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BiTS: Now, was there any moment during this when things went badly wrong? I mean, in the
sense that there was a long pause or any kind of problems that you had is what I'm trying to get
at.
IB: No, actually not. I mean incredibly, there was really a beauty to it all. Like almost as if it was
fated that when I arrived, everyone was there, and I came in and said hello and set up the
equipment as quick as I could. I had less equipment than normal, but I try to be fast always and
I'm fairly fast. So, you know, in five or ten minutes, we were recording, and we didn't stop until
we were done. And when we were done, I had to go back and drive two hours and catch this
plane and it was cutting up fairly close as it was. And you know, when we were done, I tore down
the equipment as quickly as I could and went on my way. So I mean, it was almost seamless. The
only delay was each time somebody getting up and walking up to the mics and somebody then
taking a turn, but I mean we’re talking, you know, a minute between each take. We just started
recording almost immediately and when we ended with the final song, which is the final song
on the record, ‘Lay My Burden Down’, which was almost everybody in the room. Well, everybody
in the room was involved, whether it was doing background vocals and hand claps or whether
it was playing instruments and singing lead on microphones, we were recording right up until
the final minutes.
BiTS: Was there
any restriction
placed on
identifying the
prisoners? I'm
asking because I
really would like to
know their first
names and all
you've got is initials.
IB: Yeah, well, we
have initials and last
names and ages.
There are
restrictions for the sake of their privacy, but also for the sake of victims as well. You know, we
want to strike a balance there. And so, you know, there were parameters agreed to with the
prison and those are being followed. But the voices, the voices are there and the voices I think
are timeless.
BiTS: I would like you to know that I am one of the people from the UK that has actually visited
Parchman. It was back in the 1980s when I was working in the States, but I did go there and got
shown around the place by an assistant warden who was retiring the following day and told me
that great sadness that he had was that he had not been able to execute somebody, which I
thought was pretty horrible.
IB: Wow! Yeah, that's pretty revealing. That's pretty revealing, yes.
BiTS: Yes, well, let’s leave that and go back to the record. Was there a moment when you found
the hair on the back of your neck standing on end because it was so good?
IB: Oh yeah, many. I mean, for me the barometer is that feeling, you know, the emotion and that's
really what I'm seeking. I'm trying to capture life with the recorded medium and life that then
