Hello guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's me and I'm called Matt and I'm in that band called RUTH and I am in it and I'm called Matt and it's me. Right. That's it, I'm in up to my knees, the waves of cold water lapping at my shorts. Time to go for it, time to get my shoulders well and truly under......here goes.... Iamsittinghereinthe heartofLondonsCityofLondoninLondonintheheartofLondoninsouthLondoninBrockley in my house. Shit it is cold, but hang on, just a bit more frantic swimming and shouting and I might just be able to relax and get on......one...two, three......, and what I am doing is filling up LOTS OF SPACE with pointless shit because I can't be bothered to do what I'm supposed to be doing which is telling you all about RUTH's recent Adventures in Studioland. Aaaaaaah, that's better. I think I'll swim out a bit so that I don't have to worry about standing on the bottom because let's face it, things live on the bottom of the sea and I don't want to know about them. Byeeee.

In order to make this easier, I'm simply going to copy out my diary for the week starting the first of August which is the time period that shall be known for all eternity as the Can't Stop Myself sessions. This will give you both a description of the week as it happened PLUS, for no extra charge, an insight into my private thoughts and feelings. Lovely and warm, can't really feel my feet, but the top inch of sea is delightful. However, you should be aware that I didn't really keep a proper diary of the sessions because I was always too tired, so I'll have to flesh out my diary scribbles with those little details that Mistress Fatigue persuaded me to exclude. The thing about swimming out at sea is that you have to keep moving yourself around or you sink and the fish get you.

Mon Ist August. Month 8 of the Year Of My Life. Hmmmmm.
Got up. Told my story[some story about manly exploits, must sadly be censored - Ed.] Ri-dic-u-lous!! [You don't know what it was of course, still a man must have some secrets- Ed.] MVB arrived. RUTH RUTH RUTH. Tried to go to sleep, couldn't. Went shopping. Had classic night-before-studio sleep. About an hours actual shuteye. Lots of tossing, and turning too. But........Time Passed.......and.........eventually.....it was morning.

Swimming slow and tiring fast. Oh, for the comforting crunch of crustaceans.

Tues 2nd August. Day 1.
RG Jones in Wimbledon. 32 Track Digital. Engineer Ben Robbins who looks like a cute Cliff Richard. RUTH are in business. Valentines Day. Can't Stop Myself. Sideways. Chicken. Drums sound check. master drum trax for Valentines and Can't Stop Meself. bass track on Val done. Sounds good. Drums sounding mighty, perhaps a bit too mighty. Feeling good.

You don't see people rushing into the sea with glasses and filling them up and drinking it right down and saying to each other "that's a whole lot better, I feel really refreshed and not at all sick". I now know why.

Wed 3rd August. Day 2.
Finished drum parts. Finished bass parts. Steve is turning into a bass player instead of a guitarist playing bass. Good. Did some guitar and stuff. Did piano parts. No probs for super-boy. Sounding great. I love it when the drum tracks are down and from then on we assemble the songs track by track. It's like building a little house; drums and bass are the foundations, piano and guitars are the walls, percussion and little synth bits and littil guitary bits are the wallpaper and then the vocals fill it up and make it alive. Or kill it. Hmmmmm...Sounding very fine so far. Ben R is cool, also stupid. Also Captain America.

The thing I am now realising is that I can't really swim very well and I am very tired and I want some food and I still cannot find the bottom though I'm only about 20m from the beach.. er... what's this?……it's green and smelly, it's got creatures in, it is seaweed an it's IN MY MOUTH. It's supposed to be very good for you though. yeah right.

Thurs 4th August. Day 3. Finished Guitar parts. Ben did Big Brian May Note in Chicken solo, so he's an official guitar hero at last. His usual blend of genius and violence. Had a keyboard fantasy today hired in Rhodes and Wurlitzer Electric pianos for Sideways. Did mellowness on the Rhodes and late-night solo on the Wurli. You really cannot beat the real thing. Then Ben R allowed me to fire up his knackered Juno 80 for genuine analogue beeps and sweeps. had a stupid time me playing the parts and Steve waggling the filter controls. Sounds quite a lot like R2-D2 has joined the band mind, still cool beyond words. Did percussion on Can't. Clever sampling and sequencing allowed Matt to get the cabasa part done without too much arm-ache. RUTH fear no studio trickery. The tracks are starting to fill up. Suddenly hits me that it sounds extraordinary. Shitma.

Hang on. Could that be?.. Yes, yes the cool kiss of sand beneath my feet! Suddenly the sun seems .. much warmer and the dogs so much less stupid. Praise be I don't care about seaweed. See I'm taking a big bite and swilling it down with salty and shitty sea and I don't care because I, Matthew Hales am back and I am alive!! Just a bit longer and it'll be time to go in.

Fri 5th August. Day 4. Vox on Valentine's Day (It's Queen!!).
Vox on Sideways (A soul Classic!!).
Vox on Can't stop myself (a Disco Hit).
Felt great. Voice clear and powerful. Had enough tracks to keep lots of takes then assemble a master which is a lot less stressful than patching up one track. Felt like a singer. Yessssssssss!!! Left Sideways pretty bare in terms of backing vocals 'cos the lead sounds great on its own - never thought I'd say that! All the songs sound bright and energised and cool and not too much and not too little. I think we're getting the hang of this. Playback session at ARC on Tues. I think this lot should blow them right away. See you later RG Jones. We'll be back!

Striding up the beach now. yes. sure I can swim. yeah, I meant to go out that far, don't want to waste my time in the shallows no sir. Not me, not Matt "he can swim real well" Hales, oh no.

Somehow towels are never quite as soft or sand-free as one might hope still there is nothing in this world better than shrugging into your pants after you've been in the cold sea and they've been on a hot rock. mmmmmm.

Mon 8th August. Day 5.
Did vocals on Chicken. Stupid boys. good though, also hand claps. Ben R has been mighty impressed with much that we've done, but confesses a little disappointment in our handclapping. Did rough mixes which sound rough, but also fairly immense. Tired. home. Going on holiday tomorrow. a Job has been done, and done well. RA RA RUTH!! Bye. pants pants pants pants pants. PANTS. Pants. MY pants. I love them and they love me. Go to the beach. Not for the sun, not for the surf. Go for the pants.