keshco

Keshco contributed a track to "Conceptual Continuity - A Cover Freak Tribute To Frank Zappa".

from Coverfreak dot com / http://coverfreak.com/zappa-tribute/ - 2010 12

9. Who Are The Brain Police? - Keshco  

We were delighted to take part in this tribute, but possibly our hardest task was considering the vast FZ catalogue: what song to tackle? In the end, the resonances won out. Who Are The Brain Police?has several significances for us as a band. The message of the lyric is as relevant now as ever (especially in these days when we're led to believe we have limitless choice). Plus, it's wonky as hell, which we like a lot. We've been flitting between styles as long as we've been together, with kind-meaning people suggesting we'd do fine if only we were to ditch the freakouts/folk/synths/costumes/etc. Each part is essential to making up the whole - it all feeds back. The eagle-eyed amongst you may also have noted that one of us is named Andy Brain. Listen to the answering machine tape pasted over the ending, and make up your own story.

We had a big dilemma deciding how to tackle this pretty beast. As the original was so good, we eventually plumped for a loose tribute incorporating some of our own sonic concerns. We recorded on our new bit of kit, a Korg D888 digital multitracker - at last, a chance to mic up the drums separately! To play in a different room from the computer! We're cooking with francium now! (Personally I miss the days of recording onto a mono Spinney Tronic tape recorder with dirty heads.) The backing track has a couple of guitars in addition to the drums, with bass added later, then we all sang three sets of vocals (low, medium and high). We wanted something to replace the far-out echo effect at the end of each vocal line, and so got out our trusty Yamaha VSS200, a voice sampling keyboard which we've used since school.