...it was the purple church...

Of course our fellow 18 thursday members Hiliako and Pip hosted us in Dunedin, back at the purple church, where the very first part of the recording took place.  It was back in June around the kitchen table, at 5am after 'Fetu O Mataliki'.  This was the gig of all Island gigs where 'Koile released their EP at the Macandrew Bay Community Centre, and the Dunedin Pasifika and music community showed their support by packing out the hall and dancing all night to the wonderful array of support bands and of course the energetic Pasifika reggae icons of the South - 'Koile.

Our set was appreciated, and we got great feedback, but it was 'Koile that shone bright and loud on that Matariki night...and what a sound they carried too.  As for the Koile CD - beeeautiful.

Drew, Tanya, Pos and Hemi - Island Summer live at 'Fetu O Mataliki'

So late in the wee hours Pos, Hiliako, Pip and Dale Cotton arrived back at the Purple Church (across the road from the gig) and headed for the kitchen table (Tanya and Chris opted for sleep).  Over some beverages they made a pledge to record that sound - that of Island Summer...

So it's been an intense last 2 weeks of Pos mixing down the finals for the CD to be mastered back in Dunedin.  Pos and Rob did a good job to-ing and fro-ing from Rob's studio, to overdubs back at Wattle, and night sessions back at Robs.  And with the multiple times of listening the to tracks, it can get tiresome. 

Mr Searle and Tanya supported as much as possible there as the second and third ears, and by last Sunday were ready to hit the road again for Dunedin for Pos and Chris to sit with Dale Cotton at Dale Cotton Mastering.

Dale was a master at work. He was able to go through each track at a time with ease, skill and also get feedback from Pos and Chris.  He usually works alone, so he was gracious to let them sit in on the process!

At the time of this blog the CD is mastered and at the replication place.  It's sounding amazing, and all the pieces put together by Pos, Rob, Dale, and of course the musos has fit perfectly.

There's still some work to be done on the CD package, and launch...aaaaaah the launch...that's coming up...

..we have choice engineers...

'Lovely Hula Girl' - a new arrangement from this old song has a 'Babyface-groove' smooth feel to it.  Pos first played it as an idea, so by the time recording the first parts in Dunedin at the Purple Church 2 months ago, it was the beginning of building the song from scratch.  Drummer Chris Searle was doubtful he'd pull it off without a reference to listen to but instantly and naturally fell into the swing of it with Pos, (and Tanya on guide vocal) proving experience and expertise in playing together for many years.  Last Thursday the final touches were Pos re-recording the bass line, and then guest vocalist Matt Ioane laying down the lead vocal track and Tanya the backing vocals at Rob Payne's studio. 
It's been a long time since Pos, Tanya and Chris have had the luxury of being in a studio to build songs, and fine tune our music, in our style, in our way...in the old school way.   The last time this happened was during the 'Landmark' recording in 1998 - recorded at Blast Studios in analogue / dat / digital format.  Only a year or so later the phenomenon of 'home studios' hit our shores, and digital recording, computers, MPCs and lots of other new machines were being used to replicate the traditional recording studio  / analogue / live recording format.
We steered clear of it, then learnt about it, tried it at home, made some demo recordings, but in the end decided after some trial and error of putting this CD together finally re-recorded Island Summer in a format that suits both new school and old school.
Engineer and old school friend and muso Hix Toto of Urban Digital helped us with our first attempt at recording Island Summer. We were wanting him to engineer and produce the album. Hix gave insight in the technical knowledge of digital recording and after being impressed by Pos's home demo made Hix suggested we take on the project ourselves. He then upgraded our computer with studio software, to which we are hugely grateful.
Engineer Dale Cotton, from Dale Cotton Mastering has been a long time friend and engineer of Koile/ Hiliako Iaheto and Pip Laufiso.  We were stuck for a sound engineer at our annual Pacific Arts Festival in 2006 (after our usual soundie called in sick on the day).  Without hesitation Dale stepped in, and drove the front of house mix all day.
For Island Summer Dale has brought forward his professional skill, and gentle nature again, making this process easy, and quick.  His knowledge and willingness to assist us to perform at our best and also to make decisions with expedience has made our sessions pleasant and fun. 
Rob Payne plays keyboards in Pos's other band  D'sendantz .  Rob also is Manager at Music Planet. Rob is also an accomplished guitar player and has built his own studio in his home. He too has a gentle nature an excellent musical ear and worked well in this process. With Pos as producer, the two worked with speed and ease on recording bass player Seta Timo, and Lovely Hula Girl vocals.

Dale Cotton, Matt Ioane and Rob Payne

So thanks to engineers Hix, Dale and Rob - they're choice, and when you hear 'Lovely Hula Girl' and all the other tracks you can judge for yourself.