FIREBIRD "Well, it's going back a little, but for the, er, record here's a little report on what went on in the studio when we laid down Hot Wings..." "Hot Wings" marks the return of Bill Steer's Firebird after a three year hiatus. Taking his passion for early Johnny Winter, classic rock and some slightly more obscure influences like 50's harmonica driven blues and 1930s Hawaiian Lap steel, Steer delivers an album that oozes the soulful [hard]rock sounds of the heavy 70's. Once again, the basic tracks were laid down live to keep it all very natural. Add to that a raw sounding production, and it becomes apparent that Firebird are back on track with a powerhouse of a record, without falling into the ubiquitous stoner rock pigeon hole. "Hot Wings" is out on Rise Above Records.. Words | Bill Steer We spent eight days in Fortress Studio, London during November 2005. During this time we had to record and mix an album. This time around, there was a much smaller recording budget, so we'd been faced with a choice. Either spend a couple of weeks in a lower-quality studio, or get the whole thing done quicker in a place like Fortress. We chose the latter. We've always tended to lay basic tracks live, but this time we were ruthless - everything had to go down within the first two or three takes. Some tunes were even done on the first run-through. Another decision we made prior to recording was that we'd focus on the heavier, bluesier stuff we had. Over the past three years or so I'd written at least a couple of albums' worth of tunes, and that covered maybe a few different styles. At one end we had the old-school riff rock, at the other extreme there were several acoustic songs, and in between there were a few numbers that were loud but a little more traditional in their arrangement. Given the time limitations, and the fact that there was a lot of adrenalin kicking around as we hadn't been in a studio for so long, it felt right to go straight for the jugular. Gareth Parton was our engineer and we were very lucky. He's superb at what he does and understood very quickly the kind of approach we needed. Hot Wings > On to the tracks... Carousel It's a tune I came up with in the mid-nineties. The arrangement hasn't really changed since then, just the vocal line. You could say it's one of our typical riff-based songs. Good Times "Good Times" a little more recent. When it came to recording the cowbell on this one, we wanted a fat, spacious sound - so Ludwig was recorded in the stone hallway outside the main studio. Misty Morning This one features no guitar at all. It's just harmonica, drums, bass and voice. It's one of those things that people sometimes call blues, but really it's just a tip of the hat to certain people we've enjoyed from different eras of that style, whether it's Walter Horton or Al Wilson in Canned Heat. Play The Fool It's a slide number. There tends to be at least one of those on each Firebird album. It's a shuffle and I love Ludde's approach on this -well, on the whole recording to be honest. Horse Drawn Man It was written while I lived in Paris. The whole thing came together very quickly -music and lyrics. For some reason I was thinking of the junkies I used to see every day in Stoke Newington. Overnight This one goes back to the up-tempo grooves we like to get into from time to time. Bow Bells "Bow Bells" features an old National lap steel guitar instead of my usual Les Paul Junior. Somehow the words on this one ended up being a sketch of my neighbourhood. I'd just moved back to London, Bethnal Green to be precise, and really liked the vibe of the place. Flying Blind "Flying Blind" had been played a few times live over the last couple of years. This is quite an off-the-cuff version you hear now - we liked the spontaneity so just let it sit. Wish You Well "Wish You Well" is mostly fingerpicked, albeit on electric guitar of course. It's a slightly more relaxed tune. I hadn't intended to put this one on the record, but my friend Smok suggested we should. So we did. Needle In The Groove Another song that's seen a few different versions, and a fair bit of live activity. Love the space you can hear on this one. It really lets the drums shine. Last Days Of August "Last Days Of August" can be found on the vinyl version of our album, plus the Japanese edition of the CD on JVC. It narrowly lost out to "Wish" for a place on the 10-track disc, although in some ways I prefer this song. From a lead guitar perspective it's probably the best stuff I played during the session, and definitely has the best lead tone. But my favourite parts have to be the drum breaks, which sound a lot like Mitch Mitchell to me. Well, that's it. See you on the next one...