ISSUE 14
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MUN I TY
RIHANNA Our take on the latest album from the music industry’s favourite Barbadian
WICKED Behind the scenes in Oz with two of the finest West End witches
FERRY CORSTEN World-renowned trance DJ predicts EDM shake-up
SCOTT LIPPS
MAR / APR 2016 RRP $6.95 USA/$7.95 CANADA
Model agency CEO by day, rock star drummer by night
SIR TOM JONES 50 YEARS IN THE BIZ, AND HIS FIRST OFFICIAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
CHECK OUT HEADLINER MAGAZINE ONLINE | HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET
Design Without Boundaries Acoustically Coaxial Three-Way Smart Active Monitor We break boundaries in engineering to make the best even better. The 8351 Acoustically Coaxial Three-Way Smart Active Monitor represents this bold and imaginative thinking. The center is Genelec’s Minimum Diffraction Coaxial driver in a Directivity Control Waveguide. Behind the waveguide are two Acoustically Concealed Woofers. The directivity control equals that of monitors four times the size. The smart signal processing perfects monitoring accuracy with GLM AutoCal. The 8351 can only be described as the most solid, most articulate monitor available today – in a surprisingly compact package.
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Contents #14 Cover Story P28 / Sir Tom Jones
06 SWIVEL ON THIS
Grammy-winning record producer, DJ Swivel, tests Genelec’s new flagship monitor.
09 IBIZA ROCKS
12 GRACE
Australia’s answer to Adele? Grace is way too humble to accept that, but this girl is going places. Fast.
14 SCOTT LIPPS
CEO of one of New York’s leading model agencies by day, rock star by night.
16
MADONNA
We go backstage to check out Madge’s much talked about Rebel Heart tour.
22 LIVING FOR THE MOMENT
A tale of two talented musical friends whose careers may be very different, but often lead them to the same place.
24 FERRY CORSTEN
This renowned DJ and producer predicts a downturn in EDM and a trance revival.
26 RIHANNA
Adam Protz reviews Rihanna’s latest (and in our opinion, greatest) album, Anti.
28 SIR TOM JONES
The Welsh legend himself chats to us about tough pubs in Wales, sharing a bathroom with Elvis, and his first ever autobiography, released in cahoots with a cracking new album.
32 MUSIC WITH PASSION This year’s Passion Conference fused three shows in three US states, all at the same time. Very clever stuff indeed.
34 THE OSCARS
The most controversial Academy Awards of all-time, with a twist of humour from funnyman, Chris Rock.
36 FALL OUT BOY
On the road with what is reported to be the nicest band on the circuit.
38 KASS ALEXANDER
Inside the studio of London-based producer, Kass Alexander, whose musical vision is a breath of fresh air.
40 KEB’ MO’
We chat to this Grammywinning artist, Keb’ Mo’, and his right hand man for all things audio, Aaron Hedden.
42 RED BULL STUDIOS
Into London to witness one of the most unique and fun recording sessions.
HEADLINER | ISSUE #14 | MAR-APR
47 CHARLIE ANDREW
MPG Producer of the Year, and the first man to win a BRIT Award in 2016. What a year it’s been already for Charlie Andrew.
50 WICKED
We catch up with the two hard working leading ladies in this blockbuster of a West End production.
52 ENTER SHIKARI LIVE
We send Adam Protz down to Ally Pally to check out Enter Shikari’s biggest show yet.
54 GRUMPY OLD ROADIE
What would happen to our industry if Britain left the EU this summer? Robert the Roadie reveals all..!
PHOTO : TOM JONES LIVE IN CONCERT
Our friends at Sonic Vista Studios chat to the founders of Ibiza Rocks about the brand’s remarkable evolution.
FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to Issue 14 of Headliner, where we are fortunate to chat exclusively with Sir Tom Jones! This legend released his first official autobiography at the end of last year, along with a great new album, produced by Ethan Johns, Long Lost Suitcase. We chat to Sir Tom about the making of the record, and the ups and downs of what’s been a staggering career: rehearsing in pubs in Wales; that awkward moment with Burt Bacharach; and almost not getting to sing It’s Not Unusual, the song that would change his life forever. What a story. Also inside, we speak to trance icon, Ferry Corsten, about the rise and fall of EDM, before heading into London to meet Grace, Australia’s answer to Adele. We are also backstage with Madonna’s team during her Rebel Heart tour in Birmingham, and then back in the capital to watch Enter Shikari do their thing at Ally Pally. We also catch up with two of the West End’s finest witches, give you our take on Rihanna’s latest album, Anti, and chat to MPG Producer of the Year, Charlie Andrew, about a two-month whirlwind that’s seen him land himself a BRIT in the process. All this and more inside. Thank you for choosing Headliner. Paul Watson Editor
SOCIALISE WITH US: headlinermagazine.net @Headlinerhub HeadlinerHub headlinermagazine www.tsu.co/headliner_magazine HEADLINER | ISSUE #14 | MAR-APR
CONTACT Paul Watson paul@headlinerhub.com +44(0)7952-839296
Graham Kirk graham@gkirkmedia.com +44(0)7872-461938
Art Director Eimear O’Connor
Contributors Adam Protz Jordan Young Jonathan Tessier Louis Henry Sarmiento II Robert the Roadie Colin Pigott
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DJ Swivel
Comment
GENELEC 8351A
06 HEADLINER
DJ Swivel
Comment
Swivel on this Genelec 8351A
YES. I’ve been waiting to demo these new speakers by Genelec for some time now: the 8351s, quite possibly the most unique speaker design I’ve seen for a pair of studio monitors. From the outside, one might almost wonder if they’re speakers at all, but these beasts pack a whole lotta punch into such a creative and unassuming design.
T
his is the next generation of the Genelec SAM monitoring system, which has the ability to automatically calibrate the frequency, time, and amplitude response of the monitors depending on which room they’re in, and how they’re placed. This is done through emitting a tone from each monitor and recording the playback via the mic and GLM adapter, and some clever software. After unpacking the boxes, and finally laying my eyes on these bad boys, I was immediately impressed by the design. The large wavetable with no visible woofer allows for a much greater sweet spot for listening. The calibration setup was fairly easy: just daisy chain the speakers to the GLM adapter, connect the device to your computer using the provided USB cable, plug in the microphone, put it in listening position, and run the software. The rest is relatively easy, with on screen instructions being self-explanatory. My room seemed to be in decent shape, but even the subtle changes were noticeable. Now onto what really counts, the sound. The first song I pulled up was Adele’s Hello. First of all, it’s a fantastic song,
07 HEADLINER
with a really great mix: lots of openness, warmth, great spacing and balance, a smooth vocal, and gorgeous reverbs. It had everything I needed to hear to know what these speakers were made of. And boy, did they shine. Honestly, it just felt like the sound filled the room, as opposed to being projected at you. It was quite nice to hear Adele’s vocal floating right in between the monitors, as if she was in the room with me. The best way I can describe the sound is utter transparency. The piano was warm, full, and clear, no muddiness; the filtered drums felt strong and round, but
you the suspense: the answer is YES. The first record I mixed on these 8351s is the latest single by The Chainsmokers: Don’t Let Me Down. The song has it all: beautiful guitars, airy vocals, punchy drums, and trunk rattling 808s. The monitors give me the perfect blend of a full and round low end, low-mid punchiness, tame upper mids, and top end shine. Could it really be? Did Genelec finally introduce a worthy contender to replace the infamous 1031As? I started my career on the 1031As, a fantastic monitor, tried and tested throughout the years at just about every
“The best way I can describe the sound is utter transparency.” not boomy in any way; the vocal was perfectly balanced with no weird mid frequencies sticking out, like I can often hear with some monitors; and the reverb tails genuinely felt like they were coming from my room. Absolutely impressive! But could they handle the knock and low end I wanted out of some of the hip hop records or EDM records I mix with big loud 808s, sharp snares, and aggressive synths? Let me save
studio on the planet. Those monitors always had nice punch, beautifully clear top end, and boy could they take a beating. I could really push the volume and get them to bang; always a crowd pleaser in those hip hop sessions. The sweet spot for listening was a bit narrow, but for me - and many others - they were the standard. It didn’t matter which studio I was working in, whether in New York, Miami, London, or Sydney,
they needed 1031s for me to show up. About 10 years ago, when Genelec moved past the 1031s and introduced the first generation 8000 systems, I was a bit disappointed. The new models didn’t have quite what I wanted out of a pair of monitors, but maybe I had programmed my ears to only hear what I was missing? Whatever the case, I wasn’t an immediate fan. We all know that Genelec is a fantastic brand, and has always had audio excellence in its core DNA, but it took me nearly 10 years to come back around and give the next models a shot; and I have to say, these 8351s feel like the real deal. At nearly $10,000, they’re pricey, however they do fall in a similar price point to some of the other elite level monitors, and these are far more deserving of that market segment than some of the others. But pricing aside, I can finally say with full confidence that with the introduction of the 8351s, Genelec is back with something worthy of every studio on the planet. These feel like the new standard in high quality audio monitoring, and will shape the sound of Genelec for years to come. www.genelec.com www.djswivel.com
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SONIC VISTA INSIGHTS
Ibiza Rocks The Ibiza Rocks brand has undoubtedly changed Ibiza from a solely dance destination to an island of music. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with amazing performances by The Libertines, Rudimental, and Ed Sheeran, Louis Henry Sarmiento II and Jonathan Tessier chat to the power couple behind Ibiza Rocks, founders Andy McKay and Dawn Hindle. Can you describe the experience of entering the Ibiza Rocks hotel for a concert? Andy: You walk into the hotel, go down these stairs, and the last thing you expect is an amphitheatre for 3,000 people! What I find interesting is the people that have lived their whole life in Ibiza, and they never knew it existed. Obviously over the years, more and more locals know that there’s an outdoor venue the size of Privilege (Ibiza’s biggest nightclub) in the middle of this hotel, and it’s a working rock and roll venue. How did the idea for Ibiza Rocks come together? Andy: The whole thing about Ibiza Rocks is conflict: it’s rebellion, it’s punk; and if you look at it, when we started the concept of Ibiza Rocks, it was like oil and water: because Ibiza does not rock - that was the thought pattern back in the day - it was a real conflicting thing at the time. A lot of what we do is conflicting: the biggest and best rock and roll venue on the island 09 HEADLINER
shouldn’t be in the backstreets of San Antonio, but it is. There are a lot of conflicts and contradictions that makes Ibiza Rocks a rebellious brand, a disruptive trademark - and I quite like that. Dawn: I think it came out of what Andy was just discussing. The fact that Ibiza didn’t rock, and it came out of the heritage we had of throwing giant house parties. Andy: It came out of Manumission (one of Ibiza’s most notorious parties from 1994 to 2009) because while we were doing it, we started playing with the band thing, and really enjoying it. I remember The Rapture, Juliette Lewis, and LCD Soundsystem played in the backroom of Manumission over 10 years ago - that was some show. I grew up going to see bands, and then there was a period in 2005 on the island where nobody did bands. They just dropped off, and that’s when we realised we wanted to do guitar bands. People at that time were so used to a clean digital sound that the angular sound of guitars was physically hurting their ears; they were so unused
to it that they found it unpleasant to experience. We knew it was a step too far for Manumission to do, so we launched the brand ourselves. It was a great name also, because 80% of the people we knew were so horrified by it that they didn’t even want to come to our shows. So we filtered the crowd to almost nobody, and the little that came actually loved it! How has Ibiza Rocks evolved over the last decade? Dawn: By scale, I think we’ve gone from 100 people up to 3,000 people; and in venue size, we’ve grown from a tiny bar that held 200 people maximum – we had bands like Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian playing on stages that were the size of the drum risers – to a fully functioning working stage. And now the width and breadth of the music we offer has changed; we’ve opened it up to quite a lot of different genres, whereas when we first started, we wanted to push something that was very guitar-based and rock-based.
Andy: It was the indie invasion of Ibiza! In 2007, we had some of the biggest bands in the world playing that tiny little venue, and I remember one day I was searching the word count on Google and comparing the monthly searches for DJs (Tiësto, Paul Van Dyke, Sasha, Carl Cox) and bands; and the bands we were booking had 10 times more monthly searches online than the DJs. Also, we’re tastemakers in a way: Ed Sheeran started with Ibiza Rocks on a small stage, now he’s touring the world playing mega-shows every night. Dawn: I think that’s also key: helping new acts on the way up, and trying to select people as they’re coming through, then they literally stay with you when they become stars. And from what I’ve observed, a lot of the support acts that play for us grow up to become headliners, which is amazing. Andy: When Professor Green played a show for us at Ibiza Rocks London, organised by Zane Lowe at the Sin Club near Charing Cross Road, we paid
SONIC VISTA INSIGHTS him £100 for the gig, and he gave £20 to his backing singer, and he says to me, ‘you do know who my backing singer was?’ it was Adele! What is the mission and ethos of Ibiza Rocks? Andy: It’s very much about youth, being disruptive, the power of change, the element of surprise, but I really believe what we really do is create energy, maximising the energy in a space. We have a ‘triple A’ philosophy: Attitude, Atmosphere, Authenticity. How has your audience evolved over the years? Dawn: It’s expanded, and has become a lot more far-reaching. We’ve gone from a niche product to something that is now more all-encompassing. The world’s relationship with music has changed so much, so I think the product we were 10 years ago and the product we are now is a very different thing. Andy: We always tried to stay focused on youth, and since the iPod when Steve Jobs said you can fit 1,000 songs in your pocket, people now have 10,000 songs in their pockets! The audience has now become more eclectic, they listen to a lot of types of music, and it’s been great for us. We are fundamentally youth in focus, but we’re still able to put on bands like Madness, New Order, or The Specials - and these are the most successful shows we do in terms of ticket sales. So the audience does change depending on the band we book. What was the most memorable concert in the last 10 years? Dawn: I really enjoyed the Mark Ronson concert at the Ibiza Rocks Bar, and discovering Rudimental, of course. Andy: Having Arctic Monkeys was a very special moment in that bar. Back then they were one of the coolest things on the whole planet, whereas now they’re bigger, but they’re not cooler. So that moment was totally incredible. In what major ways has Ibiza Rocks changed the island? Dawn: Ibiza Rocks Hotel has 10 HEADLINER
paved the way for hotels like Ushuaia, Hard Rock Hotel, and Destino. We were the first ones to throw an event outdoors before midnight, which opened it up to more people who wanted to leave at a reasonable time and enjoy themselves during the daytime. Andy: I think the biggest thing Ibiza Rocks did for the island is introduce concert culture. The most successful events now in Ibiza are concerts. The way people point and stare at a DJ in a club now is more like a concert than a dance music environment. What are the most challenging aspects of the day-to-day tasks for Ibiza Rocks? Andy: Keeping up with the
political changes on the island. The great thing about having such a big team (300-400 in peak season) is that the problems you are concerned about involve the future instead of the day-in, day-out. For example, when a six-month project for a new hotel doesn’t happen, it gets really frustrating, and those are the kinds of issues we have to deal with. Some very important pop artists today held their first shows at your venue. Has Ibiza Rocks helped develop those artists to become the international stars they are today? Andy: Well, we gave Mika his first show, and he brought his whole family down to see his
performance. We were the first people to book Ed Sheeran in Spain. We got Ellie Goulding when we could afford her, which was good. We had Lion Babe and Tinie Tempah as support acts, now they’ve blown up massively. The warm up DJs for our W.A.R parties were Disclosure and Rudimental. We gave them their Ibiza debuts. It’s quite amazing when you look at it in hindsight. What has 10 years in this game taught you about music, yourself, and your team? Andy: I think it’s more difficult to do something that’s obvious, sensible, and easy if you’re not into it, than it is to do something that’s incredibly difficult, nearly impossible, but you’re passionate about it. If you love something, you’re generally better off going for the passion project than the obvious one. So what happens next..? Dawn: DJ Harvey is going to come back, bigger and better for more weeks next year; and Craig David’s TS5 pool party is happening at the Ibiza Rocks Hotel, which is a huge coup. I’m also starting this new project called ‘Mother of Lost Boys’ where we’ll take old objects from the past and develop a new line of merchandise, get visual artists involved, and give them the opportunity to showcase their work. Andy: And we’ll do all we can to keep the island young. It’s not all about super-yachts and buying bottles of champagne in the VIP; we want to keep the disruptive generation coming to Ibiza, and that’s the people around 25 years of age. It’s important to have them, because if you don’t, the disruption will happen somewhere else. Dawn: And it doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, or how much money you earn, as long as you have a great philosophy on life, you can make it. Ibiza is a great playground and building ground for that. www.ibizarocks.com www.sonicvistastudios.com
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Grace
Newcomer
Grace
All or Nothing
“You can’t emulate soul.”
“I
’ve been singing for as long as I can remember,” Grace admits, adding that her family were always ‘super musical’. Her grandparents toured with the Gibb brothers, after all, so she has a point. “I learned a lot from them, for sure. Also, my brother, who is 10 years older than me, was already doing recording sessions and gigs as I was growing up, so I watched him in the studio, learned from him, figured out I could sing, and
12 HEADLINER
thought, ‘that’s what I want to do’, basically.” There are no airs or graces (forgive the pun) about thisyoung lady. She’s bubbly, humble, and easy to talk to. Her mum, she tells me, was into all the greats: Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Smokey Robinson, so Grace grew up listening to all of them, which has had a positive effect on her own approach to singing. “I guess I tried to emulate those singers to some extent,” Grace reflects. “I was already writing
18-year-old Australian songstress, Grace, played her first show when she was just 12, and by 14 had secured her first publishing deal. Not a bad start! Three years later, her manager sent out a demo she’d written and put together on Garageband, which caught the attention of a number of record executives, and ultimately resulted in Grace signing with RCA. What followed was pretty sensational: her unique cover of Lesley Gore’s 1963 hit, You Don’t Own Me, featuring rapper, G-Eazy, reached the number one spot in Australia, and also in the UK on the official airplay chart. The track was co-produced by Parker Ighile and legendary producer, Quincy Jones, the latter of whom also produced the original. We sat down with Grace in London over a soya latte or two to find out more about the girl behind the music, and about the direction of her debut album, due for release later this year.
when I was nine or 10 years old - just because I felt I needed to express myself - and then I signed to my publisher when I was 14, and soon found myself doing co-writes in Stockholm, and collaborating with other musicians. It all got a bit more serious, but I was still really young, so I couldn’t focus, full-time.” But that wouldn’t last long. Grace left school at 17, and remembers how she was still ‘figuring it all out’ in terms of artist development. She was
ready to take the next step, as there was no backup plan... Literally. “There was just nothing else I was passionate about, and that’s still the same today,” she says, with a smile. “I had this two-month waiting period when I was in Australia, and had nothing to do, really, so I wrote this song called Boyfriend Jeans, and recorded a shitty demo on Garageband and sent it to my manager. He said he loved it, so sent it to five different US labels, and within a week, I was out
Grace
Newcomer
there showcasing for them!” It’s easy, this game, isn’t it? “[laughs] It was pretty mad! Coming from shit-all, going on to being in Sony and Republic, and showcasing for Chairmen of these massive companies,” Grace admits. “I ended up signing with RCA, who are amazing; I couldn’t have asked for a better home. They’re just music people, through and through, which is what I felt was the most important thing for me. This was October 2014, then we put the EP [Memo] out, which I did with British producer, Parker Ighile, who I’ve been doing sessions with here in the UK since I was 14, and am now working on the album with. He is an incredibly talented guy.” Conversation turns to musical collaboration and songwriting– something Grace has done a lot of in the past few years. “I had to learn, as I was so inexperienced, and I was just a sponge, really,” she laughs. “And that helped me a lot figuring out the basic structure of how to write a song, and to be inspired. But I think it really depends on how you’re feeling; if you want to speak your mind, it’s sometimes better to just go in the studio and be with you and a track, or someone that can play an instrument, and just write. But collaboration is also a great way to create: there are no rules to it, it’s whatever works for you, which is the beauty in it, I think.” When you listen to Grace’s EP, Memo, you can hear a number of influences, and a lot of soul. There’s more than a bit of Amy Winehouse in there – her musical hero - and even a touch of Christina Aguilera when she lets rip. In summary, this girl can really sing. Her real love, she says, is being on stage; and her affiliation with the UK suggests we might get to see her perform sooner rather than later. “Some of my favourite artists – like Amy – come from here, and the UK has never seemed that far away, as my dad is British, and all his family are here, so I have always wanted a presence here,” Grace explains. “I have been coming here since I was little, too; and I think musically, London has always been ahead 13 HEADLINER
of the curve in terms of the creative. [pauses] I just think dope shit happens here!” As well as being compared to Amy Winehouse, Grace has been tagged as Australia’s answer to Adele – does she take that as a big compliment, or does it just bring more pressure? “[smiles] I think as humans we like to compare, as it’s natural for us to put people in a box; I tend not to pay attention to it, really; it’s obviously a massive compliment to be compared to names such as that; they’re people I’ve loved,” Grace says, very matter of fact. “Amy has been my inspiration since I was a little kid. I adore her. So you can’t help but be humbled and excited by the compliment, but you can’t get caught in the hype - you have to pave your own way. Nobody ever got great by copying what someone else did; all the legendary iconic artists that we look at today are completely unique and authentic, so that’s what I have always strived for.”
W
e chat a little about social media, and how it helps Grace connect directly with her fanbase, though she admits she is not quite as natural with technology as she is at the mic..! “I think having multiple platforms to connect these days is a great thing, and it’s definitely a positive, but I do need to get better at it! We are still in that grind stage, carving out a fanbase and a following at the moment, but it’s definitely moving in the right direction,” Grace explains. “I won’t be headlining tours anytime soon, but I have toured with Leon Bridges throughout Europe, which was an amazing experience. Performing live is something the Australians and Brits have in common; it’s ingrained into us as artists. I was playing in bars and pubs from a young age; it was just what you did. As an artist, you have to be able to sing live, and put on a show. That’s always been very important to me, and the stage is definitely where I feel the most comfortable.” Since recording her EP, Grace says she has evolved as a songwriter, and that her album
will be a little more mature as a result. Although she’s soul through and through, she also has a bit of hip hop up her sleeve, she reveals: “My voice has always tried to emulate that soulfulness that I grew up listening to, but you can’t emulate soul, you have to have it a little bit as well [smiles]. But hip hop is everywhere in culture today, and you can’t escape it: I listen to Nas, Kanye, Jay Z; they all grew up listening to soul and Motown music, too, and it’s sampled into their music, so it’s very easy for me to relate to that, and be inspired by that, sonically. “If you mix that all together, and tell it from an 18 year old girl’s perspective, there is always an authenticity, because it’s coming from your brain, you know what I mean? [smiles] I couldn’t say exactly what it is, and I don’t think I ever will truly be able to pin point it to one genre.” Which is a good thing, right? “A good and a bad thing,” Grace laughs. “Some people get confused by it. My album that I am working on right now is very different to the EP; it’s more stripped back in terms of production, and more about the songs, and being a singer. On my EP, I’m talking about going to parties and getting in trouble with your parents, whereas now it’s about taking things more seriously and growing up. I’ve experienced a year of new things, and that’s transpired in the album, so it’s a little bit more mature. I was always going to go in that direction because of the artists that I have looked up to.” Follow Grace on Twitter: @OfficialGrace
“Musically, London has always been ahead of the curve.”
Connecting the Dots SCOTT LIPPS ON MUSIC, CELEBRITY, AND FASHION. Scott Lipps is quite a story. Drummer in Courtney Love’s band, Hole; street artist and photography fanatic; and founder and CEO of one of the cutting edge modelling agencies. So how did that happen, then? We sent Gary Spencer into New York City to find out. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? I remember telling my dad I was going to attend PIT, the Pittsburgh Institute of Technology. I did, of course, but it was the Percussion Institute [laughs]. I grew my hair out and became a drummer in local rock bands, then in the late ‘80s, I was with a band called Black Cherry, who at that time were one of the biggest bands on the live circuit, especially on the West Coast. While playing drums for these bands, I also took over the marketing, and sometimes the management - and remember, this was 1987, so it wasn’t a case of posting to your Facebook or Instagram wall! We were trying to compete on LA’s Sunset Strip with big bands like Poison and Guns N’ Roses, and our fliers had to stand out better than not only those bands, but the thousands of other bands that were gigging around that time. And what led you down the modelling agency route? Well, when you are a drummer, and not involved in any of the songwriting, you are easily replaceable; I really enjoyed the bands I played for, so to make sure I earned my worth, I learned to become their management, basically. I tried working for labels, and actually setting up my own record label, but it just didn’t work because clients couldn’t see past me being a drummer, so my mother suggested that I get in touch with my cousin, who owned NEXT models. Initially, I was driving the models around, and being a general help; and everyone seemed to enjoy my different perspective on the fashion scene. So I progressed to becoming a booker, and then in 2001, was able to set up One Management. What do other agents think about you, would you say? I’m certainly not the first agent to try and take the organic route and shoot my muses that may lead to bigger and better projects; and I also know that there are many agents that have creative outlets. But I love the whole vision and branding process. I feel that through being around successful musicians, actors, and models, I understand what it takes to 14 HEADLINER
Scott Lipps
Interview
get a talent from A to Z, and that whole process is what I love to do. I work my arse off every day doing it, but it’s an amazing buzz when I see our development ideas come to fruition. But it’s funny... When you look at social media these days, it’s like a greatest hits; you never see the hard work behind the scenes. The hustle, you know? It’s all about the 30 seconds it takes to produce the one shot that’s worthy of a post. Everyone has ADD these days, including me, but no one wants to see someone sitting at a computer putting the infrastructure together; it’s just not exciting enough. I’m always looking for ways to develop and grow the agency and the divisions within it. In the last year, I have been really focusing on our social media division, as it’s such an important part of the industry nowadays; even some campaigns go straight to digital, and skip print altogether. So many of my top girls are now shooting magazines such as Vogue, and it’s all because of social media. Then it starts to cross over, and all of a sudden it gets quite interesting; for instance, Rocky Barnes just shot a spread for Vogue with Patrick Demarchelier for Sam Edelman.
Who would you say are your top girls? When we started the agency, we wanted to brand girls as supermodels or represent girls who already were supermodels, but to name some would be Iman, Bar Refaeli, Kirsten Owen, Hailey Clauson, Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova, and Karolina Kurkova. We are fortunate to have some amazing girls within the agency. You were probably the first model agency to represent celebrity and talent... We were certainly one of the front runners, yes; we have been open now for 15 years, and when we started, that really wasn’t happening. Now, others have celebrity divisions. The film agencies had endorsement divisions, but we really were leading the field as far as a model agent. I see the company as a celebrity/entertainment 15 HEADLINER
“The whole street art thing for me is a creative outlet; I love getting inspired.”
agency, but use the modelling as the base for everything, as that has always been our starting point.
The Huffington Post said: ‘If any actor is connected to Kevin Bacon in less than six degrees of separation, anyone in the fashion industry must be connected to Scott Lipps in less than three.’ True? [smiles] Hmm... How can I answer that without sounding weird? My network has become very extensive, and the fashion biz is connected to so many people, plus I also have my music and those guys within that; and on top of that, my managerial stuff. So much of that is behind the scenes, and I do rely a lot on my network with that: for example, I know X from an ad agency who knows Y, who is a photographer, and Z is my musician/actor/celebrity, who is perfect for the project. Managing artists or celebrities is really a lot of the time just connecting the dots. Do you have a mental rolodex? Well, when a client gets on the phone and they need an actor, musician, model or celebrity for a brand, it’s really important that you listen to exactly what it is they want, and plug them into the right people. I’ve heard in the past of other agencies that just fax a whole list of talent over, whereas I try to make the
interaction between client and agency as personal and targeted as possible.
What is your fascination with street art? The whole street art thing for me and the photography is a creative outlet; I love taking pictures, I love getting inspired. I get inspired by beautiful people, by great street art as scenery, and just by New York City or travelling. As great as New York City is, after a while, there’s only so many times you can take a photo of One World Trade or food. New York City does have some amazing street art, so I got into photographing that, but I can’t tell you how great it feels when someone comes up to me and says, “hey man, I saw your shot on Instagram; I love what you do”. That to me is so rewarding. How long did your recent tour with Courtney Love and Hole last for, and would you ever consider being a fulltime rock drummer again? We just did over a month on the road with Courtney and the band; the good thing for me is, Courtney would rather play certain shows and festivals. We did a tour a couple of years ago where we were playing theatre venues which were a little smaller, but this latest tour was amazing where we played shows like the Hollywood Bowl and Red Rocks, and most of the crowds were around the 20,000 mark. Supporting Lana Del Ray is quite a buzz every night, also. But would I consider it full time again? [pauses] It’s a wonderful way to earn a living, but again, I only post the best bits on Instagram; no-one sees the travel delays, the bus journeys, the bad hotel beds - or no hotel beds, and sleeping on the tour bus! Music has changed so much, especially rock music; it’s so tough for that genre of music right now, as it’s all about hip hop and DJs and EDM. But hey, I’m a rocker; that’s my soul. Because of my diverse career, I go from sitting in a model agency office to banging drums in front of 20,000 people... It’s a weird disconnect! And yes, I was really nervous, pacing corridors and so on. I like
the edge that nerves give you, but I also like the calmness of knowing I’m up to the task too. Playing the earlier shows, there were smoke machines and low lights, so I couldn’t really see the crowds; and then you walk out at Hollywood Bowl and the lights are up, it’s still sunny, and I’m like: “holy fuck!” [laughs] But nothing compares to that hour rush when you are on stage.
Who inspires you musically? Well obviously John Bonham, from a rock stand point. He’s the classic rock drummer; the best ever, as far as I’m concerned. And from a jazz perspective, Billy Cobham; and that whole jazz thing is on another level, drumming wise. I love Mitch Mitchell, who was with Jimi Hendrix; and currently I love the Nine Inch Nails drummer, Ilan Rubin. He blows me away; the best I’ve seen in the past 10 years. I obviously love Tommy Lee for his energy, and the way he hits so hard, and is so into it, too. So a lot of people, basically! What is a typical day for Scott Lipps... If there is such a thing? [smiles] I normally have between three and 10 meetings per day, and in the evenings, I normally have a bunch of work-related events that I like to or need to attend. I still get on the phone and negotiate deals for the models, but at the same time I am trying to build and evolve constantly, so I try and delegate the booking table the best I can. I really want to grow One Management further again in 2016, and the only way I can do that is by letting go of the reins now and again. Young, and still with lots of drive and ambition. What’s next? Oh, I’m not that young! [laughs] I don’t even know. Obviously I want to continue to grow the company, open up more divisions, and develop those further. I would love to progress and do more photography, and hopefully continue to do more music with Courtney. Let’s wait and see. www.onemanagement.com
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TOUR
Insight
MADONNA REBEL HEART We sneak backstage during MADONNA’s mesmerising Rebel Heart tour, which sees the multi-award winning artist work three separate stages and a 100-foot long catwalk. And it’s quite the spectacle.
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ADONNA NEEDS no introduction, but just in case: she is officially the top-selling female artist of all time, with a staggering 300 million record sales to her name, 266 awards, and an all-time tour revenue of more than $1.1 billion. Her 13 studio albums were released over more than three decades, eight of which went to number one, and three of which sold more than 20 million copies each – and that’s before you consider her compilation albums, such as The Immaculate Collection, which shifted an eyewatering 30 million copies on its own. Madonna has also been a super-successful actress too, of course, featuring in more than 25 movies spanning a number of genres: blockbuster hits include Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), A League of Their Own (1992), and Evita (1996), the latter of which won her a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her portrayal of Eva Perón.
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But Madge isn’t done just yet. The 58-year-old powerhouse is coming to the end of her 10th world tour, Rebel Heart, and this production is as slick and impressive as ever, using state of the art automation, lighting, and audio equipment, to make sure that wherever she is – running down her 100-foot long catwalk, or working her A, B, or C stage – she is always looking and sounding tip top. This, of course, is down to her sound and lighting engineers, whose job is a pretty big one. “In rehearsals, we ran actual Madonna studio sessions, and that can be up to 600 tracks,” smiles monitor engineer, Matt Napier, who adds that ‘Madonna likes it to sound just like the album’. Evidently so! “The whole thing is about dual redundancy, which is one of the reasons I use a DiGiCo SD7; we use MADI main, and MADI auxiliary. The other reason, aside from the overall sound, of course, is its massive input capabilities: we’re at 118 inputs with 16 mono auxes and 22 stereo auxes, plus
stereo groups and matrix sends... I think there might be one processing channel left!” A huge show, no question – and hardly surprising, given the level of the artist in question. Madonna is somewhat meticulous when it comes to her sound, and it’s the same at side stage. I notice that the SD7 has an extension attached to it. This, Napier informs me, is to make room for Sean Spuehler, Madge’s own monitor man. “I do the band and the music for Madonna, and then Sean does the vocal effects on the extension; he has her dry vocal fader coming in, and he has the two backing singers, then he uses stereo aux sends to send it into Logic, where we can then get third party plugins and just drop them in,” explains Napier. So that you can replicate any sound? “Yes, exactly that. So Sean has traditional FX engines like reverbs and delays, but then he also has in-line plugins as well. If there is a particular plugin he uses from the album, we bring it in; it just gives us the
option to have whatever Madonna wants, and her expectations are extremely high. If it doesn’t sound right to her, it distracts her, and when something distracts her, it’s easy for her to get thrown in the show. She’s used to the way the record sounds, so that’s our number one thing from the offset: make it sound like the record. Madonna also has a very good ear for when stuff sounds different, so we have to be exactly the same. Her attention to detail makes her very unique, actually.” To summarise, pre-show, the guys mix all the songs down with Madonna’s musical director, cross check everything with the album to get it as close as possible, so that when Madonna does come in, it’s more likely to be a minimal conversation to be had, as the work is 99% done. “Her vocal sound is very specific to her, which is why Sean is here, and that also goes to Andy Meyer at front of house,” Napier continues. “So if Sean does a spot delay, Andy picks that same delay
TOUR up, and so on.” According to Napier, there are more MacBook Pros than most Mars missions on this tour: “We have two MacBook Pros doing Sean’s Logic system – his main and backup goes through two MADI bridges: one on the coax; on the MADI feed. And the idea is, if one of the MADI bridges dies, we still have complete signal.” All the MADI ports are in use on Napier’s SD7: ports one and two are for recording (to achieve 112 channels of record, total); port three is for Spuehler’s effects; and port four is used for playback. “Really, we couldn’t do this show on anything other than an SD7,” Napier admits. “We run a lot of the show on timecode – and this is the first show I’ve worked with timecode. The biggest problem we’ve got is the 100-foot catwalk, so Madonna’s mix is constantly changing. However, using timecode, I’ve managed to control that: it allows me to concentrate on the constants, not the variables; and the variable is where she is, and the amount of spill that comes back into her mic from the PA. It’s quite an operation, really.” It sounds it. Inevitably, Napier also uses a multitude of snapshots during the show. “We have lots of snapshots for each song, and the timecode comes from the playback, which is for the lights and the automation, so we basically piggy-back on that timecode, and use it to fire our snapshots,” he explains. “And if we need to tweak anything, it’s pretty easy. The only issue with timecode is, if they make a musical edit to the show, all the timecode points change!”
Listen Carefully
Madge and co. are all on in-ears: JH Audio Roxannes to be precise. The whole team switched over to JH Audio for this tour, specifically. “I didn’t make the call to move to JH, but it is a very good system,” Napier says. “We mix Madonna on the master buss, so there are several groups for her, then there are four musicians, two backing vocalists, all the playback guys, the techs... I’m not sure how many exactly, but it’s a lot of monitor mixes! I think technology-wise, all the gear has reached a very good standard, and it’s all very efficient. The touring industry model of doing arenas is very positive - even small bands get in early on. And they’re not the best sounding rooms, but
Insight
with line-arrays and good in-ear systems, good mixing consoles, most audiences now have a very good experience at a concert.” At front of house, Andy Meyer is also on an SD7. He uses forward and back snapshots (117 total), which is something he learned when on tour with Guns N’ Roses: “A few years back, I did a year of Guns N’ Roses; it was 238 snapshots total, and I thought I was smart using just one pedal, until I found I was standing on one leg for two hours, which was brutal,” he laughs. “And that’s when I started using timecode, and it’s awesome, so that works out well, now. The show just fires from the SD7; all I’ve got to do is ride the vocal out front all night, but other than that, this kit makes the job a piece of cake.” His SD7 is ‘loaded with Waves all the way through’, and Meyer uses these plugins to modify a lot of the playback that’s coming into his console. “You have to be able to modify it, so I use the Waves C6 to repair a lot of shit, and the Waves REDD, because I do a lot of middle/side; if the background part they’ve given me is too ambient, I can take the side away a little bit, tweak it, and make it wider,” he explains. “And then I just started using the Waves GEQ, and it’s fricking great. If something up top is bugging me when I’m doing a show and we’re doing rehearsals in an arena, I look up, see it might be a problem at 10k, grab it, give it a little tuck, save it, and I’m done. I’ve gone through the show, as there is quite a lot going on, and some of it sounds like bad conversion through a PA, so between the C6 and the GEQ, I am carving a lot of that shit out during the show, as everything changes from song to song.”
Ray of Light
Another key aspect to this tour is the lighting. Rebel Heart tour was designed by renowned lighting designer, Al Gurdon, who worked closely with the artist during pre-production; and for the tour, Joshua Hutchings is the operator. He’s been involved in lighting and theatre since he was just 13-years-old, and this is his first Madonna tour. “We have about 1500 cues that are triggered by SMPTE [timecode], so the majority of the show is triggered; then we have what we call our guitar section, where Madonna has an option of several songs which she can throw in, none of which are time-coded,” Hutchings explains.
“All of those are manual, just because there’s no way of knowing what song she’ll choose until she is on stage. It’s her way of being able to vibe with the audience, and manipulate the show to be better, based on what’s going on. “Because of the high level of choreography and scenery automation, it’s much better for this show to be time-coded, because it allows for a level of detail you may not be able to achieve if you were driving it manually.”
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CCORDING TO HUTCHINGS, Madonna’s primary concern is her follow spots, and how she feels she is lit: “We keep the angles as close as possible from show to show,” he explains. “Madonna really is a creature of habit, and wants it to be the same every night.” During the show, Madonna skips between three stages and a long catwalk. Must be tiring work... “[smiles] Yes! We basically have a 105-foot long truss with two stages in between, and an 80-foot ramp intersecting it, so she is all over the place,” Hutchings reveals. “You’re almost doing a show 360, as she is surrounded for the majority of the time when she is on the B or C stages, so you definitely have to take that into account – that, and how she reacts with the audiences, basically.” The lighting rig is sizeable, and as expected, state-of-the-art. There are plenty of Clay Paky Mythos, a complement of PRG Best Boys, and the new PRG ground remote control for the follow spots, too. But at the heart of everything is GLP. “I demoed some GLP gear when we were doing X Factor USA three or four years ago, and that’s when I developed the relationship with the company,” says Hutchings. “We use a lot of GLP kit on this tour, and if there is a problem, I can call them any time of the day, as their customer service is first rate.” The GLP inventory is pretty vast: 94 x Impression X4 Bar 20, 38 x Impression X4 Bar 10, and 39 x GLP X4s. “The main thing for us is the X4 Bars,” says Hutchings. “We have those lined across the entire ramp, so it fills the whole stage from the stage forward; in addition to lighting the dancers and all on the ramp, as far as a functional wash light, it really gives a custom outline to the line of the stage, and brings the production line to a way higher level. >>p.20
“The touring industry model of doing arenas is very positive - even small bands get in early on.” 18 HEADLINER
www.audio-technica.com
Inside The Stufish Machine “Madonna likes it to sound just like the album.”
“Then we have the X4s, which we use along the stage as stage kickers; we have custom brackets that Tait made for us, so they sit on the edge of the stage and are totally flush to the stage. They are great, punchy little wash lights, and they really bring out an accent in a tight constricted space.” I ask Hutchings how much of a deal efficiency is on a tour like this, and what kind of lighting trends he has seen evolve in the past year or so. “Energy efficiency comes into it, certainly, but it’s not as concerning on a show like this [smiles]. The main thing I notice is, you can be right up next to these GLP lights and not get hot; you’ll never burn yourself on them, and that allows us to put them in positions we might not have been able to put them before from a safety standpoint. “In terms of trends, we’re seeing a lot more hybrids: a cross between a wash beam and a hard-edge fixture, so compactness is starting to play in; being able to get a lot out of a light with really small footprint. Manufacturers are always coming up with concepts and ideas, and a lot of that is out of demand. It’ll be interesting to see how much farther we can go.” www.glp.de www.digico.biz www.jhaudio.com www.waves.com
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omething that deserves a serious mention is Madonna’s set for Rebel Heart, which was designed and put together by Stufish. These guys are the epitome of set design, and deal directly with the artist and production team to make sure all ends meet, and some. To give you an idea, around Christmas 2015, Stufish had 13 shows out on the same day: that included Madonna, a Vegas show, Queen on tour, and many more. It’s a serious operation, and the same one that did U2’s recent Innocence & Experience tour, which we covered in Headliner Issue 12. Stufish did Madonna’s last [MDNA] tour, which looked equally as impressive as Rebel Heart, but with the latter, we think they’ve perhaps taken it up a notch or two. “We wanted to go big with this show: ramps, the ability to fly, big lifts, all kinds of stuff,” explains Stufish’ Ric Lipson. “It came out of the requirement to have a wall that they could dance against, the whole cast in one lift, dancing on a ramp, and even all the dancers being lifted up high on top of the wall! It was very complex to do, and a very heavy machine.” ‘The Machine’, in short, is the size of a double-decker bus, and can go from flat to vertical in 30 seconds, up and down horizontally in eight seconds, and any height between zero and 2.5 metres! “Yeah, it’s impressive,” Lipson smiles. You’re telling us! So how do you put it together, then? “Well, we met with Madonna and the director, and between them they
carved out what they wanted based on either the hits or the new album, with various themes in the middle. And what’s great about this show is, we have around 27 songs or so, and we needed to find variation, to create undulating terrains. We have a counter rake, which is 1.2 metres long, and during Material Girl, people stand on the back and stay horizontal, and Madonna pushes them down the ramp. “We are also able to attach beds to the platform: bits of video screen pop up to give us hooks that we can attach the beds to, and people are jumping around all over it... It’s not as simple as it looks, I can assure you!” Then there’s the rest of the stage: traditionally, Madonna tends to have her band and the screens in very similar places, and the infrastructure requires a huge amount of space for dancers, backline, costume changes, and equipment. I guess that makes it easier, does it? “Yes and no, because creatively it’s also annoying at times,” admits Lipson. “As the video screen is upstage, although it’s very different, it still looks like MDNA, but the shape of the thrust and the positioning of the lighting does give you a different vibe. MDNA had a diamond point, whereas this one is basically a big cross with a heart on the end, Rebel Heart. Then the B and C stages both have lifts, so it allows her to work them more. She is a very up front performer with dancers behind her, who sticks mainly to the main stage, but with this show, she wanted to be out there more – it was the same with U2. A full-length catwalk enabled her to get
up close and personal with the crowd a lot more. Some of the scenes, like when we fly in a spiral staircase over the C stage, are very powerful moments. On that occasion, she sings Love Don’t Live Here Anymore, really close to her audience. What was also great to see was that she seemed to really enjoy it, and as a result, talked to them more. That was a really nice personal touch.” Every Madonna show is so incredibly rehearsed and worked out from day one, Lipson says, to the extent that she’ll have a mic in her hand when learning every bit of the choreography: “We’ll have mock costumes, mock props, a mock stage for the three months of rehearsals, and everything is worked out to the beat, which is great, as it results in the most high-end, accurate show,” he explains. “And not to criticise MDNA, but I think she has the balance just right with this show: every night she’ll pick a random song and throw it at her band, and that’s a real treat for the crowd – a great dynamic. “She has a lot of hits in there, and the design has enabled her to be with the people. Of course, for the big look, we worked with [lighting designer] Al Gurdon to shape the lights, and the video companies for the content, but between Stufish and Jamie King, we visualise it all, we storyboard it with animation and illustration, and then everything is modelled and signed off by Madonna herself.” www.stufish.com
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Music Matt & Esh
Living for the Moment The music industry is way smaller than we might all think; and if it wasn't for the odd sliding door or two, many musical breakthroughs might never occur. On that note, we catch up in LA with the very talented Matt Wilson and Esh, whose respective musical paths have always somehow gravitated back to each other, no matter where they are. Spooky stuff...
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att Wilson hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and it was when Esh moved to the same city some eight years ago that they were to meet for the first time. It was at an open mic; Matt had an Afrobeat band that was looking for a singer, and Esh was just what he had been waiting for. “The open mic list opens at 9pm, and usually within three minutes, it’s full,” Matt says, with a smile. “So Esh shows up with one of the guys I’d seen before; I didn’t know her at all, but she had this look in her eye, and I somehow knew she was the real deal. I thought, ‘you know what, put the list
down for a minute’. [laughs] So I got her up right away, and she literally blew everyone away.” Although Milwaukee is a very industrial town with a lot of inequality, many great musicians have come out of that struggle. “In the US, the church scene is huge, and unifies a lot of the talent from predominantly African American artists,” Matt continues. “Sometimes there are direct lines between these and the artists, in fact: Mary J Blige and Gil Scott seem to source their bands from this one church in Milwaukee, which is called Christian Faith.” Interesting stuff. Esh wasn’t into that kind of music at the
time, but knew a lot of the heavy hitters on the scene, and the idea of Afrobeat intrigued her somewhat. “I wanted to create my own lane, so when I moved to Milwaukee it was to see where I could fit in; a new scene and new journey,” Esh admits. “I wasn’t trying to do soul and R&B; it was rock. But Afrobeat was new to me, and I was open to it. And Matt and I just clicked.” So Esh joined Matt’s 10-piece band, and began doing shows. The band was moving fast, and some overseas opportunities arose, but so did American Idol... “I had never done anything like American Idol before, as I am
Music Matt & Esh
“I live for the moment, as tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us, but I am always excited about what it might bring.”
so independent; I need to control what I do,” Esh smiles. “But a girlfriend of mine said it was coming - this was Season 10, where Simon [Cowell] had left, and the new judges were Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. So it had the rock element. I still wasn’t sure but then I discovered Milwaukee Idol, and whoever won that would walk into American Idol at the producer stage, so I auditioned for that. Matt actually did the audition video with me we – it was The Rolling Stones’ Come Together. So they called me two days later, and I’d made top six. My friends thought that was good enough to go for American Idol, so I did. I was back and forth for four auditions, made it through 396 people to Hollywood, then I made it to top 40.” Quite an achievement! So this led you to part ways with the Afrobeat band, I’m guessing? “It did, and the whole American Idol experience alone taught me what I want and what I don’t want; I was actually relieved when I didn’t go further! Being told what to do, and not being able to be creative was a problem for me; they wanted another Rihanna or Beyoncé, so I was pigeon holed,” Esh explains. “I was told it was because as an African American woman, it would be hard to sell me as a rock and roll singer... That was 2010, and now of course it’s very cool to be an African American rock singer! [laughs] It was a valuable experience, but even just seeing all the kids believing they were going to be superstars was difficult to watch. I was sitting back and thinking, ‘is this for real?’ It didn’t sit quite right with me.” Esh admits the experience felt like a boot camp (with plenty of 6am starts and 3am finishes), but if she could apply herself in the same way to doing something she loved, then who knows where it might lead? “So I co-founded my band, Red and Reckless, with some heavy hitters that play with Erykah Badu and Gill Scott [in Chicago] - an awesome band,” Esh enthuses. “Matt guested and played guitar on some of the shows, so we were constantly meeting still; we’ve always been there for each other out of utility, I suppose!” Esh then went on to release her own EP, You Should Know Me. 23 HEADLINER
“I was the artist, the manager, the social media expert,” she says, with a smile. “And I had some great guys out of Chicago working with me. I was travelling between Milwaukee and Chicago, and still living in Milwaukee; and then the band split! I was like, ‘what’s going on, God? Give me a break!’ [laughs] We were really getting off the ground at this point as a group; we’d been together for eight years, had played Summer Fest three times (the largest music festival in the world by numbers, remarkably also based in Milwaukee!), we’d done Taste of Chicago, House of Blues, and suddenly it was just me and the bass player, just swapping out guys, and I didn’t feel comfortable.”
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his was 2015, and Esh felt she needed to understand exactly who ‘Esh the Singer’ really was. “So I moved to LA, and stayed there for seven months, just to get myself together, while at the same time, Matt is away travelling the world,” she laughs, adding that she also has two kids to look after full-time. Somewhat of a super-mum, then? “[laughs] Yeah, super-mum, and rock and roll chick here, you know? So for the last year or so, I’ve just been focusing on my family.” For Matt, the last 18 months have been a little different: he was planning on living in NYC due to its Afrobeat scene, which he has been immersed in for last 10 years; but then another band he was playing in signed to a label based in India, and at the same time, he got an offer to move to Memphis to join another international touring band. I’m feeling dizzy just thinking about it..! “[laughs] Yeah, it was many opportunities; I ended up joining the band in Memphis, toured Europe with them, then flew to India to join the other band, then flew back to the States,” he explains. As you do... “I’ve been touring with the band in Memphis since then, whose singer, John Németh, is the current BB King Entertainer of the Year, the highest male honour outside of The Grammys. And I spend a lot of time with Al Green’s old drummer, Howard Grimes, just chatting to him on his porch; he is the godfather to us when it comes to power and simplicity. So I’m living in Memphis, and surrendering myself to different projects as they come along.” And on that note, fast forward to 2016, and here we are in LA, where the two of you have met up yet again, embarking on yet another project together! You’ve made
a music video for RME Audio, which has been put together by renowned videographer, Brian Mear; and then you performed every day at this year’s Winter NAMM show in Anaheim. Tell us about that. “Yes, it’s amazing how it works out, isn’t it? [smiles] Through various channels, we have got together and both put our name to RME’s Babyface Pro interface, an exceptional product,” Matt explains. “I had been using one of RME’s competitors’ products, and there is a lot of smoke and mirrors in the audio business; many people don’t even hear about a company like RME, which is a real shame. You hear about the Apogee Duet as the ultimate in portable interfaces, but for me, it doesn’t come close to the Babyface Pro.” Matt uses Babyface every day, and rates both its versatility and sonic qualities: “I have been recording all of our concerts with it by just running a condenser mic into it; I place Babyface in whatever part of the room seems most appropriate with just a single XLR input, and the results are fantastic. “But there are 24 channels of potential input in this little thing, so if I wanted to, I could mic every cymbal, drum, guitar amp, vocal mic; you can really make it as big as you want.” And what about you, Esh? “Well, the opportunity with RME just doing the video was amazing for me, just being back in contact with Matt, first and foremost; and I knew Brian [Mear] too. I was in town, I was dropping the kids off for the holidays, so as long as they could feed me nachos, I was prepared to hang out for as long as they wanted,” she laughs. “And the video was great timing. I am not a techhead, by any means, but to find out about Babyface Pro, just how simple it is to use, I realised I could learn this technology easily. “It’s also something I knew I could represent, so I am very proud to be a part of it. And this wasn’t to try and open any further musical doors, it was just to hang with friends and do some cool stuff. “Once that was done, I was back to my family, but now RME have gone on to forge a real relationship with us; they brought us out to NAMM, and we’re now part of the bigger picture, which is going to be very exciting. “I live for the moment, as tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us, but I am always excited about what it might bring.” A nice way to sum it all up, Esh. We wish you and Matt the best of luck with your future musical ventures, which we have a feeling might well crossover again before too long..! www.rme-audio.com
Music
EDM
Ferry Corsten Hello World
Acclaimed DJ and producer, Ferry Corsten, looks at the evolving electronic dance music scene, and predicts a possible old school trance comeback.
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t the start of 2015, Ferry Corsten set himself quite a challenge: to write, produce, and release three separate EPs, each of which would contain five or six tracks, and all of which could come together as one album. Not his usual way of working, he admits. This became the Hello World series, and just a couple of weeks ago, he announced the release of the compilation, complete with some seriously big remixes as bonus material. Job done, then. So take us through the process, Ferry... “Your whole attitude towards production and decision-making changes, as all of a sudden, there’s a deadline that you have to meet! It was pretty daring, I guess,” Corsten smiles, adding that ‘with a regular album, you can sometimes sit on a track for a month and still change it’. “The first release was in February 2015, and all three EPs were released during the year. But the whole reason behind it was because of the way people consume music today; an album might take a year to make, so the first track you make might be a year old before it’s released... So the album would be at least half dated when it was completed! So this process eliminated that. I decided to give it a different spin, basically, instead of releasing it all at once.” A real lover (and master) of trance music, what are Corsten’s views on big room EDM, house, deep house... And any other houses, for that matter..? “[laughs] Well, for a long time, I have been a multi-genre producer of electronic music, but lately I have narrowed that window. I still feel trance the most, because I still have a soft spot for melodies, and trance is all about that,” Corsten reveals. “It starts with the right melody and the right emotion - that is trance. And if I do want to try a techno track or an EDM type track, I always go back to that melodic thing; a real one with a front and an end that tells a story. I do also like to take elements from deep house, just to add a little twist, from time to time.” Trance’s real hey-day was around the turn of the century, but its popularity waned somewhat after ‘that whole progressive movement’ came up, Corsten explains: “A lot of the genres felt the weight of big room EDM, and then the American scene burst through with the fist pump element, and then the pop collaborations (Skrillex/ Diplo and Bieber; Calvin Harris and Taylor 24 HEADLINER
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EDM
“It starts with the right melody and the right emotion - that is trance.”
Swift etc.). But as I see things now, I think the big days of EDM are sort of done. At least it’s evolving into something else, though - what they call future house now. It’s a lot groovier, and femalefriendly as well, which is a positive thing. There’s a lot more room for melodies, and a lot more air in the music. Eventually, trance will make a big comeback because of that.” And when it does, what kind of trance will it be... If that makes any sense? “[smiles] Over the last two years, a lot of the trance guys have diverted to borderline EDM from the real trance sound; and from the fan side of things, I have seen a real longing for that good old trance - that turn of the century stuff I was talking about. I am heading that way, and I have seen a lot of people miss it. So with EDM bang over the hill [laughs], I really hope that trance becomes trance again, and house becomes house again, and we start seeing our own icons again - and I don’t mean those guys spraying champagne on stage! “I remember 10 years ago, at a festival, you would hear a few seconds of music come out of a tent and you would know it was Erick Morillo playing; in the next tent, you would know it’s Sasha... And that has almost gone. You walk past main stages now and you have no clue who it is, because they all play the same music. It’d be really nice to see that change, and would definitely help the scene.” Conversation turns to collaboration, which is a definite buzzword in the music industry today. What’s Ferry’s take on it all? “Well, if The Rolling Stones were to collaborate with U2, the earth would shake,” he smiles. “And it’s because of that, that we should keep doing collaborations - for the shock factor. If I made something with deadmau5, noone would expect it, but the result would be something people talk about and would keep the scene healthy... Or Prince, perhaps? That would definitely be something amazing in my book! [smiles]” So considering its popularity, should electronic 25 HEADLINER
dance music have its own official space in, say, The Grammys, for example? “Yes, because all of those popular genres – rock, pop, R&B, country - are using the EDM scene to spice up their own genre; it’s like the pepper and salt on the table. If The Grammys would look at that a bit more, they’d see all these major genres are actually adapting to what we are doing: using our producers, taking our little tricks and ideas. “So yes, dance should have its own space in The Grammys; and I think they should think a little further than, ‘oh, here’s a dance artist because he worked with a big pop star’, you know? OK, there’s Daft Punk, but really that recognition was because of Pharrell and the Nile Rodgers influence; it’s with legendary names. So I would love to see some obscure techno track make it to The Grammys.” When it comes to making music, Corsten works solely in the box, and admits his techniques are not exactly run of the mill. “I like to work with a master chain stack, straight onto my master buss, so I get that instant powerful sound... I know it’s not the right way to do, it but I don’t care, as it works for me,” he explains. “I use the Waves Mercury Bundle on everything, and I like the Steven Slate stuff, too, for the analogue character. The two brands work well together, in fact. Waves is great; it’s all the go-to stuff, and that for me is the effects and compression, really. I also have the Ozone 6 on my master buss for some EQing and multiband compression; that plugin has so many elements that you already combine on your master chain. Very cool.” So what’s next for Ferry Corsten? “Well, after a very busy second half of 2015, I took January off, had a couple of shows in February, and then it’s pretty much full steam ahead again. After Miami, I head out to Asia.” It’s a tough life, isn’t it? Big thanks to Ferry for taking the time to talk to us; we wish him all the very best for 2016. www.ferrycorsten.com
Review Rihanna
Review: Rihanna / ANTI Words Adam Protz
he Barbadian is back, and with record sales exceeding 200 million copies and 13 number one singles, Rihanna is the youngest and fastest artist to achieve these feats. With her commercial success so vast, we find Robyn Rihanna Fenty releasing her eighth studio album with little weight on her shoulders. Does this mean we should be expecting a peculiar concept album, or a dabble in a new genre like minimal techno? Well, not quite. However, Anti does present us with something of a departure. With EDM’s vein-popping grip on the mainstream loosening more and more each day, songs written for the album by Calvin Harris and Grimes were rejected by Rihanna. So if you were hoping for the spawn of another monster hit like We Found Love, you may be disappointed with this collection of
Next is the first song to give you that ‘big single’ feeling: Kiss It Better, a guitar-led piece of pop greatness where Rihanna asks an ex what he is willing to do to have her back. Make no mistake, while the overinflated production style is gone, the chorus is still massive. Following song, Work, is a big statement of intent, fronting the album as lead single with very minimal, dancehall influenced R&B, not to mention the fact that Rihanna opts for a deft mixture of singing and rapping in her native Caribbean dialect. If this sounds like a calculated risk, she ensures it’s a star-studded one by featuring the ubiquitous Drake for a verse. It’s a deceptively simple, brilliant song. Thereon the signs of Rihanna’s
“The transition from the sheer modernity to the stripped back is seamless...” minimal and futurist R&B. However, this switch to the understated turns out to be a very shrewd move. Bearing in mind Anti’s chief lyricist and executive producer is the woman herself, this greater exertion of creative control means ditching club music was very much a conscious decision from Rihanna. Opening track, Consideration, sets the sparse tone, with only a glitchy beat, sub bass and synth smouldering beneath the vocal line her voice as punchy and raw as ever. With lines like ‘let me cover your shit in glitter, I’ll make it gold’, there’s little sugar coating on the lyrics, either. 26 HEADLINER
artistic maturity keep on coming. Woo is the most challenging listen on the album – atonal, covered in distortion and autotune - but the fact that a song on a Rihanna album is being described as challenging is a great thing in itself. Needed Me and Yeah, I Said It keep the landscape as barren as they can, with only a trap beat, bass line, and two synths to speak of. Same Ol’ Mistakes is a real highlight, equally alluring and menacing with its grungy bassline hook. The laid back ambience of Anti makes for an intoxicating listen. There is, however, another surprise in store. For the last four tracks, we are taken away from the
“The laid back ambience of Anti makes for an intoxicating listen.” progressiveness and landed in the warmth of Rihanna singing over an acoustic guitar and egg shaker: Love on the Brain shows off her supreme versatility with its fifties sensibility, and we finally close on piano-led slow number, Close to You, another rare opportunity to hear Rihanna’s voice unimpeded, raw, and wonderful. The result is a Rihanna album that could not be more refreshing if it tried. The transition from the sheer modernity to the stripped back is seamless, and the understated nature of Anti is ultimately a huge, mature step forward. The fusion of genres and intriguing production values leave this album warranting several listens, and it’s inevitable that Rihanna has set both a standard and a new trend in sound that other artists will scramble to follow.
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Thinking. Inside the box.
SIR TOM JONES. With a best-selling autobiography now in the bag, released last year in cahoots with his latest album, Long Lost Suitcase, we are privileged to sit down with Sir Tom Jones to talk about some of the key points in his astonishing career. It’s been a whirlwind, to say the least: very humble beginnings, a tricky middle, but some outrageous career high-points – far too many to list. Since storming onto the scene in the mid ‘60s with the global mega-hit, It’s Not Unusual, Sir Tom has shifted more than 100 million records... But he’s not done yet. Far from it, in fact. Words Paul Watson | Photography Matthew Raney | Illustration Rae Clara Gray
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lthough there have been many books written about Sir Tom, he’s never officially authorised any of them, so when Penguin first approached him to write his own, he admits he was in two minds. “I remember when Kirk Douglas put a book out called The Ragman’s Son, and went on the Johnny Carson show in the US. It was a great book, but all Johnny said was, ‘what about all the chicks in the movies that you did?’,” says Sir Tom, with a smile. “And Kirk said, ‘but this book isn’t about that, it’s about coming from an immigrant family and making it to Hollywood’. And Johnny was all, ‘yeah, yeah, but what about Lana Turner?’ [laughs]. He wouldn’t leave him alone! So I didn’t want to make a tabloid book, and I didn’t want to sensationalise anything; I just wanted to tell it as I saw it, and Penguin agreed on that, so we went with it.” To coincide with the launch of the book (Over the Top and Back), Sir Tom released a new album, Long Lost Suitcase. It’s a great fusion of blues and
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rock and roll: raw, emotional, and a real story-teller; the two go very much hand in hand: “I picked songs that I’d loved for a long time that I just hadn’t got around to recording, so that’s why we called it Long Lost Suitcase, because they literally came out of suitcases; and the photos we used in the book also came out of suitcases. When we were doing the album, [producer] Ethan Johns said: ‘these songs sound almost autobiographical’. And I said, ‘funny you should say that, I’m writing one at the moment!’ I wanted to get them out together, so we did that just before Christmas. One complements the other, and some of the chapters in the book share the same titles as the songs. He Was a Friend of Mine [in the book] is about Dave Perry, who I grew up with in Wales. That song could have been written for him.”
Back To Basics
Elvis Presley Blues is another great track from the record, the core of which is a rich sounding electric guitar, full of body, with a throbbing tremolo underneath it, and Sir Tom singing his heart out with a slap-back delay effect over the top. It’s as raw as you can get, really. Another
Ethan Johns idea? “Yes, it was. We did both those songs on the same day,” Sir Tom confirms. “And once Ethan got the right sound on his guitar – which took a little time – he said, ‘that’s it, you just sing it and I’ll play your voice’. And that’s what we did.” This is the third record Sir Tom has made with Ethan Johns, and in the book, he praises Johns for getting the best out of him, performance-wise. It should be noted that Johns was also responsible for Ryan Adams’ mind-blowing Heartbreaker record in 2000, and his eclectic list of production credits also includes Kings of Leon, Rufus Wainwright, Paolo Nutini, Ray LaMontagne, and that beautiful 2012 debut by The Staves, Dead & Born & Grown. “In the early ‘60s with the band back in Wales, we used to rehearse in a top room above a pub [laughs]; we had plenty of time in the afternoons, and that’s what we would do. We would play around with songs until we had an idea that wasn’t just copying stuff, because in those days, I was still doing ‘50s rock and roll in Wales,” Sir Toms explains. “But a good amount of blues and gospel would also go in, so with Ethan, it was like that; he wanted it to be like the
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Sir Tom Jones
old days: rehearse stuff and see what happens; and that’s how we started that first album off [in 2010], and how we have continued as we’ve gone on. He would come up with songs, and so would I, and so would [my son] Mark, of course.” Mark has played a pivotal role in Sir Tom’s career, especially over the last 30 years, after his long-time manager, Gordon Mills, passed away of cancer. “That was a very difficult time,” Sir Tom says, and pauses for momentary thought. “Different managers were calling me, some I knew, some I didn’t, asking if they could help in any way. And Mark was answering the phone. I said, ‘why don’t you give it a go?’ And he’d already married Donna at this time, and she was in the [music] business, too, so they took it on together. “Mark has always known me musically as well as personally, and he knew what I was capable of, and all the records I’d played to him when he was a baby. When I played the first Jerry Lee Lewis album, we put Mark on a couch with a bottle in his mouth, propped him up on the side, and as long as that record was playing, he’d be sucking on his bottle and he’d be happy! As soon as it would stop, he’d start to cry – and that’s a fact. He was listening to Jerry Lee before he could talk! When Mark was born in 1957, it was Jerry Lee, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, and Elvis; those early rock and roll people really influenced me, and he knew where I was, and what I was thinking about.”
1965, America, & Elvis
“ The time that I spent with Elvis is so imprinted in my memory.”
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Remarkably, it’s more than 50 years since Sir Tom released his global mega-hit, It’s Not Unusual. Each decade has brought more music, and more touring, of course, but it was back in 1965 when his world was turned on its head for the first time. “It’s Not Unusual completely changed my life,” Sir Tom reflects, “It also took me to New York; we did The Ed Sullivan Show there several times that year, so that city will always stick with me. I remember lying there in my hotel room thinking, ‘God, this is like the movies! ’ I also remember when I first toured the US – Jesus Christ, we did 17 shows in 16 states in one month! It didn’t feel like a step up at the time, but of course America has been very good to me – I have a lot of great memories from my time in Vegas, particularly getting to know Elvis - and now I live in LA, up on Mulholland, near Beverly Hills, which is a great spot.” Elvis Aaron Presley. There’s a whole chapter dedicated to this legend in the book, which comes as no surprise, considering their close friendship. Perhaps a little too close at times, Sir Tom..? “[smiles] Well that’s why I had to tell that funny story about Elvis coming into my dressing room and going to the toilet while I was taking a shower,” Sir Tom chuckles. I
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Sir Tom Jones
remember the chapter well... “I wasn’t trying to make fun of the man, but he must have felt so comfortable in my presence to go to the bathroom even when I was there. A lot of couples don’t even get that close..!” True enough! But the first thing that always hits Sir Tom about Elvis is that he truly got to know him. Entertainers would come into Elvis’ dressing room when he was doing shows, of course, but those two were the only ones hanging out in the suite afterwards. “It was very sad what happened to him; he was only 42 when he died, and that’s a tragedy. But the time that I spent with him is so imprinted in my memory, and they’re all good memories. I see Priscilla Presley quite a bit in LA; she is a friend of ours, and we always talk about Elvis, the times in 1969 I was there for a week with the two of them at the same time. And when I recorded Elvis Presley Blues, I played it to her before the album came out, just to see what she would think. She said it was a haunting tribute to Elvis, and she loved it; and I was thrilled with that. I then played her the video I did, and she was knocked out with that too, so I can’t ask for any more.”I concur. And if anything, after listening several times through to Long Lost Suitcase, Sir Tom’s voice seems to have got better over the years; it’s richer, and with more dynamics. So you haven’t really lost any of it, have you, Sir Tom? “No, thank God. If anything, I’ve gained! There is more body in my voice now. And of course, when you’ve lived a while, you read more into the songs that you’re singing. When you’re young, you learn the song, and you go, ‘oh yeah, I can do that’, and you sing it. You know what I mean? But when I recorded songs when I was young, I used to think a lot about them, and I was living the part. I understood them, and when I did It’s Not Unusual, and What’s New, Pussycat?, you know, I had to get into that thing and inject as much soul into it as I could. Yes, even What’s New, Pussycat?! [laughs]” You’ll have to read the book to get the full picture, but to summarise, there was a moment when Burt Bacharach first played that song to Sir Tom, and his reaction was, ‘what the fuck is that?’ He does wonder if that’s why he didn’t get offered more of Bacharach’s classic numbers over the years..! He also turned
down a little ditty that Sir Paul McCartney personally offered him called The Long And Winding Road... But we won’t mention that. We chat a little more about the early days, where Sir Tom was known as Twisting Tommy Scott, fronting up The Misfits. How much of Twisting Tommy is still in there, I wonder? “Oh it’s still there, it’s still the same, but I’m not twisting anymore! [laughs] But that’s the only thing that’s changed; I am still as passionate and excited about singing as I ever was,” Sir Tom reveals. “I loved recording and doing TV and radio and stuff, but everything to me leads to the stage, so it’s all building up to getting on stage and doing a live show; you need all those things – I do, anyway. I need new recordings, I need to take new things out to the people when I go out on the road, as well as the older things. I keep the big hits in there because I think people deserve to hear them. We change up the arrangements, but the songs are there; it’s not like that was then and this is now. So everything else that I do leads to that eventually.” And what about your favourite places to play over the years? “Well, London is always great – you know, you’re right in it there, all the time; it’s where my career kicked off, and it’s also where I recorded It’s Not Unusual,” reflects Sir Tom. “And Cardiff is always a big kick - playing in front of a Welsh audience, because that’s where I come from. When I sing to English speaking people, I always know where I am; I like to have a bit of fun between songs, and interact with the audience, you see... Then I went to Japan! [smiles] I had recorded Danny Boy on an album which had sold a lot of records out there, and I said to the promoter, ‘what songs would the Japanese people really latch on to that I’ve recorded?’ And he said, ‘well, you’ve got to do Danny Boy’. And I said, ‘Danny Boy? In Japan?’ [laughs] Do they understand it? And he said, ‘they feel it; they feel the passion and the story’. So things do travel; the feeling of the songs must get to them in some way.”
Old School & New Music
And when Sir Tom’s not doing his thing on stage or in the studio, he likes to listen to music... On one of his many portable Sony CD Walkmans..! “I like to look at CDs, and I like to play a CD,
you see; I bought six of the bloody things, just in case you can’t get them any more - in case they conk out,” he says, adding that he doesn’t have a computer. “I have an iPod, which Mark loads my playlists onto, but I always use the CD Walkman on the road. Mostly with headphones, but sometimes I plug it into a speaker that I travel with, and put it on in the suite wherever I am staying.” Take note, Sony! As our conversation comes to a close, I ask Sir Tom about his views on the music industry today, and whether there are any new generation artists he particularly warms to. “I like James Bay, he’s definitely one of my favourite newcomers; and I like that live music is back, and that there are a lot of bands about,” he enthuses. “I did festivals last summer, and the year before, a lot of them; some of them are rock and pop, and it’s great to see people play live. It’s not as electronic as it was. There is still a lot of it, and for dance music and stuff, fair enough; and rap music and hip hop requires a lot of electronic music, so that is all well and good, just as long as it doesn’t dominate. As long as there are still live bands that are going out there and doing it, that’s the main thing. And I think that’s come around again more than it was, say, 10 years ago, if you like.” There is also a resurgence of ‘singers’, Sir Tom says – and being known for so long as ‘The Voice’, I’m guessing he’s pretty pleased about that. “I am,” he confirms. “Sam Smith is a singer. James Bay is a singer. And Adele, of course. But there are some really good singers around, and that’s what I like. With James Bay, I bought his album, and he’s a really good songwriter, and he plays well and performs well; I was on Hootenanny with him last Christmas, and I am glad to see that there’s real live music about, you know?” So Sir Tom Jones hasn’t really changed at all over the years. His music has touched millions of people over six decades, which not many people can say – and he’s still doing his thing. And I’ve seen it for myself; last year Sir Tom blew me away with a phenomenal live show in London, which I won’t forget in a hurry. In the same way that I won’t ever forget this interview. What a pleasure. Thank you for the music, Sir Tom, and here’s to the next 10 years and more. www.tomjones.com
“As long as that Jerry Lee Lewis record was playing, he'd be sucking on his bottle, and he'd be happy.” 31 HEADLINER
Music with Passion Headliner takes a look at the 2016 Passion Conference, which spanned three US cities, and brought music and worship to the masses.
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ince 1997, The Passion Conferences have successfully fused music and worship to bring college students together, and in the last decade, major tours and events have been put on across the US and beyond. This year, the three-day conference was held simultaneously at three venues in two different cities, and attracted more than 40,000 people, featuring a total of six bands and six guest speakers. The big challenge was that all the spoken and musical content had to be shareable between all three locations – particularly tricky, considering one of the venues is more than 800 miles away from the other two..! The Infinite Energy Center and Philips Arena are both in Atlanta, and only 26 miles apart, but the Toyota Center in Houston is a two-hour plane ride..! Naturally, this makes most types of connections impossible 32 HEADLINER
considering the distance, latency, and inevitable signal degradation. To remedy this, Matt Manix, of Method Production Group, designed a massive audio system, and chose to utilise a fibre interconnect to transport audio and video between all three locations: three DiGiCo SD7 mixing consoles with four SD Racks and a Mini Rack, connected together using an Optocore fibre optic network, all of which was provided by leading rental company, Californiabased Rat Sound Systems. An Optocore DD4MR-FX in each arena was used to feed 16 channels of MADI to the fibre uplink, and to receive 32 channels, 16 from each venue. THE NEED FOR SPEED
“With the speed and reliability of the fibre interconnect, we were able to have three bands playing at the same time, live streamed to the other arenas,” Manix explains. “The main band
was at the Phillips Arena, which was the network hub, while live vocals happened at the other two arenas. There was 50ms of latency between Atlanta and Houston because of the distance, but we were able to compensate for that, and it worked perfectly. The transmission was crystal clear. “I’ve been using DiGiCo for about two years, and love how easy it is to work with. Being able to seamlessly integrate any Optocore unit with an SD engine makes everything so much easier, and simplifies routing and cabling.” All R-series Optocore units can be interfaced with DiGiCo SD consoles and racks for Analogue, AES or MADI transport with direct control via the console, just as if the Optocore units were SD Racks themselves. This integration allows for all the same features as a normal SD network: 504 audio inputs, unlimited outputs, 48 or 96 kHz sampling rates, and up to 120 km between nodes on single-mode fibre.
“The transmission was crystal clear.” The content shared between venues was a major part of the Conference, so there could be no signal loss in the fibre connection. And the keyword here was redundancy: power supplies, network ports, and word clock generators. “We had a backup DD4MRFX at each venue, just in case, but we never needed them,” adds Jon Monson, tour system supervisor at Rat Sound. “There was never even so much as a hiccup, in fact; the Optocore units did exactly what we needed them to do, and it was simple to integrate them into the network.” www.optocore.com www.digico.biz
“We were able to have three bands playing at the same time, live streamed to the other arenas.�
The Oscars
Insight
The Oscars The 2016 Oscars was eventful: full of controversy, surprises, and a certain gentleman finally winning the coveted Best Actor statuette. It was also a big year for unsung heroes, ATK Audiotek, who stepped up once again to provide sound for the biggest day on the movie industry calendar. 34 HEADLINER
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s soon as the very white ensemble of nominees was announced this year, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite began trending like there’s no tomorrow. For the second year running, every single actor or actress nominated was white. Unsurprisingly, the furore led to a boycott from several high profile black actors and filmmakers, most notably Will Smith (his performance in Concussion snubbed by the awards), and director, Spike Lee. With all this in mind, the task of hosting what seemed to be the most controversial Oscars ever was an unenviable one for comedian Chris Rock. Thankfully, he did a magnificent job, and if they ever create
a ‘best previous host’ category in the future, Chris Rock would be a worthy winner. Rock courageously tackled the topic in his opening monologue, admitting he almost listened to people telling him he should boycott the show himself: “why is it only ever unemployed people that tell you to quit?” He did what all great comedians do best by removing the stigma of a situation with some excellent jokes. The most insightful point Rock made was that people in Hollywood are some of the nicest, most liberal people on Earth, and yet they rarely hire people of colour for their films. The takeaway is that eradicating racism is much more complex than taking on far-right extremist groups. It’s about challenging the en-
The Oscars
Insight
“If they ever create a Best Previous Host category in the future, Chris Rock would be a worthy winner.” grained racism in the subconscious of us all. So with that out the way, let’s find out how ATK Audiotek got on, who also had a challenging task. With such big guns as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Mad Max: Fury Road nominated in the sound categories, the pressure was on to deliver audio on a par with those movies for ATK, who’ve been the ceremonies’ chosen sound partner for a very long time. ATK’s Jeff Peterson tells us that, “the venue hasn’t changed in a dozen years, so the PA system hasn’t really changed much either”. The Oscars still utilises a L/R hang of JBL Vertec 4889, and ATK recently added three smaller JBL delay clusters to better cover the highest mezzanine. Sounds like a case of, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’? So what does ATK use to power the system? “Well, ATK has been using Powersoft for quite a few years,” Peterson explains. “We have every [Powersoft] K10 amp outfitted with the KAES+DSP card, and tend to run digital signal drive to the amplifiers, either directly from the digital console, or in the case of the Oscars, we used an Optocore digital audio network to take a MADI stream from the console and distribute it as AES signals to each amplifier. All system tuning and EQ is done in the DSP using Armonia.” Consoles are by DiGiCo: an SD5 sits at front 35 HEADLINER
of house; and a second SD5 is deployed for performance monitors, along with an SD10 for orchestra monitors (a combination of personal mixers, hardwire in-ears, and ATK’s own orchestra headset system. “What’s nice about using the K10s is their fantastic reliability,” Peterson insists. “We rarely have a failure or any issue with them, and I use the KAESOP input system with its automatic switchover as a way of backing up the drive signals. I feed the first amp in a signal chain from the primary AES Optocore drive unit, and the last amp in the chain from the secondary AES unit. I deliver identical signals to each end of the chain, and it will switch to take the secondary if it loses AES signal from the primary source.” It’s also particularly compact and efficient kit to work with, Peterson reveals: “The K10 is half the rack space of any other comparable product; and when you have over 100 amplifiers on a show, half the footprint starts to really mean something! One thing not so obvious about the Powersoft amps is their extremely low power draw: the power providers on the big shows we do noticed immediately that the load swings during loud music were much less extreme than they were with our previous amplifiers. That was a major advantage in using them at the Oscars.”
So with the elephant in the room addressed, and audio in the bag, all that was left was for some fine acting, directing, and editing to be recognised. Of course, the main talking point centred around one man, who seemed to have the entire world rooting for him after five best actor nominations, and five disappointments. Yes, Leonardo DiCaprio finally broke his duck and went home happy, winning Best Actor for his truly visceral performance in The Revenant. The Conspiracy producer also commendably took his opportunity on the world stage to talk about his great passion of climate change: “let us not take this planet for granted, I do not take tonight for granted.” The Best Picture winner was something of a surprise, due to its subject matter of child abuse in the Catholic Church. Nonetheless, Spotlight was a more than worthy winner of arguably the top prize. The excellent Mad Max: Fury Road was the evening’s prolific story, winning six of its ten nominations, and dominating the design and editing categories. The Best Original Score award was a wonderful tale of two vintage composers somehow still at the top of their game in John Williams and Ennio Morricone, the latter seeing gold for his The Hateful Eight original music. Meanwhile, Sam Smith had the last laugh with his Best Original Song victory for Writing’s On the Wall, despite naysayers claiming it wasn’t good enough to be a Bond song.Headliner extends its congratulations to all the winners and nominees, and to ATK Audiotek for smashing it once more. Roll on next year, and here’s hoping for a more diverse and convivial Oscars in 2017. www.powersoft-audio.com www.digico.biz www.optocore.com
ON TOUR WITH...
FALL OUT BOY Working front of house for Fall Out Boy is one of the easiest jobs out there, says Chad Olech, as they’re literally the nicest bunch of blokes in the industry. Headliner digs a little deeper... Photography Shaun Neary
“W
e literally never stop,” smiles Chad Olech. “We are constantly doing a show some place, or preparing to do one!” He’s not kidding. Having just completed a European tour, which culminated in an epic show at Wembley Arena, Fall Out Boy are now on the road in the States, ‘ playing all the other enormodomes’. And when they’re not doing that, the band are playing huge one-off shows – three or four a month, a lot of which are private or corporate. It’s a busy schedule, to say the least. “It is, but in my 17 years in this business, these guys are without a doubt the nicest people I’ve ever worked for. This may sound weird, but the biggest jerk in our band – who, by the way, is a stunningly nice guy – he would probably be
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the nicest guy in any other band,” Olech laughs. “He is such a nice guy - a beautiful person - but you get four guys together, one of them has to be the asshole! It is the ultimate gig, and they’re a super understanding bunch. “If there is a problem with anything, they are cool, as long as there is a real and tangible reason why the said issue is happening. They understand how the business works, and they completely trust and respect the production values for us guys.” Olech’s console of choice is a DiGiCo SD5, and he has zero intention of changing anytime soon. “The quality and functionality of the SD5 is excellent,” he insists. “I’m hands-on pretty much all the time, and the only thing I snapshot is the mute groups; my logic for that is strictly because with other artists in
the past, they forget where they are in the set and go a little off script, and sometimes if I am one of those that is scoping and snapshotting 12 scenes within a song, if they do go off script, I am way out of line from where I need to be! “For me, they will make me lazy. If all I do is press go, that’s not going to be the right attention span for me. I would definitely screw it up! “I find it better to go down the old school route, if you will; and this console allows me to do that. It creates a better mix for me, as I am always working at it rather than becoming complacent.” Olech uses the onboard processing and effects within his console, and is also a fan of plugins – a couple in particular. “I am using more instances of Waves C6 [plugin] than I am anything else,” he explains. “I use
it on all my vocals, all my guitars, and across my mix buss. I subgroup all the guitars, but each input of [frontman and guitarist] Patrick Stump’s channel has a C6 on it, and then all of those inputs combine to go to one subgroup - and then the subgroup has a C6 on it as well! “So I use them for basic tone shaping and compression on an input channel, and then because both guitarists run a Palmer DI and a ribbon mic on the guitar, we blend the inputs to make the one output. So when I have that blend, I put the other C6 on top to try and finish the tone shaping – polish it up a bit! Then I have a soft limiter on there to make sure everything doesn’t pop out too hard.” We think we follow..! So when Olech came into the Fall Out Boy camp, he suggested the band try out some new in-ear monitors. It
“This band understands how the business works, and they completely trust and respect the production values for us guys.”
wasn’t that the kit they were using was of poor quality, but he knew he could better their aural experience if they made some changes. “I had a relationship with JH Audio through another client I work for, and I got the JH16s, and was blown away by them; and then came Roxanne and Layla, all these super-high end reference quality pieces, so we switched over Fall Out Boy in November 2013, just a couple of months after I arrived,” explains Olech. And the results? “Oh the guys are super happy with them. Patrick has never been happy with in-ears; he’s always used them, but never been stoked. He’s always been, ‘ok it’s a tool, I’ll use it’. “When we put him onto the JH16s, he was happier, but still not there - a hair short of bliss. And then one day he stepped on his ears, and all we had for spares
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were the JH16 unmoulded - the generics. It’s the same ear, but you can put a little foam tip on them. He used those, and was in heaven. He said, ‘sonically, they are amazing; and they are exactly what I’ve been looking for’.” The band are very hands-on when it comes to audio, especially Stump and fellow guitarist, Joe Trohman; they’re both producers in their own right, and know exactly what they want to hear: “Andy [Hurley, drummer] and Pete [Wentz, bassist] will give you the thumbs up if something sounds good, but not for colouration at the top end, if you know what I mean? Whereas the other guys are super technical; they both record, mix, and produce tons of stuff and own their own studios. Patrick also has a set of generic Laylas, which he does a lot of his studio mixing with.
“I got a set of Laylas for me, as I was starting to do a bunch of remixes for the band for broadcast stuff, and I needed something a little flatter for consistency as well as quality. As soon as I got them, I ran down to my home studio, spun out a couple of mixes and was like, ‘wow, these things are amazing!’ So at the next show, I saw Patrick and I said, ‘hey, have you seen these?’ and he said, ‘no, what are they?’ I said, ‘perfectly flat reference in-ear monitors’. And he said, ‘order me two pairs!’ [laughs] Then Joe got a pair too, I think. So it was a resounding success! “It’s hard to tell what Patrick does mixes on because if he is doing one in the dressing room, he gets these big gun muffs that he’s got on over the in-ears, so you can’t really see. But I am assuming they’re usually the Laylas, as
the connector looks proper!” Fall Out Boy are a hugely successful band with a massive following, so it’s only right to do justice to their live sound, Olech insists: “I choose to use Waves, and I choose to use DiGiCo; that’s my thing,” he states. “But the JH thing was all down to them. Yes, I feel it’s better equipment, but they were the ones that tried and tested the in-ears and made the switch off their own back, and that really does speak volumes.” Fall Out Boy’s tour completed at the end of March, with a final show at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Easter Sunday. www.jhaudio.com www.waves.com www.digico.biz
Studio
Insight
Kassa Alexander Innovate, Don’t Imitate. On paper, Kassa Alexander is a music producer and songwriter, but in reality, he is part of a unique creative collective that also allows him to direct videos, come up with conceptual ideas, and roll out a ton of projects. Get this man a hat-rack!
WHEN SPEAKING TO ‘KASS’
about anything creative, it’s easy to forget he is just 28-years-old. His knowledge spans many genres, and his eclectic musical projects no doubt keep him right on the cutting edge of the industry. Signed to Warner at 13, you could say the music industry had him at hello. “My dad was always musical. He was touring with all the big reggae artists in the ‘80s, so I have been fortunate enough to have surrounded myself with music and professional kit,” Kass explains. “So I did the artist thing for a while, and from a young age; and production kind of drew me in – I guess it was the natural step for me, wanting to help other artists and musicians achieve their goals, and express themselves. I am now part of a creative collective with my production partner, Angel.” The two have been working together forever, Kass tells us. Both their parents toured the world as musicians, and now everything he and Angel does is within the creative space, be it mixing, producing, writing, directing 38 HEADLINER
“Make music that you would listen to, not what’s on the radio or TV.”
videos, creating concepts, or rolling out projects. A man that can truly multitask..? “[laughs] It’s just one of those things: I am naturally a creative person, and I like to express some of the ideas I have; and across the board, we are at a time where we have the opportunity to express ourselves artistically, provide instant gratification and feedback, and I believe people want honest music that resonates with them these days.” Quite a statement – but Kass raises a good point. As music consumption is so immediate today, how does he make sure he keeps a tab on that from a production perspective? “A few years ago, when I was starting out, everyone wanted to be signed to a label or get a massive publishing deal, but now artists are content with SoundCloud and YouTube plays. As far as they’re concerned, they’re not necessarily interested in Radio One,” Kass suggests. “They’re not willing to conform or compromise because they know who they are, they love
what they do, and assume that other people will be forced to look at what they’re doing. That’s the attitude, and because of that, it’s changing the whole way everything is, putting a new perspective on things.” Conversation turns to WSTRN – a group that Kass and Angel have worked with for a long time. Two of its members are their respective younger brothers. “WSTRN have always been around, and been exposed to our music, and music in the household forever, to be honest,” says Kass. “WSTRN have developed organically: they worked together, and me and Angel have overseen the project, making sure they don’t make some of the same mistakes that we made years ago, and that their music is executed in the way that showcases them in the best way possible. They’re family, literally.” Another artist Kass is working closely with is Rukhsana Merisse, a young singer-songwriter from Hammersmith, and another that he has helped evolve organically: “Rukhsana is good friends with my older sister, and wanted
to get into music, so seven years ago, I started developing her,” he explains. I’m getting the picture now as to how dedicated this guy is to his craft. “Her sound is an amalgamation of so many things she listens to – it’s progressive folk, I guess. Her songwriting is storybased, and influenced by the greats from the ‘70s and ‘80s such as Joni Mitchell and Fleetwood Mac. Then a lot of her writing is also influenced by some ‘90s artists, such as Alanis Morissette. It’s an honest parable perspective. But her mum listens to an eclectic mix of reggae, rare groove, soul, hip hop, and R&B; and that’s reflective in her vocals.” Kass believes in achieving classic, quality sounds but with a fresh approach; and it’s refreshing to hear, quite literally: his work is seriously good. “Think Fleetwood Mac, but if it was produced by Timbaland or Kanye West,” he smiles. “So there’s 808s, with hip hop and R&B undertones. We’ve been developing that sound for the last couple of years. In 2014, she did a lot of live shows in Shoreditch but never had
Ely Insight
“Artists are no longer unapproachable or unattainable.” any music online, so in September, she wanted to give people music to go back to, so she did September Songs; every week, we would write, produce, and release a song. And the reception for that was really positive. “We are in a time now where you can afford to be honest, and you don’t need to make records for radio; it’s about understanding who you work with, and finding a way of delivering their music passionately and true. In this climate, Instagram and Snapchat and Twitter are so important, because it brings you closer to the artist; and all those things make it feel that bit more relatable. Artists are no longer unapproachable or unattainable.” In terms of recording kit, there’s not much Kass hasn’t used: everything from Otari tape machines and early Macs, to Cubase and Logic. Today, he works in the box, and in terms of equipment, he’s a fan of the new kids on the block rather than the old school. “I have been blessed to work in some of the world’s best studios, which has helped me shape the type of studio I want to build myself. Studios are always about vibe,” Kass insists. “I have a fairly small setup, and I have recorded many songs that have been released and charted from in my bedroom. I find that there is a generation [of producers] above us that tell us that we must use a Neumann U87 for vocals, and so on. And that’s all good: it’s tried and tested, and lots of amazing music has been made using that classic kit, but the way I look at it, if equipment isn’t getting better, something is going wrong. “That’s why I am a fan of manufacturers bringing new technology to the table, bettering old ideas with new equipment; and Audio-Technica is one of them. I like that they are across the board with their products: everything from hi-fi equipment, to headphones, to microphones. Frazer D Smith put me onto them; I listened to one of my mixes on a set of M50 headphones, and thought they 39 HEADLINER
were not only extremely good, but also affordable for a professional pair. And I have been building a relationship with those guys ever since. I just love the fresh ideas, the new approach, and that suits my ethos, and the way I approach music. “They also do the M50s in white, which was a bonus, as my whole studio is white! [laughs]” Kass mixes entirely in the box. He used to have a plethora of outboard, but those days are gone, he explains: “One of the things I have noticed over the last five years is when you go to all these amazing studios, 80% of the gear is switched off! You might use a valve compressor, an EQ, or a mic preamp, but generally, everything is in the box. So I’ve condensed my studio down to what I need. “I mix initially on my speakers, which give me that full sonic range, but when I am 80% there with the mix, I go onto the M50s, and make sure it sounds amazing on those, as they’re a great reference point. Then, when I’m 90% there, I go to my iPhone headphones and make sure it sounds amazing on there; and then I make my final call.” The next stage for Kass is to upgrade his mic inventory to AudioTechnica, which he is looking to do sooner rather than later. “I really want to get into that, because there are lots of options; and I know Justin Timberlake uses Audio-Technica mics on his vocals,” Kass enthuses. “I loved the sound of his vocals on his last couple of albums, and it’s fantastic that companies such as Audio-Technica are pushing the envelope. That’s what it’s all about.” Finally, Kass, do you have any tips for any budding producers? “Innovate, don’t imitate; people that come before you have had success because they’ve done exactly that, and in a unique and honest way that feels genuine. Make music that you would listen to, not just what’s on the radio or TV.” www.audio-technica.com
Music
Delta Blues
Mixing Keb’ Mo’ Mixing live sound for a world class Grammy-winning artist isn’t an easy task. Combine that with the role of production manager, and it gets a whole lot trickier. That said, it’s a bit of a trend in small theatre tours, especially Stateside, where everyone on the road wears at least two hats. We go backstage with Keb’ Mo’ and his right hand man, Aaron Hedden (who actually has three hats, if our maths is right) to find out more.
F
or those not in the know about legendary guitarists, Keb’ Mo’ is most certainly one of those. The Comptonborn songwriter now resides in Nashville, and thanks to a bit of mindreading when the industry ‘started to turn’, he is the proud owner of a quite outstanding recording studio, where he and Aaron Hedden spend a lot of time ‘nerding out’ on new kit, and finding ways of improving their workflow and sound. “When record sales really started to decline, and technology began advancing rapidly, I started buying recording gear; this was some fifteen years ago,” Keb’ Mo’ tells us. “I did that until I had enough to make my own room, and I’m so glad I did that. If I went into a room out here in Nashville now to make a record, it would add $20,000 minimum to my budget, and that’s just not doable. When I make a record, I can now do it in my own time, from my own space. I sit in there, doodling around, and get it to where I want it, though I have to admit, it’s not always a good thing not to have a time constraint! [laughs] You have the time to get it the way you want it, but at the same time, you can get too relaxed in there and not care about time! But I use the space for a lot of things: rehearsals,
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“Vinyl is a nostalgic medium, and can’t survive in a digital world.”
Music
Delta Blues
“Oddly enough, the wireless actually sounds better than the cable!” recording, meetings... Hell, I could even throw a party in there, you know? [smiles]” Sounds idyllic! Hedden’s own route into music production stemmed from watching his dad work during the ‘80s, from the confines of his impressive 40-foot truck, which housed a then state-of-the-art 48-channel analogue setup, boasting a Harrison console and Otari tape machine. This was pretty rare at the time, to say the least. “There were only a handful of these in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and that’s where I got the bug for music, really; but now this kind of thing is very simple - we did a live record last year with Kevin with my laptop and front of house console,” Hedden smiles. Kevin, by the way, is Keb’ Mo’s real name, and how Hedden addresses him. A sign of their friendship, no doubt. “I grew up watching dad do that, and it just felt natural to me. His first mixer was a three-channel one that he had to build himself! By the age of 18, I had a job doing sound at a small exclusive club where a lot of famous musicians hung out, so that also helped in terms of getting the musical bug.” Today, Hedden is Keb’ Mo’s live engineer, production manager, and even studio mixer when it comes to live albums. How does he manage all that, then? “Really, we are buddies now, which definitely helps,” Hedden admits. “I have been a big fan for a long time, and am honoured to work with him. I remember a couple of years ago doing audio production for one of Kevin’s European tours, and there was a void in production management that I felt I could fill. Also, I have been doing live sound in more of a house venue kind of role for a long time, but I am very new to the touring world, so I have seen many production managers and tours come through; I know what works and what doesn’t from the house perspective – it’s an interesting way to look at it for us.” Keb’ Mo’ will soon release a live record, Keb’ Mo’ LIVE – That Hot Pink Blues Album, which Hedden mixed; it’s a double vinyl, so they had to whittle it down to 16 songs, and it’s a kind of ‘best of’ of 50 live shows. Interesting concept. “Yeah, we recorded 50 shows last year, and picked songs we loved from them – many of which were fan requests,” Hedden reveals. “I mixed that this winter when we were off the road on Pro Tools 11 HD in my house, and 41 HEADLINER
we do a lot of stuff in the box; we believe in listening to stuff and trusting our ears.” Keb’ Mo’s current US tour kicked off on March 3rd, on which Hedden works from a DiGiCo console at front of house: “We are playing on average 1,000-seat theatres, so we don’t have multiple trucks and large crews as we are a small team that jumps in and helps each other out. I opted for a DiGiCo SD9 – it has all the processing power I need, and we needed to keep things as straightforward as possible. We’re also based out of the trailer, so footprint was a real issue. The SD9 is the smallest thing I could use that will still fit all our needs, and we also have an SD11 on the stage, [for monitors] which is super-compact. “The thing with DiGiCo is, all the consoles have the same core functionality: a lot of the same features as the SD10 or the SD7 are on the SD9, and it has the same sonic qualities, plus the same high-end effects and dynamics. We run that at 48kHz, as we’re sharing a stage rack for both consoles to keep the production as simple as possible. We are trying to stay in one trailer, basically, and we are at maximum capacity right now. It’s also nice that the effects all come from within the console.” ‘Old school analogue’ is how Hedden describes his mixing approach; he is a very hands-on mixer, mainly because the venues change so drastically. However, he’s not adverse to trying any new technology: “Kevin said he wanted to go wireless [on guitar], and my first choice was to go for Lectrosonics, as I know the build quality and the sonic quality is always going to be first class. We use the new LT transmitters, which have the ability for a super-high impedance input on them, so it doesn’t affect the tone of the guitars whatsoever. You can use a normal cable between the guitar and the beltpack, and there isn’t any degradation of sound because of that. Oddly enough, and I’ve said this to many people, the wireless actually sounds better than the cable!” Wow. But how can that be, exactly? “Well in this case, when Kevin and I set it up, we unplugged the wireless and plugged his guitar straight into his pedal board, or unplugged the cable and went wireless into his pedal board, and we went back and forth and listened to it; and the sound quality literally improved when we went to the wireless setup,” Hedden insists.
“It is strange, but because the amplifier is right next to the guitar, there’s two feet of cable - less than a metre of wire between the guitar and preamp, basically - but there isn’t any loss of the high frequencies; and the wire and pedals aren’t dragging the high frequencies of the guitar at all, which is why it sounded better. “We got all the gain, dialled it in, and Kevin and I were sitting in his studio doing comparisons between another manufacturer and Lectrosonics, and we went from wire to the Lectrosonics, and even he said, ‘wow it sounds way better’.” It’s refreshing to hear that Keb’ Mo’ is as involved in the sound as Hedden – and with every aspect, be it studio, live sound, or even the sound of individual instruments on stage. What are your secrets, then? “[smiles] Well, every new idea, we just nerd out over at his studio! He only lives 10 minutes from me, so it’s easy. We truly believe it’s not the one thing that changes something, it’s the 1,000 little things we try to do that makes the show sound fantastic. And it really is a great sounding show because of that.” And Keb’ Mo’, you’ve been doing this a long time now. What advice can you give any budding guitarists and songwriters that want to go down a similar road? “I think it’s about keeping the band together, and figuring out the technology, as it’s moved so fast in the last 10 years, and you have to be very fast and nimble to pick up,” Keb’ Mo’ reflects. “The album is gone, the CD has basically vanished, and streaming is coming up. Vinyl is a nostalgic medium, and can’t survive in a digital world. It’s a fast world, and it’s how you monetise that, and make it work for the artists. “But for me, I just try to stay in touch with the music. It’s about the quality of product. You need that, and if you don’t have that, who cares about the tech, anyway? You know, change is inevitable, and sometimes change is a good thing; and through social media, you can get out there on the pavement and make your own way – you actually can... Though I know I wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in hell of getting signed that way! [smiles]” www.lectrosonics.com www.digico.biz
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Red Bull Studios
To the Beat of the Drum Henry Walton (A.K.A ELY) recently descended on London’s Red Bull Studios armed with two drummers and not much of a musical brief. But he wouldn’t want it any other way. Headliner investigates.
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“I wanted to protect my vision, to allow the musicians to get their true character out.” aving worked in bands since he was 15, and signing with the likes of PS and BMG, Henry Walton has a lot of touring experience. However, as time passed, he became disillusioned at the way bands operate. This musical epiphany, perhaps, was instrumental in the creation of ELY and ELY Collective, which allows musicians a unique level of freedom when it comes to creativity. “I wanted to protect my vision, if you like, of what I wanted to create, to allow the musicians that I work with to get their true character out,” Walton explains. “What I have always done is play them what I am working on – but just once – and that’s all they get. Part two is recording time. I might give them a few pointers after several takes, but it’s nearly always that first part I go to. It’s the vindication of that process that’s always interested me most: and when I do give more direction, it feels like more spontaneity is lost. I don’t
H
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know whether that’s an abstract thought, or whether it’s because I know it’s the first part!” Essentially, through ELY and ELY Collective, Walton gets lots of musicians in to do the stuff that he can’t do: namely cello, brass, and drums, the latter of which is what this Red Bull session is all about. Then, he will take that ‘early sketch’, and spend time editing and embedding into that what he sees fit using Logic and Ableton: “It’s about throwing a load of stuff at it; a lot of it is formed within the editing process. It’s normally a massive mess, and I will try to reach for the apex, and then build backwards,” Walton explains. And it works. “What I really like is that people aren’t so attached with what they’ve done,” he says. “There’s none of this, ‘where’s my part gone?!’ [smiles] And that’s because there is a complete understanding that what I do with it in the end is completely down to me. So the musicians get to express themselves fully, and I get to bend it.” Interesting stuff. Today is a tale
of two drummers, both of whom don’t really know what to expect. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “When I did the last EP, I only did it with one drummer, but we did the live show with two drummers, and as soon as I did that, I knew that would be the basis of the next EP, which we’re working on here today,” Walton reveals. “And Sarathy [Korwar, percussionist] is a classically trained tabla and jazz musician, so he really brings something to the table from my indie band background that I have never been connected to at all. I really like that, and want to build on it, and his relationship with Tom Rapanakis, the other drummer, who is a more traditional player. It’s going to be an instrumental EP, and it’s about the relationship between these two, allowing them to express themselves fully. Then the normal process resumes: I edit that, and build on top of it.” Both drummers will be in the room together, looking at each other while they’re playing; and in terms of direction, there
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING The drum recording session used a few different miking techniques, most notably binaural: using a dummy head and two of DPA’s d:screet 4061 miniature omni mics mounted in its ear canals. A third d:screet 4061 was used as an omni room mic, mounted hanging from the overhead gantry. On each kit, a stereo pair of DPA d:dicate 4015C wide cardioid mics were placed as overheads (in X/Y configuration), and a single d:dicate 4007A omni was positioned above each drummer’s head, aiming at the centre of the kit. The kick drums were miked up with Neumann U47s. The mics went straight into a rack of Meris 440 mic pres in the control room.
Ely
Red Bull Studios
really isn’t much..! “We’ll have a few drones, a few chords, a few motifs, I guess, that we’ll play around with to start things off; and then from that, a couple of more conceptual ideas – a bit of abstract. That’s what I want them to play around with,” Walton says. “But to get them playing around with grooves, feels, and BPMs, and letting them express themselves, is key. And from my side, again it’s just jumping in with small points: push this, lessen that, break it down to core components, and so on.”
I Got Rhythm
Sarathy Korwar grew up in Pune in India, and has been playing the tabla since he was seven, before picking up the full kit at 16. Both instruments are primary to him, but he would describe himself as a percussionist rather than a drummer. “I’ve been playing some shows with Henry since March, and I also played on the last EP, which I love; today is about getting a whole bunch of textures and rhythms, basically,” Korwar explains, adding that playing alongside another drummer can actually release the pressure. “The roles change a lot, and you get a lot of freedom to focus on the musicality and texture, or loose sounds. It means you can approach the instrument, and not be limited to being the one person in charge of keeping the groove down. One of us can both lead, while the other moves back and experiments while he keeps the groove, which is really cool.” Because the parts he’ll be playing aren’t set in stone – quite the opposite, evidently – does this mean he is more or less invested in the project emotionally? “Oh, a lot more, because I am investing so much more of my own musicality than I would in a pop session, where I know what I have to do,” he says. “It’s far more open, and this style is very interesting to me. It’s a certain amount of ambience and textures, but laid down with some nice grooves.” But what about isolation? Two drummers in one room face to face. That’s a lot of noise, no? “Isolation isn’t a concern; I record a lot like this, as it’s more organic, and more human. Yes, there is far more room for error, but not in a bad way,” Korwar explains. “And you end up with spontaneity that you would never get if you recorded in a more traditional way. I love recording a whole band together, too, as there is less post-production to worry about. It loses a lot of life if you’re more clinical, which is not always a bad thing, but I come from a jazz and improvised music background, so spontaneity matters more than precision to me; and that translates to the audience, or anyone who is listening to the song as well.” 44 HEADLINER
Recording ELY After a long day’s recording, we caught up with Dan Trachtenberg, who engineered proceedings for ELY and co. at Red Bull Studios, and made some interesting discoveries in the process.
Trachtenberg tells Headliner that he “kind of rolled into this record”, having collaborated with Henry Walton on the recording of his first EP. “Henry experimented with two live drummers for his live show, which is how this all came about. Red Bull Studios is cool, and that was our given space for this experiment; and then it was all about being able to commit to performances rather than isolation, yet still make it easy from a recording, editing, and mixing perspective,” Trachtenberg explains. “I wanted to explore the whole binaural head thing – that’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time - and I spoke to Caleb [Hill] at Sound Network about it. Caleb had a head anyway, so we used his as a kind of centrepiece, with a pair of DPA [d:screet] 4061 microphones.” Trachtenberg taped two 4061s around the ears [of the binaural head], placing them just inside the ear canals. One ear was facing one drummer, and vice versa, so from a listening perspective, it was as if you were sitting in the middle of the room. “Basically, perpendicular to each drummer,” he confirms. “And that’s how we would use it in the mix: drummer hard left, drummer hard right. We knew it was an experiment, so we wanted more options for mixing, so
we also went with a single omni [d:dicate] DPA 4007A mic over each kit, plus a stereo pair of DPA 4015Cs [set up X/Y] on each, to offer more perspective when we came to mixing it.” Kick and snare mics were also applied, and a scattering of DPA 4061s were positioned at various points in the room to see what sense of space might be achievable. The results were interesting, and surprising, but most of all, very pleasing. “Initially with the head, we had a big spike at 2-3k, which is a normal thing for binaural heads, but we played around with it, raised the head, and then it sounded a lot better,” explains Trachtenberg. “We played with the height, and some return effects and processing after recording, and made it really interesting sounding; and what was really lovely was the sound of the DPA mono omni 4007As hard panned left and right. The clarity was staggering: wonderfully clean and clear, and you can literally hear everything you want with just a single omni on top of a kit. That’s amazing. “The stereo pairs were interesting, too – and we didn’t pan them traditionally, either. We panned each kit left and right, to give it a bit of width, then some of the stereo image we panned to the centre, which gives you
a complete hemispherical spread of each kit across the stereo image. It’s a very interesting way of listening to drums, and taking on the experience of two drummers.” Although unusual for a rock record, Trachtenberg says the miking techniques helped create a bizarre sense of location and space; and without instrumentation, it’s helped Walton move his thoughts forward as to how and what he will add to it for the EP. “The session lasted 12 hours from setup to leaving, and Henry got heaps out of it; we spent a day going through it all! He wanted moments, grooves, and rhythms, which he’s definitely got; and now he’ll fill in with incidental stuff,” Trachtenberg insists. “The session just seemed so free, and both drummers enjoyed the setup of seeing each other as they played. Henry wouldn’t have been able to direct it and be in the room at same time if we hadn’t done it this way; and sonically, the DPA mics provided consistency and quality. Furthermore, running them through Meris 440 mic pres worked very nicely. Smooth, warm, and on a workflow level, it just made everything very streamlined. And most of all, it was a lot of fun to do. I’m sure Henry will make a great EP out of what we captured.” www.dpamicrophones.com
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MPG
Charlie Andrew
Charlie Andrew:
Best of BRITish We catch up with renowned record producer, Charlie Andrew, whose last few months have been somewhat of a whirlwind. At this year’s MPG Awards, he landed the coveted Producer of the Year accolade, which meant he also became the first BRIT Award winner of 2016; and to top it off, he’s recently become a dad for the first time! Not a bad start to the year, Charlie. So what happens next?
one of it’s sunk in, really, it’s all a bit bizarre,” laughs Charlie Andrew, and admits he’s struggling to come to terms with his recent successes. “I’ve never seen my dad so drunk; he was completely off his trolley, but the MPG Awards was a hell of a night for me.” He’s not kidding: Producer of the Year, and BRIT Award winner, all in one night. Bonkers stuff. Andrew’s studio is just outside Brixton, a neighbourhood which has evolved dramatically since he arrived in 2011: it’s arty, it’s vibrant, and there’s a lot going on, he says. “Brixton’s been gentrified, but it still feels diverse,” Andrew explains. “We’re just up the road in Acre Lane, and even in the studio here, we have a photographer, different types of producers, graphic designers; it’s just a real melting pot of talent, really.” 47 HEADLINER
Andrew also runs In The Woods Festival from the studio, an event he set up with his band members some 10 years ago. “My band is called Laurel Collective, but we haven’t played together for quite a few years now,” he reflects. “But we set up the festival, and it’s become a platform to showcase new talent, really; we are always striving to showcase what’s going to be the next new thing, trying to preempt the ones to watch lists every year. We don’t advertise a line-up; you buy the ticket in good faith that we’ve done the research, and we know what’s going to be relevant next year. “I feel so lucky that the work that I do has been received in the way it has, and has got me to where I am,” he admits. “In my last studio, which was a warehouse, I was sharing space, and having to run it as a rehearsal studio at night, and I was teaching the drums, and I was learning my trade, letting people come down, there was no
“I feel so lucky that the work that I do has been received in the way it has.” money exchanged really; it was just speculative work, really, and I stumbled across a band called Films; they had no management, but I heard their demo, and asked them to come down.” Films would eventually become Alt-J, and Andrew’s work on the band’s debut record, An Awesome Wave, would win him the coveted Barclaycard Mercury Prize. “We clicked, and we did two tracks at the warehouse, which were on their first album, and then moved to Brixton and finished the album once the label were onboard; because we had such a good relationship, they stuck with me to do the album, and the rest is history!” It is indeed. So what is a current day in the life
for Charlie Andrew? “Well, since winning the MPG and Brit Awards, it’s been a lot of interviews! And my little daughter appeared at the end of last year, which has been a massive learning curve for me; oh, and I’m starting a label,” Andrew says, with a chuckle. Tell us more! “Well, I have already finished an album – a very quick one – this year, which is a live take of the songs from the first signing to my label, a band called Francobollo, which means postage stamp in Italian... But they’re actually Swedish! We set them up live, got their fans in, and recorded it as a gig, basically. I’m very pleased with it; it’s raw and punky compared to what I normally do, and I’m excited to put that
MPG
Charlie Andrew
Studio Time
“I wrote the wrong letter to the wrong person, and landed myself a job at Abbey Road.”
out and present it to the world.” Andrew only has himself to thank for getting into this game – if it wasn’t for that letter he sent to the wrong person at Abbey Road, who knows where he would be? “[laughs] Yes, luckily, I wrote the wrong letter to the wrong person, which is why it actually got read,” recalls Andrew, with a smile. “And I ended up landing a job at Abbey Road as an assistant in my gap year after my A-Levels! I then came back to do a sandwich year at Abbey road after finishing my University course, so two years in total. From my time there, I was surrounded by lots of expensive sessions, as it’s mainly orchestras that go on there, and film scores too. But I learned a lot about studio etiquette, and how to deal with pressure.” Then Andrew concentrated on teaching drums, and with his basic studio rig, did as much 48 HEADLINER
as he could on his own. He’d listen to records, wonder how they achieved the sounds, and would try to emulate them. In 2009, he got introduced to Clive Langer, and that was arguably the most pivotal point in his career to date. “My management also look after Clive, and when they took me on, Clive had a session that he wanted to do for his son,” Andrew explains. “There was no budget, so my management suggested he came to me and did the session at my warehouse; and we’ve been working together ever since, really. He’s a great guy, and has produced some huge records over the years. I’ve learnt so much from him.” He certainly has: One Step Beyond by Madness, Too-Rye-Aye by Dexys Midnight Runners, and Bona Drag and Kill Uncle by Morrissey, to name but a few. It’s been quite an eclectic journey so far for Charlie
Andrew, and it’s only going to get better, if his MPG Awards are anything to go by: he won the MPG Breakthrough Producer Award back in 2013, so they clearly saw his potential. “You know, it feels like the MPG is the only thing that we as producers have as a kind of union; they have got our back. There are a lot of issues that need to be resolved at this point, the way the industry is changing, and contacts between artists, producers, and labels are constantly changing too. It’s such an amazing thing to have an organisation like the MPG on it every day, trying to make sure we’re not getting left behind or overlooked, and to shout from the rooftops, making the role of the producer relevant in the public eye, and to the artist and the labels; helping people to understand how important the role of a producer actually is.”
Charlie recently pulled three names out of a hat (Danny Boyle, Steve Cooper, and James Rutledge) and netted them each a free day in a recording studio of their choice via a competition organised by the MPG and international studio directory, AllStudios. “Tony Platt approached us last April to source a number of studios willing to offer studio time as a prize in the MPG Members Voting Incentive, we were keen to help,” explains AllStudios’ Natalie Forsyth. “In return, each participating studio was offered the opportunity for some great promotion among the MPG membership thus bringing them to the attention of a great body of producers. We were proud to be involved, as well as keen to help the voting process be as true a representation of all its members as possible.” Daniel Boyle (pictured above left) chose RAK for his free studio time, and says it must have been written in the stars: “I met Trisha from RAK at the MPG awards recently, and she had invited me to pop in one day for a cup of tea! Then a few days later, I win the prize! Now I get to have the cup of tea, and record some music! Fate! It’s a great opportunity to use an awesome console and great mics, as my own studio is almost exclusively used for mixing, and I don’t have the required size room for drums.” James Rutledge opted for Strongroom for the vibe, and the kit: “The free studio time will enrich what I’m doing, and enable me to experiment in a professional environment. It’s hard to find the budget and time to do that these days. That whole area of town has a romance for me; I like the social side of it: bumping into people who have studios there, label folk, and other musicians and producers.” www.mpg.org.uk www.allstudios.co.uk
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Insight
Theatre
Wicked Here Come The Girls Ever wondered what it's like working eight shows a week in London's West End? Us too. We spoke to Emma Hatton and Savannah Stevenson, Wicked's two spellbindingly dynamic leading ladies, about the responsibilities that go hand in hand with their roles, Elphaba and Glinda, and that very entertaining on-stage rapport.
F
or those of you that aren’t aware, Wicked is the prequel to Wizard of Oz, and tells the entertaining, touching, and at times hilarious, story of the Witches of Oz: it’s like a parallel universe to the classic tale, with two polar opposite sorcery students who at first can’t stand the sight of one another, and eventually become best buddies. Now in its 10th year, Wicked has been seen by more than seven million people in London alone. It’s been described as ‘one of the greatest musicals of our time’ (Daily Mail), and ‘one of the West End’s best-loved shows’ (OfficalLondonTheatre.com) - and it’s easy to see why. The story is beautifully intertwined, and multi-Grammy and Academy Award-winning Stephen Schwartz’ music and lyrics are right out the top drawer. But it’s the cast that makes Wicked the spectacle that it is. We were entirely blown away when we attended the annual Wicked Media Night at the end of last year, so much so, we thought it was about time we got up close and personal with the show’s two stars, to find out a bit about their route into theatre, and the dedication and hard work that they put in day in, day out, both on and off the stage, to make sure the magic happens. “It’s an amazingly strong cast overall, and for me, it takes a lot of discipline, and mind over matter, really; you have to take care of yourself, and listen to your body,”
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smiles Emma Hatton, who plays Elphaba. “With an eight-show week, you do have to pace yourself, and know when to say no! And that’s hard, as you’re in a high-pressure situation. It never gets any easier!” Emma is a jazz and blues singer first and foremost, and started out as a stand-by for the part of Elphaba. She’s been in the role for just over a year now, but despite her future musical aspirations, doesn’t plan on going anywhere until playing Elphaba feels like it’s a real job. “You have to make choices creatively to go on to do other things, which is never an easy decision when you have security in a role like this, and then you have to balance that with your own creativity,” Emma explains. “I started off as a singer in a jazz and blues band; it’s how I learned my craft, and I like to challenge myself. But Elphaba is such a dream role; in terms of female theatre, it doesn’t get much better. On the flip side, it takes its toll physically, and emotionally, so it’s about being realistic in how long you can expect to maintain eight shows a week, really.” A fair point. Surprisingly, Emma doesn’t come from a trained background, and describes her voice as ‘very raw’. If that is the case, she’s the perfect advert for not going to voice coaching lessons! Her voice is super-strong, has so many dynamics, and is full of character. “Taking on Elphaba, you do need to look at technique, and the safety of your voice,
“Elphaba is such a dream role; in terms of female theatre, it doesn’t get much better.” so it’s been wonderful for me, as it’s taught me how to sing properly,” Emma admits. “But yes, I have come from a very musical background, and that’s something I never want to let go. It’s important as a singer to stretch your voice out and do other things, or it can settle. I also don’t want to be pigeon-holed. I hope to do a lot more on the jazz and blues scene, and I am currently meeting with record labels, talking about doing another EP, and potentially even an album. It’s a really exciting time for me, and I am so grateful for Wicked on that side of things, too: it’s a wonderful platform, and it has a great loyal following. It’s just nice to have a few irons in the fire, as well.” Savannah, on the other hand, comes from a more traditional background; and before she graduated from drama school, she had already landed a part in the original Mary Poppins. Impressive! “I got a very lucky break, and I was understudy for Mary and Mrs. Banks; that was a huge learning curve for me,” Savannah insists, humbly. “Then I started to want to play leads, and as my career
Insight
Theatre
“It’s what an actor does: you find things that you connect with in a character, and then you use them.”
progressed, I started to step up. I got the real breakthrough with Gone with the Wind, where I was understudy to Scarlett O’Hara – this was Trevor Nunn’s production in the West End. And I got on the day after we opened to the press, without any rehearsals! [laughs] Thankfully, it went extraordinarily well, and from that moment, I guess I proved to myself that I could lead a company. So I continued to do leads, and the odd bit of TV, too. Before I got Wicked, my last role was in Chariots of Fire.” Glinda is such a unique role that not only requires a great singing voice, but some true artistry when it comes to acting. How on earth does Savannah manage to be funny all the time, and nail the vocals? “[laughs] Thank you! Well, I definitely see myself first and foremost as an actor, and you have to be able to sing a bit as well,” she says. “I think there are a few bits in Glinda that are a bit of me, but I just really heighten them! But I am also very different to her. It’s what an actor does: you find things that you connect with in a character, and then you use them, so that’s what I have to do with her. The comedy was quite a scary challenge to me, as I’ve always done drama; and that’s
51 HEADLINER
been really thrilling to me, that I do have comic timing, apparently!” She certainly does. Had us rolling around laughing in the stalls, in fact! Savannah has played Glinda for two-and-a-half years now, which is longer than she ever expected to stay, she admits. But because she loves doing it so much, she isn’t in any hurry to part ways with the production. “Sometimes as an actor, when you have a good thing, you have to hold onto it a little longer,” Savannah reveals. “I love the show, and the role, and it’s such a challenge every day that I never ever feel complacent – quite the opposite, actually. So much of what this show is, is about those two women: that Glinda and Elphie chemistry really is everything.” We couldn’t agree more. And what about the responsibility that goes with each of those roles? How important is it to make sure the portrayal of the characters is right on the money from that perspective? “The Wicked fanbase is so huge, and so dedicated; and following in the footsteps of Idina Menzel, whose career has just blown up, generates more interest around the show,” Emma explains. “So yes, there is a responsibility as an actress to tell the story of Wicked; and Elphaba is someone a lot of young females in particular can really relate to, so there is also responsibility that comes with that. On the stage, you’re so exposed, there is nowhere to hide; and sometimes the slower, softer ballads are the more challenging, as it’s just you and the story telling. If you feel vocally tired, or you’re coming down with something, my goodness, do you feel the pressure!” And what about you, Savannah? “I totally agree. The pressure of this show is quite honestly exhausting, and the fanbase of Wicked is so crazy, I hadn’t prepared myself for it at all! After my opening night, there was a wall of people at stage door, and it’s amazing to feel that support, but it’s kind of bizarre, too. It’s my job, but it’s strange having people waiting for you after you finish your day at work! [laughs] All the fans are really supportive, and I have never had any negativity. You actually feel like you’re entering into their show, as there is an understandable sense of ownership there; they’re the ones that buy the tickets, after all, and that is kind of awesome.” The incredible on-stage rapport you have suggests that you girls must be friends off the stage as well as on it?
“Definitely! We spoke on the phone for an hour-and-a-half after the show yesterday, in fact,” confirms Emma, with a smile. “We have a great friendship, and care about each other immensely. You spend so much time looking into each other’s eyes, you know when it’s touching a specific nerve. It’s important to support each other emotionally on and off stage in those two roles, and although we are strong enough actresses that it would still be believeable on stage if we weren’t close, that fact that we are certainly adds to that.” Both girls say their respective roles still feel very fresh, and when necessary, they are able to find new rhythms and nuances, to feed off each other. However, they’re not robots, Emma is keen to point out..! “Energies can change dramatically: we are humans that go through emotional things off stage that can affect hugely what goes on onstage, so you have to be able to channel it, to make the performances even better. It can be pretty straining in some ways, but that cathartic experience can feel great; if I’ve been queuing at the bank all day, I can let that frustration out when belting out Defying Gravity, can’t I? [laughs]” Yet another good point! Finally then, ladies, what advice you can offer for a budding Glinda or Elphaba? “When I started in the ensemble, I think I was seen as a pretty reliable understudy and great ensemble member, but I had to break through that in order to play leads, so you have to have that kind of determination to succeed, I think,” reflects Savannah. “However, it doesn’t have to be as cut-throat as it’s often portrayed. I would never elbow anybody out of my way to be seen at the front, as I’m not that kind of person; and pretty much all of the people I’ve worked with are the same. “I think talent does come forward naturally, but I do see these drama school graduates, and really hope that it works out for them, as it doesn’t for so many. It’s such a difficult industry to hack, and I still most definitely have days where I don’t feel amazing, but even when I don’t, I still feel totally uplifted when I finish a show. It’s what I love about this role: Glinda is the ultimate tonic! So I would say always stay ambitious, but find some kind of pathline to try and achieve your goals.” Big thanks to Emma and Savannah for taking the time to talk to us. Wicked is running now at the Apollo Theatre in Victoria, and comes very highly recommended.
Show
Review
Show Review ENTER SHIKARI AT ALEXANDRA PALACE, FEB 27TH 2016 Words Adam Protz
THE JOURNEY FROM THE modest, closure-threatened Pioneer Skate Park in St Albans, to the sheer expanse and prestige of Alexandra Palace may have been a long one, but lead singer Rou Reynolds tells us: “it feels like it was all leading to this moment”. There’s a slight contradiction to this statement, considering he had earlier proclaimed that the electronicore/alternative
52 HEADLINER
rock outfit having a headliner slot at Ally Pally “defies the laws of physics.” While this sense of destiny and defiance of the universe may appear paradoxical at face value, it perhaps only makes any sense when applied to Enter Shikari. Their rise has been meteoric; they are yet to release an average album, and have what is more or less a resident spot at the Reading and Leeds festivals. Despite this,
Reynolds is within his rights to point out how rare it is for a band who are independent and politicised to both play and fill the likes of this gargantuan space. So while this milestone show may be a lab experiment gone wrong, it is certainly a violently frothing, explosive concoction to be remembered. As almost every attendee chants the band’s famous line, ‘and still we will be here,
standing like statues’, as they wait in anticipation, screams erupt as Rory Clewlow, Chris Batten, and Rob Rolfe follow Reynolds on stage as he rewards his ‘mindsweepers’ by screaming back the words they had only been chanting moments ago. For members of the press, and pacifists, hoping to avoid an elbow to the face, it turns out to be a tricky task, as mosh pits open up at the
“Mosh pits open up at the front, back, and sides, like DNA microcosms desperately seeking to intertwine.” front, back, and sides, like DNA microcosms desperately seeking to intertwine. As Shikari launch through Solidarity, Sorry You’re Not a Winner and the majestic The One True Colour, it becomes quickly apparent that the set list fittingly comprises their whole discography, and that their music is more than adequately filling the great hall. In fact, we receive a very concerted effort to cover as many songs as possible within the hour and a half playing time, which means medleys aplenty: The Last Garrison leads straight into the final chorus of No
53 HEADLINER
Sleep Tonight; Slipshod into The Jester; and we are later treated to a brief, solo piano version of Juggernaughts. Each song is accompanied by a short film, the best of which being beautiful cinematography of the ocean accompanying Torn Apart and its lyrics, ‘sinking, I don’t know how we’ll get to shore again; sinking, we’ll surface through the waves’. Thankfully, the quartet also play to one of their biggest strengths, which is never taking themselves too seriously, despite the political nature of their songs. A Monty Python-esque illustration of Gandhi interrupts Gandhi Mate, Gandhi mid-song in an attempt to calm them down, by talking about Robbie Williams. This prompts the band to launch into Angels by the Staffordshire-born star himself, and predictably, the entire room joins in en-masse. If anyone in the crowd said they saw that coming afterwards, they were lying. About half way in to the show, there’s a disorientating moment where Reynolds is heard speaking, but no one is sure where he is. It turns out he’s somehow reached a piano, dead centre in the venue. Once all eyes are on him, he performs Dear Future Histo-
rians, then climbs on top of the instrument to thrash away at his guitar as the band join in, some feet away on the main stage. This is all yet another wonderful touch, and at the time of writing, fans are still hotly debating how Mr. Reynolds got to the piano and back to the stage again. Did he sneak through the crowd? Is there a secret tunnel? Who knows. The night ends with Anaesthetist, Enter Shikari’s furious lament against NHS cuts, and The Appeal and The Mindsweep II. With muscles aching, bruises sustained, and items of footwear lost, it’s probably sensible to call it a night there. We may have been told that the band’s career was “all leading to this moment”, but it’s very important not to misinterpret that sentence with any sense of finality. Here is a band at the height of their powers, who have reached the big league completely on their own terms, with no sign of going back. As the attendees stream out of Alexandra Palace and drink in the beautiful London skyline, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t think there’ll be several more moments like this for team Shikari. www.entershikari.com
ROADIE
RANT
GRUMPY OLD ROADIE It’s 2.30am
on a cold and frosty January morning some time in 2025. You’ve just loaded out a hundred-point, 15-truck tour from the recently rebranded Manchester Co-Op arena, and you’re feeling pretty fucking knackered. On top of that, the showers aren’t working and you stink of sweat, so you’re looking forward to a hot bath on the forthcoming day off.
Finally, you’re in your bunk and fast asleep. You should be in Glasgow in a couple of hours where you can finally unwind, but your sleep is abruptly put on hold by the commotion in the corridor: “passports, let me have your passports for the border guards!” Every fucking time you leave the UK (or what’s left of it now) you get cherry-picked by the fucking Scottish border
“OBVIOUSLY THIS HASN’T HAPPENED YET, BUT IT COULD QUITE EASILY IF WE VOTE TO LEAVE THE EU IN JUNE” You’ve had a couple of beers with the rest of the crew in the bus lounge to unwind, and you finally said goodnight at around 3.30am – there are only so many video games that you can play. You’ve had enough of working with this particular band anyway: £500 per day plus $100 per day per-diem is well below the market average. You might only be the fourth man on the lighting crew, but you need to be properly rewarded. You’ve decided anyway – you’ll quit after the UK tour, and take the job with the eternal Cliff Richard. 54 HEADLINER
police. You’d think at 6am they’d be asleep themselves but no, yet again they’re after touring blood. Why do the agents for these bands include Scotland now in a UK tour anyway? It’s not part of the UK anymore, and it seems that every time you venture across the border, you get pulled. Agreed, there has been a massive decline in Scottish touring since the UK left the EU back in 2016. Subsequent to that, and as you well know, Scotland lobbied for another in/ out referendum, and they eventually got their way, and left the UK the year after. The
border was up in a trice, and now only two roads access Scotland from England, both of which are heavily manned by border control officials. No guns though, this would be civilised border control, they told us. What the fuck are they looking for this time anyway? It’s generally leaving Scotland where they’d find the stowaways, trying to get to the land paved with gold. As usual, so few bands are touring up here now from the UK, and they’re just looking for souvenirs, signed photos, that sort of thing. Bands are finding it really expensive to go across the border into Scotland now. The cost of fuel is about double, the Carnet cost is a fortune, and can hold the tour up for hours. Carnets - remember when you’d only need them for non-EU countries? Now you need them everywhere again? Oh, the pain! The Scottish withholding tax is crippling the artists,
plus dealing with their new ever-fluctuating currency is just a joke. And when you get there, the attendances are pretty low because the Scots just don’t have the money to go out anymore and enjoy themselves. Anyway, the bus driver found some signed photos, and you’re finally on your way. You make a mental note to get more signed photos from the band during sound check. Europe has a lot of borders nowadays. Obviously this hasn’t happened yet, but it could quite easily if we vote to leave the EU on 23rd June. Now I’m just an old roadie, and I don’t profess to know the complete ins and outs of the in/out debate, but what I do fucking know is this industry that’s been my living for the past 40 or so years. I will vote ‘stay in’. I’m not sure if that’s a yes or no on the ballot paper. I urge you all to do the same, for the sake of your jobs, if nothing else.