{"id":441,"date":"2017-08-09T14:23:47","date_gmt":"2017-08-09T13:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.simpleandfunctional.com\/timarnold\/?page_id=441"},"modified":"2023-11-16T19:13:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T19:13:41","slug":"secrets-of-soho","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/timarnold.co.uk\/secrets-of-soho\/","title":{"rendered":"Secrets of Soho"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Secrets of Soho (2006 – Indie)<\/span><\/h2>\n

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\u201cLike all the best heart-flayed-open records, it\u2019s a delicate yet powerful affair. String quartets lifting from the grooves like a flock of pigeons rising over Soho Square.\u201d<\/strong>
\nMark Beaumont, NME<\/em><\/h4>\n

\u201cThis solo album is a picturesque trawl through a thousand lost nights,\u00a0with Life In A Day being particularly and poignantly lovely.\u201d<\/strong>
\nQ Magazine<\/em><\/h4>\n

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Secrets of Soho was the first proper album I made in London after moving back from the monastery in Thailand. I had long wanted to make an album about the turbulent times I had experienced in the area, along with my observations of the Soho sex industry. Working for the Maltese had been an eye opener and there were many stories I had collected about the working girls in Soho who had become friends of mine. I worked in that world before I signed to Sony, and after I was dropped. I often worked for the Maltese as an errand boy. Many of the ladies who worked in Soho treated me like a younger brother. I had great affection for them all, one in particular who became immortalised in the song Marina.<\/h3>\n

The songs became an account of everything from struggling with addiction (Killing Pain), Jimmy Dodger)<\/strong>, to resuscitating a woman who had overdosed (Deal The Deck)<\/strong> and watching the goings on of the clip joints (The Girl On The Door)<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

The concept for the album only became concrete when I decided on the title (suggested to me by my friend and long term production manager Nim Arnold). I recorded the album in the famous Colony Room club. The manager of the club – Michael Wojas, gave me the keys on a weekend when the club was closed and said I could move in with my studio and record for three days as long as I was out by Monday morning. I took all my equipment and a sleeping bag and did exactly that. I set up a recording area directly under a huge Francis Bacon painting that was hanging on the wall and began laying the tracks down.<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s definitely the most DIY album I have made. Only the string overdubs and double bass were recorded back at my flat on Brewer Street. The artwork was very important to me and included photographs all of my family and extended family during their Soho heyday. Like many of my albums, I got to present it live in a way that I was happy with \u2013 once. This was at the old Raymond Revue Bar in Walkers Court (at the time known as The Soho Revue Bar) with an incredible ensemble of musicians and the actor Ben Miller who portrayed me in a surreal way of presenting two versions of myself.<\/h3>\n

I rarely perform any of the songs from Secrets of Soho live today, except for Marina which has become a favourite among my loyal band of followers. It is probably still my favourite single song of my own that I love to perform live.<\/h3>\n

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