Tape Notes – Details, episodes & analysis

John is joined by Jack Patterson and Grace Chatto of Clean Bandit to talk about how they wrote, recorded, and produced some of their early hits. Clean Bandit are an English electronic group formed in 2008, known for blending classical music with electronics and pop. While they gained early attention with the track ‘Mozart’s House,’ their 2014 hit ‘Rather Be,’ featuring Jess Glynne, won a Grammy and earned the band global recognition. Now pop mainstays, they have released numerous chart-topping collaborations, including ‘Rockabye’ and ‘Symphony.’ With two studio albums to their name and new music on the horizon, their most recent work sees them teaming up with Anne-Marie and David Guetta. In this, part one of our conversation, Jack and Grace look back at their process of creating ‘Rather Be’ and ‘I Miss You.’ In addition to discussing how they programmed the synth at the very centre of their early music, the pair recount stories of writing on the Tube and possibly one of the most intense vocal sessions of their career. Tracks discussed: Rather Be, I Miss You TAPE IT Thanks to our friends at Tape It for supporting the podcast. Visit tape.it/tapenotes or use the promo code TAPENOTES in the app to get 50% off. ROLAND Get 10% off Roland Cloud Ultimate Membership with the code TAPENOTES RC-1024 at rolandcloud.com MUSIVERSAL Skip the waitlist and get your 25% discount HERE LISTEN to ‘Rather Be’ here.  LISTEN to ‘I Miss You’ here. Atlantic Records UK LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES   linktr.ee/tapenotes  Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective GEAR MENTIONS Antares Harmony Engine Soundtoys Little Alterboy XLN AUDIO RC-20 reFX Nexus Synth That Sound Drumline Ilya Efimov Plugins Spectrasonics Keyscape Mellotron AKAI EWI Midi Controller Native Instruments Kontakt Conny Plank's SSL Desk Ableton Operator Synth Ableton Avid ProTools OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can join us on Patreon, where among many things you can access full length videos of most new episodes, ad-free episodes and detailed gear list breakdowns. KEEP UP TO DATE For behind the scenes photos and the latest updates, make sure to follow us on:  Instagram: @tapenotes  Twitter: @tapenotes  Facebook: @tapenotespodcast   YouTube: Tape Notes Podcast Discord: Tape Notes Patreon: Tape Notes To let us know the artists you’d like to hear, Tweet us, slide into our DMs, send us an email or even a letter. We’d love to hear!  Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk TAPE NOTES TEAM Will Brown  Tim Adam-Smith  Will Lyons  Nico Varanese  Guy Nicholls  Jessica Clucas Katie-Louise Buxton  Seb Brunner-Stolovitzky  Jonathon Coughlin

John is joined by Alex Cook, better known as A. G. Cook, to talk about how he wrote, recorded and produced the album ‘Britpop’. A. G. Cook, is a London-based artist and producer. After studying at Goldsmiths University, he founded PC Music, a label shaping hyper pop with artists including Hannah Diamond and Danny L Harle. His debut solo albums, ‘7G’ and ‘Apple’, arrived in 2020. In addition to his own music, Alex has shared his production talents with numerous pop icons, including Jonsi, Madonna, and Caroline Polachek, and Charli XCX. In May 2024, he released his third studio album, ‘Britpop’, a 24-song exploration blending pop, experimental electronics, and acoustic sounds. Catching up at Strongroom Studios, Alex guides us through the three distinct chapters of the album, digging into the production and song writing approaches he took to make them stand out. As well as sharing some intricate plugin demos, we hear stories of developing a harmonic style, meticulous automation and what it means to be an aggressive listener.   Tracks discussed: Heartache, Serenade, Lucifer TAPE IT Thanks to our friends at Tape It for supporting the podcast. Visit tape.it/tapenotes or use the promo code TAPENOTES in the app to get 50% off. MUSIVERSAL Skip the waitlist and get your 25% discount HERE LISTEN to ‘Britpop’ here. New Alias LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES   linktr.ee/tapenotes  Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective GEAR MENTIONS Soundtoys Filter Freak Waves MetaFlanger Deamtonics Synthesizer V  Reveal Sound Spire Xfer Serum Xfer OTT Sonic Charge Synplant 2 Logic Compressor Native Instruments Reaktor Native instrument Razor IK Multimedia Mixbox Udo Super 6 Synth Sonic Academy Kick 2 Arturia Vocoder V Melda Productions M Bit Fun Electro Harmonix Pitch Fork Roland TR-606 Roland Juno Synth Rode Microphones Sony C800G Shure SM58 Arturia DX-7 Soma Synths Lyra 8 Logic Pro OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can join us on Patreon, where among many things you can access full length videos of most new episodes, ad-free episodes and detailed gear list breakdowns. KEEP UP TO DATE For behind the scenes photos and the latest updates, make sure to follow us on:  Instagram: @tapenotes  Twitter: @tapenotes  Facebook: @tapenotespodcast   YouTube: Tape Notes Podcast Discord: Tape Notes Patreon: Tape Notes To let us know the artists you’d like to hear, Tweet us, slide into our DMs, send us an email or even a letter. We’d love to hear!  Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk TAPE NOTES TEAM Will Brown  Tim Adam-Smith  Will Lyons  Nico Varanese  Guy Nicholls  Jessica Clucas Katie-Louise Buxton  Seb Brunner-Stolovitzky  Jonathon Coughlin

John catches up with English rock band The Libertines to discuss how they wrote and recorded their latest album ‘All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade’. The Libertines formed in 1997 and shot to fame with their debut album, 'Up the Bracket,' becoming pillars of the British indie/alternative resurgence of the early 2000s. Thirty years after their careers started, they have unveiled their fourth studio album, 'All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade,' primarily recorded at their studio, The Albion Rooms, in Margate, with producer Dimitri Tikovoï. Sitting down with frontmen Carl Barat and Peter Doherty, the pair discuss their song writing process from idea to finished album. As well as sharing exclusive insights into the evolution of the Libertines’ recording process, we hear demos and ideas from their early days writing together up to recent studio time in Jamaica.  Tracks discussed: Run Run Run, Merry Old England, & Shiver TAPE IT Thanks to our friends at Tape It for supporting the podcast. Visit tape.it/tapenotes or use the promo code TAPENOTES in the app to get 50% off. LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES   linktr.ee/tapenotes  Listen to ‘All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade’ here   Libertines Recording Limited, Universal Music Operations, EMI Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective GEAR MENTIONS 1957 NY Epiphone Casino Guitar Gibson J45 Guitar Marshall Amps Whurli The Albion Rooms Gear OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can donate as little or as much as you'd like here, (we really appreciate your contributions :)  Donate Or you can join us on Patreon, where among many things you can access full length videos of most new episodes, ad-free episodes and detailed gear list breakdowns. KEEP UP TO DATE For behind the scenes photos and the latest updates, make sure to follow us on:  Instagram: @tapenotes  Twitter: @tapenotes  Facebook: @tapenotespodcast   YouTube: Tape Notes Podcast Discord: Tape Notes Patreon: Tape Notes To let us know the artists you’d like to hear, Tweet us, slide into our DMs, send us an email or even a letter. We’d love to hear!  Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk TAPE NOTES TEAM Will Brown - Executive Producer, Engineer & Editor Tim Adam-Smith - Executive Producer, Videographer Will Lyons - Editor Nico Varanese - Videographer, Editor Guy Nicholls - Production Assistant Jessica Clucas - Production Assistant Katie-Louise Buxton - Production Assistant Seb Brunner-Stolovitzky - Production Assistant Jonathon Coughlin - Production Assistant

In this episode, John heads over to Sports Team HQ to catch up with Oli, Rob and producer Burke Reid, to talk about how they wrote, recorded and produced their Mercury nominated debut album ‘Deep Down Happy’. With DIY demos and a bag of stems, Oli, Rob and Burke break apart what goes into creating the band’s signature raucous sound. We’re treated to tales of sleeping in rehearsal rooms, sneaking into studios and mixing at the kitchen table. Burke talks us through some of his tricks of the trade, from managing the chaos of recording the band while they all still had day jobs, to making simple repeated things sound new and exciting. Listen to hear why they like to annoy Alex during his vocal takes, which stock Logic drummer has become an integral part of the band’s writing process and how they tailor their live sets so no one goes to the bar.   Tracks discussed: Kutcher, Here It Comes Again, Fishing    Listen to 'Deep Down Happy' here. 'Deep Down Happy' - Big Desert Records, Universal Music Operations Limited   Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective    GEAR MENTIONS Audacity Audio Kitchen Big Trees Pedal Epiphone Casino Fender Amps Mu-Tron Pedals Neumann U67 Rickenbacker Bass Roland RE-20 Space Echo Boss SD-1 Pedal WEM Amps Logic Pro   SUBMIT A JINGLE For all of the details on sending in a jingle email [email protected]   Submit your Tape Notes jingle and we'll play our favourites each week on the podcast. Jingles can be in any style, can feature the Tape Notes theme, lyrics, or none of those things - be as creative as you'd like (as long as they're between 5-15 seconds).   SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can donate as little or as much as you'd like here, (we really appreciate your contributions):  Donate    Follow us on Social Media to keep up to date with the latest episodes and submit questions: Instagram Facebook Twitter   Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk       

Back at the start of lockdown, John caught up with Georgia and producer Mark Ralph to bring together a special episode for Aim House on how they wrote, recorded and produced Georgia’s Mercury nominated album ‘Seeking Thrills’.  Delving right into the first demos inspired by a night out, Georgia and Mark talk us through their fluid process of bringing the songs to life, from drawing intricate details from their dynamic list of influences, to studio days together programming rooms full of synths.   We’re given an insight into Georgia’s move to becoming a singer, stepping out from behind the drum kit, and Mark shares some of his producer wizardry, enlightening us on song structure, the small things can completely change the feel of a track and much much more. Listen to hear how a grammatically incorrect sentence became the focus of a song, clips of hook lines written on a glockenspiel and discussions on how to make a computer groove.  Tracks discussed: Started Out, About Work The Dancefloor  LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES  https://linktr.ee/tapenotes    Listen to 'Seeking Thrills' here. 'Seeking Thrills' - Domino Recording Co Ltd Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective    GEAR MENTIONS Moog Nord Wave Roland SH-101 Roland Jupiter 6 Roland TR-808 Roland TR-909 Sequential OB6   OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear    HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can donate as little or as much as you'd like here, (we really appreciate your contributions):  Donate    Follow us on Social Media to keep up to date with the latest episodes and submit questions: Instagram Facebook Twitter   Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk 

In this episode, John heads up to Assault & Battery Studios to chat with EOB – the solo project from Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien - and legendary producer Flood, to talk through how they wrote, recorded and produced the album ‘Earth’.  Armed with demos and tracks written during Ed’s time in Brazil, the pair take a deep dive into the sonic trenches, sharing their musings on the creative process, and reflect on their time working together in the studio. From fortuitous iTunes plays to jamming with world-renowned musicians, we hear Ed’s thoughts on transitioning from the realm of backing vocalist to lead vocalist, as well as the intricacies of blending carnival and dance music.   Listen to find why sometimes it’s a challenge finding beat 1, which track initially began with a swarm of Vihuelas, and why you should never use the word ‘demo’ in the studio.    Tracks discussed: Brasil, Olympik, Long Time Coming  LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES  https://linktr.ee/tapenotes    Listen to 'Earth' here. 'Earth' - Capitol Records, Over Normal Limited, under exclusive license for UMG Recordings, Inc. Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective    GEAR MENTIONS Akai MPC Looper ARP Electro-Harmonix Memory Man Elektron Machine Eventide H3000 Gibson Les Paul Soft Tube OTO Biscuit Roland System 700 Roland Juno 60 Boss RC-1 Looping Pedal Shure SM58 OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear    HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can donate as little or as much as you'd like here, (we really appreciate your contributions):  Donate    Follow us on Social Media to keep up to date with the latest episodes and submit questions: Instagram Facebook Twitter   Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk   

In this episode, John catches up with Enter Shikari frontman and producer, Rou Reynolds to breakdown how the band wrote, recorded and produced their new album ‘Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible’.   As the band’s most genre-bending album to date, Rou talks us through the challenges of combining techy metal, rave, reggae and ska influences with an oom-pah band and full symphony orchestra. Digging through his fifteen hard drives of demos and jams, we’re shown how every aspect of a track has a purpose and meaning – with detailed rhythms and distinctive sounds reflecting the state of the world in their own way.    Listen to hear the original gibberish lyrics that ended up making the final version of a song, how the band ended up forming and recording their toy drum kit and what plugins Rou uses to create his own audio cuddle.   Tracks discussed: THE GREAT UNKNOWN, Waltzing Off the Face of the Earth (1. Crescendo), satellites* *   LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES  https://linktr.ee/tapenotes    Listen to 'Nothing is True & Everything is Possible' here. 'Nothing is True & Everything is Possible' - SO Recordings/Silva Screen Records Limited Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective    GEAR MENTIONS Ableton Akai MPC Sampler Arp 2600 Arturia Synth Emulators Chandler REDD Microphone Farfisa Kemper Profiler Rack LOMO Channel Strip Native Instruments Massive Roland Jupiter 6 Sound Guru Mangle Plugin   OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear    HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can donate as little or as much as you'd like here, (we really appreciate your contributions):  Donate    Follow us on Social Media to keep up to date with the latest episodes and submit questions: Instagram Facebook Twitter   Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk 

In this episode, John catches up with Grouplove’s Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi along with legendary producer Dave Sitek to breakdown how they wrote, recorded and produced the band’s latest album Healer.  As their first record with an outside producer, the band reflect on their creative flow, pulling apart tracks bit by bit and showing us how Dave was the perfect weirdo to bring the album together. From jamming out five-hour demos at Hannah’s parent’s house to spending over a month recording from 9pm through to 11am, fuelled by cookies with cream cheese, breakfast burritos and copious amounts of weed.  We hear theories on how people’s souls enter your body to give you songs, why Dave has been the cause of multiple people’s synth addictions, and we are treated to unheard midnight vocal takes recorded just before Hannah’s vocal surgery.    Tracks discussed: Deleter, Expectations, Places    LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES  https://linktr.ee/tapenotes    Listen to 'Healer' here. 'Healer' - Atlantic Recording Corporation, WEA International Inc., Warner Music Group Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective    GEAR MENTIONS Dunlop Echoplex Pedal Mellotron Sequential Prophet 6   OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear    KEEP UP TO DATE For behind the scenes photos and the latest updates, make sure to follow us on:  Instagram: @tapenotes  Twitter: @tapenotes  Facebook: @tapenotespodcast   YouTube: Tape Notes Podcast Discord: Tape Notes To let us know the artists you’d like to hear, Tweet us, slide into our DMs, send us an email or even a letter. We’d love to hear!  Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk    HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can donate as little or as much as you'd like here, (we really appreciate your contributions :)  Donate    

In this episode, John catches up with Badly Drawn Boy A.K.A Damon Gough and producer Gethin Pearson to talk through how they wrote, recorded and produced ‘Banana Skin Shoes’.  After numerous false starts producing the album – his first after an 8 year hiatus – Damon paired up with Gethin, bringing a new enthusiasm to Damon’s musical endeavours and with him a pool of new talent to draw inspiration from. We get to hear a plethora of demos and track breakdowns as the pair chart the development of the album and gain a fascinating insight into the philosophy behind their creative decisions. From a post Valentine’s breakfast date and a shared love of the Beastie Boys, Gethin and Damon reflect on their time working together and the importance of the relationship between producer and artist.  Listen to hear how Damon’s chat after a toilet break was sampled into something much more meaningful, how he managed to include Brexit, his unborn child and Bono in the same song, and why the best piece of equipment you can have is a good artist.    Tracks discussed: Colours, Banana Skin Shoes, Is This A Dream?    LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES  https://linktr.ee/tapenotes    Listen to 'Banana Skin Shoes' here. 'Banana Skin Shoes' - Damon Gough, AWAL Recordings Ltd Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective    GEAR MENTIONS ProTools ProTools EQ Adam Audio Monitors Akai S950 Sampler Roland RE-20 Space Echo Roland TR-808 Tascam 4Trk Recorder Teenage Engineering OP1 Yamaha Clavinova   OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear    HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can donate as little or as much as you'd like here, (we really appreciate your contributions):  Donate    Follow us on Social Media to keep up to date with the latest episodes and submit questions: Instagram Facebook Twitter   Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk   

In this episode, John catches up with Rina Sawayama and producer Clarence Clarity to talk about how they wrote, recorded and produced Rina’s debut album ‘Sawayama’.     Diving deep into the almost 100 track sessions, Rina and Clarence reflect on how the album took shape, from writing demos in Rina’s bedroom to spending months in an LA studio. We hear the pair’s philosophies on creativity and the hustle of making it in the world of music, along with the secrets in crafting their fusion of R&B, noughties pop and nu-metal.     Listen to find out why Rina tries includes at least 10 hooks in each song, how Clarence tried to match a trap beat to Rina’s mum’s Beethoven performance and which member of The 1975 made a secret appearance on the record.    Tracks discussed: Dynasty, Love Me 4 Me, Snakeskin   LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES  https://linktr.ee/tapenotes    Listen to 'Sawayama' here. 'Sawayama' - Dirty Hit Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective    GEAR MENTIONS Ableton Sontronics Saturn Soundelux U99   OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear    HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can donate as little or as much as you'd like here, (we really appreciate your contributions):  Donate    Follow us on Social Media to keep up to date with the latest episodes and submit questions: Instagram Facebook Twitter Discord: Tape Notes   Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk