Involvement:
- Song Arrangement
- Engineering
- Production
- Mixing
- Artwork
- Video Production
- Project Management
Soon after Ishikawa Media was established, Echo Wants Her Voice Back (Eleni Skarpari) contacted David Lawrie to explore ideas for producing her debut EP.
Early demos and song arrangements
Early demos from Eleni were recorded simply on a phone, with just an acoustic guitar and voice. At this point there was a deep dive into her Cypriot heritage, the experiences reflected in her lyrics, and how best to incorporate elements of both into a contemporary popular style. An acoustic-based approach, using western instruments, frequent use middle-eastern rhythms and scales, and lush cello performances would blend into the “Folk-Noir” label with which Eleni tagged herself.
Project management, ENGINEERING, AND PRODUCTION
With this being an independent debut, budgets had to be kept as low as possible. Eleni already had a growing following as a live performer, and as so, we worked with her to create a crowdfunding campaign, in order to cover recording costs, CD pressing costs, as well as a micro-budget for a music video.
The campaign was successful, and we set out to maximise every penny.
In order to minimise the cost of studio rental, only the drums were recorded in a dedicated studio space. Drummer Chris Prendergast stepped in as a session musician, and all drums were recorded in a day.
All bass instruments were synthetic, and were programmed by David Lawrie.
All acoustic guitar (performed by Billy Crabbe) and cello (performed by Sara Gale) parts were recorded by David in Eleni’s home – since the acoustics were more than suitable for high-end recordings – and doing so meant that there was none of the “clock-watching” that happens in most studio settings. This was made possible with top of the range portable equipment, capable of delivering studio-quality recordings.
Another two-day session was set up to record Eleni’s vocals in her home, and once she was happy with the raw recordings, they were taken back to David’s studio for him to add incidental percussion, and prepare for mixing.
MIXING
Mixing was completed remotely, in David’s studio. Regular contact with Eleni. After an initial pass on the mixes, they were sent to her for notes, which were swiftly implemented. Once the mixes were completed, they were sent to Andy Wilson for mastering.
ARTWORK AND VIDEO PRODUCTION
Under his HARUKO guise, David crafted the artwork for the EP, and presented it in both digital format, as well as a print-ready layout for CD.
In order to maximise the release we partnered with Scarlet View Media to create a music video for the song “Tea” – directed and edited by HARUKO, with cinematography, colour grading by David Diley.
release and subsequent activity
After the album was released to a great reception and many live performances, Eleni released a series of new songs as singles, with performances and mixing by David.
