ALBUM NEWS
Initially, we went into the studio and recorded six of the tracks earmarked for the new album. Thanks to Rob Vickery and Spencer Price at S & R Records, Gosford, for the creative efforts and the wonderful rainforest setting! We recorded demo versions of MR APHRODISIAC, WEALTH OF POVERTY, THESE DREAMS, MULL UP, THE KID NEXT DOOR and DIRTY LITTLE CREATURES. Those of you who've been catching our live shows recently will have heard these songs at least once. Of course, good old MULL UP has been with us for a while, but this is the first opportunity we've had to record it in a studio setting. After waving this demo past record companies, we went into Damien Gerard's to record the album in its entirety. Everything on the new album is new and written by band members, except for MULL UP, which is a Zarsoffian adaptation of a 1920s R&B song called LIGHT UP. Also, TAKIN MY TIME, though it's an Izzy Foreal original, has been about for a while, though, once again, has never been recorded beyond demo level. ALL ABOUT YOU, a late addition to the album, is our version of a Shel Silverstein song (Shel wrote a lot of the Dr Hook hits). Though a number of record companies expressed interest in the album initially, we ended up releasing it on our own label BROWNEYE GRAMOPHONICS, which is a member of the Association of Independent Record Labels (AIR). The album is distributed through MGM, so when you go into your local music store to order a copy, make sure you let them know so they know where to order it.
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THE DEMO CD COVER
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A collage of photos from the demo session.
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THE MAKING OF MIXED BUSINESS - A RUNNING HISTORY
The Zarsoffs went into Damien Gerard's studios (174 Mullens Street, Balmain - Sydney) on Saturday, June 23 and Sunday, June 24, 2001 to record the bed tracks for the album "Mixed Business." These were not demo sessions, but the real thing. The band re-recorded the 6 songs from the demo (above), as well as TOOTIN' ANNIE, TV JUNKIE, TAKIN' MY TIME, LOOT, CARNIVAL #4 ALL ABOUT YOU and INTRODUCING BERTHA. There are a couple of other possibilities still being written, as well as some bizarre bits & pieces which might end up between tracks, but these will be recorded at a later date. Thanks to Russell for a very sympathetic and professional engineering job. There are still lots of bits & pieces to add to the tracks, but it's shaping up to be a good album. Stay tuned. The studio is great to record in - intimate, with a vibe.
The band has been back into Damien Gerard's a number of times since, with the final session in July 2004 to record some keyboards with new member Laurie from The Barstuds (who will now be forever known as Honky Zarsoff) The mixdown began in earnest on Sunday, August 1st 2004 (the day after a great live gig for the band at the Ambarvale Tavern, supported by blues and boogie outfit Flintlock). There are a few more mixdown sessions booked in late August 2004. We will be running the final mix past a few companies that are interested in listening, with the hope that somebody will pick it up before we have to start paying for mastering, but if they're all too scared to take a chance with our bizarre view of entertainment, we'll release it through our own label BROWNEYE GRAMOPHONICS. Whatever the outcome, the album should be available to the legion of Zarsoff followers before the end of 2004.
We completed all the mixing and mastering, and at the end of 2004 we only have to get the electronic versions of the cover artwork together and the new album will be manufactured. The official release date of January 2005 should be fairly close to the mark. Keep an eye out for a series of CD launch gigs.
As you will see by the announcement on the home page, the album is finally released. We would like to thank everybody involved: Original members Bluey & Bernie Zarsoff, along with Andy Travers and Peter Grose, for supplying the most goosebumpy backing vocals; Robert Greene, Daryl Mckenzie & John Whitmore for their inspired and inspiring songwriting; Bob Daisley for his melody bass and kazoo contributions to MULL UP (now that's a career move ...); Mark Manning for his wonderful guitar work on TAKIN MY TIME; Branko Frkovic for the extra keyboard bit on THESE DREAMS (and for filling in as Yebbie Zarsoff at Dicey Riley's in 2004); Russell Pilling for the sympathetic and highly professional engineering; William Bowden for the equally professional mastering; Fab, for the use of his mansion to record WEALTH OF POVERTY; Glenn Ferguson, for engineering the same track, and for the album photography; Tomie for the use of his room at Soundshaft Studios to record the guitars for ALL ABOUT YOU; Damien Gerard Sound Studios for having such a great analog setup; Shel Silverstein for deciding not to die before he wrote ALL ABOUT YOU; The House of DiGrazia for supplying the space to record the bed tracks & vocals for ALL ABOUT YOU; and of course, every Zarsoff Brother who contributed the music and vocals to the album: Lefty, Smokey, Shaggy, Bologne, Honky & Izzy. If we've forgotten anybody, we need to know about it.
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HONKY, IZZY & SHAGGY CHECKING OUT THE MIXDOWN AT DAMIEN GERARD'S STUDIO
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