JAKARTA - The Charlatans vocalist, Tim Burgess, is preparing to carry out a daring and unusual collaboration.
The 59-year-old British musician announced plans to record his live performance at the 2026 Kendal Calling music festival in vinyl format at the venue, with the entire production process targeted to be completed in just 48 hours.
The Kendal Calling edition this year marks the celebration of two decades since the festival was first launched in 2006. The event will be held at Lowther Deer Park, Lake District, from July 30 to August 2.
Tim Burgess himself is scheduled to perform on July 31, on the iconic stage he regularly manages every year, Tim Peaks Diner.
Later, the audio recording from the set of his performance will be taken directly to the production room to go through the mixing, mastering, and physical printing processes.
The target is that the vinyl is ready to be sold on the last day of the festival, in conjunction with the album signing session with fans.
The ambitious project titled "Straight To Vinyl" is produced in a very limited number. The organizers only provide 400 vinyl records in the festival area, while the rest will be sold online in limited quantities on August 5.
Although the stage of the Peaks Diner Team had previously facilitated similar flash recordings for The Lathums, A Certain Ratio, and Inspiral Carpets, this moment was Burgess's first experience as a main performer.
"This is the fourth year we've worked with Press On Vinyl and Swift Mastering for the 'Straight To Vinyl' recording. This time, we want to break a personal record, which is exactly two days from the performance being finished to the vinyl being available on location, without anyone being ticketed for speeding," said Burgess, quoted by NME, Thursday, June 18.
The production process behind the scenes is also ensured to run under very high time pressure. Alex Balzama from Swift Mastering said, this project leaves no room for technical errors.
"Usually, each stage of the vinyl production has a fairly loose pause time. But here, everything happens at full speed. If one link fails, the entire project will stop. It is precisely this dynamic that makes it so interesting," said Balzama.
In line with Balzama, Kerry Todd from Press On Vinyl explained the lightning distribution chain they had to go through. As soon as Burgess got off the stage, the recording master would be immediately rushed to Teesside.
"The slab was then handed over to Emily Skipper in the galvanizing department, who was tasked with making metal molds through the electroplating process. After that, the mold was installed on a press machine and mass production began," said Todd.
"A small problem at any stage can force us to start over again. It's really a race against time," he added.
In addition to the theatrical action from Team Burgess, the 20th anniversary of Kendal Calling is also guaranteed to be festive with a row of top musicians. The festival's main stage will be enlivened by Biffy Clyro, Wolf Alice, and Two Door Cinema Club.
Legendary indie group The Kooks were tapped to close the opening night, as well as celebrate their debut album, "Inside In/Inside Out".
To complement this year's lineup, a number of other big names have also been confirmed, ranging from indie legends such as The Cribs, The Libertines, The Vaccines, Jamie Webster, Doves, and The Snuts, to global pop music giants such as Scissor Sisters, Gabrielle, Groove Armada, and Vanessa Carlton.
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