Was there much talk of the song’s emotional meaning during the recording process, and were there revelations in that understanding during mixing?
Fergus: “It meant a lot to us as a band at the time. To be working on something that is as unnecessary as a quirky pop song during a global pandemic was as it turned out, completely necessary to us all. Long live art!”
Gavin: “This song meant a lot to me and gave us all something to focus on in a difficult time and what meant more was these guys trusting me to filter their ideas and vision into the great thing we have now.”
Jack: “More intimately, Gavin really added our personality and emotion to the recording process when tracking Ferg's lead vocals. We digested the lyrics together in the room and what they meant to us and it was the best I've ever heard Ferg sing. Gavin's vocal recording technique is second to none - he really got the best out of us.”
Julien: “During the mixing I realised I still have so much to learn. And especially from those guys.”
Do you recall any obstacles at any stage that were informative to your process?
Gavin: “Well covid was a massive one for us all. Obviously and there wasn’t much that could be taken away from that unfortunately. Finding the right mastering engineer was tough. We tried three different ones, and we learnt that just because something is industry standard doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for every track. Moving forward this is something that will stay with me.”
Fergus “Yes, having never been involved with anything that’s been mastered before that was an eye-opener. Lyrically I was unsure whether to be so revealing of the Jungian shadow that dictates my behaviour. That’s a long dark road if ever there was one.”
Were the lyrics written with an awareness of Jung, or is his area of study something you delved into further after the fact?
Fergus “Oh totally. The lyrics are if nothing else an ode to what he dedicated his life of work to. I’d read Jung as a Psychology student yes, however they just seemed like empty words in a worn out text book until you live through your own life and he just gets proven to be correct.”
Jack “Being someone who works in mental health and is passionate about it's awareness, I am often pestering my friends and fellow bandmates and offering therapy to them. So perhaps I've also been doing Jung proud and squeezing some feeling juices out of you Ferg … sounds weird that. On reflection maybe it's a bit of Freud too!”
Fergus “Yes that certainly sounds like a Freudian slip to me.”
There is the danger of taking his theories as gospel despite contemporary progression, right?
Fergus: ”Jung or Freud?”
Jack “As a general rule, I certainly get uncomfortable with old school theories about the ol' brain box. There are patterns, yes, however I like to think that we're all individuals who have unique experiences - let's learn from each other’s difficulties and challenges. In the words of Chris Martin, let's talk.”
Gavin: “And nothing better than an ego death in the studio to get everyone’s creative juices flowing.”
Fergus : “I don't think that the human mind has changed much since Jung was writing about psychological shadows governing behaviour. Would it sound brazen to say that the Jung doubters simply do not want him to be correct for the sake of their own concepts of who they believe themselves to be being shattered?”
