Pond, Empire Of The Sun Collaborator Shares Studio Tips Following New Solo Release

Perth-based WAM Award-winning, multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Witt embarks on a new solo journey under the moniker of Romeo Walker.

Having collaborated with the like of Pond, Empire Of The Sun, Meg Mac and more, Witt certainly knows his way around the studio, and to celebrate the release of Romeo Walker’s new single, Mood, last week, he shares his top five studio tips with us:

1. The studio is an instrument you have to learn. Find out why your favourite records sound the way they do. Learn about and become cognisant of depth, ambience, frequencies, proximity, texture, equipment etc. 

2. If you’re not in a home studio, time is money, be prepared. Know your shit, ain’t nobody want to sit around and hear you learn your part. 

3. Have a vision with some guidelines to achieve it. Set the rules and allow yourself to break them. It can’t be all things at once, if it is, it is nothing.  

4. Respect the engineer/producer. They likely have a wealth of knowledge and experience you can draw from. 

5. Don’t compromise. If you want to place a mic inside a metal bucket, fill it with screws and get a drum sound with that, then try it. If you want more and more pepper on your dish, you don’t say “when” to the waiter. If you want to go extreme, push the boat out.

As for what fans can expect from the new project, Witt has previously noted: “Mood is a modal tune and a sonic sketch of a modern mood. I don’t know why I made it but an orange tree doesn’t know why it makes oranges, it just makes oranges and is indifferent to how it’s oranges are received.

“I composed the piece in my home studio one night after work whilst appreciating a bottle of red. I then re-recorded all the parts at Tone City Recording Studio with Sam Ford behind the desk & Alex Reid (Grievous Bodily Calm) on the kit. It was a pretty smooth process really.”

Check out Mood below ahead of its launch show at Mojo’s Bar next month.

Head to theGuide for more details.