We recorded the Psychic Cat album at the producer Dave McCracken's home studio in London.

Dave (L), Me, Steve (R)

It took just over a month from studio to mix.

I would arrive at about 11.00 am and we would write and lay down tracks for the songs simultaneously, sometimes keeping original parts that I had played on the demos but many times, Dave would replay them with fatter sounds using his analogue gear.

We would play around with new ideas and come up with melodies and harmonies, beats and bass lines. Dave likes sculpting sound. He's in his element when he's got a pedal on a growling synth or a filter on a rumbling bass line.

It gives a unique twist to the sound as every take is different when you're manually modulating and distorting it. He also played some guitars on a few of the tracks.

Ben Parker played a lot of guitar on the album. Ben is a cool guy and I was happy that he came to play with us. We recorded most of his electric guitars at Flood's studio and found some cool vintage pedals which we used on some of the songs. It's good to work with people who have their own sound and spirit, a song evolves way more when everyone involved can feel free to experiment with ideas.

Xavier Alsina, a cool guitarist from Barcelona, whom I had met only weeks before, played on some of the songs. Xavier is a very imaginative and intuitive guitarist, I asked him to come and play on Psychic Cat and Ideal. Dave had an acoustic guitar part in mind for the choruses and Mid 8 of Psychic Cat and we needed someone who could play very fast. We also wanted some electric guitars drifting in and out of the verses. Xavier turned up and really got into the song, Dave's idea worked perfectly it was cool. Then we asked Xavier to play what ever he felt like playing for a few takes of the song and he came up with the beautiful guitar riff on Psychic Cat that comes in after the middle 8 and plays for the rest of the song. That was a really magical moment and for me, Xavi's guitar was the absolute definition of the dream I had had of the Psychic Cat, lost on 3rd St. Promenade, free at last with nowhere to go.

Dave McCracken is without doubt the coolest producer I have worked with so far, he keeps it real and invests his soul into the music, he hasn't become tainted or influenced by the demands that are placed on so many producers to make a 'commercial record' first, a real musical experience second. His goal, in my experience is to make great music and progress on his musical journey with his integrity intact and his heart beating its own beat.

We finished mixing Psychic Cat on Halloween 2003. We mixed in Olympic Studios and on Dave Gilmore's boat studio. The glamorous Steve (Stevie Glitter as we call him : ) Fitzmorris, mixed the album and I had the most fun mixing with Steve than anyone else, he's a good guy with a sharp sense of humor and even sharper ear.!