HAVING British producer John Reynolds on board proved a blessing for the girls from Canadian country/folk duo MadViolet. While recording their debut album Worry the Jury at a London studio, Reynolds known for his work with Sinead O'Connor, U2 and Peter Gabriel invited his close-knit circle of musicians to join in as MadViolet's backing band.
Among them was guitarist Jon Klein of Siouxsie and the Banshees, and bass players Claire Kenny (Indigo Girls), and Matthew Seligman (Tori Amos, The Soft Boys). Vocals were recorded in the same tiled bathroom where O'Connor sang Fire On Babylon. Among the guests who dropped in during the recording was Reynolds's neighbour Brian Eno. ``We got over being star- struck pretty quickly. It was such an everyday, down-to-earth atmosphere,'' singer/guitarist Brenley MacEachern said.
But there were still moments when the girls felt a little overwhelmed.
``One day I looked up from recording a part and there's Sinead sitting in a chair and listening,'' fiddle player Lisa Marie MacIsaac said.
``That was a bit freaky.'' It was a world away from growing up in Canada where the pair first met in 2000 after MacEachern invited MacIsaac to join her trip-hop band Zoebliss. In a twist of fate, it turned out that their fathers had known one another as teenagers and MacIsaac went to school with one of MacEachern's cousins. After meeting by chance in a Toronto bar, MacEachern and MacIsaac became friends and were soon forging a creative partnership after band rehearsals.``I was comfortable enough to bring out songs that I'd never play for the band,'' MacEachern said.``The tunes were a little more folky, even a bit country-oriented, and that was a total change from what Zoebliss was about.'' Eventually the pair set off on an epic songwriting road trip that produced about half of the songs on their album, Worry the Jury. MadViolet will perform at Islington's Gateway Hotel on Saturday night.
After the Australian tour, MadViolet will head home to support the release of their second album which has been tentatively titled Caravan and again teamed them with Reynolds.
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