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In this milestone 100th episode of Tape Notes, John is joined by the Finneas at Lightship95 Studio, to talk about how he wrote, recorded and produced his album ‘Optimist’ and his new single ‘Mona Lisa Mona Lisa’.

Reflecting on the fluidity of his writing process, Finneas talks us through the varied methods and circumstances in which his tracks took shape, from the very first synth sounds that kick-started ideas, to the detailed sonic decisions that helped each element work towards a cohesive goal.

Alongside the production masterclass, Finneas looks back on his career so far, discussing his family’s involvement with his music and the impact they’ve had on his creativity. We hear stories from the early days of making music videos with his mum, vocal mic shootouts with Billie, and the essential advice that he still lives by.

Listen to find out why mediocrity isn’t a bad thing, how finishing a song isn’t too dissimilar to finishing a meal, and why the correct way to do something isn’t always the correct way.

Tracks discussed: How It Ends, Medieval, Mona Lisa Mona Lisa

LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES 

linktr.ee/tapenotes  

Listen to ‘Optimist’ here.

Listen to ‘Mona Lisa Mona Lisa’ here.

OYOY Inc, Interscope Records

Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective.

GEAR MENTIONS

Arturia Farfisa

Output Analogue Strings

FabFilter Twin 2

Spectrasonics Trilian

Spectrasonics Omnisphere

Soundtoys Decapitator

Soundtoys Little AlterBoy

Soundtoys Tremolator

Antares Autotune

Native Instruments Bundle

Native Instruments Massive

Valhalla Room

Neumann TLM103

Chandler REDD

Telefunken ELA M 251

Audio Technica AT2020

Shure SM7B

Shure SM57

M-Audio Venom

Sequential Prophet X

Novation UltraNova Synth

Elektron Synth

Fender Acoustasonic

Tube-Tech CL1B Compressor

Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter

Sweetwater Best Seller List

Ableton

Logic Pro

Logic - Compressor Plugin

OUR GEAR

https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear 

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TAPE NOTES TEAM

Will Brown - Executive Producer, Engineer & Editor

Tim Adam-Smith - Executive Producer

Will Lyons - Editor

Herbie Elton-Rowley - Videographer

Rob Leedell - Camera Assistant and Photographer

George Durston - Production Assistant

Nathan Hetherington - PR

Rebecca Ibbotson - Digital Marketing