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This podcast is only temporary
Irish songwriter and producer Andy White’s third series of This podcast is only temporary tells the story of the writing and recording of his latest album 'Good Luck I Hope You Make It'.
As in the first two series, going track by track through solo album ‘This garden is only temporary’ and the 'AT' album co-written with Tim Finn, every week Andy looks at how a song's layers of lyrics and music work together, how sometimes ideas appear as if by magic – and if not, inspiration can always be encouraged.
Andy plays excerpts from the master tapes and discusses process and influences, recording, playing and writing in a home studio. If you're thinking of making your own album, you might find a way of doing it here. Each episode ends with a different version of the song from the one you'll find on the released albums.
If the underlying theme of Series 1 is "How to make an album" and Series 2, "How to co-write an album", Series 3 might be all about going back to the beginning. As always, "If you want to express something but don't know how to express it—tell the truth. This is powerful."
This podcast is only temporary
Everything's Turning White
In this episode Andy takes a deep dive into the writing and recording of the third track on his new album This garden is only temporary. He's been in the studio with the master tape, and shows you how this many-layered song was written and recorded by playing excerpts of the individual instrument and vocal tracks.
Andy talks about layering, using effects, inspiration from John Leckie, how simple melodies and chords can work together and, above all, telling the truth when you are expressing something that is important to you. Did we forget the bass pedals? Yes, and bass pedals.
At the end of the first day of writing and recording, the song was ready. Later, Kent, Steve, and Rod took the story even further, but this episode ends with the first version of Everything's Turning White, recorded in four hours. As Andy says, "It has power, because it's true."
We're not even half way in, but I hope you're finding part of the album's charm is a combination of spontaneity and attention to detail. Thanks for listening. If you're enjoying the series, please share—and subscribe wherever you find your podcasts.
Andy's albums are available on Bandcamp or www.andywhite.com