In The Studio Focus: Othrship

In what studio did you record your most recent release? Damien Gerard Recording Studios.

What made you choose it in the first place? It came highly recommended by my producer, I'd also heard of a bunch of bands who recorded there and loved it!

When anyone with a computer can record something of studio quality, what made you still go into a studio? The great room sound, which features on all the tracks. Pretty well every instrument was miked from close and far to ensure that there was the sound we were after.

Was there any piece of equipment or instrument in particular that the studio had that you enjoyed using? Absolutely, most of the vintage equipment the studio owns, in particular the Urei compressors and Neumann mics. Certainly one of the big factors for choosing the space.

Who was working with you on the recording and what did they bring to the table? Grady Henshaw was the producer and Russell Pilling was the engineer. I'd been speaking to Grady for about six months prior, explaining the sound and the process that I wanted to use to record.

Did you record pretty much live to tape or did you use some studio trickery? Pretty well everything was recorded live that could be. We spent our first day in the studio ensuring the tracks' rhythm section tracks were a strong bed before we added the other instruments.

Do you aim for perfection in the studio or more feeling or vibe when deciding to use a take? Honestly, I think it's a combination of the two. I probably let my ear lead the way. We have an idea in mind for the track and we wait till that emerges in the recording.

Do you prefer analogue or digital? In theory, I prefer analogue (hence the vintage equipment sort out when looking for a studio) but I have no justification as to why that is. It's just what everyone talks about at the moment.

Did you run into any musos while you were recording? Did you swap stories/talk collabs or anything like that? Peter Holz was producing Richard Charles and heard the band playing and absolutely loved it. Luke Fabila's drumming is tight and Louis is a very saxy guy. They asked them to record some tracks.