With The Finish Line In Sight...

(...a little inadvertent Olympic humour there...)

So the new Willis EP, 'Songs Of Molly Drake', is at last, finished and almost ready for it's social debut in London society.

I can't remember being more excited or proud of a project then I am with this. Molly Drake's melodies and lyrics have been a joy to arrange, sing and, occasionally, perform live - many long though happy hours were spent putting the project together which also included many long-term collaborators such as Demus and Rowan Oliver from as far back as my pre-Come Get Some days.

The wonderful drummer Jamie Morrison spent the day with us banging percussively on a wall at Ben Phillips' incredible studio, Lightship 95. I've never been able to say I've recorded on an actual ship before - now I can...

Rowan, with whom I've worked for many years, sent accordion, viola and musical saw parts back and forth via the power of technology.

We even assembled a make-shift choir from a gaggle of volunteers who were brave enough to put themselves forward for the task of singing on 'Ballad' once I had cajoled/seduced/bullied them in to it.... Even an integral piece of recording kit exploding 10 minutes prior to kick off and despite it being one of the wettest Tuesday evenings I can ever recall in May, it didn't dampen the gathering of 15 beautiful souls who took part at the recording at The Premises in Hackney.

Even the unreasonable neighbour of Pascal's Toy Elephant Studio did not manage to throw spanners in said works by hammering on the floor during crucial parts of the recording process. The fact that we could, on other occasions hear her and her beau going at it a la Serge Gainsbourgh et Jane Birkin, hammer and tong-ing the night away, did not even prompt me to raise an eyebrow in her direction...perhaps it is the soothing power of Mrs Drake's material...

Happy, happy times...

And now we are off to make a film to accompany it, directed by the lovely Rod Main and featuring the startlingly talented performance artist Dickie Beau - www.dickiebeau.com

Soon...