UK Foo Fighters | Maida Vale Live Sessions | Monday 4th November 2019
If you’d told me that one day this band would be invited to record at Maida Vale Studios, I would have said…… “Ha! Only in my dreams!”.
I contacted Simon Askew (Music Producer/Engineer) at Maida Vale Studios in 2017 to enquire about recording a live session with him. School boy dreaming as usual!
“Simon records more artists in a year than most engineers do in their entire careers. As a result, he has evolved some very distinctive working methods to suit the particular challenge of capturing a band’s sound in a short live session” - SOUND ON SOUND Magazine (Jan 2013).
Testament to this, Simon has recorded a multitude of world-class artists for the BBC’s Live Lounge in his career (spanning over 30 years) including Foo Fighters on a number of occasions.
Nearly 2 years on! Simon (recalling our exchanges back in 2017) got in touch asking about our availability to do a live session with him. They needed a band and he immediately thought of us! A date was set and we were to record in Maida Vale Studio 4. In case you don’t know, these studios are home to the infamous BBC Live Lounge & John Peel Sessions.
There was lots of debate and conversation around what tracks to play in the days leading up to this monumental day, as you might imagine. And there’s lots to choose from! As we were approaching the end of our own 2 year-long ‘Banging On The Ceiling Tour’, paying homage to the Foo’s ‘Concrete and Gold’, we soon settled on a duly inspired playlist.
On Monday 4th November 2019 we entered Maida Vale Studios to record our very own ‘Live Sessions’, following in the footsteps of more bands than I could ever list here. But I’ll name a few of my all-time favourites; The Beatles, Nirvana & Foo Fighters.
We did two takes of the following first 3 tracks and as time ran out fast, just one take of a song by AC/DC that the Foo’s have covered extensively in recent live shows and during their BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge performance in 2017. It was an incredible experience! I can’t thank Simon enough for this opportunity and I know I also speak on behalf of the whole band. We had an absolute blast!
Big thanks also to the BBC’s Richard Courtice, Guy Worth, Suzanne Goodman and Neil Hester for their support on the day. We will talk about and remember this day for many years to come.
Jay
Playlist:-
1. The Sky Is A Neighborhood
Artist: Foo Fighters
Album: Concrete and Gold
2. Run
Artist: Foo Fighters
Album: Concrete and Gold
3. Everlong
Artist: Foo Fighters
Album: The Colour and the Shape
4. Let There Be Rock
Artist: AC/DC
Album: Let There Be Rock
Recorded by Simon Askew (Music Producer/Engineer)
Photography by Tony Woolliscroft