Daughter: The Middle Farm Session

I was under the impression that the band was more of a studio project, and in a sense they are, but on watching the video it’s apparent that they are also a very tight live band. The EP was recorded at Middle Farm Studios, a beautiful and unique residential studio owned by producer/engineer Peter Miles in South Devon, England. Besides Daughter, Peter has worked on numerous records by artists like Architects, Orla Gartland, Dodie, Tesseract, Fizz, Nina Nesbitt, and Rachel Sermanni. The studio has a large main live room and a second smaller Studio 2, and both rooms have been a part of the Daughter recording story. The studios are built around old farm buildings that date back to the 1850’s and Peter took over the farm and founded the studio in 2010. Besides a nicely-curated gear list of new and vintage equipment, the rooms and grounds are beautifully restored with vintage stone masonry and handmade custom wood work throughout.

The seeds for the session were planted when Tonra and Daughter’s guitarist Igor Haefeli co-produced much of Stereo Mind Game in Middle Farms Studio 2, The Glaucus House, which is operated by their friend Patrick James Pearson who also played some piano and keyboards on Stereo Mind Game. During that time, Peter, Elena, and Igor became acquainted. Says Peter, “Whilst I didn’t work on the record, we became good friends. It was interesting to me how much time they were spending on the album (four years), as I often make whole albums in two days down to our tape machine.” And so, the idea of the Middle Farm Sessionwas hatched.

The band tracked live with their drummer Rémi Aguilella, and Patrick James Pearson joining in on guitar, piano, keyboards and bass, with Peter sitting in on bass on the track “Neptune.” Soren Bryce and Elanor Moss, also added backing vocals and some additional instrumentation. Peter engineered the session with the band producing, and everything was recorded to Middle Farm’s Studer A80 2-inch, 16-track machine through the studio's Trident Series 70 console. According to Peter, “Mixing was Igor, Elena, and myself with all hands on faders in a couple of hours, using only the console, two tape echoes, our EMT 140 plate [reverb] and Lexicon 224 reverb.” The video was shot and directed by Daniel Broadly. The sessions sound amazing, and the video is a great watch, documenting both the band and the studio plus the surrounding environment. Switching up instruments and spaces within the studio keeps the video from feeling static. One track, “Isolation,” was recorded and filmed outdoors with Tonra playing solo on acoustic guitar with no added reverb – the sounds of birds complement the beautiful landscape and fit the song perfectly.

The last track, “Neptune,” begins with Elena again playing solo acoustic again (though this time with a longish reverb from the 224 on the vocal) in what appears to be the studio’s kitchen. Then when the band joins in, she moves through the control room into the main studio to join the band and finish up the track. It’s a beautiful moment and a beautiful song, one of my faves on Stereo Mind Game, and this version creates its own space that's just as special as the album version.

Everybody involved did great work, and what could have been just a promotional vehicle for the record was transformed into an EP that completely stands up on its own merits.