Ivan the Tolerable

"This album began as a pipedream about 5 years ago and became reality in the Summer of 2023. I've been a huge fan of ATA Records for years now and have wanted to record at the ATA Studio for equally as long, but I had found out that it no longer operated as a commercial studio and just served as a place where Neil (Innes, ATA head honcho and member of Work, Money, Death/The Sorcerers) could record his own music for his label. So I gave up on the idea of ever going there... Then, randomly, I met Neil through work in early 2023 and we had a long chat about our mutual love of Pharoah Sanders/Alice Coltrane and library music. He agreed to let me hire his studio for 1 day only (he's a very busy guy!) and he would track whatever we could get down in a day. We had to make it count. 

My live band had been rehearsing a lot around the Mme (as a trio for the first Mme, as Robbie was busy with his band Benefits) for a few gigs we had booked in so the week aaer those gigs seemed the best Mme to do it. The three of us (Ben, Neil and myself) trekked to Leeds early one May morning and played non-stop unMl 6pm - a mixture of new material we had been playing live, a bunch of improvised stuff we came up with on the day and a 10 minute jam around an Archie Shepp riff. Neil let us use anything we wanted which was amazing. All sorts of vintage keys and an actual MK1 Mellotron. Ooof! 

At 6 o clock we lea with the bulk of a double album in the bag. Madness. I tracked some guitars, synths and drones at home the following week while Neil added some extra percussion and that was it. It was mixed by Adam Ineson (who Neil and I play with in All Structures Align) 

The day we spent at ATA was - we all agreed - the best studio experience we had ever had. I generally shun studios in favour of recording all the ITT stuff myself to save hassle, Mme, money and having to deal with "studio people" but Neil was a JOY to work with - his passion and knowledge of his equipment is boundless. The finished LP, I reckon, is the best sounding record i've ever been involved in." - Oli Heffernan