THIS IS A PRESSED CD (NOT BURNT) AND MASTERED AT 301 STUDIOS, SYDNEY, BY DON BARTLEY. LOADS OF PICTURES AND ALL SONG LYRICS INSIDE CD Listening to his heart the boy knew he must LET IT IN and follow his dream. Travelling across many OCEANS he arrived at his destination. Everything was different yet strangely the same. He was greeted and made to feel at home by many beautiful people, one in particular who took extra care in helping him find his feet in his new surroundings. "Things have been a lot clearer "SINCE YOU'VE BEEN AROUND" he said to his special friend. Wasting no time he began his search for partners to help him in his quest to turn his dream into a REALity. At times he would run into obstacles and lose heart but his friend was there to rekindle his passion with words of encouragement..."It'll be coming YOUR WAY SOON if you believe" and again like before he would continue to strive for his dream. He knew that when his time came he would be ready and his emotional levels would reach DELIRIOUS heights as he had worked so hard. Every day he awoke and gave thanks for he knew he was a LUCKY boy. Life is Art....Art is Life....... Devoting his life to music at an early age Jason Hall has developed into a charismatic and versatile musician. Beginning his career as a drummer in the early 90's, Jason has played with a number of bands, touring up and down the east coast of Australia. Although always writing and honing his skills on the guitar he made the official switch in 1998 to pursue his solo career. With numerous successes in local Sunshine Coast bands, Jason became known as a vibrant performer and a powerful songwriter. With the recent move to the UK and the release of his debut solo album 'Real', on which he played all instruments, Jason is ready to take his music to the world. From funky acoustic rhythms to soulful catchy ballads Jason plays up a variety of smooth sounding songs to please many an ear. ReaL MuSic, by rEAl pEopLe, FoR ReAl PeOpLe....... - The Recording of Real Through his years of gigging, in bands and as a solo artist, Jason had made many valuable contacts and none more so than Timo Fuchs, a graduate of the Australian School of Audio. With the split of Jason's 'funk 2 chunk' style band and a desire to play music more in sync with his soul, the pair jumped at the opportunity to work together on an album project. Making a commitment to producing a quality and 'real' sounding recording, Timo and Jason began a lengthy screening of the vast collection of songs in Jase's catalogue of material. Emerging from a month of pre-production recordings and analysis came a short list for the album. Song selection was a difficult task for Jason as he wanted to show his versatility whilst staying true to the acoustic and accessible feel of his new sound. Coming from a much heavier style of music, based on intricate and riff-orientated grooves, probably due to his ten years as a rock/funk drummer, Jason had always yearned for the space and simplicity in his music and after some passionate discussions with Timo settled on the 'cruisy' vibe. Although song inclusions of 'Again like Before', a lyrical shot at the formulation of bands in the music industry, and 'Lucky', do show that Jase still likes it heavy and loud sometimes. With the songs selected it was time for some experimentation with microphones and pre-amps. Timo's knowledge of studio gear was staggering as he hand picked different hardware to suit the individual sounds of the varying tunes. "Our focus throughout the entire recording process was to capture the essence of the instruments in their original audio states....hence the album name" said Jason whilst mastering his work with Don Bartley. This extra attention to audio detail gave Jason plenty of time to refine his individual parts for each song. As any muso who has played all the instruments themselves for an album will tell you, it is a lot of work and Jason dedicated himself to writing and practicing his bass, drum and guitar parts in between his busy gigging schedule. With the parts written and rehearsed, equipment researched and located (thru much work from Timo) the production duo were ready to finally move from pre-production to actually recording some 'real' sounds for the finished product. A small budget and expensive taste in microphones and pre-amps, (love the neve!) meant that all the drums, bass, guitars and vocal tracks had to be done over a two week period. With Timo's well mapped out schedule in mind they started the process with drums. They were lucky enough to have use of a church to get the lively sound they wanted for the kit. Back to Timo's bedroom where the rest of the recording would be done! Time for bass and with the help of an imported Avalon pre-amp (another Timo discovery) they managed to pull quite a phat bass sound from a not so phat bass! The guitars....and enter the multitude of mic's to choose from. With hours spent on trying different combinations of some of the worlds finest, the hours passed by quickly and with vocals still to do time was of the essence. With a pile of old blankets, some string, a broom and a roll of gaffa tape the boys turned the bedroom into a vocal booth....aaaah the joy of a tiny budget!! At the end of the two weeks both Jase and Timo were exhausted but happy with their work. With the mastering date booked for 301 there was no rest for poor Timo as he had to begin the very important mixing process, along with squeezing some of Jase's singer friends in to do some sweet backing vocals and the amazing Shannon to do her brilliant trumpet parts on 'Let it In'. A percussion session with Moe Hair and a last minute didgeridoo contribution from Crazy Dave and the tracking was complete....phew! Two solid weeks of mixing for Timo and with not a day to spare Jason collected the final mix on his way to the airport where he was to fly to Sydney to spend the day mastering with Don Bartley at the famous 301 studios. It was money well spent as Don turned the 'home, but classy' recording into a smooth and scintillating collection of songs. With Jason's departure for the UK only weeks away there was no rest for the wicked. Attempting to put the artwork together himself proved a nightmare and like a blessing from the sky he was saved by the lovely Ria from The CD Factory. For countless hours Ria lovingly toiled and adjusted, putting up with Jason's fussiness and eventually the finished product was ready. With less than a week till flight time the glass master was sent off to the pressing company and a smaller burnt run was released at a farewell party for Jase at his long time local stomping ground, Barneys. It was a brilliant night and he sold his new CD's as he rocked the venue one last time. Days later he was in the air on his way to England with the plan of putting a band together and promoting his new album..... Coming next.....The Recruitment Quest