Sponsored By
Down to brass tacks
THE CLIENT list on Yellow Arch Studios' website is impressive.
Arctic Monkeys, Tony Christie, Goldfrapp, Funeral For a Friend and, of course, the studio's resident guitarist, Richard Hawley are among the artists who have recorded at the former Victorian factory.
Last year the studio paid homage to Sheffield after the recording and producing of Tony Christie's Made in Sheffield – an album dedicated to the Steel City's pop legacy.
This year Yellow Arch nods to South Yorkshire's other musical heritage: the brass band. As part of an unconventional project, Yellow Arch Studios is recording the Dodworth Colliery Brass Band for a B-side of indie group The Maccabees' single release, Can You Give It.
Far from the band's usual engagements, which include Wetherby Riverside Bandstand and the Silkstone March & Hymn Tune Contest, the Maccabees single recording is somewhat of an anomaly in the band's diary.
The band were approached by Fiction Records – The Maccabees' label (associated with Polydor, with whom the Maccabees will release Can You Give It) – inviting them to cover the Can You Give It single. "We said we'd be interested but we didn't know how they were going to use our version of the track," said Rob Loukes, the Dodworth Colliery Brass Band's secretary.
"They sent us an MP3 of the single and it sounded great. It's a good track so we went for it."
And while indie and British brass bands seem unlikely partners, The Maccabees' tracks are particularly well-suited to colossal 29-piece brass sections. Can You Give It is a swooning marathon of larger-than-life vocals and epic, building guitar.
Loukes describes the brass songs as "exactly what they sing and play but the brass versions. I'm looking forward to hearing the results." The band also recorded a brass version of Young Lions, a track from The Maccabees' new album, Wall of Arms.
Recalling the studio session, Loukes said: "It was boiling hot – we recorded on the last weekend in May. Two of the Maccabees came to listen and they recorded in the evening."
The brass version of Can You Give It was arranged by Mike Kearsey, who has played with Madness and the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. The arrangement arrived a mere week prior to the recording date, leaving the 29-piece band only a few days to rehearse.
BUY ONLINE: The Sheffield Telegraph and Property Guide are now out every Thursday. To sign up on line click here.
MORE:
Local News
Local Sport
Arts Guide
Community News
Listings Guide
Restaurant Guide
Letters
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -4 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -0 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
