Discussing the project’s origins Thomas admitted “I recorded all the demos on my own in my bedroom. I’ve known how to record for years but over lockdown I really went into trying to learn how to use Logic, teaching myself through Youtube”. Inspired by lo-fi artists such as Phil Elverum, of Mount Eerie and The Microphones, bedroom indie-pop band Florist and indie rockers Sun Kil Moon, Muriel decided against a typical studio space, instead recording in his tattoo studio, Thomas explains “for one it was really expensive to get a nine track album recorded in a studio, I already had the space in the tattoo studio and a couple of mics. I thought, let’s just re-record it in here. We took all the beds out, put out some lamps and candles and made it like a week-long residency, it was really fun.” This unique recording space had its own impact on the record he continues “It’s not a treated room so it’s not miles from the space I used to record the demos in my flat, it’s more the personality of the space. We recorded for about five days straight, ordered takeaways here and had a few drinks in the evening and yeah, it did sound so much better. It’s a bigger room so it has a unique character, some of that natural reverb is on the record.”
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The only part of the record not recorded in Thomas’ tattoo studio were the drums, he explains “The rest of the recording it’s kind of endless how much you can layer but drums have to be recorded in a certain way”, the band instead chose to record the drums with Simon Cripps at The Music Works in Gloucester, Thomas explained that after the tracks were recorded “I left all the tracks with Si to let him mix it a little. That was stressful because I had to let go of how I imagined it sounding, a lot of the time he was mixing as if it was a record that wasn’t recorded in a tattoo studio, kind of cutting too much out. We had to learn each other’s communication styles, he talks in very technical terms and I talk in terms of emotions, it took a while but we found the sweet spot in the end. I think we both learned a lot from it”.
“I left all the tracks with Si to let him mix it a little. That was stressful because I had to let go of how I imagined it sounding”
More production contributions came from Kliph Scurlock, formerly of The Flaming Lips, and Tom Bromley of Los Campesinos!, both Cardiff residents, Thomas explained how these connections came about saying “I was speaking to a guy I met through Will, our bassist, who has a coffee shop called Mec, Tom Bromely is one of his regulars and I ended up befriending him. We met for a coffee, he listened to the record, he really liked it and thought it sounded good but offered to add some tape drones, feedback and some fuzzy frequencies, he did it for free, I gave him a big magnum of wine to say thanks.” On Scurlock’s contribution he continues “Tom said he knew Kliph through his work in The Flaming Lips and Gruff Rhys, apparently he’s taken up mastering and has been remastering all the Super Furry Animals records, he put me in touch and we had these massive emails back and forth. He was such a nice guy and it was a really humbling experience.”
Muriel’s debut album was released through Venn Records, better known for the roster of heavy bands such as Gallows, CLT DRP, Meryl Streek and Static Dress, Thomas said about the band’s place among bands who sounded so different to them “We were worried if we’d connect to their usual audience but our PR guy Jamie got me on the phone with Lags from Venn and we started talking about that, he was really excited about branching out and not just releasing stuff that’s harsh and spiky. I guess in some ways we’re a bit of a guinea pig for them.”
As a musician and tattoo artist Zak Thomas approaches the two different art forms in entirely different ways, he goes into detail saying “Tattooing for me has always been a very visual, aesthetic kind of thing whereas music has always been a therapeutic, emotional thing. It feels like it’s the two sides of my brain doing two different things.” This separation continues into the album, with the artwork being handled by Cardiff based artist Molly Mae, Thomas continues “Some bands get tattoo artists to do the artwork but it always has this particular style. I wanted it to not look like tattoo art. Molly’s art is totally different, it’s kind of had a hold on me for years. I’ve followed her work and would look at her paintings while listening back to my demos and we made this really nice relationship.” A number of collaborations made Muriel possible as a project, Thomas explains “It’s how I see Muriel now, it’s not just my project, it’s more of a community effort, there’s about twenty people who’ve left their mark on the band. I think that’s something I’ve learned from this experience, letting go a little bit and letting people have their touch on things.”