The Cover: The design is certainly eye-catching and deserves some explanation.
Mike has no clothes on; like the emperor in the story. And he's wearing a hat favoured by Napoleon (another emperor) which is nicely balanced by a pair of Wellington boots.

He was subsequently described by one of the local radio DJs as "...the bravest man in Canberra."

The Music: We're a guitar & harp-based blues / R&B band that people say sounds like a mix of Charlie Musslewhite, Fabulous Thunderbirds and Little Charlie and the Nightcats.

Our songs draw on all the usual blues influences but their subjects range widely - party time, clothing styles, impulse, philosophy, new-age, floods, hope and regret along with the usual blues themes of joy, loss and relationships.

The Recording: We decided to treat the first recording session as a learning experience - an opportunity to develop a little 'studio craft'. We recorded three of the simpler, musically straightforward numbers at that session by laying down the bass and drums first, then the rhythm and lead instruments and, lastly, the vocals. The results weren't discouraging but we knew we could do those numbers better. Nevertheless, we left them as they were and began to record others using the same general procedure.
As we began feeling more at ease with the sounds and equipment in the studio, the number of semi-completed songs grew. The recording process became both more enjoyable and more productive in terms of achieving the sounds we wanted in good time. Then, we re-recorded the original three songs.

The major lessons learned were:

Arrive at the studio well rehearsed - preferably having done some kind of 'quick-and-dirty' home recording of the songs beforehand so you're not looking for new riffs, bass lines or harmonies on the fly.

The studio is very different to playing live - try the advice suggested by the engineer - some options sound better than they sound !!

Thanks. We hope we've earned a place in your music collection.