Last week, when Brisbane duo Chillingworth dropped their debut single Young Love, we were immediately hooked on their shimmering indie-pop sounds.
So fresh off the single’s release, we caught up with the band for a run-down on how the track came together. Take it away Chillingworth…
Fresh off the release of their debut single Young Love, we caught up with Brisbane duo Chillingworth for a run-down of how the track came together.
At the start of 2018, we wrote down a goal to write and record an album in a year. We figured, why not dream big? Well, we worked hard, we wrote a lot and we recorded a lot, and while the album is not quite ready for release, it’s on its merry way.
Young Love, our debut single, is something we are so proud of. It was the first song we ever wrote together, and it’s the first of many that you’ll hear from us. Possibly, the thing that we love most about it, is that it was written and recorded in our humble little suburban home.
I love telling the story of how we wrote this song because it’s hilarious. After stewing for months over half-good songs that we weren’t really happy with, we finally wrote Young Love, and loved it! We recorded a demo and then went ahead writing the rest of the album, with an ease that came with our new-found songwriting confidence. 8 songs in we thought it was about time we revisited Young Love, and, honestly, we hated it…
We reluctantly sent the song to our producer, Chris, and I remember being at work and stepping outside to listen to the song. I could not believe that it had turned into what it had! I can honestly say that I was dancing around the field next to my office…
Being independent and this being our first single, we wanted to keep costs to a minimum. This meant that recording at home was going to be the best option, rather than hiring a studio. With Will and Chris’ recording expertise, we were confident and excited about the endeavour.
Step one was turning our spare bedroom into a recording booth. We de-assembled the bed, put the frame against one wall and the mattress against the other, creating a triangular frame. We then covered it with blankets and it was affectionately dubbed the ‘vocal cubby.’ Our main expenses were a couple of mics and an audio interface. We used a Sure sm57 dynamic mic for the guitar, a Rode NTK mic for vocals and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface.
Chris had a killer track done up for Young Love, so the next step was laying down guitar. Will’s fender reverb deluxe amp was set up in the ‘vocal cubby,’ and, naturally, the tasty guitar parts were cooked up and recorded from the kitchen, solo and all.
Vocals were next, and as Young Love was one of the last songs we recorded, summer was looming. That vocal cubby was getting hot, let me tell you. With no aircon in the room, we
resorted to taking frequent breaks with the fan on full blast. It is the first time that I have done any real recording so I learnt a lot about my voice during that time. We definitely saved the ‘bloopers’ and I can’t wait to pull them out one day and have a good laugh.
Our kitten, Indi, also wanted a piece of the action, racing into the room whenever we opened the door for a breather. If you play the song backwards, you might be able to hear her little meow…
We hope you love Young Love as much as we do. And watch this space- there is so much more to come.
Young Love is available now. Listen above.
