Insight
A series in which musicians give us insight into the background of one of their recordings
Sam Furlonger
Get Out And Get Under The Moon
When we buy an album we quite possibly don't give much thought to what has gone into producing it. When we do start to think about it, we begin to appreciate the challenges involved.
Vocalist Sam Furlong has recently released his debut album Get Out And Get Under The Moon. Sam is an established vocalist based in London and, amongst others, he sings regularly with saxophonist Fraser Smith's band. We asked him about the process involved, starting with why he had decided to make an album and why now?
"Performing at gigs and posting videos on social media is great but none of it has true longevity like a physical album, so I was keen to put something together that will be there forever, something a listener can hold in their hands. It's so easy to say "I'll do that, next year" and to keep kicking the dream down the road. Not even due to laziness, but down to wanting everything to be absolutely perfect - that can cause delays. I found it better to call the studio and to book a date for 6 month's time, then there was no backing out, I had to make it fit.
A few of the guys in the group had already recorded albums at various studios - Fraser Smith in particular gave me plenty of guidance on what it would entail, what to consider etc. Being relatively naive in this space, I was keen to get their input on best practises and what to avoid.
I did make a plan. Chronologically - the first thing I did was to make sure the band I wanted were keen to be involved, otherwise it'd be pointless! Then it was to create a theme for the album, get the song choices planned, get arrangements written, find and book a studio, find an artist for the album cover, figure out who mixes and masters music, how to distribute online and roughly plan a release show.
I spoke with Fraser Urquhart, my pianist, on the theme I wanted for the album, as he was to arrange it. I didn't want it to sound like any other male jazz singer's album, filled with Fly Me To The Moon and other overplayed standards. The concept I wanted was the journey of being single, pushing yourself to get out into the world, falling in love and settling down - that's the story arc I wanted to convey. Fraser Uruqhart penned some fantastic and really unique arrangements, I tried very much to just give him artistic freedom to do what he felt was best and I'm so impressed with the final results.
Here we are with Keeping Out Of Mischief Now:
When I moved to London eight or so years ago, Fraser Smith was the first to express interest in working together; he introduced me to so many other musicians, many of whom I still play with today. They've really helped me grow as a singer and performer, being honest with areas I should improve and praising areas that go well - the feedback has been invaluable and I still look for it every time we perform. It also helps they're all great friends and world class musicians with a true love for the repertoire.
Discussing studios, Fraser had played at StudiOwz before in Pembrokeshire, so he introduced me to Owain, the owner. I was very keen to go outside of London where we could get away from it all and have no distractions. I can't recommend the studio enough, it's a real beauty.
While I organised everything about the recording itself, I wanted Fraser Urquart to really lead the recording session with the musicians. After all, they are his arrangements and he alone knew how they were supposed to sound on the day. He has a great talent for communicating what he wants from other musicians. He and I sat in on the mixing together, as I hadn't done this before. Fraser led with what he thought sounded best regarding the levels of the various instruments - the vocals were a little quiet nearing the end of mixing so I worked with them to convey how I wanted it to sound - I'm happy with the final result of this, and I'm glad I voiced my opinions rather than staying quiet!. Mastering was done separately - a case of sending them the files, describing how you'd like it to sound, then waiting for them to be sent back. Peter Beckmann, the Masterer, was fantastic with his feedback, I'm happy glad I chose him to work with..
Since the idea of putting an album together came about, I've always wanted a vinyl release. Something of a keepsake, something you can hold with both hands in front of your face and think, that looks and sounds cool. So my focus was online distribution with something more substantial like vinyl if people wanted a hard copy. Online streaming and downloads is a must in today's world, but having a vinyl album was a true objective for me. How awesome the artwork is can only be appreciated on a vinyl sleeve. Given this was my first album, all of this was completely new to me. Working with the vinyl artist, organising vinyl production, finding an online distributor, were all areas with a lot of back and forth, a lot of questions and refining. Certainly, a learning curve on what are the best practises for next time around!
As this is Sam's first album, we asked him if there were things that cropped up that he didn't anticipate?
Yes. The costs for certain aspects of recording the album - vinyls are expensive! Another has been promoting release shows as MYSELF rather than theming it as 'Frank Sinatra' - Sinatra tends to sell better as people still don't really know who I am - building my own brand is definitely a goal for me over the coming years.
Online distributors - there are many, with lots of online reviews on YouTube. I chose CDBaby initially as there's a one-off fee and you can then distribute as much as you'd like afterwards. However, they don't allow you to have your music on social media platforms like Instagram - if someone searches for you to share your music on their post or story, you simply won't appear. So shortly after releasing to Spotify, I signed up with DistroKid who DO allow social media. This meant, and still means I am on Spotify twice - once as 'Sam Furlonger & his Quintet' (CDBaby) and another as 'Sam Furlonger' (DistroKid). I would remove CDBaby but as this was the initial release, I've racked up a fair few listens, and I can't merge them... a learning curve as I said before.
So from our discussion with Sam we begin to realise all the work involved. So has he enjoyed it and is he pleased he has done it?
I've absolutely loved it and I am proud I pushed myself to get it over the line. I knew there would be areas I'd look back on and think, "I should've done that differently" or "sung that differently", but that's just part of the experience and refining my craft. Needing everything to be perfect just isn't possible and can really take the joy out of an endeavour.
Working with these musicians has been a complete joy, as I said before they're friends first so it truly was a lad's holiday with a recording session in it. They all played incredibly, as they always do, and that really comes across on the record.
I've got plenty of ideas for future albums and am keen to experiment with other musicians/ new sounds, so I can learn as much as possible - I'm excited on what's to come!"
Get Out And Get Under The Moon is a joy. Here are songs sung in Sam Furlonger's style with a fine band who know each other well (Fraser Urquhart (piano, arrangements); Fraser Smith (saxes); Darren McCarthy (bass); Harry Sankey (guitar) and Joe Dessauer (drums). It is great to hear the clarity in the lyrics. Listen to She's Funny That Way taken slowly with Sam holding the notes perfectly and a neat solo from Fraser's saxophone. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams swings nicely and Half Way Down The Street, originally recorded by Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, is a song with a nice story that I had not come across before. So take a taste to the title track (here) and then check out the rest of the album either to taste, to get a digital copy, or for a copy of the vinyl album, details are here. On Spotify, the album is here.
Our discussion with Sam has concentrated on the process of making an album. As he points out, the cost implications are another aspect and we plan to have another article dealing with the financial side of recording in the future [Ed]
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