Some interactions recently in Guy's forum regarding the new MK songs he and Guy are working at British Grove since November 2020:
Q:I’ve been enjoying Lukas Nelson’s new record quite a bit this week, and in the process of reading about its creation I stumbled upon this little gem. A fun cover of R&J (always a gutsy cover IMO, some good, and without naming names, some brutal) I don’t think it’s been posted here, but if I missed it apologies for the duplication. Enjoy. Looking forward to the diary for MK’s latest project.
A:Sorry for delay with diary, just with no-one else in the studio, it’s all just me and Mark and a lot of gear. I’ll try and cobble something up before long.
Q:Hello Doc. Summer is comming! I guess that Mk and you would take a well deserve holydays soon. Please before, don’t forget about the diary entry, you know that we would be happy with whatever you can compile, think that with this recent picture, most of fans were happy enough! Also would be perfect if we can know anything about the Local Hero Musical but we know that doesn’t depend on you!
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https://www.mark-knopfler-news.co.uk/streets/A:
Sorry for being so quiet. It’s a slow, precise process, as always and with just Mark and I so far in the studio, it’s not particularly interesting visually. As for Local Hero, I cannot say anything just yet.Q:Dearest Guy:
Since the first lockdown was announced on March 23, 2020, the only reason I have left my house since then has been for medical appointments. I presume, however, that your good self has had much greater cause to depart your domicile on frequent occasions in that time. My question to you is, is MK in your ‘bubble’? What about the rest of the band? I seem to recall that half the band is from the USA which must make travelling to the UK for recording a tickle difficult. I assume, therefore, that you are waiting until after the lockdown ends in July – if indeed it does – before reuniting with ‘the gang’ to finish off what will hopefully become MK’s 11th solo album (not counting soundtracks, etc.). Presumably you, MK at the rest have all had your jabs. There have been just a handful of occasions in human history where a pesky little virus has had such an impact on every last corner of the Earth and all of its shenanigans. I wonder how life will be after this; will any of us be the same again? Take care my friend, look after yourself and your family and other loved ones. Cheers, Stephen x
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Yes, we maintain our own bubbles, the studio naturally conforms to govt. guidelines. The band will only assemble once travel restrictions are lifted. Sadly the rest of the music, and directly related industries will take a long time to recover, vindictive EU restrictions due to Brexit have multiplied the pain. The battle between Virus and Bacteria is older than mankind but for the first time in our history, we now have a handle on it and can deal with any future pandemic, thanks to recent, pioneering genetic breakthroughsQ:Dear Doc. Actually Mk and you alone in the studio is what looks more interesting to me. We are all very familiar with what you do with the whole band in the studio, but the work you both do alone in the studio, building the songs from zero, setting up everything for future arrangements, that sounds very interesting as it’s very unknow for us. Mk recording lots of guitar parts, vocals, you recording keyboards, backing vocals and probably bass lines and drums as a guide for when the band cames, sometimes those bass lines made it into the record, which means they were good enough… All that previous work is what interest me (and probably many other fans as well) the most. The final result is what’s important in the end, but how that final result is constructed, from the very beguining, is very very interesting.
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Yes, I’m with you there…. I would be interested too. It is intriguing what we get up to, and unusual simply due to the lack of time constraints. I will put together something on this.Q:I’m guessing that the diary for what is going on right now would look a lot like the diary for what went on for months during Tracker. Mark and Guy in a room full of guitars and amps (and a few keys) going through the permutations for each song to figure out what would sound best. Guy would also have a drum kit set up for some basic tracks to work off of and a bass because, well everyone can play bass.
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https://guyfletcher.co.uk/studio-diary-1-2014/A:
Yes, I’m afraid it would. Not much but a heap of guitars and keyboards. We do have a room full of instruments to hand and a remarkable new pedalboard system that will actually be of interest to many. For now though, we are keeping it under wraps. I promise, when I can, I will furnish these pages with gear-geek-gubbins. Q:Regarding the bubbles and work in the studio, I understand that is difficult to bring the American contingent but, how about the British ones? I don’t know how is regulated by the UK government, is it allowed that, following the safety instruction, Ianto, Mike, John or Danny etc go the studio and work on the tracks, and when the Americans can travel, they do their part? I know in Spain musicians from the country are allowed to travel to work and they record now in studios, not only on remote, always using isoloted booths if available, or social distance with plexiglass walls…
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There is no issue with UK musicians. Restrictions such as the ones you describe are a total pain (masks and plexiglass 😠) and I wouldn’t hold a session under those circumstances given the choice. We’ll be done with all that soon anyhow. We like to track certain songs with the band as a whole.
