{"product_id":"strike-to-ignite","title":"Strike to Ignite","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"I had been wanting to record another album for some time following the release of my debut album, Into Being, which first came out in 2009 and was later remastered in 2015. Since then, I’ve released several EPs and live albums, mostly in digital format with some physical releases, but I felt ready to complete another full-length studio album.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"The idea for this album began in 2018, when fellow songwriter 8 Ball Aitken planted the seed of recording in Nashville. While Australia is home to an incredible pool of talent, the idea of heading to the USA really excited me, and I’d been looking for an excuse to return for a while. The next step was to save as much money as possible to make the trip happen, so I played every gig I could, taught wherever possible, and lived on very little to make enough to get over to the USA.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"My plan was to record the rhythm parts in Nashville and then bring the sessions back to Australia to finish at home. We booked two days at Michael Flanders’ studio in Nashville, where we tracked the beds for twelve songs. The days were long but incredibly fun, working alongside such talented and experienced players and producers. After that, I brought the sessions back to Australia and set\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e up a recording space underneath my mum’s house, where I continued tracking. Some songs had a clear sense of where their production needed to go, while others left me completely stuck and unsure how to finish them. Along the way, I met people who would later become essential collaborators in finishing the album.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I ran into a few challenges during the sessions. For example, after recording all of the guitar parts for Woodstock at home, I accidentally lost the files and had to re-record everything from scratch (oops). I could never quite recreate the exact sounds I’d originally captured, but I ended up creating something different that worked just as well.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Just Passing Through was another challenging song. Before heading to the USA, I spent countless hours recording at least fifteen different demos, eventually landing on a structure that served the lyrics and story that I was finally happy with. At the last minute, just before recording, it was reworked quite a bit by someone else and had almost become a completely different song. I like to give things a go before saying no, but I needed more time to sit with these revisions. Unfortunately, that was a luxury I did not have, so it was recorded in that structure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I tried to make it work, but with the lyrics and structure altered so far from its original form, it simply wasn’t resonating with me. I no longer liked the song; its meaning was lost, and I didn’t enjoy listening to it. I loved the final demo I had created and was determined to bring it back to that place, as closely as possible. The tones and feel we had captured with the rhythm section in Nashville were truly beautiful, and I didn’t want to lose that. Could this recording be fixed and saved? The only way to find out was to give it a try.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I began “surgery” on this song in Pro Tools at home, trialing different edits, cutting sections, moving parts around, and saving multiple versions to see what worked. I pushed it as far as I could on my own, but eventually ran into technical difficulties I could not get past. That’s when I booked a session with Rick Hollis, a fantastic musician, producer, and total tech nerd, who helped with the final edits. I was never able to get it completely back to the structure I had originally envisioned, but together we got it as close as possible. Thanks to Rick, this song made it back onto the record, and I was so happy it could remain part of the album.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Various things disrupted the recording flow throughout the making of this album, but that’s life. I searched for instruments and sounds while on tour, COVID slowed the process, and relationships came and went. Some of the people involved were as inspired as I was to see the album finished, for which I’m deeply grateful. Through ongoing life tribulations, the one constant was my determination to complete the album, even though it took far longer than I had hoped and gradually, it became a thorn in my side.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"As mentioned earlier, 8 Ball got the ball rolling for me, but it was also the people I met along the way who helped pick things up when I faltered, adding new life to the album and often going beyond office hours. At a time when I felt like I was approaching another dead end, Jason Parker became both an inspiration and a source of encouragement. He introduced me to The Black Sorrows and producer Steve James, whose involvement soon breathed fresh energy into the project.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Joe Camilleri contributed to song structure and offered valuable feedback on Take It, while James Black very kindly stepped in to help complete and produce One Man and brought Ross Wilson into the process as well. As a huge James Black fan, I was beside myself that we were working together and equally thrilled that Ross Wilson was on board.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hot Blooded Woman would not be the song it is today without Steve James, who brought energy, depth, and his rock experience to the production. It has since become one of my favourite songs on the album to perform. This same spirit of support ran through the entire project, right back to Michael Flanders, who helped co-produce songs like My Everything and Doesn’t Bring You from the other side of the world. At one point, I had the pleasure of working with Millhouse and Flanders in the studio simultaneously, a great combination. And yes, I’ll admit, I love being able to say “Flanders and Milhouse” in the same sentence for all the Simpsons fans out there 😉\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Towards the end of 2024, I was very close to finishing the album, but there were still several key jobs left to complete. By that point, I had exhausted my funds, and with the rising cost of living, I began to run out of steam. After some career and goal conversations with my sister Karen, I reached out to my incredible supporters and launched my very first crowdfunding campaign. Thanks to their generosity, I was able to complete recordings I had feared would be lost. My mum, Jennie Bell, has also been an unwavering supporter, not only through constant encouragement but by contributing her beautiful artwork to my projects.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lecia Louise","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67135815024944,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0828\/2351\/2368\/files\/a2091719245_10.jpg?v=1782255235","url":"https:\/\/suitcaserecords.com.au\/products\/strike-to-ignite","provider":"Suitcase Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}