PRINCE - Plectrum Electrum Preview

The Purple One and his allgirl band get “guitar-heavy”

DONNA GRANTIS
[GUITAR]:
“3rdEyeGirl is Prince, Hannah Ford [drums], Ida Neilsen [bass] and myself. The process of how songs are  arranged is very organic, and often comes come out of us jamming together. Mostly we’re at Paisley Park, but we did spend some time in the studio in London. Sometimes we’ll go in at two in the afternoon and stay ’til six in the morning. We’re usually six days a week, 10 to 16 hours a day. At Paisley, I’m to Hannah’s right, Ida is to Hannah’s left, and Prince is in front of Hannah. We’re set up to record the same way we play live. There is a song out called ‘Fix Ur Life Up’, and that is a good indicator of what the rest of the album will be like: very guitar-heavy, very edgy, sounds huge. There’s a very interesting message behind all of the songs as well. Musically, it’s influenced by classic rock bands, and an older sound, although still combined with a fresh perspective. What really appealed to us was the idea of how bands would record back in the day. Like Led Zeppelin or Fleetwood Mac or Hendrix, where everyone’s in the studio, everyone’s playing together, and it’s about the feel and the performance, rather than the digital sound that’s popular now. We’re definitely a lot more analogue, and it’s about the way the musicians performed a piece, rather than just  lighting things up and going through a ton of takes. When 3rdEyeGirl perform live we improvise all the time, so what’s being heard on the record is just one interpretation of the songs. This album is a different style and direction from Purple Rain. But, in terms of how guitar-heavy it is, if you like Purple Rain, then this album is rockin’.”