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>> DAVID BOWIE :: HEATHEN - PART ONE
We were talking about a new studio album since 1999 and at least two slots were assigned to begin recording. Of course, it wasn't called Heathen yet. All the David Bowie albums I've worked on had working titles. For different reasons, mainly around scheduling, we never really got stuck into the making of Heathen until June 2001. In March 2001 we had a couple of listening sessions, to see what was out there. I can tell you we weren't very impressed with the music. Instead David pulled out some vinyls and we explored some very obscure recordings dating back to the 50s. We listened to so much stuff, from Little Richard to Neu, and that stuff put a few smiles on our faces. It's funny, but those sessions were not about taking a bit from this and a bit from that and synthesizing something as a result. But it was important for us to get the creative process in first gear. In June David suggested that we started making demos in my home studio. At the time I lived in a three-floor apartment in West Nyack, NY, a transitional move back to the city. West Nyack is known for having a huge shopping mall and little else. My girlfriend said that when David's limo arrives he'll take one look at the place, make an excuse that he forgot something and drive back to the city, never to return. Fortunately, he chose to stay. In three days we demoed four songs. One was really great and it made it to the final tracks for the CD, but was never included in Heathen or the bonus tracks. Instead, like the earlier discussions we had in March, these three days were spent as more time on creative strategies rather than writing a lot of music. We spent our evenings at my local sushi restaurant. What great service I suddenly started getting there! The Japanese staff knew David was somebody important, but couldn't figure out exactly who. It was very bemusing. Long after he had gone they would say, "When is your friend coming back?
We had an earlier meeting with guitarist David Torn, who was extolling the virtues of the new Allaire Studios. I already received a PR package for this place and it looked too good to be true. So with pressure from Torn and myself, David resigned himself to visit Allaire. This took place on the second day of demo sessions. We drove past Woodstock from West Nyack, up to Shokan, N.Y. and followed very intricate directions up a windy mountain road. We met the studio staff, then slid quietly into a Natalie Merchant session to check out the studio. She was very gracious and invited us to lunch. Another irony about this studio was that I kept telling David about this amazing drummer I had worked with, Matt Chamberlain. Lo and behold, Matt was at Allaire playing drums for Natalie. Afterwards we booked the studio for August and went back to West Nyack. That night we rented "A Requiem for a Dream" on the strength of "Pi" and got completely depressed (but what a great film)! The next morning I burnt a CD of the work for David and he was off back home to New York City! He was supposed to return in a week's time, but called a few days later to postpone. He said the three days were a great springboard to what he was looking for and he now had the concept of the album in his head. He also said he couldn't stop writing new stuff once he'd gotten home.
Heathen
started on August 6th, 2001. The night before we left for Allaire
I asked my girlfriend to shave my head. I had never had that done
in my life. For albums made at residential studios I usually never
shave because who's going to see me? By the end I am quite hirsute.
But this was going to be a hot summer and I had an opportunity to
try something stupid without too many witnesses around taking the
piss out of me. I honestly needed a night to recover from the shock
after the shave. I had no idea I'd look like that. For me this was
a transition from a matinee idol to S&M master. I recovered in
the morning. |
