So about five years ago I woke up with a tune going around in my head—this is always a good thing as I don’t find inspiration for songs that easily. Disappointingly often that tune turns out to be a song I’ve heard recently or indeed not at all recently and my excitement is dashed. But just sometimes it is original as it was on this occasion.
As that day went on, the tune was niggling at me and some rather big ideas formed, I let myself drift off on what was really just a flight of fancy. “Jerry,” I told myself, “this needs a choir and an orchestra and it’s going to sound humongously amazing.”
As the lyrics and arrangement slowly showed themselves over the following days, I dropped the orchestra idea as just silly. However the idea of a big choral piece just wouldn’t leave me.
Four years and at least three attempts later, I had manged to put together a half-decent demo, decent enough to keep me excited about the project. Then by a beautiful quirk of fate, my very oldest friend Jim joined a choir and was sending me videos of their performances.
With some trepidation, I sent my demo to Kelly Stewart (The Stewart Academy founder) thinking “if you don’t ask you don’t get”. And to my delight she loved the song and agreed to not only have her choir sing, but to arrange the choir parts herself.
Finally, a full five years after the morning that tune had landed, on a mild January evening I arrived at Lahelam Village Hall. Armed with recording equipment and 100 sets of cordless headphones and accompanied by Chris Black of Black Label Studios and Simon Davies of Silent Event Ltd.
We had 90 minutes to set up, record my masterpiece, pack up and get out—it was a task to say the least, but the result is what you hear on ‘One Voice’, track four on the forthcoming The Great Recycle album ‘The Clown That Confronts’.
I will forever be in debt to Kelly for her arrangement and choir loan, Jim for the introduction (and bass singing), Chris and Simon for their technical assistance in a very pressured time allotment. And of course, not forgetting the 60 wonderful Stewart Academy Choir members who were totally professional and sang so beautifully.
A certain, Terl Bryant and Cameron Craig added the power and gloss to the recording at a later date, but that is another story…
To celebrate the launch of Skruffy Records, we are promoting a gig at HaverHub in Haverfordwest on Saturday 26 September. Headlining will be the amazing Ides of Sedition performing songs from their debut album Perfection Is Overrated.
Available September 9 on LP, CD and Digital via Skruffy Records (internationally) is The Clown That Confronts, the second album from The Great Recycle.
Choosing a producer is a vital part of recording an album, there are many reasons for finding the right person, especially if you are a solo artist.
The self titled 2023 album by The Great Recycle, this is the first time the CD has been available for sale online and the very first time it’s available as a digital download.
We are delighted to announce that Jerry Evans aka ‘The Great Recycle’ has signed to Skruffy Records.
We are delighted to confirm that today Skruffy Records Limited has been granted a registered trademark for our name; we are now Skruffy Records®.
See all the news from Skruffy Records.
