PLANET ULTRA
The intimate atmosphere of the American clubs allows the band to jam more frequently than during the much more grand-scale European tour of '94, which will prove to be essential when the band is back home again. Back in Amsterdam the recordings of these jams, soundchecks and 'song atmospheres' turn out to be a perfect starting-point and rich source of inspiration for writing new material.
First the band decides to improve the quality of the rehearsal room. To
this end the large hard, concrete space is reduced to one-third size with
the help of sound absorbing materials. UDS changes the old rehearsing
routine: drafts and new song ideas are no longer recorded carelessly with a
small mono-cassette recorder, but 'full-stereo', in a simple 'close-miking'
setting. This turns the rehearsal room into a 'studio', called Ultra
Dynamic Shaft.
In the extremely hot summer months of June and July '95 the new ideas
ferment and mature almost by themselves, but when in September, after a
holiday, the material is listened to afresh, the conclusion is short and
drastic: direction, colour and atmosphere of the recordings are just right,
but the arrangements suggested are not good and extreme enough.
The final quarter therefore holds the third and decisive phase, which
eventually generates over thirty songs that can stand the test of
criticism. The hiphop element in a number of songs is a Seda (Osdorp Posse)
creation. UDS then contacts Andrew Weiss (Ween, Butthole Surfers) Rob
Schnapf, Tom Rothrock (Beck, Foo Fighters), Wim Tops and Peter Revalk
(Wizards of Ooze), and sends them cassettes with the request for creative
back-up.
