Heading up towards town, moving vans, cars stuffed to the brim with household items. People are leaving Leeds in droves. A few mates of mine are heading back home or heading to pastures new. Sad, but Leeds is getting increasingly difficult to stick around in. Luckily we still have so many great bands sticking around for another year and at the end of summer, a new injection of musicians with bright ideas and a taste for experimentation.

Today we have Gibberish, an indie band 1 year fresh from the conservatoire, the same year as me. The Conservatoire is a big old place, so I’m constantly meeting people I never even spoke to at Uni. I knock on the door to be greeted by a vaguely familiar face in Fin (no, not Dinnerbone Fin. No, not Dandelion Fynn or Misting Finn. I know it gets confusing).

I step into a back room, just large enough for a drum kit and a couple of sofas. Heat blaring in, so we try diffuse it with a knackered old fan, past down from household to household. Back from my holiday, I look back fondly at the great sound we got with Postcard with just one drum mic and the bass going directly in. Ellis sat patiently, layering up his snare with shells to wind up that punch. Just the AT2020, right at the centre of the kit, that’s all we need.

Tiana is a bassist you may know, it being my third time recording her. The last time we worked together with Char, she had to leave early to try out for this band - small small world this Leeds music scene. Six bands she’s in! I don’t even have six productive thoughts in a day. Yet unsurprisingly, she’s absolutely solid, as is DRUMMER. The first one take of the day.

All bussed down to channel 4, all we need is the two guitars and vocals now. Fin dives in on his axe, pushing through a Fender Champion for that thick gritty sound you hear in your left ear. Love the little tone shifts coming in and out of the chorus. One Take! Then it was self-proclaimed red light syndrome sufferer, Albie, with flairy leads and bends. I do think the way that we do the Contact Buzz sessions really does remove the fear of getting it wrong and guess what? Another One Take!

So we only have one slot left, we decide to go grab a meal deal from Tesco. The one I frequented in my College years at Notre Dame. The very same guy working on the checkouts as all those years ago! Brought me right back. I picked up one of the new sandwiches, think it was buffalo chicken. Really nice to be fair, a little spicy. Anyway! We got back and gave Fin the mic. Proper slick stuff, reminded me of 2010’s acts - Circa Waves, The Magic Gang - remember them? We ran into our first non-one take of the day, but I think all those one-takes were to give us time on this fantastic vocal performance.

Gibberish have just recorded two singles at Bam Bam Studios with Harry Jordan, so keep your eyes wide open for those - no doubt they’re gonna sound massive.

For Fans of: Keo, Sam Fender, Catfish and The Bottlemen