This Is A Fix
Encyclopedia
This Is a Fix is the second album by Wales based band The Automatic
. It was released on 25 August 2008. The band worked with producer Don Gilmore in Los Angeles, but were disappointed with these sessions, and instead worked with Butch Walker
at Sage and Sound Recording in Los Angeles then back in Cardiff
with Richard Jackson and London
with Stephen Harris
.
The Automatic began work in 2006 on the follow-up to previous album Not Accepted Anywhere, however after the departure of Alex Pennie
and joining of Paul Mullen
, the completed recordings of such songs as "Steve McQueen" and "Revolution" - which featured Alex Pennie providing synths and vocals - were shelved and later re-recorded with Paul Mullen. Writing took place sporadically - with songs originating from both before and after Mullen's joining.
The album spawned only one single "Steve McQueen
", however "Magazines" and "Secret Police" were originally planned for release as singles. This Is A Fix leaked onto the internet a month before release, it was also hindered by online distribution issues - which saw both the single "Steve McQueen" and album get released late across sites such as iTunes
and 7digital
.
frontman Paul Mullen
was revealed to be joining the band as a second guitarist, vocalist and synthesizer player. Having already written new material throughout the year such as "Steve McQueen", "Revolution", "Accessories" and "Hard Rock" the band continued writing and demoing material in Cardiff with producer Richard Jackson. Upon the first day of Paul Mullen practicing with the band in their Cardiff studio the band wrote "Paul Harris", later appearing on the album as "This Ship". On November 4, 2007 guitarist James Frost posted onto YouTube
a studio video of the band recording, previewing such songs as "Magazines" and "In This World" in the demoing stage.
In January the band began recording in Los Angeles
with Don Gilmore, working on some 17 different tracks, with Frost posting two further video updates onto YouTube of recording in LA, previewing new songs "Seven Eight", "Make The Mistakes", "Sleepwalking" amongst other tracks. 5 weeks into recording, with the album close to finished, the band decided they were unhappy with the progression of the sessions, and ultimately stopped working with Gilmore.
in LA, and then return to Cardiff and complete the album with producer Richard Jackson. With Walker the band recorded "Steve McQueen", "Magazines", "In The Mountains", "Bad Guy" and "Secret Police", with Walker the band tried different techniques to how they had previously recorded, with Iwan recording drums cymbals separately to the rest of the kit. Butch, along with Chris T-T and Frank Turner recorded with the band on "Steve McQueen", providing gang vocals and extra percussion.
The band returned to Cardiff, recording "Responsible Citizen", "Accessories", "This Is A Fix", "Sleepwalking", "Make The Mistakes" and "Light Entertainment" with Richard Jackson at Warwick Halls of Sound in Cardiff, as well as recording "This Ship" at the Olympic Studios in London with producer Stephen Harris.
It was revealed early on that the second album would be darker and heavier than previous album, whilst still having a catchy pop element to it. With the first album the band had tried to stick to writing big chorus singles - which they felt had came out sounding quite similar, however with This Is A Fix the band let the tracks evolve without worrying about writing singles. This ultimately led to the band having far more potential singles than with Not Accepted Anywhere.
Tracks which deal with deceptions, and specially target certain bodies include "Responsible Citizen" which targets the government's policies on drinking, "Magazines" is written about the bands experiences with the press and how the media can manipulate its audience. "Accessories" similarly deals with the media - specifically the record industry. Title track "This Is A Fix" is loosely based around government war
and the lies surrounding war, whilst "Secret Police" also talks of government lies and espionage. "In The Mountains" focuses on drug-use and those who don't consider the consequences.
"Steve McQueen" wraps up themes from the first album - with the bands experience of growing up and returning to their home and no longer feeling a part of it. "Sleepwalking" is specifically about Jan Grzebski
- a polish man who awoke from his coma
after 19 years in 2007 and the change that occurred since he fell into a coma all those years ago. Written after a party in Beverly Hills the band attended, they were asked by Barbara Broccoli
- the daughter of Albert R. Broccoli
, to come up with a James Bond
theme tune
. The song was written to oppose the convention of being about the films hero - 007, and instead concentrates on the bad guys - because the band felt they were more interesting than the good guy. In interview Frost also has noted they never intended to use the chorus because they though they were stupid, however eventually got used to them and forgot.
Many of the albums tracks changed titles throughout development - often when naming songs the band use wherever they are at the time, previous examples included "Raoul" - after the sandwich shop they visited whilst working on Not Accepted Anywhere and "High Tide on Caroline Street" - after the road in Cardiff. "Responsible Citizen" was originally titled "Hard Rock" after the Hard Rock Cafe
, "Arjans" was a sandwich shop in Cardiff and was the working title for "In The Mountains", "Millennium Stadium
" was the working title for "Sleepwalking" - this was because the band felt the song had a stadium rock feel to it. "Light Entertainment" was initially titled "Seven Eight" because of its time signature
, "This Ship" was known as "Paul Harris" - the man responsible for signing the band to Polydor/B-Unique. "Secret Police" when performed in 2007 and during recording was titled "Revolution" - a reference to the lyrics.
- who provided synthesizers and high pitched vocals on the bands debut and the addition of Paul Mullen
it was insisted by the band that he would not be continuing what Pennie did on the first record. Instead Mullen would be providing additional an guitar, along with normal vocals - and would not be imitating Alex Pennie's vocal style. Paul's addition lead to their being no set frontman, with Paul, Rob and Frost splitting vocals as well as splitting synthesizer parts between the three.
On This Is A Fix, similarly to the bands debut, the band use a variety of synthesizers and keyboards - Roland
Juno and Alesis Andromeda's were used purely in the studio, whilst the James Frost operated Alesis Micron and Paul Mullen operated MicroKORG
appear both live and studio recordings.
The recording of the drums was influenced by that of Dave Grohl
- with recording cymbals separate to the rest of the kit. "Make The Mistakes" takes influence from recording style of Kings of Leon
, using echoing guitar effects. "Light Entertainment" uses a 7:8 time-signature
.
, was revealed on 3 July 2008. According to Yorkshire newspaper The Star, the artwork was based around a double decker bus
in a Meadowhall
car park, however the final artwork show does not involve this. Kiosk's creative director, David Bailey, points out that a double decker bus was only used for one of the images in the CD booklet. He goes on to describe the final artwork as '...a mixture of sci-fi sub/urban Britain and the presence of absence'. On the artworks for both album This Is A Fix and single "Steve McQueen" parts of the photographs have been deliberately obscured by black shapes. This stemmed from idea of making people think about whether its something that's been deliberately removed, or whether its covering something up, tying in with the albums themes of media manipulation.
The re-recording of "Steve McQueen" with Paul Mullen replacing Pennie premiered on Zane Lowe
's Radio 1 show on July 7, 2008, with the music video beginning airing the day after, as well as a clip of the track being added to the bands myspace
. On July 30, 2008, title track "This Is A Fix" was released for free download via the bands website.
The album itself was originally intended for release in June 2008, however the band's label decided to move the release back to August 25, with the album being released the week after the Reading and Leeds Festival. Single "Steve McQueen" was released the week before the album, on August 18, 2008.
and itunes
not supplying the single. The issue was resolved by Wednesday of the same week. Similarly a week later with the albums release, online retailers and physical retailers were not stocking the record until Thursday of that week due to distribution mistakes made by the bands labels.
The poor distribution of This Is A Fix was amongst reasons that the band choose to withdraw from their 5 album deal with B-Unique and Polydor. "Magazines" had been just announced as second single from This Is A Fix when the band split from their labels, the single's release was ultimately dropped completely, although promo CD's of the track went out to the press.<
along for all of the dates, and Canterbury for half of the tour, on the tour they playing around 12 songs, both new and old, notably "Light Entertainment" was opened with on all 21 dates, such tracks as "Steve McQueen", "Secret Police", "Magazines", "This Is A Fix" and "This Ship" were also played at almost all dates, the remainder of tracks from the album were usually played at different venues, so the set list would slightly change at almost all dates. The band were offered a chance to perform for a second time at the televised performance of T4 On The Beach
2008 after Cage the Elephant
pulled out due to illness amongst the band, The Automatic had to cancel a date at Midsommer Norton
in order to sound check for the event, and due to it being a televised event, it took priority over the smaller event in Nortan. The band performed at both Glastonbury Festival
and Reading and Leeds Festivals, their Glastonbury set was filmed, however was never televised, and despite performing on the main stage at Reading and Leeds, they were not filmed. At Glastonbury NME
, XFM
and The Telegraph
all ran short videos, in the form of interviews and acoustic performances of "Steve McQueen". The band ran a radio tour of the United Kingdom promoting the new album, going to XFM
Scotland, Edinburgh, Alan Robson
, Clyde 1, 1548 Forth 2
, Newcastle
's Magic 1152
, 100-102 Century Radio, 96.2 The Revolution, Xfm Manchester
, 106.3 Bridge FM
, 96.4 The Wave, 102.1 Bay Radio (formally Swansea Bay Radio), 107.8 Radio Hampshire amongst others. In August 2008 Rock Sound
magazine ran an interview with the band in talking about the upcoming release, and what to expect, Kerrang!
magazine also included two articles on the band and the new album. In late 2008 with the album released, the band toured across the UK again, on two separate tours, one in September/October and the other in November, run with ULive, meaning that each gig would take place at a University in the UK.
and touring photographer & technician Peter Hill
throughout the buildup and release of This Is A Fix recorded and released short webisodes of The Automatic, following their studio and touring antics. The first set of videos followed The Automatic in the studio - 4 webisodes were made, two in Cardiff and two in Los Angeles recording with Don Gilmore. The second set titled This Is A Fix webisodes covered the bands 2008 UK Club tour, promoting This Is A Fix, recording "Steve McQueen" with Frank Turner, Butch Walker and Chris T-T and recording an advertisement for Channel 4
. The series led up to the album release and was ended by a 15 Minute video feature digitally available with This Is A Fix
, which like the webisodes followed the band prior to the album release.
magazine rated the album the 24th greatest record of 2008, whilst Rocklouder.co.uk rated the album the 4th greatest album of 2008. Al Fox of the BBC
praised the bands second album also, saying "The album is absolutely dripping with new ideas: the band's willingness to try them for size and to drop anything that doesn't immediately seem to be working means that only the cream of a very good crop of songs has made it onto the disc". Drowned In Sound reviewer Mike Haydock was not as praising of the bands second album, stating; "This Is a Fix may be good enough to save their bacon, but only just" criticising some of Rob Hawkins
lyrics in "Bad Guy" and "This Ship", however was praised singles "Steve McQueen" and "Magazines", overall labelling the album as "a pleasant mess".
Trevor Baker of Rock Sound
magazine praised the album, giving it 8/10, saying "they appear to have gone into studio with the intention of making a record that doesn't let energy levels drop for even a second". Emma Johnston of Kerrang magazine praised the bands comeback; "The melodies are relentless, almost pop in places, thanks to an underlying disco groove, arty and complex elsewhere. Forget the summer of Monster. This is a band reborn, and better than any could predict".
Alex Lai of Contact Music stated "Casting their net further than would have been expected actually sees The Automatic producing their best results", positively speaking of the album, also stating "Certainly there is nothing here which will be anywhere near as prolific as "Monster" at uniting the masses, but that may be the trade that has to be made in order to establish themselves as a serious rock act - and this is a decent start to doing that" Sputnik Music's Dan Smith also positively reviewed the record, giving 3.7/5 "This Is a Fix reveals new surprises with every listen, and is on the whole a very strong pop-rock album, with a far greater depth and variety than anyone could have expected" "‘This Is A Fix’ is a solid, enjoyable return." Niall Doherty of The Fly stated "What’s that coming over the hill? It’s an… improvement".
At the far end of the reviews The Guardian
s Rob Fitzpatrick severely disliked the album, particularly the lyrical content, how they talk about the government, magazines, record industry and Hollywood and how they all supposedly 'lie', giving the record 1 out of 5. Reviewers also compared the record to the sounds of Ash
and McFly
with Metallica
and Foo Fighter
riffs.
, "Responsible Citizen", "Accessories", "This Is A Fix", "Sleepwalking", "Make The Mistakes" and "Light Entertainment" were recorded in Cardiff
's Warwick Hall studio by Richard Jackson, "This Ship" was recorded at Olympic Studios in London and was produced by Stephen Harris.
The Automatic
The Automatic , are a Welsh rock band. The band is composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesizers, James Frost on guitar, synthesizers, backing vocals and occasional bass, Iwan Griffiths on drums and Paul Mullen on vocals, guitar and synthesizer - since 2007...
. It was released on 25 August 2008. The band worked with producer Don Gilmore in Los Angeles, but were disappointed with these sessions, and instead worked with Butch Walker
Butch Walker
Butch Walker is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.-Career:Walker grew up in Cartersville,...
at Sage and Sound Recording in Los Angeles then back in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
with Richard Jackson and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with Stephen Harris
Stephen Harris (producer)
Stephen Harris is an English music producer and mixer. He has worked with artists including Dave Matthews Band, Ben Kweller, Blue Merle, Kula Shaker, and with B-Unique bands such as Kaiser Chiefs, The Automatic and Pull Tiger Tail...
.
The Automatic began work in 2006 on the follow-up to previous album Not Accepted Anywhere, however after the departure of Alex Pennie
Alex Pennie
Alexander Gregor Pennie is the lead vocalist of Welsh Hardcore punk band Goodtime Boys. Pennie was previously in Welsh band The Automatic, where he provided backing vocals as well as playing synthesizers and keyboards for the act...
and joining of Paul Mullen
Paul Mullen
Paul Mullen is an English musician, most notable recognized for being the primary vocalist and guitarist with Yourcodenameis:milo who went on hiatus in 2007, and the joint lead vocalist, guitarist and synthesizer player for The Automatic from 2007 onwards...
, the completed recordings of such songs as "Steve McQueen" and "Revolution" - which featured Alex Pennie providing synths and vocals - were shelved and later re-recorded with Paul Mullen. Writing took place sporadically - with songs originating from both before and after Mullen's joining.
The album spawned only one single "Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
", however "Magazines" and "Secret Police" were originally planned for release as singles. This Is A Fix leaked onto the internet a month before release, it was also hindered by online distribution issues - which saw both the single "Steve McQueen" and album get released late across sites such as iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and 7digital
7digital
7digital is a privately held digital media delivery company based in the United Kingdom, offering downloadable music, video and movies to customers primarily within major European markets...
.
Aborted 2006 Sessions
In late 2006 the band - consisting of Rob, Pennie, Frost and Iwan were reported to be preparing new material for their upcoming NME Indie Rock tour. In late December 2006 it was revealed that the band had been in the studio, and had recorded two new untitled songs which were intended for release after the NME tour as a single. This single whilst fully recorded and ready-to-go was for an unknown reason never released, however the songs featured were revealed to be "Steve McQueen" and "Revolution".The atmosphere when we we're working with Don Gilmore wasn't too uptight or anything, but it felt a bit like clocking in and clocking out at the beginning and end of everyday, rather than this sort of fluid process, and Don was well into working with pro-tools and chopping everything up we're not particularly about that, we'd rather play something and press record and if you can't play it, you can't play it.— Rob Hawkins on recording with Don Gilmore
Demoing & Aborted sessions with Don Gilmore
After extensive touring with Not Accepted Anywhere the band were in the studio, and as of September 2007 had around 10 tracks in various stages of development. Keyboard and vocalist Alex Pennie then left the band in September 2007, with the band going onto report they would be heading to the USA to work on their follow-up record to Not Accepted Anywhere. A month after the departure of Alex Pennie in October 2007, former yourcodenameis:miloYourcodenameis:milo
-External links:**...
frontman Paul Mullen
Paul Mullen
Paul Mullen is an English musician, most notable recognized for being the primary vocalist and guitarist with Yourcodenameis:milo who went on hiatus in 2007, and the joint lead vocalist, guitarist and synthesizer player for The Automatic from 2007 onwards...
was revealed to be joining the band as a second guitarist, vocalist and synthesizer player. Having already written new material throughout the year such as "Steve McQueen", "Revolution", "Accessories" and "Hard Rock" the band continued writing and demoing material in Cardiff with producer Richard Jackson. Upon the first day of Paul Mullen practicing with the band in their Cardiff studio the band wrote "Paul Harris", later appearing on the album as "This Ship". On November 4, 2007 guitarist James Frost posted onto YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
a studio video of the band recording, previewing such songs as "Magazines" and "In This World" in the demoing stage.
In January the band began recording in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with Don Gilmore, working on some 17 different tracks, with Frost posting two further video updates onto YouTube of recording in LA, previewing new songs "Seven Eight", "Make The Mistakes", "Sleepwalking" amongst other tracks. 5 weeks into recording, with the album close to finished, the band decided they were unhappy with the progression of the sessions, and ultimately stopped working with Gilmore.
Sessions with Butch Walker and Richard Jackson
After spending 5 of the 8 weeks in Los Angeles with Gilmore, the band only had 3 weeks left, so it was decided that they would complete as much as possible with producer Butch WalkerButch Walker
Butch Walker is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.-Career:Walker grew up in Cartersville,...
in LA, and then return to Cardiff and complete the album with producer Richard Jackson. With Walker the band recorded "Steve McQueen", "Magazines", "In The Mountains", "Bad Guy" and "Secret Police", with Walker the band tried different techniques to how they had previously recorded, with Iwan recording drums cymbals separately to the rest of the kit. Butch, along with Chris T-T and Frank Turner recorded with the band on "Steve McQueen", providing gang vocals and extra percussion.
The band returned to Cardiff, recording "Responsible Citizen", "Accessories", "This Is A Fix", "Sleepwalking", "Make The Mistakes" and "Light Entertainment" with Richard Jackson at Warwick Halls of Sound in Cardiff, as well as recording "This Ship" at the Olympic Studios in London with producer Stephen Harris.
Composition
Writing the second album was relatively easy! It was hard to stop. It had been over two years since we'd written Not Accepted Anywhere by the time we started writing for This Is A Fix, so we had a massive build-up of ideas. We'd spent years on the road, growing as musicians and as people too— Rob Hawkins on writing This Is A Fix
It was revealed early on that the second album would be darker and heavier than previous album, whilst still having a catchy pop element to it. With the first album the band had tried to stick to writing big chorus singles - which they felt had came out sounding quite similar, however with This Is A Fix the band let the tracks evolve without worrying about writing singles. This ultimately led to the band having far more potential singles than with Not Accepted Anywhere.
Lyrics and themes
This Is A Fix lyrically sticks to no particular sound or topic, the title itself is even left open to interpretation; "It could mean, a drugs fix, it could mean a solution to something or a fix, as in a set-up" Hawkins told the BBC in July 2008. There are however some recurring themes - although they were not intentional; espionage and being lied and manipulated to by the media and government appear frequentlyTracks which deal with deceptions, and specially target certain bodies include "Responsible Citizen" which targets the government's policies on drinking, "Magazines" is written about the bands experiences with the press and how the media can manipulate its audience. "Accessories" similarly deals with the media - specifically the record industry. Title track "This Is A Fix" is loosely based around government war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
and the lies surrounding war, whilst "Secret Police" also talks of government lies and espionage. "In The Mountains" focuses on drug-use and those who don't consider the consequences.
"Steve McQueen" wraps up themes from the first album - with the bands experience of growing up and returning to their home and no longer feeling a part of it. "Sleepwalking" is specifically about Jan Grzebski
Jan Grzebski
Jan Grzebski was a Polish railroad worker who fell into a coma in 1988 and woke up in 2007. Although widely reported as a delayed effect of being hit in the head by a train's hinged car side, the coma was actually the result of a 5-centimeter brain tumor...
- a polish man who awoke from his coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
after 19 years in 2007 and the change that occurred since he fell into a coma all those years ago. Written after a party in Beverly Hills the band attended, they were asked by Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Dana Broccoli, OBE is an American film producer.-Life and career:Broccoli was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of the famous James Bond producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and actress Dana Wilson Broccoli...
- the daughter of Albert R. Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
, to come up with a James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
theme tune
James Bond music
The James Bond series of films from EON Productions has had numerous signature tunes over the years, many of which are now considered classic pieces of cinematic music...
. The song was written to oppose the convention of being about the films hero - 007, and instead concentrates on the bad guys - because the band felt they were more interesting than the good guy. In interview Frost also has noted they never intended to use the chorus because they though they were stupid, however eventually got used to them and forgot.
There’s a bit of an idea of something going on behind the scenes, like espionageEspionageEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
or something like that. Bit of a war theme as well. Completely by accident, but it’s there. Kind of ties in with the album title, 'This Is a Fix'. There’s different layers of meaning to that as well. It could be a fix as in a repair, a fix as in a drug fix, something you need or a solution – there’s a lot of meanings to it.
Frost: That all points to a few of the tracks, there’s one called 'Secret Police' and one called 'Bad Guy', which are tying in with the espionage thing, but then one about needing to enjoy yourself and get drunk once in a while and how everyone needs to do that’s another kind of fix, so that title is just from a line in the song, but it accidentally ties in with almost every other track— James Frost & Rob Hawkins the themes of This Is A Fix
Many of the albums tracks changed titles throughout development - often when naming songs the band use wherever they are at the time, previous examples included "Raoul" - after the sandwich shop they visited whilst working on Not Accepted Anywhere and "High Tide on Caroline Street" - after the road in Cardiff. "Responsible Citizen" was originally titled "Hard Rock" after the Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
, "Arjans" was a sandwich shop in Cardiff and was the working title for "In The Mountains", "Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
" was the working title for "Sleepwalking" - this was because the band felt the song had a stadium rock feel to it. "Light Entertainment" was initially titled "Seven Eight" because of its time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
, "This Ship" was known as "Paul Harris" - the man responsible for signing the band to Polydor/B-Unique. "Secret Police" when performed in 2007 and during recording was titled "Revolution" - a reference to the lyrics.
Music and style
With the departure of Alex PennieAlex Pennie
Alexander Gregor Pennie is the lead vocalist of Welsh Hardcore punk band Goodtime Boys. Pennie was previously in Welsh band The Automatic, where he provided backing vocals as well as playing synthesizers and keyboards for the act...
- who provided synthesizers and high pitched vocals on the bands debut and the addition of Paul Mullen
Paul Mullen
Paul Mullen is an English musician, most notable recognized for being the primary vocalist and guitarist with Yourcodenameis:milo who went on hiatus in 2007, and the joint lead vocalist, guitarist and synthesizer player for The Automatic from 2007 onwards...
it was insisted by the band that he would not be continuing what Pennie did on the first record. Instead Mullen would be providing additional an guitar, along with normal vocals - and would not be imitating Alex Pennie's vocal style. Paul's addition lead to their being no set frontman, with Paul, Rob and Frost splitting vocals as well as splitting synthesizer parts between the three.
On This Is A Fix, similarly to the bands debut, the band use a variety of synthesizers and keyboards - Roland
Roland Corporation
is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...
Juno and Alesis Andromeda's were used purely in the studio, whilst the James Frost operated Alesis Micron and Paul Mullen operated MicroKORG
MicroKORG
The microKORG is a MIDI-capable virtual analog synthesizer/vocoder from Korg featuring high-quality DSP analog modelling. The synth/keyboard is built in such a way that it is essentially a Korg MS-2000 with programmable step arpeggiator , a less advanced vocoder , lack of motion sequencing The...
appear both live and studio recordings.
The recording of the drums was influenced by that of Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
- with recording cymbals separate to the rest of the kit. "Make The Mistakes" takes influence from recording style of Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
, using echoing guitar effects. "Light Entertainment" uses a 7:8 time-signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
.
Artwork
The albums artwork, by design studio KioskKiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
, was revealed on 3 July 2008. According to Yorkshire newspaper The Star, the artwork was based around a double decker bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
in a Meadowhall
Meadowhall
Meadowhall is an indoor shopping centre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It lies three miles north east of Sheffield city centre and four miles from Rotherham town centre....
car park, however the final artwork show does not involve this. Kiosk's creative director, David Bailey, points out that a double decker bus was only used for one of the images in the CD booklet. He goes on to describe the final artwork as '...a mixture of sci-fi sub/urban Britain and the presence of absence'. On the artworks for both album This Is A Fix and single "Steve McQueen" parts of the photographs have been deliberately obscured by black shapes. This stemmed from idea of making people think about whether its something that's been deliberately removed, or whether its covering something up, tying in with the albums themes of media manipulation.
Release
In various interviews in 2006 and 2007 the band stated they would be releasing a brand new, previously unheard single in early 2007 - after the re-release of "Raoul" that the bands record label had insisted on. This was a studio recording of "Steve McQueen", which would have possibly been accompanied by "Revolution" - both of which were recorded around Christmas 2006 with former band member Alex Pennie - before he quit the band in 2007. this single was never released, for an unknown reason.The re-recording of "Steve McQueen" with Paul Mullen replacing Pennie premiered on Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland, where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England...
's Radio 1 show on July 7, 2008, with the music video beginning airing the day after, as well as a clip of the track being added to the bands myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. On July 30, 2008, title track "This Is A Fix" was released for free download via the bands website.
The album itself was originally intended for release in June 2008, however the band's label decided to move the release back to August 25, with the album being released the week after the Reading and Leeds Festival. Single "Steve McQueen" was released the week before the album, on August 18, 2008.
Album distribution issues
The album leaked onto the internet around 1 month prior to its actual release. On August 18, 2008 - the intended release of single "Steve McQueen", record label's B-Unique/Polydor failed to properly distribute the single, resulting in many online stores such as 7digital7digital
7digital is a privately held digital media delivery company based in the United Kingdom, offering downloadable music, video and movies to customers primarily within major European markets...
and itunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
not supplying the single. The issue was resolved by Wednesday of the same week. Similarly a week later with the albums release, online retailers and physical retailers were not stocking the record until Thursday of that week due to distribution mistakes made by the bands labels.
The poor distribution of This Is A Fix was amongst reasons that the band choose to withdraw from their 5 album deal with B-Unique and Polydor. "Magazines" had been just announced as second single from This Is A Fix when the band split from their labels, the single's release was ultimately dropped completely, although promo CD's of the track went out to the press.<
Promotion
The bands first promotional run for the album came in March 2008, with a 21 data tour around the United Kingdom, playing at the countries smaller venues, taking Viva MachineViva Machine
Viva Machine were a Welsh Rock band who started out in 2003 under the name Ipsofacto before changing their name and reinventing themselves in 2006 under the name Viva Machine, and later in 2008 adding a second guitarist and synth player Justin Hendy...
along for all of the dates, and Canterbury for half of the tour, on the tour they playing around 12 songs, both new and old, notably "Light Entertainment" was opened with on all 21 dates, such tracks as "Steve McQueen", "Secret Police", "Magazines", "This Is A Fix" and "This Ship" were also played at almost all dates, the remainder of tracks from the album were usually played at different venues, so the set list would slightly change at almost all dates. The band were offered a chance to perform for a second time at the televised performance of T4 On The Beach
T4 on the Beach
T4 On The Beach is a British one day music event which is held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised for Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005....
2008 after Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant is an American rock band from Bowling Green, Kentucky, that formed in mid-2006. Since their formation, the band has gained a large following in the US as well as the UK and Canada for their sound and their high-energy live performances. The band released their self-titled debut...
pulled out due to illness amongst the band, The Automatic had to cancel a date at Midsommer Norton
Norton
-England:*Norton, County Durham*Norton, Hertfordshire*Norton, Kent*Norton, Northamptonshire*Norton, Nottinghamshire*Norton, Runcorn, Cheshire*Norton, Suffolk*Norton, Dudley, West Midlands*Norton, Worcester, Worcestershire*Norton, Doncaster, South Yorkshire...
in order to sound check for the event, and due to it being a televised event, it took priority over the smaller event in Nortan. The band performed at both Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
and Reading and Leeds Festivals, their Glastonbury set was filmed, however was never televised, and despite performing on the main stage at Reading and Leeds, they were not filmed. At Glastonbury NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
and The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
all ran short videos, in the form of interviews and acoustic performances of "Steve McQueen". The band ran a radio tour of the United Kingdom promoting the new album, going to XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
Scotland, Edinburgh, Alan Robson
Alan Robson
Alan Robson MBE is an English radio DJ who presents the late-night Night Owls phone-in show on Metro Radio, a regional commercial station in North East England, owned by Bauer Radio. He has written many books and starred in many TV shows...
, Clyde 1, 1548 Forth 2
1548 Forth 2
1548 Forth 2 is a Scottish radio station owned by Bauer Radio.Forth 2 broadcasts to Edinburgh, The Lothians and Fife and is based in Forth Street in Edinburgh’s city centre.-History:...
, Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
's Magic 1152
Magic 1152
Magic 1152 is the name of an Independent Local Radio station in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. It forms part of the Magic network owned by Bauer Radio. It shares a studio complex with sister station Metro Radio at the 55 Degrees North complex, next to the Tyne Bridge...
, 100-102 Century Radio, 96.2 The Revolution, Xfm Manchester
Xfm Manchester
Xfm Manchester is a commercial radio station broadcasting alternative and indie music to Manchester in North West England.It builds on the brand and format established by Xfm London. The majority of programming is shared but some is produced specifically for Manchester...
, 106.3 Bridge FM
106.3 Bridge FM
Bridge FM is the local commercial radio station broadcasting in south Wales' Bridgend County Borough and the surrounding areas on a frequency of 106.3 MHz....
, 96.4 The Wave, 102.1 Bay Radio (formally Swansea Bay Radio), 107.8 Radio Hampshire amongst others. In August 2008 Rock Sound
Rock Sound
Rock Sound is a British magazine which champions rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts.-History:...
magazine ran an interview with the band in talking about the upcoming release, and what to expect, Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine also included two articles on the band and the new album. In late 2008 with the album released, the band toured across the UK again, on two separate tours, one in September/October and the other in November, run with ULive, meaning that each gig would take place at a University in the UK.
Webisode series
Guitarist James FrostJames Frost
James Martin Frost is the guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist of Welsh band The Automatic, and guitarist and backing vocalist for Cardiff based band Effort. As well as his musical duties for The Automatic, Frost has also directed two of the bands music videos and their tour video daries...
and touring photographer & technician Peter Hill
Peter Hill (photographer)
Peter Hill is a photographer and journalist who lives in London, England. He is best known for his live photography of rock bands and his work on Rocklouder.co.uk.-Background:Hill was born in Shoreham-by-Sea...
throughout the buildup and release of This Is A Fix recorded and released short webisodes of The Automatic, following their studio and touring antics. The first set of videos followed The Automatic in the studio - 4 webisodes were made, two in Cardiff and two in Los Angeles recording with Don Gilmore. The second set titled This Is A Fix webisodes covered the bands 2008 UK Club tour, promoting This Is A Fix, recording "Steve McQueen" with Frank Turner, Butch Walker and Chris T-T and recording an advertisement for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. The series led up to the album release and was ended by a 15 Minute video feature digitally available with This Is A Fix
This Is A Fix
This Is a Fix is the second album by Wales based band The Automatic. It was released on 25 August 2008. The band worked with producer Don Gilmore in Los Angeles, but were disappointed with these sessions, and instead worked with Butch Walker at Sage and Sound Recording in Los Angeles then back in...
, which like the webisodes followed the band prior to the album release.
Critical response
The record received a very mixed reaction from critics. Rock SoundRock Sound
Rock Sound is a British magazine which champions rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts.-History:...
magazine rated the album the 24th greatest record of 2008, whilst Rocklouder.co.uk rated the album the 4th greatest album of 2008. Al Fox of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
praised the bands second album also, saying "The album is absolutely dripping with new ideas: the band's willingness to try them for size and to drop anything that doesn't immediately seem to be working means that only the cream of a very good crop of songs has made it onto the disc". Drowned In Sound reviewer Mike Haydock was not as praising of the bands second album, stating; "This Is a Fix may be good enough to save their bacon, but only just" criticising some of Rob Hawkins
Rob Hawkins
Rob Hawkins is a rugby union player for Leicester Tigers in the Aviva Premiership.Hawkins' position of choice is as a hooker. Hawkins represented England at Under 21 level.-Club career:...
lyrics in "Bad Guy" and "This Ship", however was praised singles "Steve McQueen" and "Magazines", overall labelling the album as "a pleasant mess".
Trevor Baker of Rock Sound
Rock Sound
Rock Sound is a British magazine which champions rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts.-History:...
magazine praised the album, giving it 8/10, saying "they appear to have gone into studio with the intention of making a record that doesn't let energy levels drop for even a second". Emma Johnston of Kerrang magazine praised the bands comeback; "The melodies are relentless, almost pop in places, thanks to an underlying disco groove, arty and complex elsewhere. Forget the summer of Monster. This is a band reborn, and better than any could predict".
Alex Lai of Contact Music stated "Casting their net further than would have been expected actually sees The Automatic producing their best results", positively speaking of the album, also stating "Certainly there is nothing here which will be anywhere near as prolific as "Monster" at uniting the masses, but that may be the trade that has to be made in order to establish themselves as a serious rock act - and this is a decent start to doing that" Sputnik Music's Dan Smith also positively reviewed the record, giving 3.7/5 "This Is a Fix reveals new surprises with every listen, and is on the whole a very strong pop-rock album, with a far greater depth and variety than anyone could have expected" "‘This Is A Fix’ is a solid, enjoyable return." Niall Doherty of The Fly stated "What’s that coming over the hill? It’s an… improvement".
At the far end of the reviews The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
s Rob Fitzpatrick severely disliked the album, particularly the lyrical content, how they talk about the government, magazines, record industry and Hollywood and how they all supposedly 'lie', giving the record 1 out of 5. Reviewers also compared the record to the sounds of Ash
Ash (band)
Ash are an alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The band has sold 8 million albums worldwide.-Band beginning, Trailer and 1977 :...
and McFly
McFly
McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...
with Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
and Foo Fighter
Foo fighter
The term foo fighter was used by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II to describe various UFOs or mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over both the European and Pacific Theater of Operations....
riffs.
Personnel
Musicians
- James FrostJames FrostJames Martin Frost is the guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist of Welsh band The Automatic, and guitarist and backing vocalist for Cardiff based band Effort. As well as his musical duties for The Automatic, Frost has also directed two of the bands music videos and their tour video daries...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocals, synthesizers - Paul MullenPaul MullenPaul Mullen is an English musician, most notable recognized for being the primary vocalist and guitarist with Yourcodenameis:milo who went on hiatus in 2007, and the joint lead vocalist, guitarist and synthesizer player for The Automatic from 2007 onwards...
- guitar, lead & backing vocals, synthesizers - Robin HawkinsRobin HawkinsRobin Hawkins, commonly known as Rob is the primary vocalist and bassist for Welsh band The Automatic.-Personal life:Rob studied at Cowbridge Comprehensive School, completing his A-levels and going on to take a chance with The Automatic in his gap year...
- lead & backing vocals, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, synthesizers - Iwan GriffithsIwan GriffithsIwan Griffiths is drummer for Welsh rock band The Automatic, Iwan originates from Cowbridge in Wales, and currently resides in a house with band mates Robin Hawkins and James Frost.-Musical career:...
drums & percussion
Other Musicians
- Frank TurnerFrank TurnerFrank Turner is an English folk/punk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Winchester. Initially the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, Turner embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band's split in 2005. To date, Turner has released four solo albums, two rarities...
- vocals, extra percussion - Chris T-TChris T-TChris T-T is an English singer/songwriter based in Brighton. He has released eight studio albums and one live collection. He has also been a piano accompanist; a radio and club DJ; written for a range of publications and currently contributes a regular column on the arts to left-wing newspaper...
- vocals, extra percussion - Butch WalkerButch WalkerButch Walker is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.-Career:Walker grew up in Cartersville,...
- vocals, extra percussion
Production
Tracks "Steve McQueen", "Magazines", "In The Mountains", "Bad Guy", "Secret Police" were produced in Los Angeles by Butch WalkerButch Walker
Butch Walker is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.-Career:Walker grew up in Cartersville,...
, "Responsible Citizen", "Accessories", "This Is A Fix", "Sleepwalking", "Make The Mistakes" and "Light Entertainment" were recorded in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
's Warwick Hall studio by Richard Jackson, "This Ship" was recorded at Olympic Studios in London and was produced by Stephen Harris.
- Butch WalkerButch WalkerButch Walker is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.-Career:Walker grew up in Cartersville,...
(Producer) - Richard Jackson (Producer)
- Stephen HarrisStephen Harris (producer)Stephen Harris is an English music producer and mixer. He has worked with artists including Dave Matthews Band, Ben Kweller, Blue Merle, Kula Shaker, and with B-Unique bands such as Kaiser Chiefs, The Automatic and Pull Tiger Tail...
(Producer) - John Davis (Master mixer)
- Ryan Hewitt (Engineer)
- Don Gilmore (Original producer)
Track listing
External links
- This Is a Fix recording session photos by Peter Hill