24 hours in a bathroom with Spring King's Tarek Musa

Image: Spring King

How often do you hear about a band fixing up tracks in a stripped out bathroom in the north of England using a bashed up drum kit? The answer is never. Standing at the forefront of Manchester's new breed of music, Spring King are one of the hottest live bands on the circuit at the moment and they're doing exactly that. 

Effectively spawning bathroom-rock, they herald a solid trio of records to date, including their latest They're Coming After You EP on Handsome Dad that precedes Demons and Mumma/Mumma Pt.II - hear out 'City' from their latest drop below. 

What's even more remarkable is that they've written and recorded songs in just a day, making it our absolute mission to learn how it's done.

And who better to hook in than their front man and drummer himself, Tarek Musa, the leader of the project who curated their first mixtape next to a toilet? Here he is letting us in on five of his sacred recording tips: 

Five things that have stuck with me through trial and error…

1. I always have a recording device nearby so it’s super simple to get an idea or demo down. This is great if you have a bad memory like me and forget ideas quickly.

2. If I am forcing an idea, I stop and go out. Sometimes frustration can help a project, propelling you into new territories, but it can also be detrimental to a day’s positivity.

I tend to throw out ideas that don’t work after a reasonable amount of time and move on. It might click later on and then I can revisit it.

3. If it feels good in the studio, I go with it. The idea that there is a right or wrong way to do creative things doesn't make sense. Everyone has their own approach to it. It all depends on what sounds, feels and works best to you and the people you’re collaborating with. 

4. Use what you have. My workspace is small by any commercial studio standards, but it does the job for my needs. Working with what you have can be great, limitations really can push you to experiment and try weirder things. Obviously, it’s nice to get new gear too.

5. Listen to music you've never heard before, or read about people that inspire you and see how they approach creating. Some of the best interviews I've read with producers seem to be in studio situations that involved happy accidents or things going wrong.

For me, it has always been good finding a record that blows me away and trying to understand how they did it. Sometimes techniques and approaches are transferable even if the music is different.

And that's how it's done, Cheers Tarek! 

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