Another three weeks at the studio and Steve (the sound engineer / producer / call him whatever you like, but he's the man) is starting to develop a twitch every time any mention of Xtruppaw is made. We can only praise him for the effort, dedication and patience he's shown so far. Since the last update, Jeff and Marvin have been hard at work laying down the next solid block of music - the guitars. Struggling with their effects pedals and different guitars, the two of them and Steve have managed to put all the Xtruppaw character to the sounds which will characterise (along with the vocals, later) the album. Almost every guitar part is now recorded, except for a riff here and a solo there - nothing that cannot be done in one session.

So it's now the turn of the singers to step in, namely Noel, and Jeff again. Jeff has been to the studio practically every single day since the recording started. Well, as they say, no rest for the wicked, and he'll be there until the work is finished, we believe.

Last week the band also had a visitor at the studio. Toni Sant, who lives in England, has become an avid fan through only the web presence of the band and the mp3s which are available for download. Toni, who some might remember for his radio and the TV programs, now runs a regular blog, as well as a series of podcasts featuring Maltese music called 'Muzika Mod Iehor' (check out www.tonisant.com). After a brief stop at the studio, Toni was invited to Jeff's place where he and the rest of the band (except for Dino, who was abroad) had a very long chat, out of which he will probably make an interview for his podcasts in the near future.

The sleeve design is also well on its way to be ready. In fact, there are only minor things left, and it will be finalised as soon as the band decide in which order to put the tracks on the CD. For the curious among you (and those who are actually reading through these posts), yes, the band did have a photo-shoot for the sleeve. You can try to figure out what they have in store by seeing a picture taken during this session (check out the last photo at the bottom of the page...).

That's all for now, and we leave you to ponder about how our artists will fare for the rest of the recording with one quote which I'm sure you're all familiar with: 'Il-kazz mhux opinjoni'.