Men Are From Mars - Behind the Music

  • The album was recorded over several months in Phil’s apartment. It took so long to finish because Phil put the music to one side while he was working on the law of the playground.
  • Phil actually bought a bass guitar for this one. It’s an Epiphone Thunderbird VI and it’s a cracking instrument (Phil’s holding it on the inner sleeve photo!)
  • My Best Friend’s Girlfriend is not actually based on anyone. If anything it’s based on a ex-girlfriend that Phil had (but not had, you understand, which is why there’s residual bitterness). Phil’s mates’ birds are, for the most part, all quite lovely and probably not frigid like the bird in the song. Equally, the bird in My Selfish Ways is fictious.
  • All the songs were recorded, mixed and mastered on Phil’s computer using software borrowed from friends. Because borrowing software is illegal I won’t list the names of the products involved for fear of getting into trouble.
  • Rhythm guitars were recorded using Phil’s Morris Hurricane - a copy of the Jackson Randy Rhoads (Phil’s holding it on the album’s cover). The lead and centre channel guitars were recorded using John’s Paul Reed Smith CE24, which he kindly lent to Phil for the duration, because it has a much nicer tone than the Hurricane - which is to be expected given that it’s about ten times more expensive. Eventually Phil bought the PRS off John for a cracking price, even though he couldn’t afford it.
  • Calling the Lads is Phil’s letter back home to his mates in England who haven’t ever visited him in Canada, because they are all such miserable bastards.
  • Bass and guitar sounds came courtesy of a Line6 Pod 2.0 which even managed to produce a decent bass sound, thus saving Phil from having to fork out on a Bass Pod.
  • All Day Breakfast is a tour of the breakfast eateries available to the discerning diner in St. John’s. To be honest, they’re not as bad as Phil makes them out to be, except for the Classic Café, which is considerably worse.
  • Modern Times is also the name of a classic Charlie Chaplin film. A still of Paulette Goddard graced the walls of the Wessex Films portakabin, when Phil was at University and made films.
  • There are several postmodern references on the album. Can you spot them all? Hints: listen to songs by Racey, Th Faith Healers, the soundtrack to Josie and the Pussycats and Randy Vanwarmer’s Just When I Needed You Most. Hmm - that’s not so much hinting as blatantly stating.
  • Jockey Club is the closest thing to proper beer on this side of the Atlantic.
  • The choruses of both All Day Breakfast and My Best Friend’s Girlfriend owe a lot to Phil’s mates Keith and Jim, who will receive hefty royalties if and when Phil becomes rich and famous. Probably.
  • And the verses of My Selfish Ways owe everything to Dana, who has a much better singing voice than Phil.
  • Phil was listening to a lot of Eve’s Plum, The Weekend, The Go-Gos and Veruca Salt when he was recording this album.
  • You’re A Cunt is about the bands that play at the Ship Inn in St. John’s, and the people that go to see them, even though they have zero talent.
  • The sample at the start of We Are Crusaders comes from the classic Ron Jeremy film Bad Girls, the censored version of which has provided Phil’s mates with much mirth down the years.
  • Phil is wearing an Iron Maiden: The Trooper t-shirt on the front cover and a Perl t-shirt on the inside sleeve, because he is both metal and a geek.