Tones Behind The Tracks

Barrie Cadogan talks us through how he captured the atmospheric sounds of his latest long-player, a vibey, Can-influenced collaboration

- Barrie Cadogan

Album: Quatermass Seven

Artist: Little Barrie & Malcolm Catto

Barrie Cadogan has written and performed some of the most charismatic garage-rock and freakbeat inspired music of recent times with his outfit Little Barrie. Following the tragically young passing of the band’s drummer, Virgil Howe (son of Steve Howe), in 2017, Barrie and bassist Lewis Wharton took time out before recording a brilliant new collaborative album with London producer and drummer Malcolm Catto, which blends elements of Krautrock, psychedelia and 60s film-score music into a minimal, mesmerising album.

“When we lost Virgil it just threw everything out the window,” Barrie reflects today. “But then, when me and Lewis thought it might be time to start trying to do some music again, we thought about asking Malcolm if he’d be up for doing something, because it wouldn’t be like ‘Little Barrie are getting a new drummer’ and going out on the road or something. We thought, ‘Well, we could just try something different and there’s no pressure on it.’ So we asked him and he said yes, which was great.”

Here, Barrie talks us through the tones behind the album’s tracks, describing the studio methods and gear used, but also, more importantly, the ethos behind the recording that helped him achieve its magnetically listenable sound.

What vibe were you aiming for with the record?