"Silence is Easy," but what's a bit more challenging is writing music for a record that you hope is just as good, yet just as different, from your last album, which happens to be your debut work that's already sold a ton of copies. Of course, you want it to be interesting, moving and exhilarating; and so you begin to write down what's been happening with you over the last two years or so.
This is what happened to James Walsh, who is in the band Starsailor. The past two years of his life are what some would say out of the ordinary. In fact, they were for every member of Starsailor - bassist James Stelfox, drummer Ben Byrne and keyboardist Barry Westhead.
In so many words, the four young men left England working blue-collar jobs, sold enough records to tour the world and, before they knew it, they were feasting on ham sandwiches with legendary music producer, Phil Spector who's just told them he'll produce the follow-up to their debut, "Love is Here," ending his nearly 20-year hiatus away from the business.
Spector arrived in London at Abbey Road studios in the summer of 2002 and things only got more out of the ordinary when the four Brits agreed to fire Spector with only two songs in the bag, and produce the nine remaining tracks on something they now call "Silence is Easy."
Spector later returned to his home in Los Angeles and, while putting the finishing touches on the album last February, Starsailor got news that police had arrested him in connection with the strange death of Lana Clarkson, a 40-year-old club hostess whose body was found at his mansion with a gunshot wound to the head. Spector, who is now out on $1 million bail, claims he is innocent and that Clarkson died from suicide.
But enough about Spector, at least for now. Let's rewind roughly two years to the town of Warrington where the band first got together - the same place where Walsh, Starsailor's singer, guitarist and songwriter, and his band mates wrote "Four to the Floor," a tune off the new record.
"It started off with the chords, really, and was quite a straightforward song until Ben, the drummer, decided to put kind of a disco beat behind it," said Walsh. "We had been rehearsing in London and had some songs written, and we went back to rehearse in Wellington. I don't know if we had some inspiration being back where it all began, but we wrote that song in a tiny little room where we started the band. We knew when we got the chords together and the rhythm it was important to us to write something that would be fun to play and would make people smile. We wanted to reflect that in the lyrics as well."
The members of Starsailor are natives of three different cities in England - Wigan, Chorley and Lancashire. The group put out its debut record, "Love is Here" in 2002 and was basically thrust into the limelight almost overnight with its debut selling more than a million copies overseas in just a few months.
"I think writing the lyrics to a new album was easier because of what was experienced in the last two years. It was more than I experienced in the 19 or 20 years that preceded it," recalled Walsh. "Things like touring the world with my three best mates and having a baby with my fianc/e, Lisa. That was pretty mind-blowing. Before that happened, it was difficult because it's hard to write about being on the road and playing different venues. Having a baby is something much more intense."
Walsh, now 23, wrote the song "Bring My Love" a week after his daughter, Niamh, was born, which is a musical sonnet of sorts with a set of melodious string arrangements.
"Generally the ballads I sort of write on my own on acoustic guitar and come to the band with a full song, but the more upbeat songs are more collaborative. We'll start with a chorus or verse and feed off each other to complete the song," said Walsh. "We've thought of a few songs during sound checks or in rehearsals whenever we can play together, really. I think it's just because you're playing through such a great-sounding system and sometimes a room can be inspiring as well. We've played some really nice venues over the last few years. We've played Irving Plaza four times now. We should get a royalty bonus for that."
In January 2002, Starsailor performed at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and it was there where Stelfox met Spector's 20-something daughter, Nicole, who informed him that her father was a Starsailor fan as well. He liked "Lullaby," a song from "Love is Here." She invited him and the rest of the band over to the Spector castle for lunch the next day.
Amidst a rather dull lunch that consisted of ham sandwiches and minimal conversation, Spector began choking on what was later discovered to be a piece of food stuck in his windpipe. After a moment of panic, Byrne eventually gave him the Heimlich maneuver. Spector began breathing again and shortly thereafter informed the band he would produce its new record. He told him he would fly to London and book time in Abbey Road studio which was where he remixed the Beatles' "Let It Be" album. However, the band never asked for his services and so they didn't believe it at first, but they, of course, agreed to the chance of a lifetime.
The bizarre Spector is known for his Wall of Sound, which is his trademark production style that has earned him a reputation among artists such as the Beach Boys, Tina Turner, John Lennon, The Beatles, The Righteous Brothers and The Ronettes. His recording and producing history spans 30 years and Spector became a millionaire by the time he turned 21. His career was essentially defunct by the time he reached 30 and he eventually became a recluse in the 1980s. He was later inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
With "Silence is Easy," the band submitted its written songs in the form of a demo to Spector. Spector particularly liked "Silence is Easy" and "White Dove," both of which he produced. Spector's trademark Wall of Sound is quite evident on "Silence is Easy" with the many layers of vocal, keyboard and guitar lines sitting over a thick and heavy groove.
"Phil had a creative vision for the song in terms of the rhythm," said Walsh. "Basically it started off with Ben playing the classic Phil Spector drum beat. It's quite an incredible moment to hear the Wall of Sound being built around our ears to one of our tracks. You hear the tom and the snare, then it just gradually brings everyone else in and basically just overdoes everything until you're blue in the face."
During their time recording with Spector, Starsailor members recalled times when he would disappear physically and quite often mentally, and they noticed he was on some kind of medication, which Spector later said was to treat schizophrenia but that he took it for his bipolar disorder. Most of the time, the band described him as having a glazed look on his face and seemed completely vacant. Soon enough, the recording sessions became less and less productive and eventually turned into a nightmare for Starsailor, so it released him of his contractual obligations due to his state of mind or lack thereof. The band eventually finished the record, working with producers Danton Supple and John Leckie, and the rest is history or something like it.
"We wanted to make an album people could listen to again and again, and appreciate it more each time they listen to it," added Walsh. "We want to make songs so people keep listening. It would be great to make a classic album like U2's 'Joshua Tree.' Certain songs I listen to, like 'Born to Run' and 'Where the Streets Have No Name,' I have to take a deep breath every time I listen to them even after hearing loads of times. I still get butterflies in my stomach when I listen to songs like those and to write songs like those is, I think, a definite aim for any musician."
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