Annie Barker

Ah, it’s Thursday, and I’ve just emerged from a ten day session, and the sun is shining, something unusual for this time of year. I intend to bask myself in as much of it as I can as I’m not sure the next time it will show it’s face. Actually that’s not true. It may have been sunny for the last ten days but I wouldn’t have noticed as I’ve been pretty much focused only on one thing, the session I was working on. Now, Annie Barker is a singer from Hollywood, CA and the story of how we met and have ultimately made an album together is true to what I enjoy about musical relationships, in fact all relationships, namely a chance meeting, very different backgrounds and the absolute lack of a plan. On first listening I could sense that she had quite an extraordinary voice and seemed to be quite driven, two things which don’t always go hand in hand, a songwriting style and process radically different from my own and very importantly, confidence. So earlier this year I worked on a couple of tracks with her and was generally pleased with them and would have left it there if it were not for the fact that the songs seemed to get better as time went on. I think it’s fair to say that the first couple of songs we worked on together were the most difficult and after a point we seemed to find an energy which prevailed for the rest of the recordings. The songs just get better and better and now we have finished ten of them and it seems like a really rounded album, taking you on a journey around her mind, which seems to reach out and touch you and demand to be listened to. My role has been ‘producer’ although producer seems to mean a different thing for each session I do. Annie has written the songs . I’ve been playing guitar, bass, drums, whatever has been needed really. Annie has made two or three trips to France during this year to work with me and now we find ourselves with a finished album which I, for one, am really proud of. It’s, quite simply, pushed me a little outside my comfort zone into a more, I guess, mainstream or accessible area which I have less experience in although I think I’ve managed to retain all of my sonic characteristics without compromise. This is good news for me. I mean I wouldn’t want to stray too far outside my comfort zone, would I? That would be too much like hard work and although we have been working twelve hour days it’s not really seemed that way. The process of working with someone else is, as ever, an education, regardless of the fact that this is Annie’s first album. In fact I probably learned a lot because it’s her first album which is kinda refreshing as she probably hasn’t yet reached her comfort zone. Everyone has something to offer and it’s probably self serving of me, but I soak up other peoples input and allow it to influence me subconsciously, at least.
And you know what? That moment at the end of mixing when we’re listening back to the album is still one of the best feelings in the world, a strange mixture of accomplishment and knowledge that you will be able to sleep soon.
I’m not sure who will put this record out or when but I would hope that someone with taste and the ability to market it, help her find the audience will surely pick it up and support it, as it is worthy of way more exposure than some other independently produced albums. I’ve said before that I sometimes feel that I make marginal music listened to by marginal people. This is not marginal; this could be appreciated by a much wider audience if it is given the chance.

Now it wouldn’t be normal for me to write this weblog without fucking with someone, so just so that you all don’t think that I’ve got all enthusiastic about life and people, or, you know, like, have a heart or even worse, turned into a big pussy, here are a couple of interesting points of background information should you ever bump into Annie Barker. .. She puts honey and soya milk in her coffee which is just really fucking weird and wrong. She doesn’t respond well to sentences which begin with, “Well you know, for a Californian you…” or “You Americans…” Also it’s probably best to keep her away from small children unless you want them to start saying things like “Totally” and “Awesome” all the time…