As Milne Glendinning Band unveil their new EP, an EP filled with music that has a contemporary, cross-genre feel that is hard to pigeonhole, Lee Allcock caught up with the band to discuss their regular gigging haunts, jazz music and more.
Tell me a bit about your new EP, ‘You Me Him’, and what listeners can expect…
There are five tracks on the EP and they’re all quite different original songs that we’ve been performing and developing over the past year or so. They’ve definitely got a jazzy backbone, but I think each one has a strong melody and lyrics.
How was the recording process? And what did you learn?
We had planned what we wanted to record and what the arrangements would be, so the session was a relatively short process and was completed in a few hours. We’ve used Blank Studios before, which is a really comfortable space for us, and ideal for recreating an intimate live ambience. We were all pretty relaxed, and we managed to capture each song in a relatively small number of takes (apart from ‘Too Busy For Thinkin’ which drove us a bit nuts at the end). What did we learn? Well, I guess, firstly, to be well prepared, but then to try and enjoy playing the song and not think about the recording too much.
What was it like working with BAFTA Award-winning sound engineer, Ray Beckett?
Ray is not only a lovely guy and a pleasure to work with, but he’s someone who’s obsessed with trying to capture the authentic sound of the music. In addition to the studio’s recording equipment, which we used for playback, he brought along all his own gear, including various mics. Once the session was done, Steve, Mike and I were then involved with guiding how we wanted the recordings to be mixed and engineered.
In terms of the live scene, what has been your favourite gig to date and why?
There are a few venues we play regularly, such as The Vault in Darlington, Prohibition Cabaret Bar and The Globe in Newcastle, and Zefferelli’s in Ambleside, and we love all of them, We’ve recently played a few local festivals and we were thrilled with the great response from audiences who were there for live music, but not particularly into jazz.
And what else can we expect from you this year?
We’ve got upcoming gigs at The Vault (August 17th) and Prohibition (October 5th) and we’d really like to play at more venues that support original music, and to reach new audiences. Don’t let the J word put you off folks – come along and check us out or even better, get in touch and book us.
You can listen to ‘You Me Him’ now on all major streaming platforms.
