A list - by max...

Have made more discoveries about mixing. Here they are in no particular order:

1. I really, really like doing it. It's frustrating and takes hours but I seriously think this is something I wanna do a lot more of. We will be doing more songs after the album is out for 3-6 months or so alongside touring, just one or two at a time.

2. Every so often, to refresh my ears, I put on some music that I love and just listen to a few tracks. This is not hard work.

3. I do not like people being there while I mix. Even if they are silent or talking about something else altogether it is a mixture of distracting, off-putting and prevents me from throwing myself into it.

4. I talk to myself constantly while I mix. I am not insane, it helps me concentrate.

5. I air-drum along to songs when the mix sounds good. If I am not air-drumming, something is wrong.

6. I am around 80% of the way through my mix of Your Foot And The Floor - this is the closest to a commercial recording we have ever gotten. I will not be happy until the last 20% pushes it even closer to that sound. The aim is that if our songs turn up on your iPod shuffle, you don't think "geez, it's obvious that's an unsigned band, must remember to erase that", you should think "f*ck me, this song rocks...why am I suddenly air drumming?".

7. We are making sure that this CD kicks out of your sub-woofer with a little more control than Friends In Name Only did. The hours of trying out multi-band compression and automation for bass levels will hopefully pay off. Kev wants the bass to run out the sub all the time and rumble the room. I prefer it when the bass just sits above the sub and the kick drum hits you with a punchy sound from it. We are weighing up personal preference, a true luxury.

8. The work we put in during recording is obvious in mixing. I haven't had to 'fix' anything, just make it sit better with the other instruments.

9. I am still not a huge fan of my voice, but I am using that as a way of mixing the vocals. If I can like them in the song, they sound right.

10. Inexperience is my biggest obstacle while mixing. It's something that you can only beat by putting in more hours, I'm down with that. The drive, passion, dedication and commitment have never been in question.I will try and post up something a little more technical for people we met on tour (and will meet in the future) who are interested in recording.

Max.