Picture yourself on a swaying, creaking dock on a cool summer
evening. Hear the splashes of water against the sides of the boats, the
ropes clinking against the masts. A chilly breeze grazes your hair and
you can See Your Midnight Breath in the Shipyard. This was the
conceptual starting point for Megan Hamilton and co-producer Mark
Vogelsang when creating their new album of the same name.
Megan was hailed as an Artist To Watch 2009 in the December
2008 edition of Exclaim! “...expect Hamilton to start exploring new sonic
territory on her next release.” And that is precisely what she and Mark
have done.
Recorded late in the summer of 2008, See Your Midnight Breath
in the Shipyard was laid down in the OIART studios in London, ON – an
audio engineering school where Mark now teaches. When it came time to
mixing, he says: “I wanted to know what it would sound like to place
the album in different parts of a ship.” This kind of creative approach
to his work is what has made Mark a sought-after, award-winning sound
designer and teacher. Having designed sound for film, and a songwriter
and composer himself, he researched the sonic qualities of several
different rooms in ships to create a thematic, aural journey: “I spent
a lot of time alone listening to ocean samples, metallic sounds,
various audio takes recorded in cold climates, as well as studying
sound characteristics of breathing in cold air, which ended up being
the concept for developing the reverb for Megan’s vocals and certain
background sounds.”
The third collaboration between Megan and Mark, this album was
recorded very differently than the critically acclaimed Feudal Ladies
Club (2006) and how we think about light (2007). Where previously it
was just the two in a homemade studio, there was now a fully rehearsed
band in a professional studio. Instead of views of Saskatchewan
prairies, they were closer to their Ontario homes.
“It was a very different experience in some ways, yet our
process and ideology remained the same”, says Megan. “I loved having
the band to record their parts. It was challenging - we had a limited
time in the studio, so we had to push ourselves to levels I don’t know
that any of us thought we could reach.” 5am vocal takes and 7am guitar
solos... “It felt like we had really achieved something.” With the
majority of the 13 tracks recorded over a five day period, there was no
room for second-guessing.
While maintaining her love of folk music and simple structures,
Megan and the band experimented with new sounds and ideas. Combined
with Mark’s sonic concept, a unique and creative album was born.
Megan has toured right across Canada and into the States. Look for new music in 2011!
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