"Steps to Leanoland (The Album) "

Steps to LeanoLand was mastered and part recorded at Db Studios, Spring Bank West Productions. It was produced by Colliss using a 'Mackie D8B' mixing desk and Hard disk recorder, Cubase sequencing, Various Emu modules for drums and added instruments ( Proteus, Carnaval, Planet Phatt, Mo Phatt and Orbit), a Roland JD-800 Synth, Alesis and Roland drum machines, Neumann, Shure and AKG Microphones. The whole album was recorded in various locations in HU5 in 2003-05.

"Steps to Leanoland is a step into my hippocritical, slightly satirical mind, that turns daily chores into dramatic rhymes."

This song is the only track to be recorded in Colliss' living room. It came out of a discussion concerning television and it's importance on society. I turned up at Colliss' yard with the chorus and first verse idea and he already had that soft drumbeat. I wanted the tune to have the feeling of someone watching the TV so we recorded those random skits off his TV and they seemed to sound perfect. I have no idea what the german says. We wanted one of the channels to have my own voice saying " let me introduce you to my black box friend, he tends to make ammends for the problem in my life, no matter the plight he never seems to listen, sharpens the bars of this painted prison." The vocal sound for this section was mainly down to Colliss' orders, The calm monotone sound attempts to resemble a TV commentator or newsreader. So the song develops the idea of introducing the listeners to the tv and basically questioning the reasons why he talks but never listens and how he has grown to be the centre of a living room in the majority of houses.

This was one of the most epic tunes written on the album and it possesses a freakishly full backing track that epitomises colliss' musical style. The music, probably the most complex on the album, features two basslines running alongside one another that give it a raw sound while maintaining the crisp clarity of the vocal. The hi-hats and ride cymbals carry the rhythm and provide a backing-track that i was excited to write to. The verses delve systematically into the functions of money. From relationships, to falling poker chips i attempt to explain what i see.

This is one of my favourite tunes on the album and one of the earliest made. it centres around the concept of music as a river. As an individual produces a piece of music he adds to the flow of this river, all around are welcome to taste this rolling river and as each youngster takes a sip he also adds to it. And so the river rolls on...

An MC friend of ours called Bombaman from Vienna was the brains behind the hook. It just sounded so good in a freestyle jam that Colliss was determined to add it to this tune. The whole piece of music is mainly the idea and determination of Colliss. There were times when I questioned the chorus for being too "cheesy" but Colliss just kept the vision of a full arena of people chanting that line together and I just hoped that he knew what he was talking about. thankfully after the final verse was locked down I started to feel it on a whole new level. The verse was the most recent written and was my only political statement on the whole album.

The title of this song was inspired by a poem i once heard. I don't rememeber the author or the name, but i remembered the imagery involved. The song describes my search for identity, it documents the difficlties for a british born asian , but i tried hard to stay clear of political generalisations. The first verse decribes an inability to identify with the lifestyle and culture of Sri Lanka, the country of my origin. The second verse describes the hostile reaction from the country of my birth. The concept of twisted tongues is present in all young people as they battle to find their place in the world.

Many people may look upon this tune and its sequel as over-dramatic and adolescent but thats how i was feeling at the time. This tune is one of my most memorable rhymes because it was written completely from reality. The first verse is one of my earliest and it communicates my youthful naivity at the time. It recollects the emotional journey from meeting and falling 'head over heels' to breaking up and getting back together. The third verse was written just before i made the decision to forgive her. Many people fail to hear the message of this final verse. The lyrics: 'ignorance is bliss, the loving kiss, as if i was happy' suggest that i knew the destiny of this relationship as i entered back into it. This destiny would be realised in the second part written a year later, 'messing with my mind'. It is often simpler to preach the right path than to take it.

Initially we weren't going to put this track down on any album. I wrote it in about two hours and it is the sequel to 'They don't know what we know'. The language and imagery correlates between them and the second verse is probably my favourite verse on the album. The chorus was written out of a freestyle and it is broken into three seperate lyrical riffs. The vibes (Vibraphone) give the song a dramatic grandeur that reflected my mood at the time and after it was finished we had to stick it on.

In a freestyle with the magnificent Bombaman from Vienna we came upon the catchy chorus and the concept of 'the ganjaholic'. The song describes the life of a simple homeless man of Hull whose only real aim in life is to sell and smoke marijuana. He's chased and abused by passer-bys but his life is exactly how he likes it. People laugh when we play this song but it is a sad song about a man's isolation from society.

Masculinity and the ideologies associated with men in society is at the heart of all my material. This song was written in a frustrated two hours following some poor, disappointing sex. The lyrics on this tune describe the contradictions with the male culture, it touches on the duality of my mind and in the final verse attempts to suggest a possible answer to my questions.

The first verse of the tune was was written in the same book as 'Tired Streets', and was produced in the box-room peach toilet of my house in Wembley Park. The toilet has been where the majority of the album's lyrics were written and i enjoyed spending time discussing this. The sparce simple beat appealed to the light-hearted lyrical content and the hook was from a freestyle session. Eventhough this tune was written and produced in the shortest amount of time it is often the one that new listeners mention.

I wrote this lyric in one of my first serious lyric books in Madrid, Spain. The hustle and bustle gave birth to the first four lines and days later the verse followed.

"Tired Streets, Meet Wired beats Entire Fleets, crammed into admired jeeps Skyward Leaps to infinity and beyond, Me, misty eyes and a flaming bong..."

It would be a crime not to put a drum and bass tune on the album after it has had such an inspiring effect on my life. The chorus came about by accident in a freestyle and i wrote the verses later. The theme concerns using and mis-using music. The first verse talks of commercialisation and its constraints to the up and coming. The second verse provides music as a metaphorical baby and delves into this imagery. The third illustrates an alternative style of verse and discusses our existence within the culture of the hyper-real, a history of allusion.

Ben and I went to Amsterdam one weekend. The normal activities were indured and i wrote two seperate rhymes. One, became the opening half of the tune. It describes Amsterdam and the scene surrounding me at the time. The second half was written following direct research yet it took me another month to come up with how the story would end. In one version, I get chased back to the hotel by a crazed tranny. In another, i fall asleep and wake up with an ice cream in my hand. It was only when i kept it real simple that the concept began to produce itself. Meanwhile, Ben returned from Dam and told me he had a beat, i think his words were 'it's a bit wierd' and i think thats exactly what the tune had to be. Its a deep, rhyme that has many levels to it, i hope listeners will be able to hear something new everytime they listen to it.

ALL LYRICS ON THE ALBUM ARE WRITTEN BY THE LEANO. Lyrics will be available on this website very soon...Just keep checking it.
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JAM SESSIONS

The Leano and Colliss are starting work early in 2006 on a new album. Till then you can download a selection of jam sessions working with a range of different artists. You can also order Grounation sample CD's by e-mailing COLARJ RECORDS. Stay tuned for updates and progress.