Awakenings by MGR
During the spring of 2014, Josh Graham asked me if MGR would open for A Storm of Light on a tour that was going through the EU, UK and Russia. At that point I had been making more of an effort to play shows with MGR so I jumped at the chance. When I started to work out a set for the tour, I felt I was missing the connection and intimacy that comes from playing with other musicians. At that point Isis had been broken up for almost four years and I had only been plays shows with MGR as a one man band, so it was feeling a little lonely.
I asked Josh if I could “borrow” three of his band members so we could re-sculpt MGR into something that involved more than just me. Josh Graham, BJ Graves and Josh Holt - all from A Storm of Light - agreed to help out with guitar, drums and bass, respectively. While on the tour, I felt very proud of what we had accomplished in a very short time. I became aware we had a day off in London and wanted to document our experience by recording it in a studio guerrilla-style. A few days before our time in London I reached out to Isis’ booking agent Jodie Cox for recommendations for someone who could help out with this last minute request. He put me in touch with Tim Cedar from Part Chimp who also ran Dropout Studios in Camberwell London. He graciously accommodated us, and on May 1, 2014 we rolled into Dropout Studios around for 4 pm, set up and were done tracking three songs within a few hours.
This session was very important to me for two reasons; one, it marks a very large shift with the sound of MGR and two, working so quickly in the studio to get the recording finished was counter to anything I had done before. With both Isis and previous MGR recordings all of the writing and recording was very methodical and carefully done. This experience was different because two of the songs were written a week before we left, we only practiced twice before heading to Europe and we finished recording in a few hours with people we had not previously met. It was a very liberating experience and I’m thankful to all involved.
Mike Gallagher
Tracklist
| 1. | Vanishing Point | 7:30 |
| 2. | All Above None | 5:05 |
| 3. | The Hard Road | 7:21 |
Credits
MGR on this recording was:
• Mike Gallagher
• Josh Graham
• Josh Holt
• BJ Graves
Recorded on 5/1/2014 By Tim Cedar at Dropout Studios in Camberwell London
Assisted by Jason Playford and James Olgilvie
Organized by Jodie Cox.
Photo by Michelle Pullman
Layout by Brent Eyestone
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