In
October we mixed the first half of the album in Air Studios in London. It was
a real treat to work there as it is possibly along with Abbey Road studios the
most famous in the world. The founder of Air Studios is Sir George Martin (the
man behind the Beatles)!!Fionnuala had the pleasure of meeting him much to the
envy of Rolf and our Icelandic engineer Oscar Paul! After Air Studio it was
back to Ireland and Norway for both of us to prepare, write and rehearse for
the second part of the album. We were meant to perform in China during this
period, but had to postpone so we could meet the deadline of the new album.
We do look forward to returning to China in 99’ with the full band for
a concert tour.We heard recently that we are one of the best selling international artists in China, and have just recorded a TV show that was broadcasted on December 24 (Christmas Eve) to aprox. 190 million viewers!
In November we began part two of the recording, in our favorite place to work, Cross Studio in Kristiansand, Norway (Rolf’s hometown). There we laid the groundwork for a further 6 songs, i.e. programming, recording guide tracks for the orchestra and other solo instruments and finalizing the arrangements.
After Cross Studio, we moved to Oslo and recorded some of the top line solo instruments.
With a few much needed days recovery, we then flew to Washington D.C. in the beginning of December. This was a very special trip as the Norwegian ambassador to the US Tom Wraalsen invited us, to take part in the lighting of the Christmas tree in Union Station. The tree and lights are a gift from Norway so it was really great that we could be part of such a lovely occasion. The Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus was also there and we had a very nice meeting with him after the performance. By the way Union Station is the most beautiful station we have ever seen, wish there were more like it! We also performed in the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., which were a great success and a rewarding experience for all the band and us. We are really looking forward to touring the US in 99’.
