Post 5 - Featuring – “Rocker Lily” and “She’s Got It”

”Rocker Lily” was the first track we recorded when we arrived at the Ignition Studios in London. The studios have a great vibe, the latest equipment and even a hidden toilet, LOL. Best of all it was literally just round the corner from our hotel.

We were up bright and early for the first day of recording but our first challenge wasn’t in the studio – it was where to park our TRANSIT VAN. Every parking space in London comes with a time restriction, so the eventual solution was to keep changing the van’s location 2 or 3 times a day, not ideal but certainly kept Luke, our only driver at the time, very busy!

“Rocker Lily” is another of our tracks with a unique drum feel and we managed to record some great drum video clips whilst we were in the studio, take a look at the video footage. We’ve noticed this track goes down really well at gigs:

“I know a girl called Rocker Lily

She can do things that’ll drive you silly

She ain’t that pretty, she ain’t that fine

She always looks better after drinking wine

She’s got a hold on me, She’s got a hold on me

Dirty Rocker Lily, Dirty Lily”

Now to Track number 9 – “She’s Got It” - and people who have followed the band from the early days will know that this track first appeared on our self-titled EP back in 2006! However, we’ve given it a bit of a revamp, to bring it up to the level of the rest of the tracks on the album, giving “She’s Got It” a whole new look and feel. Like Dirty Lily this is another song about a bit of a naughty girl:

“She’s got it, in the way she whirlwinds that pole

She’s got it, money for lust is her goal

She’s got it, in the way she glides around that stage

She’s got it, she blows my temperature guage”

We have a few other songs from the early band days and intend doing the same with them so look out for some old favourites on album no 2!

Now moving on to the social side of life in London! We realised that the bar next door to our digs was running a pool competition, we practised all week for this competition but when the other players turned up we realised these guys knew what they were doing – they pretty much lived on the pool table. See how we got on in today’s extra video footage – here’s a clue – it’s called SWEET VICTORY! Come on Leo . . .

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“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES – NOW !

Post 4 - Featuring – “One Love”

“One Love” is track number 7 on our album. “One Love” and our track “Party” were part of Estrella’s debut Double A Side Single released on Monday 31 October 2011.

Classic Rock’s Reviews Editor, Jason Ritchie, said “One Love is the perfect arena rock anthem with a big, catchy chorus and a nifty keyboard riff. The sound is not overly slick either, like Def Leppard meets Shy”.

Over the past couple of weeks we have also been back in the studio laying down a recorded Acoustic version of the track. If anyone would like to receive this track, we are giving it away FREE! Just sign up to our mailing list at - www.estrellarocks.com - and we will send you the track to your email address.

For all those already signed up to our mailing list just drop us a quick email message to estrella@estrellarocks.com with the Subject Heading "ONE LOVE" and we will send you the track.

We have also recorded a Live Acoustic Video of the track, just click on the link below to view - “One Love” – enjoy!

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES – NOW !

Post 3 - Featuring Shout and Do It Til’ We Drop

“I wanna hear you – SHOUT . . .

Watch out, I'm back in town


Baby I'm coming your way


I've been bad, I've been hanging around


And you know what I'm trying to say”

Our producer, John T Sinclair, certainly left his influence, from his days in Uriah Heep, on this track. Shout has an explosive keys overture – a real ballz out intro – there’s certainly no mistaking the start of Shout. We changed our strategy when writing this track as well, instead of the big guitar solos we are so used to doing, we started off this one with a drum feature. First time we saw Luke really sulk – only joking – pleased Leo though – he’s been SHOUTing about it ever since – no pun intended LOL !

Track 6 – DO IT TIL’ WE DROP - is a cover of a track first released by fellow Scottish singer FRANKIE MILLER – some of you may remember “Darlin” and “Caledonia” – we are in good company as he’s been covered by UFO, The Quireboys and Rod Stewart to name but a few - check him out on: http://www.frankiemiller.net/

Why did we pick Frankie? We knew a cover was needed on the album but we wanted to do a Scottish artist. In our (the Brothers Gunn) younger days we constantly heard Frankie’s tracks being played (by Mother Gunn)! We decided who better than to cover Frankie and then went into research mode finding the perfect song . . .

“Ain’t nobody gonna tell us no

Ain’t nobody gonna say go slow

Ain’t no teacher and there ain’t no cop

Come on baby, let’s do it till we drop!”

The song is powerful and heavy and it really sits great with the rest of the album tracks. Most of the song was recorded in Inverness and Paul only had to do the vocals in London. As with any cover there is always the fear that it will sound too close to the original. However, Paul really made the track his own, giving it a real “Estrella” feel with some of his signature screams!

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES – NOW !

Post 2 – Featuring Party & Mona Lisa Smile

Track number 3 on the album is “Party” and we had a real party recording this one! It's a real tongue-in-cheek anthem for anyone who likes to let their hair down at the weekend (or any day of the week for that matter!).

"I wanna party
I wanna dance all night long
Let's have a party
Want you to sing this song"

This was the first track where the whole band added something to the vocals - shouting - in this case! For the middle 8 we all had to yell out the individual letters “P.A.R.T.Y.” For some reason, we all found this really funny – not sure why?! Once the laughter started it was impossible to stop! This bemused our producer at times, when he was playing back our attempted recordings he either heard silence or the bunch of us in hysterics. However, we eventually pulled ourselves together and managed to get the “P.A.R.T.Y” recorded.

We’re hoping that this song gives you the essence of Estrella – just having a good time. Our aim is give fans a real party atmosphere when they come to our live shows – and let’s face it who doesn’t want to PARTY!

Check out our video featuring “Party”

And so to track 4 . . . our lovely lady “Mona Lisa Smile”

“What lies behind those eyes?

Is it for real, or just a disguise?

The mystery, the magic, in your smile

You’re worth a million, you stand out a mile”

We laid down Mona’s rhythm sections very quickly. Initially, it seemed quite a simple song on the surface but in the studio it proved a little more difficult. There’s a variety of instrumental parts and textures to this song and it was vital we got the balance just right. We spent HOURS mixing the song in different ways and it was “Mona” that took up a great percentage of our studio time! Once we had the balance right though we were able to add Paul's vocals and the overdubs required to finish the track. A sense of relief all round when we heard the final version, was definitely worth the extra effort! Some extra beers were awarded that night!

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES, AMAZON AND BANDCAMP – NOW !

Post 1 – Featuring Chance Of A Lifetime & Come Out To Play

Prior to going into production, we’d spent a long time making sure we picked the best songs for the album. It seemed only fitting that the first track should be “CHANCE OF A LIFETIME”, with the positive vibe and message it portrays, just like the chorus reminds us . . .

"It's the chance of a lifetime, It's that one in a million
It's the chance of a lifetime
Better not blow it, Better not thrown it away"

The main body of the guitar and drum recordings were completed at John T Sinclair’s studio in Inverness, but as can be seen from the video footage, Luke recorded his solo in Ignition Studios in London. The track completed there was still something missing – John T who was always on hand with his words of wisdom said “it needs more cowbell” suffice to say Leo gave it all the cowbell that was required!

The second song on the album is the title track – “COME OUT TO PLAY” – for us this is THE TRACK that symbolises the time we spent writing material for the debut album.

As you know our producer said to us if we were serious about finding our sound, we should take time out from gigging and focus on writing/recording new material. So we set up house in a remote Aberdeenshire country location, this allowed us to make as much noise as we wanted, as late as we wanted, without disturbing the neighbours. Miles from anywhere, surrounded by a cemetery, a herd of cows as well as some “protected” bats, the writing of our album begun!

A fantastic as well as inspiring place to write music, we also got the opportunity to develop our skills as individual musicians as well as a band. However, the social side of things was DIRE. Until Luke passed his driving test, we had to rely on the not very frequent public transport system to get anywhere and nights out were something of a non-starter, although Kildrummy Inn was just within stumbling distance on a good night so we always made sure we had plenty of batteries for our torches!

"The countryside is my abode, many miles from a city road

These rolling hills are a sight to be seen

See it for yourself and you will know just what I mean"

It was a great weekend though when friends or family came out to visit – beers in hand - and “Come Out To Play” goes on to reflect . . . “Hey hey come out to play . . .”

At the end of the day, our country retreat had served its purpose, with 14 album tracks almost complete, moving out was quite a momentous event, setting aside a freezing winter along with cabin fever, it was time to hit the studio!

We are now taking “Come Out To Play” to another level – please come out to hear us play . . . go to the gig section to check if we are playing near you!

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES – 21.05.12!

The Making of Estrella’s Debut Album – Teaser

The Making of Estrella’s Debut Album – “Come Out To Play”

As a lot you know already, our long awaited debut album – “COME OUT TO PLAY” – is on sale today – MONDAY 21 MAY 2012! It is a really exciting time for the band as we are also kicking off our UK tour at London’s Crobar on Thursday night (24 May). We will also be announcing a complete list of our UK tour dates on our website tomorrow along with the dates of our “hometown” album launches in both Caithness and Aberdeen! Please remember to keep checking our website as we will be letting you know about further dates shortly!

Meantime, to coincide with the album release, we would like to thank all our supporters by giving you a taste of how the album was made. Starting tomorrow, we will be posting a series of 7 short videos along with blogs containing footage of the 14 album tracks being recorded in both the Inverness and London studios. Hopefully you will enjoy this behind the scenes look at Estrella!

The video blogs begin with the pre-production phase of our debut album which was completed at our producer’s home-studio in Inverness – which is not far from the once home of Jimmy Page!

Some of you probably know our producer already, John T Sinclair, he was a rock musician in the 70s/80s himself, having played keyboard for Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep and The Cult. We (The Brothers Gunn) first met John at a music workshop in the Highlands, he always kept a keen interest in the band and when the time was right to record our album there was only one person we wanted to produce it!

After a wee bit of persuasion, as John is a retired musician now, he told us he would come on board but if were really serious about the production, we should take some time out from gigging, to really hone in on our sound. And that’s exactly what we did! It was a real honour and privilege getting to work with John, we were admittedly a bit apprehensive to begin with but he encouraged us all the way through the process from songwriting tips, to having a really solid music direction and most importantly to know at all times what we want to achieve as a band.

Anyway, Day 1 of the production had finally arrived. The equipment was set up, all ready to go and we were also going to live at John’s during some of the production. As you can imagine a rock veteran like John has one or two stories to tell of his days in the industry – all we can say is we had a blast from start to end!

Come back tomorrow and share a look at the recording of our first track, with no better title than, “Chance Of A Lifetime”, however, until then click on the short taster video link below to view a 30 second clip of each album track, the album cover and the complete track list.

ROCK ON \m/

Estrella – Paul, Luke, Nathan & Leo

“Come Out To Play” - Available to Buy on iTunes, Amazon & Bandcamp – 21.05.12!