climbing up blank walls

by Mark Wong

Photos by LurGee and Ferret

How different an experience was the making of Blank Walls compared to Time of Rebirth?

Victor : We recorded this album in Yellow Box Studios this time around. Previously we did all our recording at home. For the recording of Blank Walls, we got to fiddle around with different miking positions in a studio environment. I think the results were much better compared to recording at home. We also had the album co-produced by Jørgen Traeen and mastered by Yngve. Both offered good advice from a perspective outside of the band.

Leslie : The technical aspects were quite different on both albums. For Blank Walls, we recorded about 95% of it ourselves, except for some minor overdubs on 'Olives' and 'Observations Of Human Failure' that were done at Duper in Bergen. I seem to remember all the late nights week after week recording one another, taking turns at being the recording engineer and obsessing over mic positions, etc. I enjoy being in the studio recording and all. So each album-making experience will always be unique and valuable in its own way.

Was there ever a fear of the "sophomore slump"?

Dharma : We wanted this album to be different from Time Of Rebirth so we were prepared for people not liking it or comparing it with Time Of Rebirth or feeling disappointed. We asked ourselves whether we would be disappointed if that was the case. I remember the answer from every one of us was something like "too bad if it's not successful but let's just do what we wanna do and not let stuff like that get in the way". So I don't think we were afraid at all.

How was your experience in Norway with Jørgen Træen?

Vivian : It changed the way we looked at music production and the methods involved. We talked often before, about doing our production overseas but the fact that it actually happened was mind-blowing. We had liked that Duper sound and had been in admiration of Jørgen's work for a while already. The experience turned out nothing like what we had imagined. Jørgen is inspiring to work with. Jørgen's a nutcase but a genius to work with, and a nice one at that. He has none of those super-producer airs and didn't care much about following textbook rules. But it wasn't like he was irreverent; it was more about getting the music to a place where it felt right.

Jørgen being a musician-composer himself helped. He is musically astute and instinctive and it didn't take too much time to get into the swing of things. We recorded some additional overdubs there. Jørgen added elements to some songs but for the most part; it was just fun to watch him at work and to learn some of his guerrilla tactics.

What a comfortable start our working relationship got off to. We'd do a full day at the studio, muck around for a few hours, go off to the cornershop for ice cream, work a few more hours, then break for foosball, or maybe cook up some smoked pork chops over a barbeque on the Duper balcony. Then, we'd do a bit more and go off for beers. It felt very much like home. It honestly never felt much like work.

Many of the new songs were gradually incorporated into your live gigs over the one and a half years between the two albums. I assume the new songs were written as the band was constantly running through the repertoire from Time of Rebirth; given the constant gigging last year, how much of a critical distance were you able to get between yourselves and your new compositions before recording and releasing them?

Victor : I think we were not at all conscious about putting a distance for the new songs before recording and releasing them. In fact, we practiced and played them quite a number of times last year. Over the months, the songs actually evolved to what they are now. That's how (the album) actually matured to its present state.

Evan : We were already playing most of the songs during our live gigs with Doctor Drumix like the first album before Adam came in. When he was playing with us, it gave the new songs a different feel to it. There was no intended "critical distance" at all. Things just changed naturally and progressively.

A song like "Strength From the Sun", which, when I first heard live as predominantly an acoustic burner with minimal keyboard flourishes from Vivian, now climaxes with brooding feedback that threatens to combust at every turn. Given the band's improvisational work ethic, how do you guys decide when a song is complete?

Dharma : I guess it's through listening to the song and the feeling that comes with it. It's a lot to do with intuition. Sometimes, we feel we need to add more and we try it out and then listen to it again. Sometimes, it works almost without effort. So it's a trial and error thing but also, sometimes our opinions change over a period of time too. But for most songs, by just listening, you know if it's reached completion by a certain stage.

Again, I refer to the second half of 2004: I can't recall a local band that has managed to chalk up as many gigs within half a year as you guys. Did it ever get too hectic for any of you?

Evan : Yes, of course. Like we said so many times, most of us have full time jobs. With going Norway to mix and all, our days of leave at work have also dwindled into miserable amounts. Nowadays, not only do we have The Observatory gigs, we are also interested in solo or group experimental gigs to play. So that means we also have to jam a lot more which take up all, if not most, of the weekends. Not having enough time aside, it has been quite fun and fulfilling as we explore more sound territories. "Now Sounds of the Future". Haha.

Vivian : Since the mixing of Time of Rebirth which was around October 2003 till now, it's been insanely hectic for us. We will wince but the fact is, we love this. It's been intense, enriching and such a journey of self-discovery and friendship. We've done so much together in such a short time from trying to organise our own releases to handling our own production. Of late, the most time-consuming exercise was the big challenge of recording Blank Walls differently and mixing it in Bergen.

From writing to producing to designing the album, to preparing and rehearsing for the launch, to devising the publicity and logistics leading up to the release and then all the media activity in its wake...phew! There is really no alternative and no better way to do this since we're independent. So we just get on with it and enjoy it while we still have the legs and the heart for it.

One notable difference between Time of Rebirth and Blank Walls is that the latter has moved away from what some have called a "downtempo" vibe. Was there some effort to distance yourselves from trendy radio-friendliness on Blank Walls?

Leslie : We are that kind of a band that hopes to keep evolving from album to album. In fact, we wanted to venture farther than what's on Blank Walls. I think there even was a point when we thought that the songs on the new album were too close to the first album. And we thought about junking them all.

But after some serious discussion, we decided to record these songs first before embarking on our next phase. We definitely felt that the downtempo label was quite funny though. As for radio-friendliness, most of Time Of Rebirth songs were way too long for its format. I was a little upset that we had to edit them down in order for radio to play it. The irony of Blank Walls is that although some of our songs now actually fit the radio format of 4 minutes, we have not exactly become "radio-friendlier" in terms of our content. Let's see how friendly radio will be to us this time.

Evan : There was a time when people would call us "atmospheric" for Time of Rebirth. We were not too comfortable with that but then again, it's just an opinion. So in the end, it didn't really matter. We didn't deliberately set out to create "downtempo" tunes for that album. It's just the way the songs are. Laid back and melancholic so it gave people that impression. We were trying to fit things together, it being the first album. Now we are moving on. So, yes, there was a considerable effort to distance ourselves from us being called "downtempo". I think Blank Walls is still radio friendly though.

In fact, despite being a stellar example of both sharp songwriting and fluid musicianship, "Sea of Doubts" rules itself out for radio airplay, what with Leslie's uncharacteristically PG-rated lyrics – neither seen on his Humpback Oak work nor on Time of Rebirth! Any comments?

Adam : This band is all about making observations about things we see in everyday life. Hence, facets of daily life inherently are filtered through into our music. With that being said, the "PG-lyrics" are only a reflection of the lives we find ourselves in. Which in short, are not all roses.

Vivian : Leslie has never been searingly direct but his lyrics have been subtly disturbing and distinctly melancholic. 'Model Citizen' from Humpback Oak's SideA SideB is an obvious example of his irony. In 'Sea of Doubts' in the last verse, it's more of a realisation than a direct curse and a no-holds-barred way to utter a simple but sad truth.

The first or second time I heard 'Sea of Doubts' was on the first night of the In the Studio with the Observatory gig at the Esplanade's Theatre Studio in July last year. I believe I experienced an epiphany when every single member of the band (minus Adam, who hadn't joined yet) sang together on the chorus, creating a visceral connection with the audience. Unfortunately, I was never to see a repeat of that truly transcendent moment - either live or on the new album.

Victor : We are constantly trying out new arrangements with our songs, even when they are recorded. During that period of time, we were all singing (or trying to really, on my part) together in the choruses. But we also tried out different approaches to the song, one of which only includes Leslie and Vivian. This incidentally is the version that ended up on the album. But it will still evolve in terms of arrangement every now and then. Maybe, one day we'll play it the way you heard it.

Dharma : Well, for one, some of us (like me, for example!) were not so in tune. After doing that for quite a bit, it didn't feel like it was necessary for all of us to sing along. But who knows we may just change our minds someday.

What I found particularly arresting about that performance of 'Sea of Doubts' was how your gesture of choral unity signified a cohesion that strongly contrasted with the song's theme of betrayal and false friendships. Moreover, it emphasized The Observatory's knack for consistently melding together all the individual talents in the band into a musically devastating leviathan - a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Being the newest member, how easy/difficult was it for Adam to integrate into the band, particularly since the band entered the recording studio not long after he joined?

Adam : It was a bit of both, I suppose. I personally needed to come up with parts that fit in just right because the recording had already been scheduled. This was a challenge because I didn't have a lot of time to develop a good chemistry with the band members, which meant I had to work overtime in a sense. But the rest of the band were very helpful in sculpting my parts because they took whatever ideas I had and made them relevant to the direction of a particular song.

Dharma : It was easy 'cause Adam himself is a devastating leviathan! Haha. But seriously, I must say he put in a lot of hard work to deliver what was needed. There were some rough patches here and there especially in trying to work out his parts to complement the programmed parts. But we always knew that would be a challenge at the end of the day. I think he did well.

How did Adam and Evan coordinate and decide when to use programmed drums and when to use the acoustic kit?

Evan : We used headphones for Adam to follow the sequenced drums. Took some getting use to but now he's an expert. We did not have plans as to when we should use electronic beats or an acoustic kit. We just jammed along and it turn out okay. For the recent songs, I decided to use lesser programmed beats or to program it in a very minimal way to give Adam more space to play.

Actually, I was kinda sick of programming during the 2nd half of the progress of Blank Walls. It's rather static after a while. In fact, some of the songs had no programming at all. During the mix, the sequenced beats were mixed low to make it more subtle, like "it was not there but you still can feel it". It felt like it was playing along with Adam instead. It also gave the songs a more organic and dynamic edge with Adam's playing.

Adam : Well, I didn't really have a choice on which tracks to use drums on since I wasn't a part of most of the song-writing process. But, on the songs that required Evan and I to work together, he and I would try to make my drum parts cohesive to what was happening in the programmed loops.

Out of curiosity, is Shah Tahir related to Adam?

Adam : Yes, we are related. He happens to be my father.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Shah Tahir credited for the recording of drums on Blank Walls. Of course, he was also responsible for co-producing and co-engineering Humpback Oak's Pain-Stained Morning released eleven years ago. Leslie, how much have things changed for you personally since then?

Leslie : It was good to work with Shah again. If there was an opportunity to work with Frank Lee again, that would be great too. Watching them both work on Pain-Stained Morning was what drove me into the direction of learning more about audio production. And I'm actually now working in that field already. 11 years ago... Whao! Well, lots of things have changed. But I'm not inclined to go into any details. You kind of hear them in my songs anyway...

By the way, Leslie, what are your former band mates from Humpback Oak, Stanley, Vincent and Daniel doing now?

Leslie : Vincent is a father of 2 already. He just recently popped by at one of our gigs. It was good to see him after so long. Daniel is in Shanghai working at this point. I actually had the opportunity to work with him on a professional level on some of his Heineken ads a few years ago. He is in advertising as well. The last I saw Stanley, he had big plans to leave the country. I hope he followed through with it. All the best, Stan!

In many ways, The Observatory will come to be seen as a central figure in the rebirth of Singaporean music in the first decade of the twenty-first century, just as Humpback Oak was a key player in the glorious Pony Canyon/Springroll golden age of the 1990s. How do you guys think the current momentum in local music can be sustained and how can the quality of local music be taken even higher?

Victor : If venues can be more approachable to staging local bands and local bands maintain a certain maturity in the way they handle themselves, I'm sure the scene will continue to grow slowly but surely. In terms of quality, I feel that that is something that is never lacking amongst the musicians here. It's just that the opportunity to present themselves is inadequate at times.

Adam : I guess ample and credible media exposure could help volumes. Bands can only do so much to improve what they are doing but if nobody knows about it, it will all be in vain. Also, I think more support from the public would inspire local bands to push themselves harder to excel and push the envelope to create better music.

Furthermore, I'm sick of the "local band=Free gig" mentality. It might be well and good for the hobbyists but it does nothing to help people who'd like to pursue music as a profession. It's not like we're asking for copious amounts of cash here; we just want enough to sustain ourselves so we can go on doing what we love: creating music.

Are there plans to market and distribute Blank Walls overseas? Have you tried getting signed with an American or European record label?

Dharma : Yes we are planning to approach foreign labels with Blank Walls. For Time Of Rebirth, we sent out a sampler to some labels but received little response. It's probably because record labels receive many demos everyday and they tend to give priority to solicited ones. But we do intend to keep at it.

Vivian : Success is subjective. To us, success isn't measured by good reviews, platinum sales, massive airplay or getting signed to a major label. Ultimately, we need to be happy with what we're doing. Being able to sustain working together in the long term will give us the biggest satisfaction. Of course, it would be excellent if we can get something, in whatever shape, form or contract, that allows our music to reach further shores of listeners. That is a connection we will always seek.

Speaking of which, The Observatory are well-known gearheads. What new toys have you guys acquired during the recording of Blank Walls?

Leslie : Prior to the recording, I acquired from MrMisse a Prunes and Custard and a feedback loop. Both of which I used together with my other pedals.

Vivian : I bought a Murf sometime back and it's been used quite a lot on Blank Walls, mainly on Oddball and My Whole Life. But it's always used in tandem with other pedals like a delay or the MicroVibe.

Dharma : I added the MoogerFooger MuRF, Electro-Harmonix Small Stone, and X-otic Robotalk to my setup, acquired through the pusherman MrMisse.

It's also from a very reliable source that the band likes to buys each other presents in the form of gear and equipment. Is there a vacancy in the band we could fill? We can play the cowbell, tambourine, etc.

Leslie : kakaka...

Vivian : That's an idea, miking the tambourine and putting it through effects?!!

Blank Walls

Aging Youth talks to The Observatory about the stories behind their sophomore effort, Blank Walls.

01.  Acid Pills

Leslie : How we would have loved to have recorded live. But for most songs, I would normally lay down my guitar and guide vox first. But for 'Acid Pills', Victor had to lay down his part first before the rest of us stacked up. I was using an electric guitar through a boss reverse delay. This song's about my chronic gastric problem.

Vivian : This song originally had an instrumental outro tagged to it. We decided to junk it at the eleventh hour, when Jørgen suggested we move 'Acid Pills' to track one. We initially had it last in the tracklist. I really love the middle section, something we call the Marvin Gaye bit, cos it's such an unusually happy bridge in the middle of a song about such a miserable state of being. I think Les' soulful vocals are wonderfully suited to this song. It's also the warmest sounding track on the album, a lot of it is in Victor's beautiful bass lines, something which Jørgen brought out more of during the mix.

02.  Olives

Leslie : The Prunes and Custard's on this. I just remember sweating through this one. The studio's air-con had to be switched off during takes, so there I was laying down my part to Evan's metronomic drum pulse. I had a few problems keeping time but managed to put down a take that I was happy with. Only to realize later that what we recorded was badly distorted! So we had to redo it all over again. 'Olives' is about how life is cyclical and how human beings are destroying themselves and the place that they inhabit for short-term gains.

Vivian : Hehe...on this one, I had a lot of fun tweaking knobs and coming up with different sounds for different parts of the song. Just to add to the whole collage of chaos and mayhem. I did most of it, the weird 'rubber' synth, the feedback and the high-pitched cricks, using the subtractor and maelstrom in Reason and adjusting various parameters till I got a weird enough sound to use. I also put the piano and organ through overdrive to add some grit. Still, the piano during the instrumental ending was too clean and Jørgen suggested recording it on his old wonky piano in the studio, which gave it a bit more character and low-end jangliness.

Dharma : There's so many knob tweakings within this song and 2 expression pedals to handle that I have to sit down whenever I play this song. Being the most energetic song on the album, I would certainly prefer if I could do it standing up.

03.  My Whole Life

Leslie : Self-explanatory song. Used a bit of detune effect and some delay. For the heavy bits, the Prunes again and the MXR Blue Box. And a bit of feedback loop on my delay pedal as well. The loud heavy bit was the most fun to do!

Vivian : Though a long track, this one thankfully didn't take too much time. Although we recorded our parts individually, our aim always was to get at something much more 'live' sounding. It wasn't that difficult because we had played these songs so many times together during rehearsal we knew one another's parts inside out. It was easy to picture ourselves playing together even as we laid down our parts separately. Jørgen used an interesting old spring reverb on Les' vocal at the beginning, giving it that slightly other-worldly vibe at the start. I used a lot of the Murf on this one. I never get tired of playing this song.

Dharma : The evolution of this song is interesting, especially the centre doomsday part. Initially, that section was just made up of clean guitars and as we worked on the song further, layers of guitars and noise were added in. When we finally finished and listened back to it, we were really satisfied to hear such a thick dense wall of sound and the somewhat sound of an electric piano being ripped apart somewhere inside there.

04.  Oddball

Leslie : This song doesn't mean anything. It just has a feeling. Electric with some delay. The process of working out with Adam the polyrhythmic instrumental ending was the most memorable part.

Vivian : I love the pitter-patter sound Evan created that starts the song. This is one of my favourite tracks. We were trying to create cyclical lines that interweaved without start or end. The middle instrumental featured some incidental noise Evan sampled from Leslie's guitar chippings. Evan and I worked this into the track together. Jørgen also put some delay on Les' vocals that you'll hear clearly on headphones. Why I mention this is that for the most part, Leslie's vocal on the album was kept dry.

Dharma : This is the song I'm gonna listen to when I gain enough courage to go skydiving someday.

05.  Sea Of Doubts

Leslie : I'm using my acoustic on this one. This song just fell together quite easily. One of those songs that just felt right when we first did it and did not really change the arrangement much as time went by. This song is about the woes of the everyday man.

Vivian : I really liked the ending Jørgen suggested for this. It just hangs in suspense and never resolves. He also used a variable delay on the piano part that kinda sounds like spiraling seagulls. The effect is rather dreamy-trippy. And every time I hear this song, I can't get Dharma's guitar solo out of my head, the melody just sticks.

06.  Failed Recollections Of A Fool

Leslie : One of the first few songs we wrote for blank walls. A spill over from the Time of Rebirth phase in terms of my lyrics. I used the 12-string on this one. It's about how foolish one can be from time to time.

Vivian : This is probably the most uptempo track on the album. Victor's swirling guitar line on this one is just beautiful. For this track, Evan came up with the driving bassline. The somewhat long title, is very Bukowski inspired, a close friend of ours reckons.

07.  Finch

Leslie : Vics is the man behind this song. Somehow when I wrote the lyrics, it ended up being a dedication to his cat Finch. The first line was inspired by how green her eyes are.

Vivian : It's a fun song with an interesting interplay between all three guitars. Vics on classical, Les on acoustic, Dharma on his 335. I love Adam's drumming on this. The singing on this one is difficult to pull off live because there's so much playing going on. My fave bit is the third verse and the instrumental bit in the middle. Jørgen added a whole bunch of sounds on this one which gave it more spunk. All the little sounds in the mix was really Jørgen realtime tweaking the Maxon AD999 we brought for him, courtesy of MrMisse.

Dharma : It's a really fun and warm song to do. Just like Vic's cat.

08.  I Didn't See Her

Leslie : This song's about freedom. The vocal take on this one was the last take from a night of lousy bad takes. Somehow this last take worked just when I had stopped trying. Or maybe I just wanted to go home.

Vivian : Evan's sounds on these are probably the most exquisite on this album. The song seems really normal, like a regular old jazz track, but the elements are an odd jumble of traditional instruments like the church organ, piano, melodica, classical guitar, vibes and dharma’s Hawaiian-tinged guitar lines mixed in with his line 6 inflections, some choir-type swells and Evan's intricate bits of electronic microsounds, scratchies, and drums. Jørgen put a lot into making this track sound old to give it that vintage nostalgia.

Dharma : If you listen carefully to the drum programming, you can hear a rattlesnake in there. Real life desert field recordings, courtesy of Evan.

09.  A Good Thing

Leslie : This song is about self-doubt. Taking something good for granted. The most fun bit was recording Dharma's guitar really loud during the loud instrumental ending! We had to put him in the hallway outside the recording booth so that his ears wouldnt be blown out by the volume. I play Victor's bass on this.

Vivian : Another track that's veering between old and new. Jørgen put my piano part through a crappy old cassette player, complete with tape wobble and all. Style-wise, it's a cross between Bacharach and Pink Floyd. Love the drum sound on this and the apocalyptic climax at the end.

Dharma : Listen to that cold icy voice being afraid to lose a good thing. And in the end, it's all too late. Viv captures them all while playing the piano.

10.  Strength From The Sun

Leslie : Acoustic song about living on nothing but sunlight.

Vivian : Most of this song came about through improvisation and still remains quite loose whenever we play it. Les is playing some alternate tuning on this one. We pretty much have to watch him closely as he doesn't keep to a consistent round of changing chords, so as to time our own chord changes and buildup with his. Evan's rumbling and screeching coupled with Victor's guitar E-Bow swells really add to the mood. For me, it conjures up dusty desert plains and tumbleweed.