: And then I go for another track that’s called something like, you know, Fuzz Machine.

00:42:25.957 –> 00:42:27.257
Serge Pizzorno: Honestly, like it’s impossible.

00:42:27.277 –> 00:42:32.017
Serge Pizzorno: There’s no way I’m like finding this stuff, but let me play you this.

00:42:32.257 –> 00:42:33.757
Serge Pizzorno: Cause this is where it started.

00:42:34.517 –> 00:42:40.297
John Kennedy: So what you’re saying is that you had to dig deep before we arrived to find this stuff.

00:42:40.417 –> 00:42:41.377
Serge Pizzorno: The hard drive.

00:42:41.397 –> 00:42:43.957
Serge Pizzorno: There’s a couple of pieces that I’ve found.

00:42:43.977 –> 00:42:46.337
Serge Pizzorno: I’m going to, I’m going to use that, need that verse.

00:42:46.697 –> 00:42:46.937
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:42:48.537 –> 00:42:49.897
Serge Pizzorno: Seriously, I’ve lost it again.

00:42:52.197 –> 00:42:56.217
Serge Pizzorno: So this is how, coming back to me, good.

00:42:56.717 –> 00:43:06.837
Serge Pizzorno: This is the, the startings of me just, you know, waking up and having a chord sequence and bit of a melody and like, okay, there’s something, it might be something in this.

00:43:24.130 –> 00:43:26.690
Serge Pizzorno: We’re definitely in a sort of another place, though, right?

00:43:26.850 –> 00:43:27.550
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah, definitely.

00:43:27.550 –> 00:43:29.910
John Kennedy: And are you playing the piano while you’re singing?

00:43:29.990 –> 00:43:32.390
Serge Pizzorno: That’s, no, midi.

00:43:32.490 –> 00:43:35.950
Serge Pizzorno: So I’ll get nearer, but not near enough, you know what I mean?

00:43:47.270 –> 00:43:49.350
John Kennedy: And what’s that sound coming up in the back?

00:43:49.370 –> 00:43:51.950
Serge Pizzorno: It’s just a like little rise, you know what I mean?

00:43:51.970 –> 00:43:55.330
Serge Pizzorno: And then into sort of like, just getting into the vibe.

00:44:01.630 –> 00:44:03.930
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s like, I’m thinking of that.

00:44:03.950 –> 00:44:07.370
Serge Pizzorno: They have got something exciting going on there.

00:44:07.410 –> 00:44:07.750
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:44:10.650 –> 00:44:13.610
Serge Pizzorno: But that piano is just like, yeah.

00:44:18.305 –> 00:44:21.245
John Kennedy: And is that actually being played on a keyboard?

00:44:21.445 –> 00:44:22.905
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, so I just got this.

00:44:23.225 –> 00:44:30.785
Serge Pizzorno: So underneath your desk, just underneath the desk, there’s like a little pull out of a really standard midi piano.

00:44:31.485 –> 00:44:43.365
Serge Pizzorno: And then I just use one of the contacts, you know, anything that’s, and then we’ll always replay, so at Mark’s he’s got a nice piano, really nice piano, so that’ll just get replayed.

00:44:44.745 –> 00:44:48.785
Serge Pizzorno: So it gets rid of that sort of tacky sound, you know what I mean?

00:44:49.005 –> 00:44:52.805
John Kennedy: Yeah, but at the same time, it’s usable and helps you catch your idea.

00:44:52.825 –> 00:44:56.205
Serge Pizzorno: In a way, it’s got that early house thing going on.

00:44:57.125 –> 00:45:03.045
Serge Pizzorno: But yeah, I mean, thinking where that song ended up, it’s nice to hear it, I think, in that form.

00:45:03.065 –> 00:45:04.885
John Kennedy: Yeah, maybe we should hear a bit more.

00:45:05.465 –> 00:45:07.945
John Kennedy: I mean, how long is the idea?

00:45:07.965 –> 00:45:13.185
Serge Pizzorno: So yeah, this will be like a few minutes, and I’ll just probably loop around that same section.

00:45:16.045 –> 00:45:19.445
Serge Pizzorno: But then, you know, those bits of melody and even the lyric kind of made it.

00:45:28.478 –> 00:45:28.778
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:45:35.538 –> 00:45:36.748
John Kennedy: And there’s a strong bass line in there.

00:45:36.768 –> 00:45:38.848
John Kennedy: I mean, is that played on your bass?

00:45:39.088 –> 00:45:41.928
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, yeah, just an old Hoffner.

00:45:43.668 –> 00:45:45.028
Serge Pizzorno: It’s either McCartney, yeah.

00:45:45.608 –> 00:45:49.028
Serge Pizzorno: I do have another Hoffner, it’s battered.

00:45:49.048 –> 00:45:52.328
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, if you notice all the guitars, most of them ain’t got the full set of strings on.

00:45:52.928 –> 00:46:03.608
Serge Pizzorno: But again, I like to work against, I feel more inspired by a guitar with three strings, and I like the battle against it.

00:46:03.808 –> 00:46:10.688
Serge Pizzorno: I don’t like things that, you know, in tune, I like to restrict, you know what I mean?

00:46:10.708 –> 00:46:12.388
Serge Pizzorno: I’ve always been the same, do you know what I like?

00:46:12.408 –> 00:46:22.788
John Kennedy: So it’s almost like you work with what’s there, and if you’ve kind of by accident a few months beforehand lost a couple of strings, then right now, I’m gonna make this work.

00:46:23.048 –> 00:46:30.808
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly, and work with whatever tune it’s in, kind of work with that a bit as well, which is always gets unstuck later down the line.

00:46:30.828 –> 00:46:39.388
Serge Pizzorno: But there’s something that happens in between the, you know, the frequencies when it’s not quite right, that’s just more powerful somehow.

00:46:39.508 –> 00:46:39.768
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:46:39.828 –> 00:46:43.988
Serge Pizzorno: It’s crap when you’re trying to record other things that are in tune, you’re like, oh God.

00:46:45.648 –> 00:46:52.348
John Kennedy: So at that point, that demo or that first version of this song, Calling Back To Me Good, was called Jogwheel.

00:46:52.668 –> 00:46:55.448
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, no idea why, I got no idea why.

00:46:56.128 –> 00:47:05.108
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, and then kind of, you know, then I might get on the guitar then and just, you know, strum the chords and maybe work it out a bit more traditionally.

00:47:05.128 –> 00:47:11.188
Serge Pizzorno: When it gets to, when the finished version, that’s kind of inspired the idea.

00:47:11.208 –> 00:47:14.388
Serge Pizzorno: And then it’s like, oh, okay, I don’t think that’s enough.

00:47:15.068 –> 00:47:16.928
Serge Pizzorno: Be great if that was now a song.

00:47:16.948 –> 00:47:19.688
Serge Pizzorno: So that melody is really strong.

00:47:19.708 –> 00:47:29.928
Serge Pizzorno: So if that became the verse and then you had a chorus on top of that, then you’ve got two big hooks rather than like a sort of mediocre verse, a bit of a bridge and then a chorus.

00:47:29.948 –> 00:47:32.988
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, no, the verse is as strong as the chorus.

00:47:33.428 –> 00:47:41.088
Serge Pizzorno: Try to do that for the whole record is, verse is iconic as the chorus is itself.

00:47:41.108 –> 00:47:44.168
John Kennedy: Yeah, so you’re left with both of those tunes going around your head.

00:47:44.188 –> 00:47:45.568
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly, exactly.

00:47:45.788 –> 00:47:47.388
Serge Pizzorno: So I think it’s a nice way of doing it.

00:47:47.408 –> 00:47:48.668
John Kennedy: Torturing people in a way, so.

00:47:48.688 –> 00:47:54.368
Serge Pizzorno: Yes, yeah, but just, yes, that was the point of the sort of, man, there’s two choruses there.

00:47:55.588 –> 00:48:03.868
Serge Pizzorno: And obviously, because you sort of started something like in that form, you know, if you’re picking up a guitar or piano, you’re not writing like that.

00:48:03.888 –> 00:48:05.188
Serge Pizzorno: You’re not, you’re sort of not.

00:48:05.428 –> 00:48:15.488
Serge Pizzorno: And I’ve never, you know, because I’ve started here, like my writing process was production first always, and that’s how I started.

00:48:15.988 –> 00:48:21.948
Serge Pizzorno: So I’ve kind of like been lucky that I can pick up a guitar, then write a song on the guitar.

00:48:22.148 –> 00:48:28.588
Serge Pizzorno: Like the first track we played today, Darkest Lullaby, that was just in the kitchen with a guitar, really traditional songwriter thing.

00:48:29.108 –> 00:48:38.208
Serge Pizzorno: Whereas this track, that’s literally like, you know, like that’s a couple of minutes of sort of messing around, but it sparks what then it becomes.

00:48:38.268 –> 00:48:38.548
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:48:38.788 –> 00:48:43.588
John Kennedy: But then you also have to start applying yourself and try and work out, well, what could go with this?

00:48:43.588 –> 00:48:44.648
Serge Pizzorno: Yes, exactly.

00:48:44.848 –> 00:48:46.888
John Kennedy: Which is, I think what you’re going to show us now.

00:48:46.888 –> 00:48:47.648
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, totally.

00:48:47.668 –> 00:48:56.068
Serge Pizzorno: And then, you know, and then it’s a matter of getting in, you know, vocally and getting into the character to put across this vibe.

00:48:56.088 –> 00:49:04.628
Serge Pizzorno: This is a, you know, it’s a pure summer sort of medium wave radio, like American sort of seventies radio.

00:49:04.908 –> 00:49:05.188
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:49:05.408 –> 00:49:08.768
Serge Pizzorno: But I’ll play you how then this is what it became.

00:49:26.250 –> 00:49:29.370
Serge Pizzorno: Now we’re back to the original.

00:49:29.390 –> 00:49:32.290
Serge Pizzorno: It’s a different key, but that’s kind of where we are now.

00:49:32.390 –> 00:49:32.650
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:49:35.930 –> 00:49:39.050
John Kennedy: And now you’ve kind of developed your vocal as well.

00:49:39.110 –> 00:49:42.110
John Kennedy: You’ve kind of worked out how you want to sing this song.

00:49:42.290 –> 00:49:42.890
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly.

00:49:43.130 –> 00:49:51.970
Serge Pizzorno: And I think, you know, Mark, recording with Mark, he nailed the vocals and got so much more out of me.

00:49:52.630 –> 00:49:59.290
Serge Pizzorno: He just knew exactly how to do it, and I feel like the vocals are pretty good and the harmonies are really nice on this.

00:49:59.450 –> 00:50:01.890
John Kennedy: So he got you to re-record all the vocals.

00:50:02.050 –> 00:50:08.850
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, yeah, we did pretty much most of them at Mark’s, and few of the early demos stuck because the vibe was right.

00:50:08.870 –> 00:50:09.090
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:50:09.570 –> 00:50:22.110
Serge Pizzorno: But, you know, I just dig into this chorus because there’s some really nice bits of music that just, you know, really important sort of sound.

00:50:22.130 –> 00:50:36.130
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, you know what, I was thinking of the clash as well, like, you know, like Train in Vain and those that, to sort of have something that is really smooth essentially, but then you just have that bit of band sort of grit and that.

00:50:37.830 –> 00:50:44.890
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, this guitar like……op sort of section.

00:50:46.430 –> 00:50:48.690
Serge Pizzorno: And that’s just the guitar recorded straight in.

00:50:48.710 –> 00:50:53.210
Serge Pizzorno: Again, it was probably one of those moments where you’re like, oh, we’ll redo that and you sort of never do.

00:50:53.230 –> 00:50:55.290
Serge Pizzorno: It’s just got a little bit of the mooga-foooga delay.

00:50:55.310 –> 00:50:56.350
Serge Pizzorno: I use that a lot.

00:50:56.970 –> 00:50:58.850
Serge Pizzorno: Don’t really use loads of plugins.

00:50:59.110 –> 00:51:00.070
Serge Pizzorno: Use the same ones.

00:51:00.350 –> 00:51:00.810
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, yeah.

00:51:00.810 –> 00:51:01.650
Serge Pizzorno: You know what I mean?

00:51:01.670 –> 00:51:02.690
Serge Pizzorno: Again, I don’t know.

00:51:03.750 –> 00:51:06.390
Serge Pizzorno: It feels like a waste of time just to keep.

00:51:06.470 –> 00:51:07.570
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, no, that sounds good.

00:51:07.590 –> 00:51:10.810
Serge Pizzorno: It’s also got a little bit of a tape machine.

00:51:10.830 –> 00:51:15.310
Serge Pizzorno: I think it’s called an RC-20 and it just emulates an old tape machine.

00:51:15.650 –> 00:51:19.810
Serge Pizzorno: So you get that kind of border Canada bend, which, you know.

00:51:19.930 –> 00:51:20.370
John Kennedy: Right.

00:51:21.190 –> 00:51:23.330
Serge Pizzorno: That sound is just like the one.

00:51:27.390 –> 00:51:33.470
Serge Pizzorno: But when you add this little synth, that little synth there is so essential.

00:51:33.490 –> 00:51:34.950
Serge Pizzorno: That’s Pro-1.

00:51:38.110 –> 00:51:44.250
Serge Pizzorno: And it’s not cut to any grid, so you can sort of get it a bit all in and out.

00:51:44.270 –> 00:51:47.010
Serge Pizzorno: But then when you just add this like, add the beat.

00:52:20.130 –> 00:52:22.630
John Kennedy: And the drums here, is this the real kit again?

00:52:22.970 –> 00:52:23.750
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, yeah.

00:52:23.750 –> 00:52:28.350
Serge Pizzorno: So there’s some electronic and then the real kit.

00:52:28.450 –> 00:52:30.570
Serge Pizzorno: Like Ian, that is the man.

00:52:30.830 –> 00:52:31.170
Serge Pizzorno: Just so good.

00:52:31.230 –> 00:52:31.630
Serge Pizzorno: It’s so good.

00:52:31.650 –> 00:52:43.650
Serge Pizzorno: So I love, like, obviously, I’ll always kind of have a real direction of how I see the song and, you know, it’s not like I’m going to Mark’s with, like, the original demo.

00:52:44.590 –> 00:52:45.930
Serge Pizzorno: We’re kind of in this world.

00:52:46.730 –> 00:52:52.170
Serge Pizzorno: So you sort of hear it and just get the vibe and then he totally understands the switch of genres.

00:52:52.190 –> 00:52:54.870
Serge Pizzorno: He totally understands which drummer to be.

00:52:55.290 –> 00:53:01.870
Serge Pizzorno: Like, if he brings, like, you know, black sticks and gloves to this track, it’s like, no, mate, no.

00:53:02.470 –> 00:53:04.870
Serge Pizzorno: Because he’s so versatile and he’s just a jazzer, really.

00:53:04.890 –> 00:53:08.810
Serge Pizzorno: Like, he’s like the best drummer in the world, you know.

00:53:08.930 –> 00:53:14.650
Serge Pizzorno: And so he’ll listen, he’ll understand, and then he’ll just drop into the pocket.

00:53:14.670 –> 00:53:17.210
Serge Pizzorno: And then that gives it that, you know, band energy.

00:53:22.350 –> 00:53:30.050
John Kennedy: And in terms of the recording of the drums, I mean, obviously you’ve got that set up here, but did you re-record drums or do drums with Mark as well?

00:53:30.310 –> 00:53:37.090
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, so we did, we did, like, these drums sound okay, but at Mark’s we, you know, that’s where we did the drums, yeah.

00:53:39.270 –> 00:53:42.530
Serge Pizzorno: And then you just get into the big old chorus.

00:53:53.110 –> 00:53:56.730
Serge Pizzorno: It’s quite nice because we did the whole sort of gang thing on this.

00:54:06.850 –> 00:54:08.690
Serge Pizzorno: Some nice harmonies going on there.

00:54:09.259 –> 00:54:10.899
John Kennedy: Yeah, and some interesting effects as well.

00:54:10.919 –> 00:54:11.179
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:54:11.199 –> 00:54:15.039
John Kennedy: For the ready or not bits, how do you process that or record that?

00:54:15.059 –> 00:54:18.639
Serge Pizzorno: Just a bit of decapitating and a bit of a hallow.

00:54:18.719 –> 00:54:21.079
Serge Pizzorno: That seems to get that sound instantly.

00:54:33.819 –> 00:54:35.399
John Kennedy: Yeah, no, it sounds great.

00:54:35.679 –> 00:54:38.979
John Kennedy: One thing that I’m curious about is coming back to me good.

00:54:39.299 –> 00:54:39.639
Serge Pizzorno: Yes.

00:54:40.079 –> 00:54:43.119
John Kennedy: What’s behind that syntax or sentence structure?

00:54:43.139 –> 00:54:44.159
Serge Pizzorno: Do you know what?

00:54:44.939 –> 00:54:48.939
Serge Pizzorno: Like I couldn’t live with myself calling a song coming back to me.

00:54:49.759 –> 00:54:53.079
Serge Pizzorno: I just thought it’s not, you know, it’s too down the line.

00:54:53.179 –> 00:54:53.459
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:54:54.039 –> 00:54:55.739
Serge Pizzorno: So I’m wanting to make it awkward.

00:54:56.319 –> 00:55:06.359
Serge Pizzorno: I feel like I might have overthought it and it’s probably a bit awkward because people go, they can’t quite say it right, which is a really simple thing to say, but it throws people out in the good.

00:55:06.619 –> 00:55:11.319
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s kind of done its job, but then I’m like going, yeah, I might have over thought that a little bit.

00:55:11.319 –> 00:55:12.299
John Kennedy: Is it a Leicester thing?

00:55:12.539 –> 00:55:17.199
John Kennedy: Is it something that you might say, if you’re from Leicester, that you might put the good in that place?

00:55:17.579 –> 00:55:19.619
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, that’s coming back to me good.

00:55:19.659 –> 00:55:21.019
Serge Pizzorno: Like, yeah, yeah.

00:55:21.039 –> 00:55:23.939
John Kennedy: But the thing is, I mean, there’s so many different hooks within the song.

00:55:24.039 –> 00:55:24.819
Serge Pizzorno: I know, I know.

00:55:24.839 –> 00:55:26.499
John Kennedy: That you could have chosen any one of them.

00:55:26.759 –> 00:55:29.399
Serge Pizzorno: It was gonna be ready or not, but obviously you’ve got the Fuji song.

00:55:29.919 –> 00:55:32.379
Serge Pizzorno: It does mention shivers, but people use that a lot.

00:55:32.399 –> 00:55:37.819
Serge Pizzorno: So I thought it would make a quite nice slogan t-shirt as well.

00:55:38.019 –> 00:55:46.719
Serge Pizzorno: That was reminding me of those sort of early surf, sort of, do you know like the surf t-shirts, LA in the early seventies coming back to me good.

00:55:46.799 –> 00:55:47.119
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:55:47.259 –> 00:55:54.279
Serge Pizzorno: But there’s a, I want to show you, cause I think the riffs really important when it comes in.

00:55:55.219 –> 00:55:56.839
Serge Pizzorno: It’s just a voice doing it.

00:55:57.679 –> 00:56:03.319
Serge Pizzorno: So let me play you the opening and let’s sort of riff how it comes in.

00:56:03.459 –> 00:56:04.039
Serge Pizzorno: Here we’ve got…

00:56:16.063 –> 00:56:20.343
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, which I think is really sort of nice, like proper sort of iconic bit.

00:56:39.962 –> 00:56:40.652
Serge Pizzorno: Thanks for watching!

00:56:40.672 –> 00:56:48.852
Serge Pizzorno: You know what I mean, it sort of sounds like, it’s sort of, it’s all authentic kind of big soul sort of situation going on, right?

00:56:48.872 –> 00:56:51.572
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah, a Steve Cropper style thing.

00:56:51.932 –> 00:56:56.192
John Kennedy: But then I like the way that the, you’ve got a vocal mirroring that.

00:56:56.552 –> 00:56:57.632
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, exactly.

00:56:57.652 –> 00:57:01.452
Serge Pizzorno: So that came from, let me play it.

00:57:01.472 –> 00:57:03.272
Serge Pizzorno: So this is that riff.

00:57:04.152 –> 00:57:05.592
Serge Pizzorno: Let me play with nothing on.

00:57:05.612 –> 00:57:07.352
Serge Pizzorno: This is like me with a mic.

00:57:08.192 –> 00:57:14.492
Serge Pizzorno: So you get to that bit, big sort of smashes on the radio, come straight in, iconic moment.

00:57:16.852 –> 00:57:17.332
Serge Pizzorno: That’s it.

00:57:17.592 –> 00:57:19.032
John Kennedy: And that is where it comes from.

00:57:19.352 –> 00:57:20.292
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, singing.

00:57:20.692 –> 00:57:20.972
John Kennedy: Right.

00:57:26.492 –> 00:57:28.512
John Kennedy: It sounds slightly underwater, doesn’t it?

00:57:28.512 –> 00:57:30.732
Serge Pizzorno: It sounds like Apex Twin.

00:57:31.032 –> 00:57:31.972
Serge Pizzorno: So, yeah.

00:57:32.512 –> 00:57:36.272
Serge Pizzorno: So, anyone out there making tunes, man, don’t worry about it.

00:57:36.292 –> 00:57:53.332
Serge Pizzorno: So then you just like, and then you add a bit of Little Alterboy, and a bit of a howler, and you get a really nice, and then you go to Mark’s, and then Mark manages to make it sound like it was recorded by someone, you know, that knows what they’re doing.

00:57:55.992 –> 00:58:08.732
Serge Pizzorno: And then you add a few more guitars, a bit of fuzz and stuff, and then you just get a really nice, and it feels like, almost like avalanches or something.

00:58:08.752 –> 00:58:08.972
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:58:09.332 –> 00:58:23.312
Serge Pizzorno: And I think this is a combination, this might be the original bass, but then Dibs is coming in, like Dibs is coming in on the choruses, just absolutely smashing it.

00:58:24.452 –> 00:58:27.472
Serge Pizzorno: Dibs is like the glue that keeps us all together.

00:58:28.352 –> 00:58:28.972
John Kennedy: Fantastic.

00:58:29.832 –> 00:58:30.872
John Kennedy: Shall we take a break?

00:58:30.912 –> 00:58:33.052
John Kennedy: And the next song we’re going to look at is Goat, isn’t it?

00:58:33.072 –> 00:58:34.552
John Kennedy: So that’s completely different again.

00:58:34.852 –> 00:58:35.252
Serge Pizzorno: Yes.

00:58:35.572 –> 00:58:35.972
John Kennedy: Excellent.

00:58:35.992 –> 00:58:38.112
John Kennedy: So let’s round things up with another Blast of the Master.

00:58:38.132 –> 00:58:39.552
John Kennedy: Which section should we listen to?

00:58:40.012 –> 00:58:41.632
Serge Pizzorno: I’ll play it from the second verse.

00:59:17.432 –> 00:59:18.812
Serge Pizzorno: UK garage there in the background.

01:00:09.018 –> 01:00:12.938
John Kennedy: That almost sounded like there was a trumpet about to come in there, in the last section.

01:00:13.018 –> 01:00:22.498
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, that is a vocal doing the line with a little altar boy on it.

01:00:31.838 –> 01:00:41.938
Serge Pizzorno: So I just be listening with the mic, and then sometimes after a vocal take, and I just go, I just hear a melody and just be like…

01:00:41.998 –> 01:00:44.598
Serge Pizzorno: And then put it through some business.

01:00:44.838 –> 01:00:45.118
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:00:45.638 –> 01:00:46.598
John Kennedy: And hey Presta.

01:00:46.678 –> 01:00:47.018
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah.

01:00:47.138 –> 01:00:47.758
John Kennedy: Fantastic.

01:00:47.858 –> 01:00:48.178
John Kennedy: Right.

01:00:48.178 –> 01:00:49.718
John Kennedy: So that is coming back to me good.

01:00:49.838 –> 01:00:53.698
John Kennedy: The next song we’re going to look at from the new album by Kasabian is Goat.

01:00:55.978 –> 01:00:59.538
John Kennedy: The next song we’re going to look at from Happenings by Kasabian is Goat.

01:01:00.138 –> 01:01:02.458
John Kennedy: So Serge, if you want to play the master, that would be great.

01:02:05.073 –> 01:02:08.853
John Kennedy: Just a little taste of Goat by Kassabian from Happenings.

01:02:09.013 –> 01:02:15.033
John Kennedy: And in contrast to the two tracks we’ve looked at already, Serge, that you take it down a bit, it has a different kind of feel.

01:02:15.053 –> 01:02:20.633
John Kennedy: And in a way, the album as a whole is pretty upbeat, and pretty poppy and pretty catchy.

01:02:20.993 –> 01:02:26.233
John Kennedy: And obviously that’s catchy too, but it’s a different kind of thing, almost with a more serious intent in a way.

01:02:26.253 –> 01:02:28.353
John Kennedy: I think there’s quite a message in that song.

01:02:28.493 –> 01:02:29.273
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, yeah.

01:02:30.173 –> 01:02:51.193
Serge Pizzorno: So the goat and the sort of idea for the lyrics came from my little boy who’s kept showing me, you know, like he shows me like YouTube shorts or like montages of like Messi or, you know, the goats, you know, where they are, they’re like the famous, you know.

01:02:52.453 –> 01:02:59.193
Serge Pizzorno: And it would piss me off because the music’s so bad, like some EDM kind of like really sort of just bad.

01:02:59.373 –> 01:02:59.693
John Kennedy: Right.

01:03:00.133 –> 01:03:04.253
Serge Pizzorno: So I’m kind of looking at it, watching it, because it’s obviously some impressive goals, you know what I mean?

01:03:04.253 –> 01:03:09.673
Serge Pizzorno: And then, you know, Usain Bolt smashing the 100 meters and then some Tiger Woods and all that.

01:03:10.773 –> 01:03:14.033
Serge Pizzorno: But I can’t shake the annoyance of the tune.

01:03:14.593 –> 01:03:24.573
Serge Pizzorno: So I was thinking, would it be great if like a rock band, I don’t know if we could call us that, but let’s say we are, we did like a version for that.

01:03:25.233 –> 01:03:33.613
Serge Pizzorno: So it was the go-to song, the go-to song for that, you know, like, oh, we’re making a thing of this, so we need a tune, that’s the one, you know?

01:03:33.633 –> 01:03:39.713
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s like, okay, so I put it in my notes, greatest of all time, and then forgot about it.

01:03:40.733 –> 01:03:45.753
Serge Pizzorno: And then that just sits on your phone until you need it, you know, and you write or we’ll tell you the same, you know what I mean?

01:03:45.773 –> 01:03:53.433
Serge Pizzorno: You just collect, collect, collect, and then at some point you have a little flick through and one day that message, you know, that note will talk to you more than the others.

01:03:54.273 –> 01:03:57.993
Serge Pizzorno: So that’s kind of where the lyrics, the lyrics came from and the sentiment and yeah.

01:03:58.013 –> 01:04:23.613
Serge Pizzorno: And I just, I don’t know, like with something like, like The Underdog, it’s like, I don’t know, it fits within the realms of the band and, you know, I feel like it, it’s certainly, it kind of feels like the first album in a way, kind of when I sort of wrote something like Running Battle or, you know, or that first record, it’s kind of got a sort of nod to that era of Casabian, I think.

01:04:23.753 –> 01:04:24.653
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah.

01:04:24.653 –> 01:04:25.613
John Kennedy: No, I think it’s great.

01:04:25.733 –> 01:04:29.153
John Kennedy: And I think that it’s really empowering.

01:04:29.173 –> 01:04:30.093
John Kennedy: You’re really powerful.

01:04:30.113 –> 01:04:32.733
John Kennedy: It’s like a message to yourself, a message to anybody.

01:04:32.753 –> 01:04:34.933
John Kennedy: You know, I kind of know you can do this.

01:04:35.273 –> 01:04:35.873
Serge Pizzorno: No, exactly.

01:04:35.893 –> 01:04:44.593
Serge Pizzorno: And I think like coming, you know, from the last record, you know, we call it that, we’re calling that like Empire Strikes Back, you know, this is the Jedi, you know what I mean?

01:04:45.533 –> 01:04:53.093
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like coming out of that dark period and then into something that’s more like, you know, like you’re an icon, you know.

01:04:53.853 –> 01:04:58.193
Serge Pizzorno: That’s a nice thing to sing and to sort of be a part of.

01:04:58.213 –> 01:05:06.813
Serge Pizzorno: And the message, maybe I’m, yeah, I’m singing to my young lad as well, you know, like father to son, like if you put the graft in, you know what I mean?

01:05:06.833 –> 01:05:22.193
Serge Pizzorno: If you work hard, you know, and then doing a lot of running, like I’ve sort of bang into it and I’m definitely think that’s tapped into that side of my life now where, you know, who’s going to carry the boat, son?

01:05:24.713 –> 01:05:31.873
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like that sort of motivational thing, that voice where you just, you know, you’re dying, but you just got to carry on.

01:05:31.893 –> 01:05:32.673
Serge Pizzorno: You know what I mean?

01:05:32.693 –> 01:05:36.813
Serge Pizzorno: So I think it’s, I think it’s quite sweet that that’s where it came from lyrically.

01:05:36.813 –> 01:05:44.753
John Kennedy: Yeah, but the idea, that whole greatest of all time, was that in your mind when you created the music or did the music just-

01:05:44.853 –> 01:05:53.353
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, no, the music was, it was a beat and a loop that spoke to me, like the, and I was like, I like that.

01:05:53.553 –> 01:05:55.153
Serge Pizzorno: I need to find something for that.

01:05:55.553 –> 01:06:01.313
Serge Pizzorno: And then it sort of lived, you know, in the darkest bit of the hard drive for a bit.

01:06:01.333 –> 01:06:06.573
Serge Pizzorno: And then one day you open it on a certain morning and then it goes, oh, you know what?

01:06:06.573 –> 01:06:09.373
Serge Pizzorno: That is, that could be the greatest of all time.

01:06:09.453 –> 01:06:13.033
Serge Pizzorno: And then I feel like it’s a real sort of hip hop sentiment as well.

01:06:13.753 –> 01:06:16.573
Serge Pizzorno: You know, at some point we’re definitely going to get a feature on it.

01:06:16.793 –> 01:06:19.713
Serge Pizzorno: Cause I think, you know, are you the goat?

01:06:19.733 –> 01:06:21.873
Serge Pizzorno: Is anyone at, this is a shout out to anyone out there.

01:06:21.893 –> 01:06:22.533
Serge Pizzorno: Are you the goat?

01:06:22.553 –> 01:06:24.113
Serge Pizzorno: Can you do the 16 bars?

01:06:24.133 –> 01:06:24.573
Serge Pizzorno: You know what I mean?

01:06:24.593 –> 01:06:27.633
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, I think that would, that would work really well.

01:06:27.773 –> 01:06:32.133
John Kennedy: We’re probably all going to suggest our own era that we’re most connected to.

01:06:32.153 –> 01:06:32.673
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly.

01:06:33.533 –> 01:06:36.093
Serge Pizzorno: That would be good to do a version from each.

01:06:36.353 –> 01:06:37.293
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah.

01:06:37.313 –> 01:06:37.933
John Kennedy: That would be really cool.

01:06:39.033 –> 01:06:43.733
Serge Pizzorno: So this has got, in the middle of this, it’s got a verse that I didn’t use.

01:06:43.753 –> 01:06:48.553
Serge Pizzorno: So you’re getting exclusive because I probably will use this verse for something in the future.

01:06:48.953 –> 01:07:00.533
Serge Pizzorno: But it’s, again, it’s another sort of example of showing everyone like where, you know, the process, even like, you know, like a fire, like it’s written in the same process how this is made.

01:07:00.553 –> 01:07:06.113
Serge Pizzorno: Like the early sort of sketches of fire were just exactly like this.

01:07:06.193 –> 01:07:09.833
Serge Pizzorno: Like just that sort of Elvis-y riff spoke to me.

01:07:09.853 –> 01:07:12.313
Serge Pizzorno: That’s why I sang it in that like weird little voice.

01:07:12.333 –> 01:07:13.573
Serge Pizzorno: Do you know what I mean?

01:07:13.593 –> 01:07:24.573
Serge Pizzorno: It’s just like, so here, this music is kind of, I’m in that character, I’m going, oh no, no, this is go, this, and then I’m looking through my notes going, you know what, greatest of all time.

01:07:24.653 –> 01:07:26.773
Serge Pizzorno: Okay, this is how that should sound.

01:07:27.673 –> 01:07:32.133
Serge Pizzorno: So we are into this, which is called dint.

01:07:32.853 –> 01:07:35.033
Serge Pizzorno: Right, for no real reason.

01:07:35.053 –> 01:07:36.853
Serge Pizzorno: No real reason whatsoever.

01:07:38.393 –> 01:07:40.013
Serge Pizzorno: There you’ve got the straightaway, you’ve got that.

01:07:40.473 –> 01:07:40.833
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:07:41.913 –> 01:07:43.153
John Kennedy: What is creating that bass?

01:07:43.313 –> 01:07:47.673
Serge Pizzorno: That’s just a big 808.

01:07:52.713 –> 01:07:54.033
Serge Pizzorno: So I’ve got the melody there.

01:07:54.053 –> 01:07:54.353
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:07:54.553 –> 01:07:58.433
Serge Pizzorno: Again, just mumbling, trying to get something.

01:08:02.893 –> 01:08:04.493
Serge Pizzorno: Then I’ve got this section which is really nice.

01:08:11.673 –> 01:08:12.253
John Kennedy: What is that?

01:08:13.193 –> 01:08:17.753
Serge Pizzorno: It’s just a bit of timpani through loads of effects.

01:08:18.033 –> 01:08:20.253
Serge Pizzorno: But this bit, like, I don’t know what this bit is.

01:08:23.653 –> 01:08:24.653
Serge Pizzorno: But there’s something in that.

01:08:24.673 –> 01:08:25.073
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:08:25.553 –> 01:08:30.933
John Kennedy: But it’s kind of, that’s almost hinting at the guest turn that might happen in the future.

01:08:33.573 –> 01:08:35.933
Serge Pizzorno: So this is going around and then I’m looking at the notes going…

01:08:35.953 –> 01:08:37.833
Serge Pizzorno: And then I like that…

01:08:46.018 –> 01:08:48.658
Serge Pizzorno: And it’s almost like Sam Cooke or Ray Charles.

01:08:48.678 –> 01:08:51.618
John Kennedy: Or kind of maybe D’Angelo or that kind of feel.

01:08:51.698 –> 01:08:52.338
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly.

01:08:53.978 –> 01:08:54.518
Serge Pizzorno: Miguel.

01:08:55.578 –> 01:09:01.578
Serge Pizzorno: And then I think I’ve got, I should play this down the mic, but so then I’m sorry.

01:09:01.598 –> 01:09:04.458
Serge Pizzorno: So I’ve got Goat and then I like that melody.

01:09:05.258 –> 01:09:07.818
Serge Pizzorno: And I think that music is really nice.

01:09:07.838 –> 01:09:09.458
Serge Pizzorno: That’s a really good direction for it.

01:09:10.018 –> 01:09:17.118
Serge Pizzorno: So then I’ll get the guitar and sit in the kitchen and then do a more traditional sort of, right?

01:09:17.718 –> 01:09:21.418
Serge Pizzorno: There’s some chords, me is in B section, you know?

01:09:21.438 –> 01:09:22.098
Serge Pizzorno: And I think like.

01:09:22.718 –> 01:09:24.138
John Kennedy: And so this is from your phone.

01:09:25.278 –> 01:09:26.758
Serge Pizzorno: Can you hear that down the phone?

01:09:26.778 –> 01:09:29.498
Serge Pizzorno: Can you hear that down the phone?

01:09:29.618 –> 01:09:30.898
Serge Pizzorno: So that’s just me in the kitchen.

01:09:53.858 –> 01:09:59.418
Serge Pizzorno: See, I’m just making this bit a…

01:10:18.218 –> 01:10:20.238
Serge Pizzorno: So yeah, I’m sort of in that.

01:10:20.538 –> 01:10:30.358
John Kennedy: Yeah, I love the idea that you’ve got this surgery, which we’re in now, but then occasionally you go to a different place, your kitchen, with your acoustic guitar.

01:10:30.798 –> 01:10:42.538
John Kennedy: No, it’s a different atmosphere, a different vibe, I suppose, that you can tap into and kind of maybe feel more relaxed in a different kind of way, where you just put the phone on the table and just strum the guitar and see what happens.

01:10:42.638 –> 01:10:43.598
Serge Pizzorno: Totally, and it’s sort of…

01:10:44.198 –> 01:10:50.238
Serge Pizzorno: When I first sort of got a guitar, that’s how you would sort of traditionally write a song.

01:10:50.258 –> 01:10:53.778
Serge Pizzorno: Because if you’ve got to do that all the time, that gives me the fear.

01:10:53.878 –> 01:10:54.718
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like I can’t…

01:10:55.678 –> 01:10:58.598
Serge Pizzorno: I think you’re sort of trapped into a way of working.

01:10:59.058 –> 01:11:02.038
Serge Pizzorno: Like I’m never coming up with that without this.

01:11:02.458 –> 01:11:06.438
Serge Pizzorno: So that sort of gets me to in the kitchen with the guitar.

01:11:06.458 –> 01:11:12.918
Serge Pizzorno: But at least I’m kind of in my head, I can hear where it’s not just gonna be this sort of bluesy thing.

01:11:12.918 –> 01:11:16.558
Serge Pizzorno: It’s gonna sound like, you know, like this.

01:11:16.718 –> 01:11:17.418
John Kennedy: Yeah, it’s interesting.

01:11:17.438 –> 01:11:24.678
John Kennedy: I mean, earlier on, you were mentioning how, now the first thing you had was a sampler and how you were just trying to work out how to create some beats for yourself.

01:11:25.198 –> 01:11:31.098
John Kennedy: So did you subsequently learn instruments to kind of work with that side of things?

01:11:31.118 –> 01:11:35.498
John Kennedy: It’s like, I need more than just being able to create a few samples and do a few loops.

01:11:35.778 –> 01:11:36.338
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly.

01:11:36.358 –> 01:11:37.858
John Kennedy: I need some instruments on this.

01:11:37.878 –> 01:11:40.638
John Kennedy: So that was your inspiration to pick up the guitar.

01:11:40.798 –> 01:11:51.098
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly, just how it was to do with making songs, like, you know, and figuring out more ways into making them, you know what I mean?

01:11:51.118 –> 01:11:58.358
Serge Pizzorno: So like, it wasn’t like a sort of, in search for like, virtuoso, tendrics.

01:11:58.378 –> 01:12:02.738
Serge Pizzorno: So some guitar players, they’re just there and they just want to learn every sort of thing.

01:12:02.758 –> 01:12:07.958
Serge Pizzorno: And I was like, once I’d got the chords, I’m kind of cool with that, that’s enough, you know what I mean?

01:12:07.978 –> 01:12:12.418
Serge Pizzorno: And then I can just, you know, you learn a few more, then you expand.

01:12:12.918 –> 01:12:17.518
Serge Pizzorno: But essentially it was to just have, to finish more, you know, to make more songs with.

01:12:17.538 –> 01:12:18.218
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah.

01:12:18.358 –> 01:12:20.198
John Kennedy: And yet there’s an epic guitar solo on this.

01:12:20.278 –> 01:12:30.058
Serge Pizzorno: There is, and that’s down to Tim Carr, which he gets his moment, which he fully deserves, because he’s, you know, the greatest guitarist there is on this planet.

01:12:31.438 –> 01:12:37.838
Serge Pizzorno: And it’s like, if you’re gonna call a song Goat, you’ve got to, you go all the way.

01:12:38.818 –> 01:12:42.318
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s like, you know, the Top Gun, is it Volta Maya, was he called that?

01:12:42.638 –> 01:12:43.218
John Kennedy: I don’t know.

01:12:43.458 –> 01:12:44.318
Serge Pizzorno: Something like that.

01:12:44.338 –> 01:12:46.958
Serge Pizzorno: Forgive me if I’m wrong pronouncing that.

01:12:47.918 –> 01:12:53.918
Serge Pizzorno: But you know, that’s sort of, it’s like that kind of almost like borderline, okay.

01:12:53.938 –> 01:12:55.198
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, I think it’s okay.

01:12:55.278 –> 01:13:03.338
Serge Pizzorno: Maybe some could go, it’s probably not, you can’t do that anymore, but it’s like, it’s on the edge of taste because it’s a full guitar solo.

01:13:03.738 –> 01:13:06.358
Serge Pizzorno: It’s the moment like the Red Arrows come over the gig.

01:13:06.378 –> 01:13:06.878
Serge Pizzorno: You know what I mean?

01:13:06.898 –> 01:13:12.678
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, it’s everything’s going off from Fetty, you know, whatever file, it’s all the business.

01:13:13.238 –> 01:13:21.198
Serge Pizzorno: But, you know, I really enjoyed that little yachty record and he sort of brought the solo back in a little way.

01:13:21.218 –> 01:13:34.578
Serge Pizzorno: We did on the last record, we had a song called The Ultrafi Effect, which we had a similar move, but this one is a bit more of a powerful tune, but it just needed that like, you know, I like things that make me smile.

01:13:34.598 –> 01:13:38.158
Serge Pizzorno: Like, I like an element of humour in what I do.

01:13:39.378 –> 01:13:42.198
Serge Pizzorno: The sort of wrongness of things kind of I enjoy a lot.

01:13:42.578 –> 01:13:53.658
Serge Pizzorno: So I think, you know, adding things like, you know, ridiculous guitar solos is just part of like, the theatre and like, you know, it’s so funny as well.

01:13:53.798 –> 01:13:54.138
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:13:54.558 –> 01:14:00.498
John Kennedy: Interesting to hear that phone demo though, because I mean, that adds a whole, another way of doing this at some point, you know.

01:14:00.818 –> 01:14:10.978
Serge Pizzorno: It’s funny because obviously there’s a lot of production going on this and you know, you’ve got, for that verse, you’ve got a big 808 and minimal drums.

01:14:11.978 –> 01:14:20.198
Serge Pizzorno: But I always have to take it down to the piano or the guitar just to make sure the song stands up on its own, just to make sure the melody is strong enough and the lyrics strong enough.

01:14:20.218 –> 01:14:25.778
Serge Pizzorno: Cause you know, all these tunes, you can just reduce them down to that.

01:14:26.038 –> 01:14:30.538
Serge Pizzorno: And if they still work and if they still got the magic, then you know, you know you’re in a good place.

01:14:31.018 –> 01:14:38.598
Serge Pizzorno: So my phone’s got pretty much all of them down to, you know, that, that, just a guitar and a vocal.

01:14:40.998 –> 01:14:50.738
Serge Pizzorno: So from those humble beginnings, into this monster.

01:14:54.818 –> 01:15:02.818
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, with the vocal, try to get that, like, you know, Sam Cooke vibe.

01:15:04.358 –> 01:15:06.558
Serge Pizzorno: It was some like some valve compressor, plug-in.

01:15:08.178 –> 01:15:19.938
Serge Pizzorno: I mean it went through the sort of posh chain, maybe a Fairchild or something like that, but it had a plugin on it that was sort of emulating those sort of Motown-y…

01:15:20.338 –> 01:15:21.018
Serge Pizzorno: Right, you know.

01:15:22.438 –> 01:15:27.038
Serge Pizzorno: They’ve got some nice harmonies on this as well.

01:15:33.018 –> 01:15:38.078
Serge Pizzorno: This bit here is quite cool as well, which I found earlier, which I forgot we did.

01:15:38.098 –> 01:15:44.558
John Kennedy: So that’s that kind of vocoder thing.

01:15:56.038 –> 01:15:59.998
Serge Pizzorno: See, at this point, we are pissing ourselves in the studio, you know.

01:16:00.458 –> 01:16:01.858
Serge Pizzorno: For me, that’s just hilarious.

01:16:01.878 –> 01:16:03.078
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, that’s got to go in.

01:16:03.498 –> 01:16:04.258
John Kennedy: It sounds great.

01:16:04.278 –> 01:16:11.278
John Kennedy: I mean, it’s interesting because when I’m hearing that, I don’t know why, but I’m thinking, wow, this could be turned into a country rock thing.

01:16:11.338 –> 01:16:12.698
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, totally.

01:16:12.718 –> 01:16:13.858
Serge Pizzorno: With just the…

01:16:14.858 –> 01:16:16.478
Serge Pizzorno: Do I have an acoustic guitar?

01:16:16.498 –> 01:16:17.058
Serge Pizzorno: You could just…

01:16:17.578 –> 01:16:21.678
Serge Pizzorno: Vibe it with that or even the piano.

01:16:21.698 –> 01:16:25.878
Serge Pizzorno: Just a bit of the guitars.

01:16:25.898 –> 01:16:32.578
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, it’s quite nice with just the guitars, huh?

01:16:32.798 –> 01:16:33.258
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah.

01:16:53.118 –> 01:16:57.118
Serge Pizzorno: So we build up to this ridiculous solo now.

01:16:57.138 –> 01:16:58.578
Serge Pizzorno: This is the moment.

01:17:53.170 –> 01:17:57.530
John Kennedy: So, how much of this is all done before you went down to London to record with Mark?

01:17:57.550 –> 01:18:03.070
Serge Pizzorno: So that sounds, by the sounds of that guitar, that’s all done, that’ll be done here.

01:18:04.150 –> 01:18:12.630
Serge Pizzorno: That piano sounds a little posh, but we’d probably have like, either like a, you know, like a plug-in piano doing it, or.

01:18:12.730 –> 01:18:24.710
John Kennedy: Yeah, and so those sessions with Mark, for some of those sections, he’s just finding the right instrument to play that on in effect, you know, to just upgrade the sound in some way, or.

01:18:24.730 –> 01:18:27.390
Serge Pizzorno: No, no, like, it’s the opposite.

01:18:27.410 –> 01:18:34.970
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like we’re saving the sounds from here, and because for whatever reason, what, you know, that’s the sound.

01:18:34.990 –> 01:18:38.690
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s more that he’s digging in on the EQ.

01:18:39.050 –> 01:18:39.390
John Kennedy: Right.

01:18:39.410 –> 01:18:42.530
Serge Pizzorno: Just making, you know, like making that sound.

01:18:42.850 –> 01:18:45.050
John Kennedy: And so was Tim’s guitar solo done here?

01:18:45.070 –> 01:18:46.110
Serge Pizzorno: That was done here, yeah.

01:18:46.370 –> 01:18:47.350
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, it’s gnarly.

01:18:47.370 –> 01:18:58.790
Serge Pizzorno: Gnarly, like it’s recorded, like engineers would be like, the mics, usually it’s like the mics over there and it just happens, you just press record and go, sounds a bit weird, but it’s fine.

01:18:58.810 –> 01:18:59.550
Serge Pizzorno: Do you know what I mean?

01:18:59.570 –> 01:19:02.050
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, there’s no thought process at all.

01:19:02.470 –> 01:19:03.670
Serge Pizzorno: But you know, it works.

01:19:04.430 –> 01:19:06.730
Serge Pizzorno: And I think it’s better for it like that.

01:19:07.530 –> 01:19:08.510
John Kennedy: Yeah, brilliant.

01:19:09.050 –> 01:19:16.050
John Kennedy: And before we disappear and let you get on with your day, we do have a few questions that we always ask people.

01:19:16.070 –> 01:19:22.570
John Kennedy: But before we get on to those questions, let’s have a quick run through Goat again and just build up the parts as they come in.

01:19:23.070 –> 01:19:29.390
Serge Pizzorno: Okay, what I might do is start with this end section because there’s quite a few layers going on here.

01:19:29.410 –> 01:19:37.390
Serge Pizzorno: So I might just, as best I can, do a little sort of, a little cool little mix and then we’ll finish with the big solo maybe.

01:19:37.410 –> 01:19:38.030
John Kennedy: Yeah, cool.

01:19:38.430 –> 01:19:40.390
Serge Pizzorno: So we’re gonna start with this cheeky little piano.

01:19:40.530 –> 01:19:45.250
Serge Pizzorno: It’s a seventh.

01:19:51.210 –> 01:19:54.050
Serge Pizzorno: Right, why is that my favourite sound?

01:20:01.834 –> 01:20:03.154
Serge Pizzorno: This is my favorite sound, really.

01:20:04.934 –> 01:20:08.374
Serge Pizzorno: Those little sounds, they’re everything to me, those little sounds.

01:20:08.394 –> 01:20:13.974
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like there’s a blaze or something, or it’s a real sort of dancy sort of thing.

01:20:15.654 –> 01:20:17.034
Serge Pizzorno: It just feels great.

01:20:17.394 –> 01:20:18.014
John Kennedy: What is that?

01:20:18.554 –> 01:20:20.714
Serge Pizzorno: I think it’s like a guiro or something.

01:20:22.314 –> 01:20:28.314
Serge Pizzorno: But that came from the original demo that I showed, I’ve never called it a demo.

01:20:28.954 –> 01:20:33.134
Serge Pizzorno: And then we’ve got some nice little, some nice 808s.

01:20:33.154 –> 01:20:39.014
Serge Pizzorno: Anyway, 808s pretty much on every kick drum.

01:20:41.234 –> 01:20:47.034
Serge Pizzorno: Let me just add a, let’s add some little bit of kick.

01:20:48.374 –> 01:20:49.694
Serge Pizzorno: Nice little bit of snare.

01:20:51.654 –> 01:20:55.094
Serge Pizzorno: There the original drum sounds from that original demo.

01:20:55.494 –> 01:20:58.714
Serge Pizzorno: And we’ll add a bit of the live kit.

01:20:59.214 –> 01:21:01.574
Serge Pizzorno: Then some live cymbals.

01:21:03.394 –> 01:21:07.034
Serge Pizzorno: And then it starts to kind of come together now.

01:21:07.054 –> 01:21:11.874
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, you know, like gives it the roomy sort of feel to it, you know what I mean?

01:21:13.054 –> 01:21:14.974
Serge Pizzorno: And then some quiet acoustics.

01:21:20.134 –> 01:21:27.954
Serge Pizzorno: And then this is, I didn’t mention it, but this fuzz guitar, I think went on every track.

01:21:28.514 –> 01:21:34.194
Serge Pizzorno: So it was like, Mark came up with this chain where it ran through two channels at the same time.

01:21:34.214 –> 01:21:36.514
Serge Pizzorno: So it’s pure overdrive.

01:21:37.514 –> 01:21:41.594
Serge Pizzorno: But that’s the glam rock sort of sound.

01:21:42.414 –> 01:21:45.214
Serge Pizzorno: And you just sort of play the one note and follow the melody.

01:22:25.754 –> 01:22:26.134
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:22:26.234 –> 01:22:27.814
John Kennedy: Did he have a wind machine?

01:22:27.834 –> 01:22:28.934
Serge Pizzorno: He needs one, he’s doing live.

01:22:28.954 –> 01:22:31.274
Serge Pizzorno: He’s like, he’s gonna need one.

01:22:31.894 –> 01:22:37.934
Serge Pizzorno: It was just me there with like one of those little mini fans, you know what I mean?

01:22:38.914 –> 01:22:40.294
Serge Pizzorno: But this is like, you know what I mean?

01:22:40.314 –> 01:22:46.134
Serge Pizzorno: It’s just like, you can happily say, fuck off at that point.

01:22:50.054 –> 01:22:55.594
John Kennedy: I really hope that they do start using this as the backing track for all those montages now.

01:22:55.614 –> 01:22:58.234
Serge Pizzorno: Honestly, the Super Bowl halftime show, I’m putting it out there now.

01:22:58.254 –> 01:22:59.814
Serge Pizzorno: I want the Super Bowl halftime show.

01:22:59.834 –> 01:22:59.934
David: Right.

01:23:00.654 –> 01:23:01.254
Serge Pizzorno: Not the gig.

01:23:01.274 –> 01:23:05.534
Serge Pizzorno: I know we’re not ready for that, but maybe some advert will give us one of them.

01:23:05.594 –> 01:23:06.254
Serge Pizzorno: That would do us.

01:23:06.314 –> 01:23:07.434
John Kennedy: Yeah, fantastic.

01:23:07.874 –> 01:23:08.794
John Kennedy: So that is GOAT.

01:23:09.474 –> 01:23:14.194
John Kennedy: As I said, before we leave you, we’re going to ask you a few more questions that we ask everybody.

01:23:14.674 –> 01:23:20.094
John Kennedy: And some are Patreon ones, but some are more relevant, specific to our cause.

01:23:20.114 –> 01:23:31.254
John Kennedy: So the first is technology or an instrument maybe, something that you can’t live without, or maybe just for this record, you couldn’t live without, something that was fundamental to you and what you do.

01:23:32.154 –> 01:23:37.714
Serge Pizzorno: I mean, I’m sure you’ve had it a million times, but the phone really is like key.

01:23:38.214 –> 01:23:40.814
Serge Pizzorno: It’s not necessarily the phone, it’s the voice memo.

01:23:40.874 –> 01:23:43.654
Serge Pizzorno: Voice memo is like everything.

01:23:44.514 –> 01:23:59.394
Serge Pizzorno: Most of these riffs, they start as voice memos, they start, you know, really means just singing into the and capturing lyrics, screen recording, you know, tunes, being out.

01:23:59.454 –> 01:24:01.674
Serge Pizzorno: Like just that thing is never not…

01:24:02.114 –> 01:24:03.234
Serge Pizzorno: I’m not always ready.

01:24:03.254 –> 01:24:11.654
Serge Pizzorno: I’m so grateful for it because it just means that anyway you can capture that idea because you can’t go, I’ll remember that and I’ll come back to it.

01:24:11.854 –> 01:24:12.754
Serge Pizzorno: It disappears.

01:24:12.774 –> 01:24:14.394
Serge Pizzorno: You have to get it whilst there.

01:24:15.354 –> 01:24:20.694
Serge Pizzorno: But yeah, I just, yeah, I think that’s probably the one.

01:24:20.714 –> 01:24:22.934
John Kennedy: Yeah, because that’s where the ideas are held.

01:24:22.954 –> 01:24:23.454
Serge Pizzorno: They are.

01:24:23.534 –> 01:24:24.194
Serge Pizzorno: They’re in there.

01:24:24.974 –> 01:24:25.274
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:24:25.314 –> 01:24:30.234
Serge Pizzorno: They’re all locked in there and that’s a way of getting them sort of stored.

01:24:30.534 –> 01:24:30.874
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:24:30.894 –> 01:24:38.074
John Kennedy: So from the brain, you know, that first memo, first articulation of what you’ve got going on in your head.

01:24:38.094 –> 01:24:38.594
Serge Pizzorno: Exactly.

01:24:38.674 –> 01:24:49.434
Serge Pizzorno: And like, could be, you know, waking up in the morning, grabbing a guitar and recording there and then, or being in here and not having the mic keyed up.

01:24:49.634 –> 01:24:52.714
Serge Pizzorno: So you quickly get your phone singing over the top, you know what I mean?

01:24:53.154 –> 01:24:54.094
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:24:54.374 –> 01:24:56.434
John Kennedy: A couple of quick Patreon questions.

01:24:56.454 –> 01:25:02.134
John Kennedy: So Josh Thomas says, Hey, Serge and John, always been a massive fan of the bass and drum tones on your records.

01:25:02.434 –> 01:25:10.694
John Kennedy: With a more dance track spin on the single so far, curious if these drums are sampled or live, or if the iconic fuzzy bass tone and riffage will make a resurgence on the new tracks.

01:25:11.114 –> 01:25:12.894
John Kennedy: So, I mean, it’s kind of all in there in a way.

01:25:13.034 –> 01:25:13.654
John Kennedy: Yes.

01:25:13.954 –> 01:25:15.714
Serge Pizzorno: The answer to that question, yes.

01:25:17.214 –> 01:25:26.794
Serge Pizzorno: The drums are always a combination of samples, electronic kits and then the real kit.

01:25:27.114 –> 01:25:38.874
Serge Pizzorno: The key, I think, to get in the sound is the live performance over the top of the electronic side of it or the samples.

01:25:39.094 –> 01:25:39.354
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:25:39.514 –> 01:25:46.474
Serge Pizzorno: Then it becomes the energy of a real drum take.

01:25:46.754 –> 01:25:51.554
Serge Pizzorno: And it makes it sound like a band rather than a sort of dance thing or whatever.

01:25:51.574 –> 01:25:52.594
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah, totally.

01:25:52.694 –> 01:25:58.314
Serge Pizzorno: And in terms of recording, it’s just a lot of compression.

01:25:58.354 –> 01:26:00.954
Serge Pizzorno: There’s no real kind of like, you know what?

01:26:02.154 –> 01:26:08.054
Serge Pizzorno: It’s funny with drums because I’ve been in studios where I’ve got the right mics.

01:26:08.494 –> 01:26:10.454
Serge Pizzorno: I’ve researched all the right kits.

01:26:11.754 –> 01:26:12.434
Serge Pizzorno: It don’t matter.

01:26:12.714 –> 01:26:14.114
Serge Pizzorno: The drummer is the one.

01:26:14.474 –> 01:26:17.954
Serge Pizzorno: You put one mic in front of the kit and the drummer can hit.

01:26:18.554 –> 01:26:19.154
Serge Pizzorno: It’s done.

01:26:19.374 –> 01:26:20.914
Serge Pizzorno: It’s over.

01:26:21.554 –> 01:26:23.834
Serge Pizzorno: The drummer brings that noise to it.

01:26:24.414 –> 01:26:27.294
Serge Pizzorno: But it’s not like, this is the chain to get that.

01:26:27.854 –> 01:26:28.974
Serge Pizzorno: I don’t think that’s the one.

01:26:29.694 –> 01:26:32.654
Serge Pizzorno: But I just think that for me, that sound is a combination.

01:26:32.954 –> 01:26:37.454
Serge Pizzorno: As far as the bass, it’s just gnarly.

01:26:38.514 –> 01:26:40.234
Serge Pizzorno: Put all the knobs around 10.

01:26:41.154 –> 01:26:41.954
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, that’s it.

01:26:42.074 –> 01:26:43.614
Serge Pizzorno: And it hits it really hard.

01:26:44.294 –> 01:26:47.154
Serge Pizzorno: But whatever distortion you prefer.

01:26:47.174 –> 01:26:56.854
Serge Pizzorno: The original one that I love is the Q bass distortion, which is on VST, which is a ball ache to find.

01:26:56.874 –> 01:26:57.594
Serge Pizzorno: You won’t find it.

01:26:57.614 –> 01:27:00.574
Serge Pizzorno: So Decapitate is pretty good.

01:27:00.594 –> 01:27:02.934
Serge Pizzorno: It’s not as good as the VST distortion.

01:27:02.954 –> 01:27:04.514
Serge Pizzorno: That’s the true one.

01:27:05.834 –> 01:27:14.954
Serge Pizzorno: Things like Club Foot and Underdog, if I solo, I found them the other day, and we should probably sit down and do those albums.

01:27:14.974 –> 01:27:17.774
Serge Pizzorno: But I soloed the original takes.

01:27:17.794 –> 01:27:18.474
Serge Pizzorno: It’s hilarious.

01:27:18.494 –> 01:27:20.294
Serge Pizzorno: Like Underdog’s an acoustic guitar.

01:27:20.314 –> 01:27:22.274
Serge Pizzorno: And it’s like ding, ding, a dick.

01:27:22.294 –> 01:27:23.354
Serge Pizzorno: Honestly, it’s hilarious.

01:27:23.534 –> 01:27:27.134
Serge Pizzorno: But then you hit that distortion on Q bass and it flies.

01:27:27.854 –> 01:27:34.034
John Kennedy: Yeah, that’s interesting because it links in to Nicola T’s question, which are, what are the key things that make a killer riff?

01:27:34.714 –> 01:27:35.214
Serge Pizzorno: Oh, man.

01:27:35.494 –> 01:27:39.674
Serge Pizzorno: I suppose it’s the pocket, isn’t it?

01:27:39.694 –> 01:27:40.394
Serge Pizzorno: It’s the groove.

01:27:41.354 –> 01:27:48.214
Serge Pizzorno: Because the notes have been used a million times, and it’s hard to find a new riff out there.

01:27:48.234 –> 01:27:55.854
Serge Pizzorno: But what I think is key, what really has helped me, is to set the tempo first.

01:27:55.874 –> 01:28:17.214
Serge Pizzorno: So, you know, think of all your favorite riffs, if you’ve got a particular one, get the tempo of that track, and then find yourself like a nice loop, someone, you know, find a nice drum loop in that tempo, and then sit on it, and spend like 10 minutes and then leave.

01:28:17.234 –> 01:28:19.474
Serge Pizzorno: Don’t spend any longer than that, because it’s just not happening.

01:28:19.994 –> 01:28:34.894
Serge Pizzorno: But if you find the right tempo, and then you’ve got an exciting like drum loop that you feel that’s talking to you, I’ve found the ones that I’ve written, the sort of drums, sort of the loops, or says some of it, and you just follow it a bit.

01:28:35.554 –> 01:28:47.294
Serge Pizzorno: But I think the tempo is the key, because you, you know, if you can sit, if you hear something that you love, and you go, right, I’ve seen them 105, 106, well, I’m down with that, I can make a riff on that.

01:28:47.654 –> 01:28:49.034
John Kennedy: Yeah, that’s really good advice.

01:28:50.074 –> 01:28:52.774
John Kennedy: Something we ask everybody is about routine or process.

01:28:52.894 –> 01:28:59.114
John Kennedy: I think we’ve heard a bit about that in a way today with you, Serge, because it sounds like you have a routine.

01:28:59.574 –> 01:29:07.094
John Kennedy: It is between 10 and 5, and it’s generally, you know, if there aren’t other things that you have to do, then it’s get yourself in here and give it a go.

01:29:07.454 –> 01:29:08.994
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, yeah, it wasn’t that.

01:29:09.014 –> 01:29:09.854
Serge Pizzorno: That’s a new thing.

01:29:09.874 –> 01:29:15.274
Serge Pizzorno: Like, I was a, you know, all through the night maniac, you know what I mean?

01:29:15.294 –> 01:29:15.894
Serge Pizzorno: You’ve got to do it.

01:29:15.914 –> 01:29:16.294
Serge Pizzorno: Do whatever.

01:29:16.534 –> 01:29:19.834
Serge Pizzorno: I’m not giving anyone any advice because I have got no idea how any of this shit works.

01:29:19.914 –> 01:29:22.274
Serge Pizzorno: I’m just, all I do, I love it.

01:29:22.294 –> 01:29:22.894
Serge Pizzorno: Do you know what I mean?

01:29:22.914 –> 01:29:32.434
Serge Pizzorno: And I don’t, like, obviously when you make stuff, you put it out there, you know, if you’re going to go down that route, people are going to have a lot to say about it, good and bad.

01:29:32.454 –> 01:29:36.654
Serge Pizzorno: You’ve got to be prepared to take that because if you’re making it, everyone’s going to have a say.

01:29:36.674 –> 01:29:38.454
Serge Pizzorno: So you’ve got to be tough on that.

01:29:38.474 –> 01:29:43.574
Serge Pizzorno: But, you know, I fucking love the game.

01:29:43.594 –> 01:29:44.114
Serge Pizzorno: Do you know what I mean?

01:29:44.134 –> 01:29:44.714
Serge Pizzorno: I love it.

01:29:45.094 –> 01:29:50.354
Serge Pizzorno: And so I’ve managed to get to a point now where I’m happy with the 10-5 thing.

01:29:50.374 –> 01:29:57.194
Serge Pizzorno: It could change, but I like kind of, I like the sort of, you know, five.

01:29:57.314 –> 01:30:02.034
Serge Pizzorno: If I’ve not got anything by five, and what happens, it tends to happen at half four, something amazing happens.

01:30:02.634 –> 01:30:03.414
Serge Pizzorno: Every time.

01:30:04.314 –> 01:30:08.234
Serge Pizzorno: And so you go, I don’t know, I’m going to carry on.

01:30:08.334 –> 01:30:08.994
Serge Pizzorno: I don’t now.

01:30:09.194 –> 01:30:09.594
Serge Pizzorno: I did.

01:30:09.614 –> 01:30:11.034
Serge Pizzorno: I’ve got this half, I don’t care.

01:30:11.234 –> 01:30:12.774
Serge Pizzorno: But now I go, no, no, got it.

01:30:13.654 –> 01:30:22.594
Serge Pizzorno: Park that, get in the house, be a fucking mega dad, be a mega husband, do the thing in your head and go right tomorrow.

01:30:22.594 –> 01:30:26.734
Serge Pizzorno: And then you wake up, get in here at 10 and then there’s that little magic.

01:30:26.854 –> 01:30:28.094
Serge Pizzorno: And then that starts the day.

01:30:28.114 –> 01:30:32.354
Serge Pizzorno: And if you start the day on that vibe, it’s like this, yeah, it’s amazing.

01:30:32.474 –> 01:30:32.774
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:30:32.934 –> 01:30:34.134
John Kennedy: That sounds great.

01:30:34.154 –> 01:30:35.054
John Kennedy: And you mentioned advice.

01:30:35.074 –> 01:30:38.734
John Kennedy: I mean, the last question we ask everybody is, do you have any advice for people?

01:30:39.494 –> 01:30:44.614
John Kennedy: Because, I mean, there’s 20 years of Xavier now, it’s eight albums in, you know, there’s a lot of experience.

01:30:44.634 –> 01:30:46.714
John Kennedy: I mean, all sorts of things have happened.

01:30:46.734 –> 01:30:55.234
John Kennedy: I mean, it’s interesting because you love the game and the game is just trying to find a little nugget of music that excites you.

01:30:55.554 –> 01:30:57.114
John Kennedy: How do you keep that flame alive?

01:30:57.434 –> 01:30:58.274
Serge Pizzorno: I don’t think I have to.

01:30:58.294 –> 01:30:58.894
Serge Pizzorno: It just is.

01:30:58.914 –> 01:30:59.734
Serge Pizzorno: The flame’s on.

01:31:00.254 –> 01:31:01.014
Serge Pizzorno: It’s burning.

01:31:01.554 –> 01:31:02.694
Serge Pizzorno: Yeah, it’s just on.

01:31:05.014 –> 01:31:09.894
Serge Pizzorno: And I’m excited by, I’ve got no idea what the next record’s going to sound like.

01:31:11.474 –> 01:31:19.334
Serge Pizzorno: And waking up not knowing what tune is going to be, is are you going to write your best song today?

01:31:20.234 –> 01:31:21.854
Serge Pizzorno: That’s always what I think.

01:31:22.394 –> 01:31:23.754
Serge Pizzorno: I’ve not written it yet.

01:31:24.834 –> 01:31:28.154
Serge Pizzorno: And so yeah, that’s never going to go out.

01:31:28.274 –> 01:31:31.394
Serge Pizzorno: So yeah, long may that continue.

01:31:31.414 –> 01:31:36.634
John Kennedy: Yeah, so in a way, could that be the advice, that hope is ever there?

01:31:36.634 –> 01:31:42.014
Serge Pizzorno: I only say that because I just have, everyone’s like got their way and everyone’s right.

01:31:42.034 –> 01:31:42.534
Serge Pizzorno: You know what I mean?

01:31:42.554 –> 01:31:48.174
Serge Pizzorno: I’m not, you know, and the last thing you need is some, you know, I made these records guys, you got to listen to me.

01:31:48.194 –> 01:31:49.534
Serge Pizzorno: It’s like, I fucking know shit.

01:31:49.874 –> 01:31:59.794
Serge Pizzorno: Like I just, I think if you, you know, you get in there and you mean it, I don’t know, man, you give it, you sing from the heart, you give it all you got.

01:31:59.954 –> 01:32:01.654
Serge Pizzorno: I think you can’t go wrong with that.

01:32:01.934 –> 01:32:03.094
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:32:03.114 –> 01:32:09.214
John Kennedy: Serge, thanks so much for allowing us into the surgery and welcoming us, getting us an appointment at the surgery.

01:32:09.234 –> 01:32:10.274
John Kennedy: You know what it’s like these days.

01:32:10.294 –> 01:32:12.054
John Kennedy: It’s quite hard.

01:32:12.094 –> 01:32:13.994
John Kennedy: So it’s been brilliant to be able to do that.

01:32:14.454 –> 01:32:19.854
John Kennedy: We should play out with one more tune, another selection from Happenings, one that we haven’t listened to yet.

01:32:21.134 –> 01:32:22.554
Serge Pizzorno: So we’re going to go out on hell of it.

01:32:23.334 –> 01:32:25.174
Serge Pizzorno: This was the last thing that went down.

01:32:26.634 –> 01:32:32.894
Serge Pizzorno: Man, I think if anything, this is probably maybe a peek into where I’m headed.

01:32:33.674 –> 01:32:39.174
Serge Pizzorno: So this is like a little like, oh, okay, this feels like I’ve trod on some new ground.

01:32:39.194 –> 01:32:50.914
Serge Pizzorno: And again, this started with, I thought I need a riff, I need a big riff, I feel like there’s something not quite, it’s not quite there yet, the record, phone note.

01:32:57.354 –> 01:33:12.694
Serge Pizzorno: I’m like, right, what is that, I don’t know where that’s come from, like literally in the garden, walking around, and I’m sort of doing the filters, and I’m imagining the crowd, like Tyler the Creator, like fucking everyone’s there, bounce.

01:33:13.014 –> 01:33:18.434
Serge Pizzorno: So right, stare that down, then get in the studio, and then this is where it got.

01:33:19.014 –> 01:33:19.654
John Kennedy: Fantastic.

01:33:19.914 –> 01:33:20.694
John Kennedy: Thank you, Serge.

01:33:20.934 –> 01:33:21.614
Serge Pizzorno: Thanks, mate.

01:33:21.694 –> 01:33:22.574
Serge Pizzorno: I’ve loved this.

01:33:22.774 –> 01:33:23.254
John Kennedy: Brilliant.

01:33:23.454 –> 01:33:24.134
Serge Pizzorno: Right, here we go, guys.

01:33:24.154 –> 01:33:25.794
John Kennedy: Now we’re going to go and bounce around the garden.

01:33:25.974 –> 01:33:26.494
Serge Pizzorno: Let’s do it.

01:33:36.614 –> 01:33:41.654
John Kennedy: Thank you for listening, and in particular, thanks to all of you who have signed up to support us on Patreon.

01:33:42.034 –> 01:33:46.214
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01:33:46.534 –> 01:33:54.194
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01:33:54.474 –> 01:33:57.894
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01:33:58.254 –> 01:34:03.214
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01:34:03.414 –> 01:34:06.974
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01:34:06.994 –> 01:34:08.354
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01:34:08.534 –> 01:34:10.014
John Kennedy: Until next time, goodbye.