MOZ AND TV.

Tuesday, September 27th:

[Phone rings]

TV: Hello?

JD [Joe D'Ambrosio, Illustrious Manager of Producers and Engineers]: Are you sitting down? You'd better be.

TV: Oh, so this is good news, right?

JD: Right! How would you like to produce the next Morrissey album in Rome?

TV: Sure, that sounds great! When?

JD: You could be on a plane on Thursday and start this weekend.

TV: Oh, that soon? Maybe I should hear the material first? Sanctuary Records is right around the corner from where I live.

JD: I will arrange for a meeting.

Wednesday, September 28th: A meeting takes place with Merck Mercuriadis, CEO of Sanctuary Records in his office. Merck plays only two songs. I immediately say that I have to do it. They are great songs, to my ears it sounds like Morrissey has found a new muse. I am told that the band has been recording under stressful circumstances for three weeks and the call is mine whether to start from scratch or continue with what's been recorded. I tell Merck that I'll decide that once I get my hands on the tracks and analyze what is actually there.

Guitarists Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte.

Thursday: All direct flights are booked to Rome. On the phone I speak to Boz Boorer, Morrissey's band leader, and learn a lot more about the recording sessions. Boz and I go back to his Polecats days when I recorded "Jeepster" with them. I also met Boz briefly at the Born To Boogie Premier in London in April. I'm feeling more confident that I can make their previously recorded backing tracks work. The drummer is Matt Chamberlain, with whom I worked on David Bowie's Heathen CD.

Friday: I board Delta flight 148 for Rome. My head is full of last minute apprehension -- I don't like to be rushed into things. But I've always done my best when I've been thrown in the deep end, and I'm depending on this as the plane takes off for Rome.

Saturday: My hotel is beautiful, it is in a Roman suburb and the weather is gorgeous. After a nap I meet Boz for dinner at the hotel. We have a great chat, but all I want to do is sleep.

Forum Music Village Studios, Rome (click photo for large version)

Sunday: I go to Forum Music Village Studios in Rome with Boz and listen to the entire album. It's wonderful. I can't believe I have all these great songs to work with. The band sounds great. Matt Chamberlain's drums are finished -- there are lots of overdubs to do and of course Morrissey has yet to sing. I take a CD back to my hotel to listen to some more and make notes. That night I meet the entire band. Morrissey, his manager Jed Weitzman and my engineer Marco Martin from San Francisco.

Engineer and Pro Tools expert Marco Martin

We eat dinner at a kind of low-down pizza parlor in central Rome. The food is delicious and conversation is lively. Morrissey wants to be sure that I really, really like the songs and I assure him several times that I really, really LOVE the songs. Not only is this a departure in his writing (my opinion) but he has extended his vocal range and has written extended melodies.

Mozalini

Monday until the present: We have been working on the music and each day it just sounds better and better. I find every musician in the band a joy to work with. Morrissey's vocals are passionate and confident. Right now I'm at the mixing stage and most of the musicians have gone home. I am two thirds of the way through one of the best albums I've ever worked on, with not only Morrissey at his best, but the plot has twists and turns which somehow involve film composer Ennio Morricone and an Italian children's choir. That should whet your appetite, you Moz fans, you!

Guitarist Jesse Tobias

TV, Keyboardist Mikey Farrell and Morrissey


TV & Bassist Gary Day

Ennio Morricone

Some of the children's choir

TV relaxing at the Colosseum, where his ancestors
used to picnic on a Sunday afternoon.