Liner Notes for ‘Attraction: Reloaded’
The story of the production and mixing of Carol Mae Whittick’s ‘Attraction: Reloaded’
The story begins in early 2012. It may have been in the January or the February- either way I remember it was COLD and snowing. My friend Carol Mae Whittick was shooting a video for an early incarnation of her debut single ‘Attraction’. This early mix was considerably different to the version that was eventually released. Branded the ‘Easy Rhodes Mix’ (which you can hear here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8grBm98ghI) , the title was indeed apt and pretty much described the soulful sound of the Rhodes organ, teamed with Carol’s vocals and a beat reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s ‘Stranger In Moscow’- sparse but with a definite groove. It is not uncommon for a song to shape shift and be incarnated numerous times until the team behind it are fully satisfied and ready to present their work to the world. Personally, I love listening to demos and alternate versions of tracks as I feel particularly as a music producer, that it gives you valuable insight into the creative process of those that you respect and whose careers and successes you would like to emulate. It also reminds you of what could have been.
The first time I heard the track was via social media as one of Carol’s ‘Friends’. (Our friendship actually just about pre-dates social media but that’s another story!) I remember at the time ‘Liking’ her post and commenting that it would sound great with an MJ Cole remix. At the time I had no idea that I would end up remixing it myself but perhaps this was when the seed of the idea was planted. Fast forward to late 2013 when ‘Attraction’ the original version was finished courtesy of inspired production by Christian Fontana and Carol was preparing for the video shoot (see the finished video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AamXmY-jB8M)
I know when I really like a song when I have the desire to learn to play it usually just picking it out by ear on the piano. I remember playing ‘Attraction’ more or less to Carol’s arrangement but with more straight forward pop chords that my musical sensibilties would naturally apply to Carol’s jazz influenced chord progressions. By the time I had finished jamming with ‘Attraction’ my ‘MJ Cole’ idea had been remembered and I set about starting to produce a short but sweet 16 bar or so demo production. It was very much a homage to the UKG that was around during my teenage years and had a variety of hallmarks of the sound such as an organ on the offbeats, a sub bass groove, almost ‘tinny’ hi-hats, lots of crashes and booms a’ la Artful Dodger ‘Re-Rewind’ and some pizzicato strings to fulfil my initial MJ Cole brief. Funnily enough I can’t remember when I mentioned to Carol that I thought I could remix the track. I say ‘thought I could’ because sometimes as a remixer you come across a track and you just feel that you ‘can’ work with it and that you have ideas to add to it and frankly that you really want to work with it. I vaguely recall a phone conversation where I mentioned that I’d like to remix it and Carol replied ‘well it needs to be done…’ and that, in our slightly unusual way, was really us saying ‘ok, let’s do this’.
I then did a complete U-Turn on the garage theme. I received divine inspiration from a Britney Spears track. Let’s be honest, who hasn’t? Bear with me with where I’m going with this… it will make sense. For a long time I have really rated ‘Gimme More’ by Britney Spears as a song, as a production and for the mood it creates. The first time I heard it was in Stockholm being played on hotel in-house radio. Having not seen the video I thought the vocal sounded kind of like Britney but I don’t think I actually thought it was her singing. I remember thinking ‘Bloody hell, Euro pop’s good isn’t it?!’ I then discovered it was her, bought ‘Blackout’ etc. In recent years having really listened intently to ‘Gimme More’, one of the aspects which impressed me the most were the drums. Danja who produced the track, only used kicks and claps. The beat is literally kick-snare-kick-snare which I think is genius because when you get it right, less is so much better than more. I admired the boldness of the choice and wondered if I could create a track and do something similar with the beat. So, returning to ‘Attraction The Remix’ (the working title) I started afresh.
In ‘Attraction Reloaded’ the song starts with a click track count in. It reminds me of the metronome that counts in when you record in Logic (“click click click click” and IN) and it works effectively as an intro. The string arrangement that follows is kind of a hangover from the ‘mix formally inspired by MJ Cole” in that pizzicato was the central force and inspiration. It’s made up of 3 or 4 strings sounds that harmonise and play a motif that I hear as being reminiscent of a minor version of ‘The Sun Has Got His Hat On’ i.e. the sun hasn’t got his hat on because we are living in a world of doom and this track was produced by someone who does not smile and this track is dark and sinister etc… ;) The first repetition is ‘dry’ and the next repetition has added reverb to suggest depth, space and that you are being ‘drawn into’ the song.
It’s in the verses that the Danja influence can (I hope) be felt. The beat is a strong kick followed by a clap but also littered with beeps and random hi-hats to create a strong electronic ‘non-realistic’ space. The bass, I remember, wrote itself and the ‘walking’ feel is something that I really enjoy- I think it grooves along unobtrusively but can always felt.
Carol’s vocals required a lot of editing to fit within the faster tempo of the mix and also the Reloaded mood. Her original vocals were fantastic in terms of quality, pitch, performance and production but obviously as a remix ‘Attraction Reloaded’ has a completely different feel. As Carol is a solo singer I wanted it to feel like there was more than one ‘narrative voice’ in the track yet with all voices stemming from Carol. Once I had the main vocal in place I added a range of incidental vocals to appear and than disappear just as quickly. My favourite is probably the ‘man voice’ which is quite prominent in the song, possibly because it feels very Timbaland but also because it’s unexpected. (working titles for the ‘man voice’ channel included ‘Caveman Carol’) Also some of the production tricks on the ’S-T-U-C-K’ and ‘Go’ vocals during the first and second verse respectively are personal favourites.
The ‘army of Carol’ idea continues in the ‘Boom’ section. Firstly, the section is very much inspired by what Carol sings in the original. It’s the BEST thing when, as a remixer, you can use the material in a way that feels organic, almost as if the original content is screaming out to be treated in the appropriate fashion. I was thrilled that there was a ‘Boom’ sound that I could cut and layer with ‘fake gun’ sounds! I was also inspired by a picture I found online of Agent Smith in ‘The Matrix: Reloaded’. It’s the scene where after a meeting with The Oracle, Neo is trapped in a square with an army of agents, all of which are duplicates of Agent Smith. In the scene Neo fights them en masse and one to one- I won’t spoil the ending for you, but the picture inspired me to channel the ‘Army Of Me’ concept (as always, thanks Björk!) I wanted the listener to feel like there was Carol Mae Whittick X many many many.
One of the funniest aspects which seems to be a recurring theme in my productions, is the confusion that Sound Engineer Tobi Lustigman encountered when mixing. We ended up spending a day and a half on the track and I recall Tobi trying to give the different ‘sections’ of the track appropriate names when creating markers. Initally there is an obvious verse chorus, verse chorus structure but then we enter into what I wouldn’t call unknown territory but wouldn’t strictly refer to as the middle eight either. I think ultimately, we used marker names like ‘Boom bit’ ‘Reggae Section’ ‘Bach’ etc…..
The mid section that starts with the ‘Bach’ style piano is an attempt to create an entirely different sonic landscape, almost elevated from the previous. The piano section is a long story which I will condense into this: I originally had an electric guitar sound playing single notes in the left hand (bass notes of the keyboard). These underpinned the synth chords in the RH (upper sections of the keyboards) At some point I thought that the effect created was reminiscent of Chopin who is one of my favourite composers of piano music. In the spirit of this discovery I changed the electric guitar sound to a good old Steinway. From this point I added some more piano in the mid-upper sections of the keyboard which created a contrapuntal feeling reminding me of J.S Bach taking me back to my classical days and reminding me of my late, great piano teacher. It’s a short moment compared to the rest of track but I really love it for it’s poignancy and also for the ‘sonic glue’ it serves as to lead into the next section.
The chord progession that follows is in my mind an absolute homage to Cheiron Studios who made an art of using, for want of a better word, really ‘sad’ progressions in otherwise uptempo music. It’s a wonderful misleading trick that I admire greatly. I love the mood these chords create amidst sugary pop, one of Sehnsucht, very much longing for what you can never have. I think in a song like ‘Attraction’ which is all about creating your own reality through the law of attraction via thought and mindset, these chords demonstrate the human condition well in that they suggest and allude to the negativity which can underpin our thoughts (consciously and subconsciously) and ultimately prevent us from obtaining what we want…thus leaving us in a permanent state of sehnsucht.
In contrast to the ‘Army of Carol’ aforementioned concept, sometimes the significance of a lyric can be subtle and when approaching from a remixer stance, does not scream out for interpretation in an obvious way, rather lingers in the background until The Producer realises the gem that he or she has. The segment that begins ‘This is all from me, what I wanted I received’ is an example of this. In the original ‘Attraction’, this lyrical phrase is used initially as a lead vocal but also as a backing vocal, full of soul, poignancy and unspoken emotion. From studying the original and also having heard the song performed live by Carol, I felt the lyrics were an invitation to enter into her subconscious. My feelings about this phrase is that I interpret it as a moment of doubt in-between the self assured, confident and defiant nature of the previous lyrics. Almost as if the writer is double checking with herself if it’s okay to proceed further along this life path and by default with the remainder of the song. This reminds me of the blocks that we can create that prevent us from achieving what we strive for; usually these blocks are subconscious but often they encompass the dead weight of negative emotion that block the flow of energy and abundance coming our way.
The reggae section is a fun reprieve from the seriousness of the previous sections. In the final moments of Attraction Part Une, we have a reggae guitar that plays alongside Carol’s ‘Booms’. I knew as soon as I heard this that I wanted an OTT/cliché reggae feel to enter at this moment in the song. By using prominent offbeat organs (MJ Cole hangover ctd?) a ‘dirty’ sub bass, some steel pans for some ‘Lilt’ aka totally tropical taste and some left of centre Lee Scratch Perry-style harmonics I think the effect was achieved. An early Prodigy ‘Out Of Space’ reference is also used when the synth pad chords enter taking us on a crescendo into the final chorus. Though one of the last parts of the remix to be created, the reggae section has become my favourite part and was augmented in the mixing stage by some dub style reverb on the main vocal suggested by Tobi.
A few months ago Carol blogged and I may have tweeted about ‘God entering the studio’. This is a paraphrase of a Quincy Jones quote about leaving space for ‘God to walk through the room’ This will mean different things to different people, but as a firm believer in God I certainly felt His Divine inspiration. We had a wav. of a really cool reverse Orchestra Hit sound and it was on the second mixing session that we wondered if it could be used in other parts of the mix (originally it only appeared at the beginning of the Bach section). By ‘mistake’ Tobi pasted this into the second half of the ‘Boom’ section when the pad chords and bass enter- I thought it sounded AMAZING so it was left in. Bizarelly I can’t remember where it was ‘supposed’ to appear- possibly at the start of the final chorus that followed after the reggae section. Anyway, the reverse stab was also additionally placed at the start of the final chorus and it sounded so good that it inspired a change to the bass line and inclusion of pad chords before returning to a bass/drums breakdown that finishes the section. In the production stages and when creating a rough mix I had already extended the final chorus, but this was an addition that I had not factored in, yet, in my opinion, makes the song. Would we have achieved this had the three of us (Carol, myself and Tobi) not been sitting in that control room one rainy morning?
I won’t go further into the details of the production as there’s probably already too much for some (and not enough for others!) The techniques I’ve included are a snapshot of what went in to creating ‘Attraction: Reloaded’. However there are some incredible elements from the original that were not included in the remix. The one that sticks out for me is one of my favourite lyrics in the original track ‘Girl why you wanna hide, you’ve been asking for it all your life?’ — to confrontational for my fragile psyche?! Jokes aside this is probably due to the way I treated the middle eight and the chords, but it’s still strange to me given that I look out for and enjoy the lyric every time I hear the original.
One of the comments Carol made is that generally she thinks I ‘minor-ised’ the track (an in-joke relating to my maudlin minor scale musical leanings) which to an extent I did. I have changed a few of the chords but I want to point out that ‘Attraction’ was written in A Minor and I think it’s really interesting how a different production can almost trick the ear into feeling like you’ve shifted key quite drastically when actually you are in the same place, but with different elements exaggerated and enhanced by the producer.
Finally I’d like to mention the creation of the title of the remix- always a fun part. Carol turned down my suggestion of calling it ‘Attraction: The Nuns Remix’ (nuns as in ‘tight as a nun’s) as neither one of us is ready to be excommunicated and I don’t think it quite fits in with the CMW brand ;) If any of you follow Carol or myself on social media you may be aware that we are both big fans of The Matrix Trilogy hence borrowing ‘Reloaded’ for the title. I think this may have started as a joke but then we thought ‘why not’ and it’s s-s-s-t-t-u-c-k ‘like a needle on a magnet’.
Thank you for reading. Share if it helps or is of interest.
Nina The First
Visit www.mediatrixmusic.com to hear my productions.
London, May 2014
