"Mardi Gras"

This was a song that was written totally from the stream of conscious, just like the isinglas song "Last Regret", but that's another story!! I just picked up the guitar and out the song came….

Ok here is the story that inspired the lyrics in the song. About two years ago I became good friends with a female (girl#1), there may have been chemistry between us, but the main thing was that we enjoyed each other company and her presence was soothing. Over the course of the year our friendship grew, girlfriends/boyfriends came and left and eventually a girl (girl#2), who was a friend of a friend, devolved a crush on me, her friends told me on every occasion, they even tried to get information out one of my best guy friends, but at the end of the day I didn't fancy her, nothing "happened" between girl#2 at all and that was that.

One day, girl#1 and I were taking our weekly walk around the block, across the river and back up by the church, getting an ice cream on the back up to her place. Girl#2 and some of her friends spotted us on our trek and sent me a text message later on that day asking was I going out with girl#1. I denied the claims and a couple of days later I was out in a club and I scored with a random girl and what have you. The next day I gotta another text off girl#2 accusing me of cheating on girl#1 and a bunch of colourful words and names in thrown in between. Before I knew it, half of Carrigaline knew of my "bad deed" and people were asking girl#1 was she ok and to forget me, that "he's only a Bastard, who doesn't know how to treat women". Aren't rumours amazing! That's what this song is about, wanting to getting the fuck out of a small town to a "bigger pond" where people don't give two fucks about who you are.

The same cats play on this song, with the exception of newcomers Julie on backing vocals and Colin The Cormack on Pneumatic Hammer Drills. Emer supplied the beats again and flew thru it and got it in her first take. I especially like her drumming on the "lets keep breathing part", it really adds texture. I wanted her to play violins on it, but later I had a revelation to use the e-bow. I recorded 5 of them to make it sound like an orchestra.

When Dav came up to recorded his bass part I was in a bit of a rush so he listened to the song a couple of times, I hit record and said "One take Dav!!" the pressure was on, as was evident from his face cos he looked petrified, he got the song in one take! A true pro!

Next was backing vocals, I knew I needed someone who could sing harmony and sound great at the same time, Julie was my first and only choice, some of you might know from the isinglas song "Anon". I was only thinking the other day of how naive and ignorant I was about playing, writing, recording and been in a band! Good times…..

So I went over to Julies and tried a few harmonies and I hit record and she got it in one take, she definitely took the song to a better place.