The Minutes track by track guide to ‘Macarta’

MONSTER

"We wanted to tie the album together with three prices of music. These became 'Monster', 'Indian Wings' and 'Monsters'. This first one was an improvised piece around a bit of a riff we had going on. I Love it. It sets up the scene. Foreshadows the fuckery that's about to be cast loose."

BLACK KEYS

"We knew we wanted brass on this track. So when we came to the overdubbing section Kevin McMahon (producer) called his mate Dean. Dean arrived to the studios with a broken trumpet and a trombone. In about an hour he had the sections tracked. It was great to hear what we had always imagined for 'Black Keys' finally realised.

The Minutes- Black Keys by The Minutes

GOLD

"For me what made 'Gold' was overdubbing the guitars. I used about eight different amps and from them we blended together a mix of what we felt suited the track. Kevin had this great old KAY guitar with one pickup. We got some unholy sounds."

FLEETWOOD

'Fleetwood', along with 'Secret History' and 'Black and Blue', were tracked on the first day of our stint at Marcata. I remember listening back that evening with Shane. Drinking and smoking. He said he was – quote “shuffling the shite outta the drums” on the middle eight section. His drumming reminds me of Brian Downey on this track.

Recording the brass and piano for the middle 8 section was fun too. Like with 'Black Keys', we got to hear what we had only imagined before."

BELIEVER

"Probably one of the rawest tracks on the record. I love the feel. The groove. Shane and Tom lead the way on this one. Actually the drums and bass in this are fantastic, real Keith Moon / John Entwistle vibe going on in the breakdown."

SECRET HISTORY

"Easy. One take. BAM! Real fucker of a song this one. You can hear coyotes at the end of the track ravishing some poor fuck of an animal. Kevin set up a mike outside to record their cries. This song is our coyote."

INDIAN WINGS

"Slide guitar interlude, signifies the end of side one and the beginning of side two."

BLACK & BLUE

"The slowest tune on the record but I think its one of my favourites. There’s a wierd vibe going on right from the start. We’re all just grooving off each other on this bad boy, we overdubbed some organ which added to the odd vibe."

HEARTBREAKER

"The only one not done in America, tracked this in Dublin with Rocky O'Reilly. Picks up where SECRET HISTORY left off. No coyotes on this one just drums, bass, guitars and handclaps . You gotta love the handclaps."

The Minutes - Heartbreaker by The Minutes

GUILT QUILT

"I remember it taking us longer than normal to get the basic track down on this. After about five takes we called it a night and hit the hay. The next morning Kevin brought in a baritone guitar and I tried that instead of the normal guitar. After two takes we had it nailed, the baritone added the weight that we were missing. We had a lotta fun fucking about with sounds on this song, space echoes, Vox continental keyboards, and whisper tracks. As well as a fuck load of guitars..."

I.M.T.O.D.

"A live favourite. We had it down early in the session. Kevin created the right bass sound by using no bass amps but a fucked up modified Fender Twin guitar amp. You can hear the room a lot on this track and that's what I love about it. Its just us, in a room . Really really really fucking loud."

MONSTERS

"She completes the circle. The sister of 'Monster'.