We spent all of last week on twelve hour days at NRG studios in North Hollywood creating with producer Jacknife Lee. Its so interesting and beneficial to us to have both Greg Wells and JKL working on our record – two totally different approaches and both amazing! I’m really starting to feel the album taking on a life of its own now and I almost feel like I no longer own the music as it twists and fights its way through the desires from which it is both inspired and now inspires.
We had such an amazing night on Saturday meeting up with our great friends in Paramore – I LOVE THEM GUYS! They made us feel so welcome and then to top it all off pulled us up on stage for the last song which was huge fun. They deserve all the success they are having cause they work so hard and are such great people – a true inspiration!
Today (or yesterday for you guys back home in Europe) we took a trip with our engineer Sam over to Malibu where we finally had a VICTORY in our search for BREAD that tastes like home! Thanks to LINDA at YE OLD Kings Head shop Santa Monica (AN EVERY THING ENGLISH SHOP!!) WOW it was Cadburys (which I cant eat cause I’m on Chocolate ban) BAKED BEANS!!!! I could go on and on. Definitely be returning next weekend!
So we return to NRG and more 12 hour days all this week.
Every day in every way we come closer to creating a new chapter in our legacy.
Now its time for Marmite on TOAST and 24 episode 22!

So the weekend is over and I’m thankful I made it, I was not built to relax and having two days off in the middle of the creative process just sent me crazy. On Saturday I managed to set fire to a potato I was trying to cook in our 17th century excuse for a cooker (how come we are residing in an exclusive apartment in the hills with all the mod cons but they decided to import an oven from a few centuries ago!) Set off the fire alarm just as Alan and Mark returned from a mammoth trek into Hollywood that took them SIX hours (7 minuets in the car!!) Alan was forced to rip the alarm from the wall to shut it up and so now if we do have a fire we have no warning! I’ll call maintenance today.
Week one has been a revelation – Greg Wells is a genius and we have really started to explore the extremities of our band – excited to get back with him in a couple of weeks. Today we start with Jacknife Lee for two solid weeks although the dreaded weekend will appear again (luckily we are going to see our friends band play to 10000 people on Saturday so that should break it up!)
JKL has worked on some of my favorite records and I cant wait to see what he brings to the LostAlone table. Its hard to think that by June 1st we will have an album! Although we still have to have it mixed but for my part it will be done! then time to TOUR THE WORLD!
During the 48 hours of hell I have re watched Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Until the light takes us (documentary on black metal WATCH IT!) A Lil Wayne Documentary he reminds me of me in terms of song output! the American Office and the best new program for being so bad SMASH CUTS!

Greetings from the studio here in Los Angeles where we have just had a visit from the legendary drum DR to get Marks kits sounding perfect. We have four weeks out here split between two producers who we have been exited about working with since FOREVER
So GREG WELLS and JACKNIFE LEE along with two guys from Derby and one from Glasgow now set about creating epic rock!
xxx

Day 3 of rehearsals out here in LA and its all going just perfectly, Really honed in all the songs, I think being in a different almost alien environment gives a totally fresh approach to music. I’m still operating in my very own time zone, lets call it SBT which seems to involve falling asleep at 8pm for roughly 3 hours then being awake the rest of the time – its got to relent at some point!
Our apartment is very specious and the location is conducive to writing (starting to sound like an estate agent) set in the hills between Hollwood and Burbank right next to Warner village haha, maybe I should be on Location Location (UK property TV show)
Time for some much needed food then back to the music
xx

Volcanic eruption permitting its only a few days now before we leave for LA to make the new album. We’ve now decided on six songs for the record and are busy deliberating as to what the remaining songs will be. Each song is fighting for a place and we are trying our hardest to accommodate melodies from all areas of my mind. It feels like we are making something special and I cant wait for you all to hear

I really don’t know how I’m going to cope as the day draws close when this album is complete!! Its been a three year journey since we released Say No To The World and just over TWO years since we finished touring it. How will I fill my days (I’m sure Warner Brothers will have plenty of ideas!)
I can already tell you that this is NOT going to be Say No To The World part 2! For those of you who have been reading my rants for the past few years you will have read me describe my ambition for the record to make the “heavy more brutal the subtle more beautiful, the melody more melodic and the riffology more rifftense! I hold to these values as we set about our final two weeks of preparation in Derby.
We have chosen five songs that are 100% locked! feels good!! We are now in the process of choosing the remaining songs AND I’m still writing/ recording a song every day.
Today I have mostly paced around my apartment in silence with my pen and note book giving voice to my endless thoughts – LYRICS are IMPORTANT to me!!
Feels great to have locked down our producers, more news on them SOON
Back to writing for me
xx

Recording of our new album will take place in Los Angeles in May
Its been a journey and the we now find ourselves past the black gates with only the final molten climb ahead of us. Until the moment we enter the studio I will continue to write and throw everything I have left into this album + I intend to write a riff at 38000Ft while on route to the USA, hoping the altitude will produce a riff of such lofty magnitude that it can only be performed in the stratosphere.
Focus your collective minds upon us during May and we shall endeavor to channel your melodic aspirations through our bodies and onto the record.
x

I had the realization that right now I am involved in a process that I have obsessed about since my focus shifted from Star Wars and Transformers to all things music. With already around 80 demos done, since we finished two years of solid touring our debut Say No To The World album, over the past few weeks I have written and demoed 25 brand new songs. We are now heavily submerged in the song selection, making lists, testing out running orders – all the things I also love!
I’ve moved into my own personal time zone, which actually involves no sleep but every 3.5 days I crash out at 3:30pm for an hour or two. Running myself into the ground this may be but this ground is fertile and in need of harvest.
It’s a creative level I have never previously experienced and a new way for us to work. I have only played with the guys once since the tour. Instead I write, record and enjoy frequent visits from the guys – communication with other living beings is essential for keeping sane.
I love finishing a song and receiving instant feedback from Mark, Alan and Craig (our A&R). When we began this album things were so different to the magical place we now find ourselves inhabiting
To all of you who are anticipating this record I share your anticipation!
Beautiful and Brutal music

For the record I still love Star Wars & Transformers

This tour has been the perfect preparation for making our second album – Our first venture into this size venue and we have loved every second of it. Thanks to 30STM and crew and most importantly all the fans who made us feel at home from day one!

So we have reached the mid point of the tour and its going great! The perfect appetizer for making our second record! Feeling extremely creative after these shows, I now have a portable studio out with me to record in the hotels we find ourselves captive in
x