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"Spirit of the Glen - Journey" released 1st December 2008, Recorded at Heartbeat Studio & Basra, Iraq
We had Iain McKinna engineering the project. Ed & David where his assistants and technical advisors.
Spirit of the Glen - Journey wins CLASSICAL BRIT AWARD
AN ALBUM recorded by the Royal
Scots Dragoon Guards while on active duty in Iraq has been tipped to land a Brit
Award. The tank regiment's pipers and drummers worked on their highly acclaimed
CD, Spirit Of The Glen - Journey, while in Basra last year. The studio was a
sweltering tent where the temperature topped 100F. Their album is
thought
to be the first professionally produced in a theatre of war. It's the second
time the regimental band have reached the final stages of the Classical Brits.
Last year, the original Spirit Of The Glen, recorded in 2007, was just pipped
for album of the year by four-piece opera group Blake. The regiment face stiff
opposition again this time, with the best-selling debut album from three Irish
Catholic clergymen, The Priests, among the favourites. After their latest
nomination, Major Roger Macmillan, commanding officer C Squadron, has appealed
for public support. He said: "Last year was the first time that any
military band had been nominated for a Brit Award and we were narrowly pipped at
the post by the tightest of margins - 300 votes. "We now have a second chance to
win this award. The public can cast their vote on the Classical Brits website
and we really need your help to win. Our appeal is going out as widely as
possible across the defence community, in the hope that we can achieve success
this year. "Wherever we go in the world, we will take the pipes and, if we can,
we'll take the drums as well to have the full band with us." The regiment are
currently based in north Germany as part of the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert
Rats, and equipped with the fearsome Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank. They have
also seen recent service in Afghanistan and have fought in the Middle East on
four occasions dating back to the first Gulf War in 1991. During the most recent
tour, they were advising the Iraqi army in preparation for the takeover. Hosted
by Myleene Klass, the NS& I Classical Brit Awards 2009 will take place at the
Royal Albert Hall on May 14. Daily Record 24/04/09
By CATHERINE SALMOND "Edinburgh Evening News"
'IT'S
hard to describe just how emotional the experience was," explains Pipe Major
Ross Monroe. "In many ways though, I hope it was the first and last time that we
will have to do it like that." Speaking from his military base in Germany, the
soldier from Colinton reflects on what has been described as the world's most
"dangerous record" – the latest release from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards,
recorded in the middle of an Iraqi war zone. Playing in heats which exceeded
60C, Ross and his band were forced to finish their latest album in a military
tent while on a six-month tour of duty in Basra, to ensure it was completed in
time for Christmas. It was no easy task, and one piper was struck down by
heatstroke. "The heat was stifling to say the least," the 32-year-old says."It
was certainly a whole new experience for us all. "It adds a lot of extra emotion
to the album, though, and I think the public, once it is aware of where we
recorded, will really appreciate it."
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards hit the headlines last year when they became one
of the best selling acts of 2007. Their Spirit of the Glen recording stayed at
number one in the classical charts for an amazing 14 weeks, reached the pop top
20 and outsold albums by international recording artists, including Elton John
and Bon Jovi. This year, producers Universal Records hit a barrier when it came
to recording the follow-up release, Spirit of the Glen: Journey, when the
Dragoon Guards were called up to serve in Iraq. After recording half the album
at Heartbeat Studio near Gorebridge, the producers then had to follow the band
to Iraq, where they completed work on the CD so it could be released in
time
for Christmas. Record bosses had
originally banned producer Jon Cohen and manager Tom Lewis from visiting the
Dragoon Guards in Iraq, deeming it too dangerous, but they were obliged to
relent when they realised that time was running out for the recording. "We
didn't appreciate what we'd let ourselves in for until we were flying in total
darkness in a helmet and full body armour," explains Tom. "I was terrified. I
suddenly realised what our armed services do on a daily basis and it was
humbling. "This is an album people risked their lives to make. You really get a
sense of the emotion and dedication within the music."
Dressed in their combat trousers and T-shirts, Ross and the band of pipes and
drums set about the recording, using a standard tent as a studio while on their
short breaks from military duties. For many listeners, it will perhaps be hard
to appreciate that the musicians are also serving soldiers – the CD was recorded
between band members' spells serving on the frontline. Pipe Corporal Chris
Stone, of Bathgate, who plays on the album, explains. "I hope people will
appreciate where the band was when the album was recorded. "Last time, with the
first album, I suppose we were just a pipe band, but this year we were actually
serving soldiers as well, doing what other soldiers were doing alongside us."
The build-up to its release has seen the band make numerous TV appearances
already, including a slot on the BBC's Children in Need extravaganza. For a band
that is used to great public attention – they are a tourists' favourite at the
Edinburgh Tattoo every year – the musicians are surprisingly modest about their
achievements. They stress that it's simply an added bonus to being in the
British Army.
"We're certainly not pop stars and we're certainly not making any money out of
this," says Chris who has served in the forces for 17 years. "It's just
something else we all do in the Army. Sometimes when we see ourselves on
television we all just laugh and say 'hmm. . .',
occasionally discussing our poses on pictures – we can be very self-critical.
There are no divas though, no Mariah Careys, that's for sure."
A total of 24 pipers and drummers feature on Spirit of the Glen: Journey. A
further 20 soldiers were drafted in to the Basra makeshift studio to record a
spine-tingling version of Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. The song epitomises
the recording process of the album – serving soldiers making music for the
people, while serving the people. "It was very emotional for us all – the pipes
and drums are always like a piece of home for us when we are away," explains
Ross, who has been in the Army for 15 years and whose wife lives in the Capital.
"We always bring our instruments when we go away to make sure we can play for
the other soldiers."
Spirit of the Glen: Journey, is out on December 1.
What Jon Cohen who produced both albums had to say about winning Classical Brit
Thursday’s Classical BRIT awards were an amazing evening for me. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better after seeing Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang play together, the classical album of the year was awarded to The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards for the album Spirit Of The Glen-Journey.
I was fortunate enough to produce the album last year and what a journey it was. Expectations had been high as the first Scots DG album (released in 2007) had been a huge success, spending fourteen weeks at the top of the classical charts and selling over three hundred thousand copies. We planned to record the follow up over the summer and arrangements were made for members of the regiment (who are based in Germany) to stay in Edinburgh for the recording. Unfortunately though, not all the men were available as the guards had been posted to Basra, Iraq. We did some recording in Scotland but eventually the decision was made to take the mountain to Mohammed (so to speak) and to complete the recording in Iraq.
I clearly remember the first discussion I had about this with Tom Lewis at Universal Classics and Jazz (now Decca). We agreed that if the trip happened, we would both go out (subject to permission from the MOD and necessary red tape), but that either one of us could change his mind and back out of the trip with no recrimination at any time. I felt a curious mix of excitement and fear. We had been reassured that things were much quieter in Basra and that rocket attacks on the base were less regular than they had previously been.
I was aware that this was an opportunity to have an experience so outside of my normal sphere and one that very few people would ever get. But I was also aware that there were very real dangers involved. Incidentally, there really were quite a few administrative hurdles to overcome before we got the green light to go. At each stage, Tom would say to me, “The chances are that we won’t go.” But as the obstacles were removed one by one (sourcing appropriate life insurance for the trip, corporate approval for the risk and military approval for our presence) eventually the reality dawned that the trip was on. There were no more reasons to hide behind for not going. We were off to the war zone…
The journey out was a grueling start to the experience. Departing from Brize Norton airbase on a 6am flight to Basra via Hamburg and Qatar, we arrived at our destination 18 hours later. The final leg of the trip involved two and half hot, uncomfortable hours crammed into a Hercules troop transporter with the final descent into Basra in total darkness wearing body armour and helmets.
Early the next morning work began, with our first task being to find a suitable location on the base to set up the mobile recording studio. We eventually settled on the officers’ mess tent. This was far enough away from most of the noisy generators to offer relative quiet but only once we’d turned off the tent’s own air conditioner.
During August in Basra, temperatures can reach 50 degrees C by lunchtime and by the time we had completed setting up the computer, microphones, headphone amp and other equipment, it was a total oven in the tent. I’ve never experienced heat like it. It was relentless and unbearable. I had to put tea cups under each corner of my laptop computer with a small fan blowing directly onto it to stop it overheating. Even after a lunch break during which I switched all the equipment off, the metal casing was almost too hot to touch just from the temperature in the room!. (As a side note, when we returned from Iraq after a successful trip, I contacted Apple to see if they wanted to run a story about how reliable their laptop was when it counted for a recording in such extremes. I thought it would make a very sexy story for them. They apparently did not as they weren’t at all interested!)
Recordings in the tent (we called it Studio 2) took place when the soldiers
were available, subject to their operational commitments.
We literally had guys coming in from patrols, putting their rifles down and
picking the pipes up. One of the titles required a quieter environment than the
tent for a solo pipe rendition of Flowers of The Forest and for this we went to
the quietest place on the whole base; the end of the airport runway. There, as
well as playing the piece beautifully, Pipe Major Ross Munro wore full
regimental dress for photos against the backdrop of the setting sun. It was
evening but still over 40 degrees. I think Ross lost about half a stone in
weight that day.
We worked hard and it was a great feeling on the final day, knowing that we had captured some really good performances. For me, the worst thing (other than the heat) was lying in bed at night (under steel plates and sandbags) knowing the siren could sound at any time to warn of incoming rockets. We were told to sleep with our helmets and armour within reach so that we could put them on quickly in the event of an attack (which almost always come at night). Thankfully, there were no attacks during our time there but we were told on our final day that intelligence reports suggested a high likelihood of a large rocket attack imminently. Fortunately we got away before this happened and I gather there were no further injuries on the base.
This record was made in a rather unusual way in that the pipes were recorded first and the arrangements built around them. That’s like recording the lead vocal on a song first and putting the band on afterwards! Once I returned from Iraq, it was a matter of combining the Edinburgh and Basra recordings into one body of material and then arranging all the music to accompany the pipes. We recorded the orchestra in Prague and then mixed the record in London with my good friend Phil Da Costa engineering the mix.
I feel so glad that this album has been recognized with an award. The people involved are brave, professionals who make huge sacrifices and who take enormous pride in their music. It really was a journey for me, one that I found moving and inspiring and which left me feeling very grateful for the safe and relatively easy life that I (and most people I know) take for granted.
Jon Cohen
The Scots Dragoon
Guards album, Spirit of the Glen, which was released to critical acclaim in
November 2007, reached the Number 1 spot in the Classic FM Charts for
Christmas. The album also charted as high as
Number 13 in the main pop charts.
Spirit of the Glen held the top spot in the Classic Charts for 10 weeks and has, to date, sold more than 300 000 records worldwide and as such has acheived 'Gold' status. This is the second Gold selling album the band has released - though with an interval of over 37 years! A Copy of the CD was presented to the Prime Minister in December.
As a direct result of the album's success, it was shortlisted for the album of the year in the Classical Brits.
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