In Graeme Downes own words:

" Potboiler, the album, was born with a minimum of practice to get the rhythm section knocked into shape (a couple of weekends prior to Christmas) then we launched into recording early in the new-year. Pretty casual, a couple of tracks a day. That done it was pretty much left to engineer Stu Harwood (of the Tweeks) and me to slowly compile the rest. As a lot of the guitar and keyboard lines were conceived in virtual land and I'd never actually played them, the regime tended to involve practicing the lines in the morning, come down and record them (phrase by phrase with the score in front of me) in the afternoon.

All done recording by early February, then mixing with Dale Cotton at Audioworks, then mastering at Liquid Studios in Auckland with Jon Cooper and your dinner's ready--fishbone soup.

So that's how it came about, how it was even possible and why we won't be touring it. In the end it's easier to make a record than play a gig where you have to have everything memorized. We kind of decided we may as well make the limitations imposed by parenthood, full time jobs, sole owner operated businesses, geographical distance (and just plain middle age probably) work for us rather than against us.

With technology, we can actually make a decent record in spite of all these obstacles. The world is better off with a Verlaines album that we can't actually play live than without it (and if you disagree with that statement you'd be unlikely to come to a gig anyway so fuck you!).

In the future I can write (again making the situation work for me rather than against me) without the normal constraints of having to consider the logistics and even the technical obstacles of live performance. I'm finding that damn refreshing to be honest.

Never say never about anything, the future's a surprising place. Things may change and live performance might pan out, not with this record but maybe the next one."

The Verlaines are:
Graeme Downes: father of two, grandfather of one, senior lecturer at Otago University, singer, songwriter and other bits.

Paul Winders: father of three, deputy principal of Riverton primary, guitarist/vocalist.

Darren Stedman: custodian of Banjo the dog, sole owner operator of Castle Macadam wine http://www.nzwinespecialist.co.nz and drummer.

Russel Fleming: father of 1, teacher in Balclutha, bass player.