Blog Five: Displaced And Disturbed

Well, the lockdown has continued, and I'm writing this as the pubs are reopening. On a Saturday. With a message to please not overdo it. Right. Boris knows we have been dying for a pint not from a bottle since March but is confident that common sense will prevail. For those of us that haven't been able to go to our holiday homes in Barnard Castle (where my father was born and grew up until he ran away from home) the lockdown eases slightly.

Our new single Featureless Zone is out. We have been displaced and disturbed in lockdown but if anything recording separately in our different houses far from the studio in Lode has meant we are more productive. Battles with technology have been worth it. Basically Richard sent round a lyric about how time shifts in lockdown, that he suddenly came up with in less than an hour on a Saturday morning. I was on Messenger later that morning. I had plans for the day, little jobs, a bit of relaxation, but they all went out the window once I got the lyrics. I've had this before with Richard's lyrics; I was so grabbed by them I went down to the piano and started to mess around with something I felt was the right feel; not exactly sad, maybe melancholy, a bit wistful, generally out of sorts maybe? Not in a minor key! So I started on something and got a rough version of the verse down, and by the time I got back upstairs me coffee was stone cold. Always a good sign. Curse you Richard! I thought to myself, putting the coffee in the microwave. It's never the same reheated! Later that afternoon after 4-5 hours I sent it back to Richard and Mark, with a first clarinet solo, recorded close to the mic and quite breathy and bluesy. Richard put the vocal on, much better than my first wavering crack at it, a genuinely beautiful vocal. And all the better cos it was his sentiments he was voicing, albeit my tune. I got goosebumps listening to his vocal. It's one of the quickest we have done in terms of writing and recording ever. Hope it goes down well. As is normal it's not like anything we have done before. Gotta keep moving!

https://germanshepherdrecords.bandcamp.com/album/featureless-zone

Lizard David x

P.S. We have a German Shepherd subscriber special where we talk about the new song along with a few favourites, including songs by Marvin Gaye, The Specials, Robyn, Elvis Costello, the Dead Kennedys, and the intriguingly named A Place To Bury Strangers...

https://www.mixcloud.com/BobonSCR/lizard-brain-podcast-5/