Writers:
Gary Matthews [Stan]
Glenn Jones
Liam Carr
Martin Smith
Guest:
Lena Lonley – Vocals
V2:
Martin Smith – Drums
Glenn Jones – Lead Guitar
Liam Carr – Guitar, Piano, Bass
Production:
Producer – Edward Jones
Mastering – Eddie Mooney
Be My Guest
Lena Lonley is a well-known songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in Berlin’s vibrant underground and alternative music scene.
As well as performing her own songs and compositions, she has also added her considerable experience as an instrumentalist to bands such as Sigue Sigue Sputnik, PLeaSureDomE and SisterButterFly.
How It All Came Together
“In the early days of Martin and Glenn joining V2, the vocalist at the time pitched new lyrics for a song called ‘Wired’ and duly sent them to Glenn to work on the music.
At that time, it comprised four verses and no chorus. Glenn came up with a tune, rejigged the lyrics to fit, created a chorus, and recorded a demo with spoken vocals to send out to the band.
Stan and Martin were very happy with the pre-punk vibe and how the song was going.
The vocalist was somewhat less so — another one of those ‘artistic disagreements’ that led to the parting of ways with said singer and serendipitously ushered in the Stan’s Guest List concept.
Fast forward a few months, and the song had taken on a totally new life, with expanded lyrics ready for the backing track to be recorded at Rain Studio in Salford.
Martin came up with the perfect drumbeat, while I laid down bass, piano and rhythm guitar. Glenn — he was getting used to this by now — later added lead guitar in his garage.
Stan loved how it was going musically and worked with Ed, who was engineering it, to get the new V2 sound spot on.
Then we lost Stan…
The track, now retitled and with completely new lyrics, was completed with the help of Lena Lonley’s sultry vocals, which she recorded in her home studio in Berlin.
The track had had a long journey — but was all the better for it!”
Liam Carr
