Smash Inc… (Why murtabak is good before a vocal recording session)

Smash Inc at Bassist Jeff's wedding

The bassist of Smash Inc Jeff got married recently and the rest of the bandmates were in Backbeat rehearsing their wedding dinner performance (minus Jeff). I was really happy to meet them again (it was quite a coincidence as it was only not long ago when I recorded the drummer, Michael, currently drumming for Equinox).

Smash Inc was a band that I really enjoyed recording WITH… We worked together twice in fact when they were still at NTU. The guitarist-songwriter Lawrence has a natural talent in coming up with songs with good commercial hooks (i like). And I especially like recording Leroy’s “british-sounding” vocals also. I never tired from playing their test-mix in my car over and over again.

SmashInc Neverland Sample by backbeat

Here’s a sample clip of a song called Neverland that we recorded 2 years ago… Interestingly, we had a hard time nailing the vocals. It was about 9pm. We decided to take a break as we couldn’t get past verse 1. Leroy went off to take some murtabak for dinner at Boat Quay (Backbeat was at HongKong St back then). I thought it was a really bad decision — chilli/curry when the vocals aren’t even done? But when we resumed at around 10pm, wow, … it turned out to be one of the best vocals I’ve recorded.

Smash Inc Album Cover