Headliner issue 9

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"CHIPS ARE A WASTE OF SPACE "

FROM THE EDITOR

- ANDY FRASER

ANDY FRASER 1952- 2015

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In this issue, we look back on the career of one of music’s all-time greats, Andy Fraser, who tragically passed away just a few weeks ago. ‘Andy who?’ some of you may ask, but bear with me... Andy was not only one of the most influential bass players of all time, he was one-fourth of, as Joe Bonamassa puts it, ‘the most criminally underrated rock bands ever’. That band was Free, the group responsible for the mega-hit (which Andy helped pen), All Right Now, one of the most played songs in US radio history.

Andy was also a social activist. He was dedicated to Gary Miller’s Rock Against Trafficking (RAT) initiative, raising money and awareness for the global issue that is human trafficking, and bringing onboard music legends such as Glenn Hughes, Slash, Joe Bonamassa, and Julian Lennon, some of whom we speak to about their experiences working with Andy and RAT in this issue.

He will be sorely missed, but his legacy must live on, and these guys, along with Gary, will now be more determined than ever for RAT to make its mark on a global scale.

We also catch up with the fabulously talented Paloma Faith, deserved winner of the BRIT Award for Best Female, looking at her humble beginnings, a rise to superstar status, and that all-important stage sound she couldn’t be without.

Also inside, we say hello to Washington DC-based artist, Anousheh, whose recent album, Make Noise, is an absolute belter. We then head to a beach-side restaurant on Santa Monica pier (as you do) to chat to internationally-acclaimed songwriter, Roxanne Seeman, before zipping across the pond to share builder’s tea and cookies with Mark Feehily, ex-Westlife member, to discuss his new solo venture, which promises to raise more than a few eyebrows – a top bloke, and good luck to him.

Furthermore, we talk to the production teams on the latest Usher and Maroon 5 tours, to see what’s new, and Jerry Gilbert takes us down musical memory lane, namely London’s Fleet Street, and remembers a couple of drinking sessions that got a little out of hand...!

Thanks for choosing Headliner, we hope you enjoy the issue.

Paul Watson Editor

C O N T A C T:

CONTRIBUTORS:

PAUL WATSON paul@headlinerhub.com +44(0)7952-839296

JERRY GILBERT

GRAHAM KIRK graham@gkirkmedia.com +44(0)7872-461938 Twitter: @Headlinerhub www.facebook.com/HeadlinerHub www.headlinermagazine.net www.tsu.co/headliner_magazine

JORDAN YOUNG J O N AT H A N T E S S I E R GARY SPENCER COLIN PIGOTT LOUIS HENRY SARMIENTO II ROBERT THE ROADIE

DESIGNER EIMEAR O’CONNOR

CONTENTS #9

06 | SWIVEL ON THIS

26 | COVER STORY: PALOMA FAITH

Grammy-winner, DJ Swivel, talks about the potential impact of the Pharrell/Robin Thicke/Marvin Gaye lawsuit outcome.

We’re delighted that Paloma won the BRIT Award for Best Female.

We look at her humble beginnings, her early career, and find out what really makes her tick on stage.

08 | SONIC VISTA INSIGHTS

Our friends from the White Island look at the unrivalled legacy of London’s iconic recording studios.

10 | SONG BIRD

We head to Santa Monica to talk songwriting with acclaimed artist, Roxanne Seeman, whose stories take longer to tell than even my own.

12 | MAROON 5

We check in with our pal, Kevin Glendinning, and the rest of the Maroon 5 crew, to find out what’s hot on the band’s current world tour.

14 | HOMECOMING

British artist, David Aldo, achieved seven number one singles in South Africa, and now he’s back, to try and replicate that success back home.

16 | ROADBLOG

Jerry Gilbert revisits London’s Fleet Street to tell a drinking tale or two from his days interviewing the musical elite in this former media hub.

18 | HEART & SOUL

Multi-talented Californian songstress, Joanna Pearl, talks music, TV shows, social media, and Rock Against Trafficking.

20 | DANIEL KOEK

After five years as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, it’s time for a change of musical direction for this talented Australian vocalist.

Watch this space.

22 | ROCK & ROLL WARDROBE

New-York based Gary Spencer reminds us of the unique chiffon style of one of Britain’s greatest ever female vocalists, Stevie Nicks.

24 | BEST OF BRITISH

Paloma Faith’s recent BRIT Awards performance under a waterfall really was something to talk about, so we did, with monitor man, James Neale.

226 6 || PALOMA P A L O M AFAITH FAITH

29 | ALL RIGHT NOW

We look back fondly at the life of one of the best bassists (and loveliest blokes) of all time, Free’s Andy Fraser, whose musical legacy must live on.

32 | NEW HORIZONS

Former Westlife vocalist, Mark Feehily, and his trusted right hand woman, Becky Pell, chat about his new solo project, over tea and giant cookies.

34 | A DAY IN THE LIFE

We descend on the iconic Abbey Road Studios in North London, and frankly, we find ourselves in musical heaven!

38 | 10 MINUTES WITH... ANOUSHEH

This Grammy-nominated, DCbased artist, has a beautiful new album, which is already making some serious noise.

40 | CHANGING THE GAME?

Is hi-res DXD audio the future of live performance? If Verona 2015 in Italy is anything to go by, it might just be.

42 | LONDON CALLING

We chat to some of the winners at this year’s superb MPG Awards, and find out why the event continues to go from strength to strength.

44 | RUNNING ON FAITH

Nashville-based guitar hero, Johnny Hiland, is quite possibly the most remarkable artist we’ve ever interviewed. ‘Nuff said.

48 | USHER

We head to Birmingham’s very impressive Barclaycard Arena to check out the penultimate UK leg of Usher’s tour.

50 | GRUMPY OLD ROADIE

Robert is ranting in code this month: acronyms, abbreviations, and expletives!

How many can you work out?

Email paul@headlinerhub.com to win a prize!

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EL DJ SWIV

SWIVEL ON THIS nspired by, or stolen? That’s the question a jury (not of OUR peers) were forced to answer last month in the trial of Marvin Gaye’s estate vs.

Pharrell and Robin Thicke for their work on their hit song, Blurred Lines.

For those of you who aren’t aware of this or haven’t heard anything, where have you been?! If you work in music, and you are a creator, this is one of the most important decisions that WILL affect your career at some point. Spoiler alert, Marvin Gaye’s family won a whole bunch of money. $7.4 million to be exact. Their team was able to convince a jury that Pharrell and Robin Thicke stole parts of Marvin’s song, Got To Give It Up, in order to create Blurred Lines.

First things first, I’m not a legal student, but if it was legal to do so, the jury needed to be music professionals, who have a better understanding of how we do what we do. The fact is this, outside of utilising similar sounds, the songs are completely different: they are in different keys; one is major, one is minor; and they share no identical notation. They simply share ‘feel’. You know, it’s very difficult to quantify emotion. By that definition, we are likely going to see a whole lot of lawsuits pop up for similar sounding songs. How many times have you turned the radio on to hear a new song that reminds you of one of your favourite songs? We’ve all heard those similarities in music. That’s called feel. That’s how music is made! Not every idea is completely original; we take inspiration from past and present greats, or even something obscure, and not so great. That inspiration develops into a new original idea, and that’s the nature of music creation.

Now, I’m sure this case will be caught up in the appeals process for quite some time,

and hopefully the right decision will be made, but for the time being, we must deal with the current result. And it’s a bad one.

The implications of this decision will have a far reaching effect and will force songwriters and producers to create differently, many times against their initial intuition. In fact, within a week of this result being announced, I witnessed a manager/artist/label going through the process of selecting their next single, and they chose their second option simply because the first option sounded ‘a bit like Blink 182’. These are real effects!

What’s worse is that it’s happening to Pharrell. He is one of the greatest contributors to pop music over the last twenty years, and is also one of the most original songwriters we’ve ever had. He’s never compromised his sound to copy what’s hot today. He’s had peaks and valleys in his career, and not once strayed from his sound. He’s a truly original creator, in a very unoriginal world, so I hate that this had to happen to him.

Listen, I get it. To a layman, you hear the two songs and you hear similarities in the groove, in the instrumentation, and in the overall feel.

But none of those things are quantifiable, which makes it very difficult to set precedent.

This result turns every other case into a battle of who’s got the better attorney, and you’re going to see a bunch of frivolous lawsuits popping up, turning this whole thing into a money grab.

And the only people who suffer is everyone!

Everyone who listens to music at least.

This decision hinders the creative process.

We ALL borrow. We ALL get inspired. But that doesn’t mean theft. This is another unfortunate decision in a string of unfortunate decisions that has plagued the music industry for years. What I’d like to know is, when will we get it right?

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SONIC VISTA INSIGHTS

London has always been a musical capital. Known for its history, economical power, and bad weather, it’s also a city where music artists would congregate to create masterpieces that would impact the world. This international metropolis was a place that offered inspiration and infrastructure, but also connected Britain to the rest of the world. Music was a major exported product, and much of it was due to the studios that helped shape and create those great works we know today.

WORDS: LOUIS HENRY SARMIENTO II & J O N AT H A N T E S S I E R

ack then, radio was the main medium. If musicians wanted to show the world how good they were, they had to make sure their records sounded great. That responsibility fell into the hands of producers and engineers. Unsung heroes of the music industry, they played an essential role in the recording process as well as songwriting and arranging aspects. A supervision that was paramount to the quality of music produced.

A role so important that even The Beatles’ producer Sir George Martin was considered the sixth member of the group. Their mission was to record the magic created by musicians, a sonic alchemy that could only be captured under the roof of the holiest of places: a creative temple musicians know as the recording studio.

Which is why we are here today, to show our readers how the studios of London have played

a seminal part in the development of popular music history.

Firstly, we have EMI Studios, a.k.a Abbey Road, in North London (check out our full feature on p.34), where The Beatles recorded the majority of their albums. Originally a ninebedroom townhouse, it was converted into studios in 1931 after the building was bought by the Gramophone Company (a predecessor of the EMI label). Abbey Road Studios served as a creative cocoon for many artists: Pink Floyd recorded most of their material from the late ‘60s to the mid ‘70s, and other musicians such as The Shadows, Deep Purple, The Buzzcocks, Kate Bush, Duran Duran, Rush, Depeche Mode, and Oasis also left their stamp.

The client list is long and significant, and not only was it a creative space, it was a laboratory where sound engineers like Ken Townsend invented the automatic double tracking method (ADT), an upgrade from double tracking using

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S O N /I C P AV PI SA T AR OI AN CS HI G / H T S

tape delay which enhanced the sound of voices and instruments during the recording process.

Eventually, ADT became a standard technique used in every recording studio during the tape era.

AN OLYMPIC EFFORT Next, we have Olympic Studios, where The Rolling Stones recorded most of their material from 1966 to 1972. The establishment first opened its doors on Carton Street (central London) in the late 1950s under the ownership of Angus McKenzie. Later, in 1965, McKenzie sold the studios to Cliff Adams and John Shakespeare, who moved the studio to its final location in an old cinema building in Barnes (south-west London). Furthermore, Led Zeppelin recorded most of their albums at Olympic Studios; The Beatles found inspiration to track their immortal single, All You Need Is Love; and The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded the majority of their material here as well. A golden roster of clients also included legends Dusty Springfield, David Bowie, Ray Charles, Queen, The Eagles, and Madonna. The studios have also tracked music for legendary films Life of Brian (1979), Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and The Italian Job (1969). Olympic was the first recording facility in England to use a four-track tape recorder, and the first in the world to have a professional transistorised desk.

Another legendary recording facility from London was Trident Studios, located in the city’s Soho district. Founded by the Sheffield brothers in 1967, much of its success was achieved between 1968 and 1981. It attracted many important musicians at the time because it was the first studio to use Dolby noise reduction and Ampex eight-track reel to reel.

Since Abbey Road was still using four-track, The Beatles were seduced by the creative opportunities that Trident’s eight-track offered, which is why some songs from The White Album, such as Dear Prudence, Honey Pie, Savoy Truffle, and Martha My Dear, were recorded there. They also recorded the song Hey Jude.

McCartney said: “Words cannot describe the pleasure of listening back to the final mix of Hey Jude on four giant speakers which dwarfed everything else in the room”. he history of the studio is also linked to the rocky beginnings of Queen; since the band couldn’t get signed, Trident saw a strong potential and signed them under their management company: Trident Recording, Publishing and Management, in 1972. The band’s first four albums were released under the studio’s label, including the album A Night at the Opera (1975) which contains their magnum opus Bohemian Rhapsody.

A lot of the most renowned artists in music used the studios to record, including David Bowie, Marc Boland/T-Rex, Frank Zappa, Lou Reed, Carly Simon, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Genesis, Jeff Beck, and Rod Stewart. Trident also built some of the best consoles at the time; their A Range recording console was constructed out of necessity for space optimisation and was a success amongst professional studios around the world. Thus they started a new branch of business under the name Trident Audio Developments (TRIAD), and sold their first three consoles

to Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles. TRIAD also manufactured B Range consoles, a smaller piece of equipment that was sold to various studios around the world, one of their buyers being another famous recording facility in London: SARM Studios.

SARM STUDIOS Sound And Recording Mobiles, a.k.a SARM Studios, located in Notting Hill (central London), was established by Island Records’ founder Chris Blackwell in 1973, the businessman who forged Bob Marley’s career and founded the well known Compass Point Studios in Nassau four years later. SARM was a facility that welcomed many acclaimed artists, including Iron Maiden, Robert Palmer, Queen, King Crimson, Mott the Hoople, Roxy Music, Brian Eno, Cat Stevens, Spooky Tooth, and Jethro Tull. The studios were also used by nonIsland acts such as The Clash, Pet Shop Boys, KT Tunstall, Depeche Mode, The Eagles, Take That, Boyzone, Rihanna, Led Zeppelin, and Yes. It was said that Bob Marley and The Rolling Stones were recording at the same point in 1973 at the studios. During the mid 1970s, SARM was the first facility to offer 24-track recording, and when 48-track came out, they were the first to have it in Britain as well. They had the reputation for having a great mixing room, and went on to do the final mix of four Bob Marley

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albums: Catch a Fire (1973); Burnin (1973); Exodus (1977); and Kaya (1978).

Next, we have Richard Branson’s Townhouse Studios, located in West London. Another Virgin Records’ enterprise that served as the London branch of Branson’s first studio, The Manor, located in Oxfordshire. Townhouse was built in 1978 and had three rooms: studio one, two and four, number three being The Who’s exclusive Ramport Studios. Artists that recorded at the studios included Elton John, Phil Collins, Coldplay, Muse, Jamiroquai, Kylie Minogue, Oasis, Blur, Ozzy Osbourne, The Killers, Simple Minds, UB40, and Pulp. A popular place to record drum sounds during the 1980s, it was at Townhouse that producer Hugh Padgham treated the drum sounds for Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight, which became one of the biggest hits in popular music.

Throughout its history, the studios had a close affiliation with Solid State Logic (SSL), which allowed them to be the first recording space in the UK to install an SSL B-series console. bbey Road.

Olympic.

Trident. SARM. Townhouse.

These five studios are just an example of what happened in London’s musical heyday, though countless other legendary recording facilities existed as well; some survived, some transformed, and some disappeared, but what is certain is that they all played a part in creating the most important music of the 20th century.

Today, the recording business is recovering from a crisis, but new studios are popping out with the same determination of their predecessors: Metropolis Studios, The Church Studios, CaVa Sounds, Eastcote Studios, Motor Museum, and all the Miloco Studios are amongst the many facilities that are striving to make their mark on musical history. “There is a future,” says Nick Young, who runs the Miloco group, and we agree. As Winston Churchill once said, “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see”.

At the last IMS conference, Paul McGuinness (Ex-U2 Manager) talked about how the music business has always been affected by technological change. From vinyls, to cassettes, to CDs, to Mp3s, it’s no news that the industry always had to adapt. But the music itself constantly survived, and always thrived. Therefore, if music is food for the soul, then the artist is the seed, and studios are the cultivators. Thus, as long as there is a hunger for great music, there will always be a demand for studios, and London will continue to be one of the epicentres of musical creation in the world. www.sonicvistastudios.com

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ROXANNE

SEEM AN

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Santa Monica-based Roxanne Seeman has a hell of a lot of stories - most of them musical, all of them entertaining. I caught up with this super-accomplished singer-songwriter and producer in her hometown to talk hit records, collaboration, and how too many cooks can indeed spoil the broth. oxanne is somewhat of a purist as songwriters go. Her projects today are quirky and varied, yet at heart, she is an out-andout songwriter, and has been penning tunes on the piano and guitar for decades, with great success. But the game has changed somewhat, which often means thinking outside the box.

“You definitely need patience,” she smiles, as we order coffee. I am becoming mesmerised by the Santa Monica coastline, wondering when I can move here on a permanent basis. “The way everything is done today is all very fast, and songs are no longer written to last, they’re written to get a quick hit. As a songwriter, you still need to make an album of songs before you go around pitching them, though

in some young writers’ eyes, you write one song, take it to a DJ, get him to do his thing to it, and get yourself a hit. But that just isn’t the case.”

Roxanne’s credits are impressive to say the least, and span generations: Earth, Wind & Fire, Jacky Cheung, Bette Midler, The Jacksons, and the great Billie Hughes, also her songwriting partner from 1983, right up until his untimely death in 1998. Roxanne achieved massive success in Japan in 1991, writing and producing Hughes’ Welcome to the Edge number one single and album; it sat on Billboard’s Japan Top 10 chart for four months, and sold 520,000 copies.

The pairing also received the number one International Single of the Year at the NHK Japan Grand Prix Awards, Japan’s equivalent of the Grammys.

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So what is Roxanne’s writing process, and what does she think about the current crop of performers out there: Ed Sheeran, Jake Bugg, Sam Smith, and so on?

“I had a writing session recently with some really nice guys, and I said, ‘send me over just the sketch of the song’, and it comes over with an actual formula, and I’m like, ‘oh my God, is that how they’re teaching kids to write songs today?’” she says, with a smile. “But then take an artist like Norah Jones. When she came out, every label suddenly wanted a Norah; and it’s the same thing with Adele. There is real talent out there, and I think Ed Sheeran is one of those talents. When I think of the old days, I was fortunate that I owned my publishing; I wasn’t signed to a publisher where everybody was trying to write a song for Cher, you know?

“When Cher would go in to do a record, everybody would want to be on it, but you can’t do that now, as they’re all writing their own songs. And if you go back way further, to the days of Frank Sinatra, there was always somebody putting their name on a song. What is also happening today is, so many more songs have multiple, multiple ‘writers’. It’s pretty crazy, and working that way for me can complicate things.”

START TO FINISH

I ask Roxanne to take me through the ins and outs of a recent project, and she happily obliges.

“A music supervisor friend sent me a brief for a new reality show he was scoring, called Intervention, and he was looking for songs,” she begins. I feel a story brewing. “Basically, a person moves to New York and they have a new makeover in their life. I actually happened to have had a song called First Day Of A New Life which I’d put together with a writer from Manchester, England, called Franco. He’d come [to Santa Monica] three months ago, and on his first day, I thought, ‘let’s write about today’. It was a nice song, and we wrote it in three hours.

“These days, shows tend to want one-stops, and they’re also going to song libraries more and more. These libraries have taken over, really; and they make it very easy for the shows, as you have a blanket license to use all this stuff, all different genres, by all different artists. But Franco was coming over the next morning, so we decided to revise the lyrics of that song and immerse New York into it. So the title became First Day Of A New York Life.

“By midnight that night, I pretty much had the rest of the song. The one thing I am pushing for all the time as a songwriter is, ‘how does this line go into the next line?’, and that was how we approached it: ‘how are we going to really make this develop, so we have a bit more of a story?’”

Franco laid down the vocals, and the following morning, Grammy-winning producer (and dear friend of Roxanne), Gerry Brown, came over and mixed it. That afternoon,

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ROXANNE

SEEM AN

Roxanne sent the finished article to her trusted composer colleague.

“I guess he liked it a lot, because at 11.45pm that night, he sent me a sketch of another idea he had, saying, ‘I’m sure that if you tweak the lyrics, you could come up with something better; if you want to work on this, I’ll take this into the meeting, too’,” she recalls, with a chuckle. “So Franco came again the next morning, and by 2pm, we had a guitar and vocal which now sounded like a completely new song! But we used his hook chorus line, and where he had this riff at the end, I made that a background part, and then we made a completely different section. We used his first lyric, and rewrote the rest of it, but we always kept the template of his idea. And right now, both of those songs are under consideration for the show.

“When I’m working with a lot of northern Europeans - even Franco, who has a very thick British accent - I have a routine. When Franco recorded the vocal on that second song, for example, the composer initially came back to me and said, ‘look, even my daughter can’t understand what he’s saying’, so I came up with this system: they send me a track with the melody on it, I will write the lyrics, and I will sing along to it; I then pan my vocal to the right, and the track to the left, so they can control the music. They only need to know how I am phrasing the words.”

MIXDOWN

Roxanne used to use Pro Tools for her projects, but these days she’s all about Logic, and her brand new set of Genelec 8030s, of course, which have, in her own words, ‘changed everything for the better’.

“Today, Logic is the best DAW for me, no question - and my God, it’s a new world working with my Genelecs. I am totally crazy about them,” she says, as her eyes widen. “You know, Bill always had Tannoys, and Gerry always had his speakers that he just loved mixing on - and he can mix on anything, to tell you the truth - but I said to him, ‘I’ve got these new speakers, you have got to try them’.

He agreed, and was extremely impressed. He always says, ‘the test will be when I take it and play it outside, someplace else’. That might be in the car, or wherever, and sure enough, it came out great, and he was very happy.

“Using Genelecs, the difference is just unbelievable. The spectrum and depth to me is immense; there is a wonderful clarity of sound, and they have created an ambience that I have never had before. They’ve improved my workflow beyond belief, actually.”

As our long conversation comes to a close, I ask Roxanne to share a story or two with me.

Here is the edited version of what she had to say: “I was writing for Jacky Cheung, and I had one more song to deliver, yet I was working

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on four, so I asked his people to choose which one out of those I should finish. They went for Double Trouble, and when they were adapting my lyrics, I said that the ideal message would be, a guy gets caught up in two women. But I was told Jacky will never sing that, as he is known for being a real family man, has a wife with two daughters, and he is very loyal to them, so I had to have a re-think! This is what’s so wonderful about collaboration! So I came up with the idea that he was a witness to a gang hit, and he got spotted by the gang, and they went for it. And that song became a big feature on his tour with twenty-five musicians, loads of dancers, and a sixty-foot LED screen, so I think that was a good choice!”

It was also a massive number one hit in Hong Kong, I should add! I go to put my dictaphone away, but Roxanne isn’t quite finished: “I have got to tell you this, Paul... [smiles] There was this one Chinese girl called Corina, who came to me from USC (University of Southern California). She was nineteen-yearsold, and she says to me, ‘will you write a letter to Thornton School of Music for me, so I can go to the music school?’ She was really brazen, and had a lot of nerve, but I thought, ‘right okay, you took a taxi, paid fifty bucks to get here, so what am I gonna say?’ ‘Why do you want to go?’ was all I could muster, and she replied, ‘because in my country, there is a lot of copyright infringement and piracy; I want to learn here so I can go back and make a change.’

And I thought, ‘what a great answer!’. She was really earnest about it, so I asked her a lot of questions, wrote the letter, and she got in! That felt good, I have to say.” www.genelec.com

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ON TOUR WITH

MAROON 5 It’s been over a year since we last spoke to Maroon 5 and the team, and in that time, there have been quite a few changes. San Diego-based Sound Image is the current tour supplier, and things have never been rosier at both front-of-house and side stage. Headliner asks monitor man, Kevin Glendinning, and Sound Image system engineer, Andrew Dowling, to bring us up to speed.

evin Glendinning has been riding the faders at monitor position for Maroon 5 for around six years now, and in that time has built an enormous trust with the band. Such a trust, in fact, that when he suggested they upgrade the IEMs across the board, no-one batted an eyelid.

“When we last spoke, we had a complement of [ JH Audio] JH13s and 16s, and I just did a hot swap in January of this year; what was nice was, nobody demoed anything or did any homework, they just accepted it,” Glendinning explains. “It’s such a flattering thing when nobody asked anything about them, they were like, ‘sure, let’s do it’. So now we’re all on [ JH Audio] Roxannes, and honestly, it’s the most kick ass piece in the biz. Everybody got fitted out during the holidays, and now the crew and the

whole band have made the switch. The difference is pretty amazing.”

So what is it that Roxanne offers that wasn’t available before, exactly?

“Well for a start, I ended up turning everything down in the mix, as the earpiece is just so efficient,” Glendinning responds. “There is such imagery and overall presence that things don’t need to be driven as hard, and output mixes were down as far as 6dB in some cases.

The belt-packs stayed where they were, and I just took the mix levels down at the board. The digital element in that giant signal chain is the one that we ended up turning down; and that is invaluable. We now have so much more headroom, just because we are using Roxanne. As long as I have been doing this job, it’s the most beneficial upgrade or change I have ever made going to these ear pieces.”

Glendinning and Jim Ebdon (frontof-house engineer) are both DiGiCo advocates. Glendinning, in fact, was

one of the first engineers to take out DiGiCo’s SD7 back in 2008, which was another Sound Image tour with our mate, Lenny Kravitz.

“We’re both on SD7s for the whole tour, which is another major difference to the last tour; I switched to DiGiCo last May, and I couldn’t be happier,” he insists.

“Back in 2008, there was still quite a lot of work to be done with the console, and there were a few greyed-out portions like, ‘what does that do?’ And they were all, ‘well that’s coming’. Now jump ahead half a decade, and it’s all implemented. The SD7 is super-powerful, and everything you can imagine is actually doable. The capacity is excellent, and I have added a lot of stuff purely because of the board’s flexibility: I have a whole talkback bank, so the band and crew can all speak to myself and their artist, or Adam [Levine, Maroon 5 frontman] can talk just to me or his guitar tech. So the flexibility and the routing is much more concise and

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understandable on this board. Things don’t seem to be too layered and too in-depth, like on many other consoles.”

It was Jim Ebdon from the Maroon 5 camp that forged a relationship with Sound Image after demoing a new PA system several times. From there, Ebdon invited Sound Image’s Andrew Dowling out to be his system engineer on the tour, which is a role that has changed a hell of a lot over the years.

“Today, it’s a team effort to make frontof-house go correctly. Jim is putting the artistic take on it, making sure he does what the band wants, and I am the one making sure what he is doing is heard everywhere, while keeping all the gear working,” says Dowling, who has been at Sound Image for eight years. “If the two of us don’t play well together, it doesn’t do the show any good. These days, it’s all about the collaboration with frontof-house, meeting the artistic with the technical. If the artistic is finding glitches in certain spots, maybe I can tweak the system to be more musical, or in the vein that they desire.”

Ebdon also demoed several types of sub with Dowling, and the model he went for was suited to Powersoft amplification, so Powercubes were deployed for the tour: Powersoft’s dedicated amp racks, which support the manufacturer’s K10 amp models, and run with EAW’s UX8880 digital signal processor. One 10U Powercube boasts three-phase input connectors (analogue, AES, or Ethernet), and circuit breaker protected outputs, and provides eight channels of power via four amplifiers.

“We have a [powered] EAW Anja rig on tour, which Powersoft make the amp modules for, and for the subs, which were a latecomer to the package, we did a quick cross rental, which was the [Powersoft] Powercubes, to get us going,” Dowling says. “Powersoft is a proven company, and their amps work very well with our kit, so it was an easy decision for our owners to make: let’s buy those and build our rig!” he next step from an amplification standpoint was to repackage it into a Sound Image rack.

“We went from three Powercubes to one custom Powersoft Sound Image rack, and then we put in our usual switch network, and our own drive panel structure, so it will mate with any other rig we might use in the future,” Dowling explains. “We have a W2 in and out panel for analogue, and also an AES panel, too.

Every Sound Image rack pretty much has that configuration in it, so it’s basically

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plug and play. I just turn everything on in the morning, all the presets come up perfectly, I verify each sub circuit, and that’s it. We have spare amp channels, so if something were to go down, we’re prepared, but we haven’t had a single issue to worry about on that front at all, so that’s been kinda nice!”

Makes sense to me, and sounds like a particularly well oiled ship. So with the advancement in PA systems in general, does it mean the role of a system engineer is more challenging than ever, and dare I ask, more satisfying...?

“If you get to be a systems engineer with a really good engineer like Jim Ebdon, and a great tour like this one, where the band are killing it every night and you get some amazing sonic results, then yes, it’s absolutely more satisfying, and a lot more fun,” answers Dowling, as the conversation turns to processing. “You used to come onto the console, go into the processor, come out of the processor, and the processor would feed all the amps. I could always turn the volume down on the amplifier, but they didn’t have discreet EQ, delay, and everything else you now get on the kit we’re using today, so sub steering has gone up, and there is now the ability to manipulate zones in the PA. “Installs led that way in that world, tuning different parts of a theatre, and we have now brought that to large format. Part of the challenge

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now, though, is finding time to take enough measurements and manipulate enough zones!”

How difficult is it then, choosing the right personnel for a tour, and making sure that everything is teched as well as it possibly could be? There’s a lot riding on things going swimmingly, no?

“Thankfully, Sound Image is such an unbelievable company, and our owner, Dave Shadoan, really cares about people.

We all get full benefits, he finds the right people, and more importantly, he keeps them for a long time,” Dowling explains.

“The other part is, audio should be a good experience, so you don’t yell at stage hands or talk down to people, you treat people with respect. As a Sound Image crew today, people are happy to see us and work for us; we have great gear, and we take care of it really well, and that’s a big factor; our personnel are some of the best in the business.”

Next up for Maroon 5 is the UK and Europe in May, before making the long trip to Australia, via the Philippines and Singapore. Go grab a ticket if you can. www.powersoft-audio.com www.jhaudio.com www.digico.biz www.sound-image.com

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Q&A

DAVI D

ALDO

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Newcastle-born artist, David Aldo, is hoping that a long and successful solo career in South Africa (seven number one singles) will be the catalyst to a successful stint in the UK and Europe. It’s never easy breaking into a new territory, but with a brand new album scheduled for release this month, and Rod Stewart onside, who are we to argue? downloaded five minutes later [smiles]. I think the record industry is going for the kids market, really, and they don’t want to own music, they just want to consume it. That’s the problem when you’re trying to succeed in this industry.

My mission is to expose myself to these new markets, hopefully make some sales, but more importantly, come to the UK and have some sort of a fan-base that I can then come out and perform to.

What has brought you back to the UK, and how much of a challenge is it going to be starting from scratch?

A lot of unfortunate incidents happened to me in the late ‘90s, that sadly were commonplace in South Africa at the time; I had a home invasion, I was held hostage in another scenario, and I realised this was par for that part of the world back then. Also, it was a very small market for what I was doing, as I was up against international artists; if I had been doing Afrikaans music, I definitely would have stayed, but I was an English guy doing Elton John style music in South Africa, so it wasn’t straightforward, and after all this awful stuff happened, I feared for my life every single day, so I just had to get out.

And headed Stateside, right?

Yes. I was actually brought over by my label, Electra Records, in ‘97, and had done some writing sessions with some guys in Nashville, then I decided that LA would be the best place, both industry wise and climate wise. For five or six years, it was a case of survival, and my career went into a lull, you could say. Then I got a deal with Sony in South Africa, and everything started up again; that’s when I started having successes, including a world tour supporting Lionel Richie, and I then decided I really had to release my material in Europe. And here we are...

How do you go about replicating that South African success here in the UK?

I am only as good as the song I’m about to sing,

The fact that you understand the industry, and have already stood the test of time, must be looked at as a positive though, surely?

and the way I’m singing it. The fact it’s been successful somewhere else does lead me to believe it’s going to do well in the UK, though.

I actually released one of the songs in the US last year that was tested in Idaho, which is kind of farm country, and it was tested at 97% on the radio, which was just amazing. These are people that don’t know me from a bar of soap, and they’re getting exposed to this music from out of nowhere, so that’s very encouraging.

Also, that’s the audience talking, not the industry talking.

How would you position yourself in the UK market?

It’s not a teenage market, that’s for sure, and I think the more mature market is still connected with radio and so on, whereas the really young ones are more likely to download it on their mobiles and forget about what they

Yes, I think so, and the thing is, I love what I do.

I am a real musician and I am a soul singer. I am not going through the mechanics; I am bearing my soul, and people are feeling it. Yes, I want to be successful, but I’ve been put on this earth to bring pleasure to people, and that’s why I’m really here.

Complete with celebrity fan-base, too!

[laughs] Well, yes, I grew up with Michael Bolton, and have been trying to sing as well as him all my life, so when he says he thinks I can really sing, I take that as a big compliment!

And I did get a message from Rod Stewart at the end of last year, actually, saying he and Penny [Lancaster] really enjoyed my video, and thought the single was catchy, so that’s another positive [smiles]. We’ll have to wait and see! www.thedavidaldo.com

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When I decided to meet my son for lunch recently, following his office relocation to Fleet Street, it provided the opportunity for a nostalgic walk back down the Street of Shame.

After all, this was where I entered both the music and national newspaper industries, as a feature writer on Melody Maker in 1969. It was also the same year that Rupert Murdoch first set foot on Fleet Street - but don’t hold that against me.

But nothing had prepared me for the fact that when I rocked up at the bank where my son worked (HSBC), it was the exact same spot where I had my desk forty-five years earlier; he was following in my footsteps, literally!

Different building, same address. Two doors along had been the ridiculously gaudy Golden Egg, where I interviewed Noddy Holder and the gang from Ambrose Slade (as they were then known), along with Chas Chandler, their manager. I think we may have munched on a Chicken Maryland.

But the place I really wanted to check out was Red Lion Court, a narrow passageway that bisected our old IPC Business Press and aforementioned Golden Egg. Halfway up the passage had been our local ‘office’, the Red Lion, run by Wally the guv’nor. Inexplicably, two Chinese food dishes were all they ever seemed to serve: Sweet & Sour Pork and Beef Chop Suey (it was still early days in the Chinese nosh canon). The order would disappear up a chute, and then magically, Wally would haul down the steaming plate on a dumb waiter, like a sailor dropping the mainsail. Packed in like sardines, I would be interviewing Marc Bolan, back to back with Chris Welch, who would be chatting to Keith Emerson. This experience changed my whole life trajectory.

Fleet Street had been home to journalists and printers since William Caxton and his apprentice and printing press pioneer, Wynkyn de Worde (for it is he) began work there in the 15th century.

The original Red Lion Tavern itself dated back to around 1592, but had been rebuilt after The Great Fire. In fact, the fire totalled every

tavern on the street apart from the Wig & Pen (which is today a Thai Square). Sometime later, the Red Lion was demolished to make way for a faceless rectangular office block that I am now gazing up at. No fire this time, just a developer’s bulldozer. This once Dickensian passage has been sanitised beyond an inch of its life.

All the musos, however famous, wanted to be interviewed in the Red Lion - no publicists’ offices back then and my chats there ranged from Spencer Davis to Billy Connolly to blues singers Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup, who wrote Elvis’s hit That’s All Right Mama, and Johnny Shines, who toured the Mississippi with THE Robert Johnson.

Legends, or what?

Of course, lunchtime meant lunchtime back then (there was no all day drinking), although on one particularly biblical-style session with two country bluesmen operating under the misleadingly innocuous moniker of Simon & Steve (the UK’s answer to Sonny Terry &

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JERRY’S SONG LYRIC OF THE MONTH “I’m washing down my blood pressure pill with a Red Bull.”

JAMES MCMURTRY HOW’M I GONNA FIND YOU NOW

Brownie McGhee), I passed out, and the next thing I remember was waking up in Wolverhampton to find them gigging onstage. Fact!

The harp I woke up to did not signify arrival at the Gates of St. Peter, as I suspected, but the grating chromatic blues harp of late Groundhog, Steve Rye. Every night, I just made the last train back to Farnham, wrote up the previous day’s interviews on a sit-up-and-beg portable typewriter through carbon paper, and caught the morning train back into London. In those primitive days of communication (landline calls only), I never once missed a deadline; today, armed with every comms aid in Christendom, I’m a day late and a dollar short for everything.

Of course, Fleet Street’s legendary pubs were the attraction. Opposite our office was the vortex, El Vino’s (whose policy was not to serve women at the bar); on the corner of Fetter Lane was the Robert Peel, where the late, great publicist Les Perrin (the Beatles’ PR mentor) held court.

There were many others, ranging from the aforementioned Wig & Pen and the endearingly named City Golf Club, tucked in behind St. Brides (though what it ever had to do with golf, I’m not sure).

Years later, when I was writing a column for the Daily Mirror, I was told to meet my editor at a pub called ‘The Stab in the Back’, and wandered around aimlessly before realising it was Mirror-speak for the White Hart.

When I left for the new challenge of a start-up pop paper called Sounds the following year, I expected to be leaving all this behind - but no. The management set up office just one hundred yards away on the Aldwych, buffering between Fleet Street and the Strand.

The old lifestyle quickly resumed, as did the role (Folk & Blues editor), but my drinking base now was Mooney’s, an Irish Bar in the Strand (which had a fairly liberal view towards licensing laws). The UK’s acoustic royalty would convene there: Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Dick Gaughan, Eddie & Finbar Furey,

while downstairs Gerry Rafferty, Roger Brown, and Joe Egan were rehearsing and auditioning for the band that would become Stealers Wheel.

Wallowing in this nostalgia four decades on, and ready to head back to the West End via Chancery Lane, I was suddenly, desperately, and irrevocably caught short by an urgent call of nature.

Panic set in as I looked round, and not a single pub was in site. Turning into Fetter Lane, I saw my refuge in the form of...

The Slug & Lettuce. My head said ‘no’, my heart said ‘no’, my scrotal region screamed ‘the hell yes!’.

Inside, and bladder relieved, Gemma, the engaging bar supervisor, served up a fine Kiwi Sauvignon, told me she was from York, and won instant respect by telling me that her ‘other gig’ was working as a barmaid in Stratford’s Cart & Horses, birthplace of Iron Maiden. Gemma was instantly forgiven, if only for having managed to put the Iron into the irony of this strangest of days.

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Music

Award-winner,

JOANNA

Joanna

Pearl,

is

PEARL

/

as

with Joanna’s original interview, pre-Andy’s passing,

passionate about making music as she was about

because it’s what he would have wanted. Rest in peace,

creating all those Mariah Carey-influenced karaoke

friend, and God Bless. Music has lost another legend.

tapes as a kid. This Californian gal has the determination, the attitude, the work ethic, the social following, and she sure as hell has the talent. At the time of this interview, she was fresh from a performance at the first annual Rock Against Trafficking (RAT) Grammy party at LA’s iconic Exchange venue alongside an all-star band, spearheaded by the great (and now so very sadly, late) Andy Fraser – rock god responsible for the hits All Right Now, and Every Kinda People. Joanna sung the latter of those two hits at the party; she was, in fact, the last person ever to sing with Andy, who hailed her as ‘one of the greatest singers he had ever heard’.

Headliner was fortunate enough to have spent quality time (mostly in bars and restaurants) with Andy on both sides of the pond over the last twelve months, and every memory is a great one. Not only are we a fan of his music, but he had a truly addictive personality, and we never saw him without a smile on his face. Although our hearts are heavy, rather than go down a more melancholy road, we have chosen to present you

What about this RAT Grammy Party, then...

It was unbelievable! It was the first one for RAT, of course, so it was very important. We got there at 2pm, sound checked, ran through everything, and it all went very smoothly... Aside from my manager, Cyrene, getting stuck in the elevator on the eleventh floor for twenty minutes! And she kind of runs the show, so that was pretty comical! [laughs] It was quite something having the big red carpet, and so much press. Pierce Brosnan was there with his son, as was President Fox of Mexico, and there were all sorts of different musical performances throughout the night, celebrating the Grammys and, of course, raising awareness for the Rock Against Trafficking cause, which I was just blown away to be a part of. There was a RAT all-star band which included Kat Dyson, who plays for Prince, Nick Smith, who is Stevie Wonder’s keyboard player, and Gary [Miller] and Andy [Fraser]. A-MAZING. Does the RAT initiative resonate with you on a personal level?

Yes, for sure. And I had no idea about the number of people that are affected by human trafficking on a global scale – it’s just shocking. I have always wanted to change the world with my music, so I was very keen to get involved with RAT in whatever way I could. When I found out more about RAT, I got to see first hand what was going on by talking to Gary and Andy at

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length; and they are so passionate. I also help a local charity that helps ‘at risk youth’ and autistic children, and they use the arts to do that, so really, the RAT initiative is in alignment with everything I stand for as an artist and as a person, and as Andy says, once you hear about it, you can’t not hear it, so you have to do something about it.

If I can help a little bit with my voice to raise awareness for the cause, then that’s a great thing.

Your voice clearly resonated with the RAT team, too – Andy asked you to perform one of his big hits at the party, right? [smiles] I was absolutely blown away when he asked me! It was the last day of the NAMM show in Anaheim, the morning after he’d first heard me sing live, and he turned to me on the way to dinner and said, ‘Would you want to cover my song, Every Kind Of People?’, which was a huge hit for the late Robert Palmer, and I was like, ‘Whaaat??’ [laughs] I only knew the chorus by heart at that time, I have to admit, but when I learned it perfectly, I realised that it really touched me in a way I didn’t expect. And having Andy standing right beside me on stage playing the bass on the night was just unreal. It was a total career highlight.

I bet it was! Your album really shows off your powerful voice. When did you know you were born to sing?

Thank you! Well, I was very shy growing up – I still am a bit - but music has always been a stable part of my life. I guess it goes back to fifth grade in choir class, I was a few weeks into this program and singing Love Can Build A Bridge by The Judds, and something in that song connected with me, and I knew right then that I wanted to be a singer. It was a bit of a challenge by the time I got to middle school, as there were no music programs, and I don’t play an instrument, but that just made me more determined.

How did you put the record together?

From the beginning to the end, the recording alone took nine months. I was back and forth to Orange County, but it was a real labour of love. I went to Nashville after high school and recorded some songs with a producer there, but then I got a job, so a little time was wasted; and when I was twenty-four, I finally found a producer that helped me cultivate my songwriting skills in studio recording.

He had a bit of a different way of coaching - not just scales on the piano – and we did a songwriting camp in Orange County every quarter. This guy has a lot of connections, and brought in some amazing songwriters,

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JOANNA

PEARL

/

and we were able to get feedback from a bunch of industry people who took time out to critique. With my song Sensitive Material, I was banging on the table making a beat and trying to get melodies, and I remember he said to me, ‘Whatever you’re doing there, keep doing it, that’s it!’, and really, that song established my sound. From there, it was all about building on my songwriting technique and performance skills.

You do a lot of your promotion yourself, even down to the design of your album sleeve...

Yeah, and my [12k] Twitter followers have also been very kind to me! I built my career on social media, and that’s vital as an independent artist today; it’s a very important part of the process. I always put my heart and soul into everything musical, from the design of the sleeve and also of the back cover, which we did here in Temecula [California] with a fantastic photographer.

I wanted something tangible, so I could put a thank you note in there, as many people have been involved in the project for years.

It’s those personal touches that make the difference, sometimes. And as well as the hard copies, you can also get the record on iTunes, Amazon, my website, and Spotify.

You’re also about to host your own TV show... How on earth do you find the time?! [laughs] I’m honestly not sure! Yeah, I have a local show called All Over The Place with Joanna Pearl which I am currently filming.

The Valley News has been around for about twenty years, and they are opening a multimedia side of their business, and they’ve asked me to host the show. It’s a lifestyle show, but I will also have a music segment, which is exciting. I can reach a way larger audience this way, and we’re filming the pilot right now. I do get to do a lot of crazy things I normally wouldn’t do, though, and I didn’t know if it was going to work at first: me, a singer-songwriter, doing indoor sky diving, racing cars, and all sorts! But actually, it’s all about gaining experience, and that is also what songwriting is, an experience. I am putting my emotion into that, and relaying a feeling, so why not, you know? It opens up more energy and a new channel of creativity, and that’s what it’s all about.

Joanna’s Tribute

www.joannapearl.com

“Andy Fraser had a tremendous effect on me as an artist and a person.

He radiated a genuine love, and intensely demonstrated discipline. I am honoured to have called him a friend.

Our Angel, always.”

www.rockagainsttrafficking.com

- JOANNA PEARL

Q&A

Australian-born Daniel Koek is no stranger to London’s West End. Over the last five years, he has featured in many a production including West Side Story, Chess, South Pacific, and most recently, Les Misérables, where he took to the stage seven times a week as Jean Valjean. Now, it’s time for a change, and he’s just completed his first ‘professional’ album, High, which he describes as a fusion of Euro pop and classical, but with a bit of an edge. We catch up with him backstage at The Pheasantry on London’s King’s Road to find out a little more. hat made you leave Les Mis and start making pop music?

I’d done Les Mis for five years back to back, and that’s pretty tough. I was one of the youngest to be awarded the part of Jean Valjean, and it’s a very well respected role, so it’s good to be defined as that, but equally, I was bloody shattered, as it was seven shows a week I was contracted to, and you can’t rest on your laurels. I’ve been inspired by many genres of music growing up, so I thought now is the time to ride the PR from the show, pull out all the stops, and make this album.

You recorded High predominantly on your own, and while you were still in the show. Where did you find the time?! [laughs] I didn’t sleep... Ever!

It was certainly a challenge, but I knew it had to be ready when I came out of the show.

The commercial release is May 3, but we already had a showcase at the Elgar Rooms at the Royal Albert Hall, to give people a flavour of it, introducing

some of the songs.

Did you fall in love with theatre as a kid?

I did, and I knew it was a box I wanted to tick, but I think to be a successful artist or musician these days, you have to be so adaptable, and be able to lend your hand to other things like presenting as well as singing.

The thing about being in a show is, when you come out, you’re only a product of being in that show, so in terms of maintaining a livelihood, your income stops.

So for me, creating some hype behind something that’s facilitated behind a great album, some great guests, and some great gigs, makes you more employable. I am booked up until July, and the rehearsal period for that starts in May, and I also wanted a year off [from Les Mis] to give this project the time and energy it needs.

Talking of great guests, you team up with the brilliant Carrie Hope Fletcher on Remember Me, and Jonathan Ansell, for a really beautiful version of Bring Him Home...

Yeah, Carrie is a real talent – and

I couldn’t not have Bring Him Home on the record, but I was also aware that it’s been done to death, so I wanted to put a bit of a spin on it. I think it lends itself to an ‘answer-call’ kind of duet version, so Jonathan and I sat down with my MD, Greg, and worked it through. It’s nice to do it differently, and I am very pleased at how it’s come out. All the ideas for the album were inspired by listening to lots of different music, being on tour, and hearing different arrangements in my head.

Everyone knows it’s a long hard road as an independent artist, but I think the more you chip away at things like this, and collaborate with great artists, the more people are likely to say, ‘go listen to this guy’, you know?

Word starts to spread.

What would you say is your target market?

There’s that obvious classical crossover pop/opera tag, but I think comparably, if you look at someone like Alfie Bow, he’s still geared more to the classical world with a bit of a pop twist, whereas mine is definitely the other way round; it’s kind of

Euro Pop, but I am undeniably classically trained as soon as you hear me sing, with a bit of a pop edge. I think that makes it a little more commercial, and widens my demographic.

And what’s next on the agenda, gig-wise?

After these two shows [at The Pheasantry] in London, I’m in Dubai doing a gig for Great Week, which is celebrating all things Great Britain, then I’m back home in June performing at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

After that, I am going on tour with [Britain’s Got Talent stars] Charlotte Jaconelli and Jai McDowall, with a thing called Light up the Night, which is an ensemble of musicians.

Charlotte and Jai are great – they accompanied me at a recent gig at the Hippodrome.

It’s just nice to be busy with my own stuff, especially as I’ve spent so much time getting it together and arranging it.

Hopefully it’ll all be worth it! www.danielkoek.com

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Thinking. Inside the box.

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l l o R & k c o R e b o r d War WORDS GA RY S P E N C E R

STAND BACK

Gary Spencer is, in his own words, ‘a decent vocalist, but a far better publicist and stylist’. This issue, the New York-based fashion guru talks to us about the distinctive look of the quite fabulous Stevie Nicks.

tarting the lifestyle and fashion column last month, I kicked off with Mick Jagger, because not only has he obviously stood the test of time as a frontman and rock star, but also because he managed to create an effortless style that has become timeless.

Another icon that has had the same impact and panache for style, is Stevie Nicks: it’s effortless, it’s flowing, it’s comfortable, it’s sexy, and most of all, it’s the reason why she has set trends, and why nearly every female Stevie fan will tell you, it’s always very feminine.

Starting out in the early days with Lindsey Buckingham and recording her first album with him on Polydor, titled Buckingham Nicks, it wasn’t until a Mick Fleetwood introduction that led her and Lindsey to form Fleetwood Mac at the age of twenty-seven, that people started to notice that distinctive voice, and that distinctive look.

Gypsy or Dickensian - most likely a mix

match of both - a thrift shop extravaganza, or her rummaging around Grandmother’s wardrobe, Stevie Nicks always maintained that her style began in high school. Janis Joplin was certainly an influence, along with an unsuspecting girl that Stevie walked past in her days with Buckingham.

The girl, who was totally unaware she was about to become the muse of a future rock icon, was wearing a long purple chiffon dress and suede boots. Just as quick as Stevie thought, ‘I wanna look like her’, then she did; and she nurtured that look once she joined Fleetwood Mac. So what is the style? It’s always going to feature chiffon and lace somewhere; there’s going to be velvet, high boots, and long, long, flowing dresses. Over the years, it has never changed, even down to the same style of eye make up; and when it came to colour, the choice was black. Black has always featured strongly, especially in the early years: black velvet boots and a wrap, maybe; but again, always timeless, and apparently effortless.

The outfit she wears on the album cover Bella Donna is exactly the same outfit she wears on Rumours, except it’s white, not

black, and like most of her dresses that she and designer Margi Kent dreamed up, they were designed intentionally to be very long and flowing. Stevie would have her custom-made boots, made by her local family cobbler, with five-inch heels to supplement her five feet one inch frame - a rock star necessity, if you are standing alongside a towering Mick Fleetwood in the encores!

Apparently never owning a pair of jeans, Stevie Nicks has still always managed to stay traditional. On today’s singers, she’s been quoted as saying, “I think they all go too far. Their jeans get too low, their tops get too see-through.

Personally, I think that sexy is keeping yourself mysterious. I’m really an old-fashioned girl, and I think I’m totally sexy.”

A new career for Stevie once she finally stops making records, perhaps?

“Believe me, when I stop singing, I’m gonna have a garage sale like you’re not gonna believe! We’re talking chiffon, chiffon, and more chiffon,” she insists.

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Q&A

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JA MES

NEALE

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In the six months that James Neale has been riding the faders at monitor position for Paloma Faith, he has built a fantastic working relationship with the quirky and super-talented artist, whose recent performance at the BRIT Awards (where she won Best Female) was something to talk about. Neale has been working monitors for five years now, and prior to Paloma, he was mixing for Ellie Goulding. Before he hits the road for Paloma’s UK tour, he takes us through his dos, don’ts, and absolutely nevers.

So how was the BRITs? It went really well, but of course there is always a sense of nervousness, being a fully live gig, as it’s so out of your control. There are only so many failsafes!

But at the end of the day, it’s all about those threeand-a-half minutes; it’s one song live on the TV, and thankfully, nothing went wrong!

doesn’t sound natural to me. It sounds more present, as it has all the top end spikes in it, but when you put it in front of a vocalist with a lot of natural top end in her voice, all it does is accentuate it, so for me, with Ellie [Goulding] and now Paloma, a flatter microphone worked so much better, and that was the DPA d:facto.

What kind of preparation goes into such an event from an audio perspective?

We had two days of rehearsals before the show, so every artist that you saw perform live on the night had done about three hours rehearsals, testing various elements. We did a few runs with just the audio, then with the water, then we had some dryer runs, and a dress rehearsal on the show day, so Paloma had already done the song in the venue four or five times by the time it came round to the live event.

You’re also using DPA 4099s, right?

Yes, because Paloma wanted the brass players to run on stage dancing, and the set platforms are up high behind the band, so they had to go wireless. The brass players we use also played in Level 42, and used 4099s then, and they really enjoyed the freedom and the fact the mic position was constant at all times, so that was another natural choice. They love the actual sound of them, too, and the 4099s have always worked well for me on strings over many shows.

For any readers who didn’t see the show, Paloma was, at one point, standing, and indeed singing, under a waterfall. How did the mic hold up in the wet, and how important is microphone choice for an artist these days?

My general opinion is that I don’t think there is one vocal mic that suits everyone, and it’s really down to trying things. All mics have generally got presence boosts in them, so they’re all EQd to a degree, but Paloma didn’t like all the hype and top end in some of the mics we tried in rehearsals, as she already has that in her voice. We found the DPA d:facto is much flatter than the rest of them, so it suited her way better. [FOH engineer] Huw [Richards] went down to SSE Audio and tested a load of things out, picked up the d:facto, and Paloma was immediately saying, ‘this is the one’ when we tried it in rehearsals. I think on a personal level, they sound much better than the competition. I was speaking to a guy who did the German X Factor last year, and he was saying that on that show, all the audio guys picked up a mic that had a big scoop in the top end, but that

You and Huw are both on DiGiCo consoles, right?

Yes. I am on an SD7. I was on an SD10, but I don’t think I had a spare input or output, actually! Once it’s full band, there are twelve of them on stage with feeds for the techs, reverb sends, and all sorts, so it’s full on. With the SD7, it’s that bit more comfortable, as it’s so great for capacity; and now I have some spare ports! I have always liked DiGiCo as a company.

I did the Ellie Goulding shows on an Avid Profile, but fancied something different. Everyone was raving about DiGiCo, so I went down to their HQ and I’ve not looked back since. They sound better, but for me, that’s not the only consideration; I find the tech support is second to none. You can always phone them up at any time during the day or night, and someone will answer the phone; and if you’ve got any issues, they’re just much better than anyone else I know at dealing with them. It’s inevitable that issues will happen when you’re travelling the world, but they’ve always dealt with them quickly and efficiently.

You run your console at 96kHz...

Yeah, don’t ask me why though! I’ve done it since

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the start, but never sat there and compared.

One day I’ll change the session to 48kHz and see how much of a difference there is! I’ve done odd shows over the last few years using a house DiGiCo running at 48kHz, and at the time, I didn’t think it sounded as good, but there were too many factors for me that changed that day for me to point the finger in that direction. I know front-of-house guys that say it’s way better at 96, and you can hear that detail in the ears sometimes, so I would be very surprised if there isn’t a significant difference. I’ll have to try it!

Talking of in-ears, what are you using?

All the band are on custom in-ears from JH Audio; they’re on the JH11s, and I personally have been using the JH16s for some time.

I think the 11s work the best for musicians, and for me, the 16s are much more rounded.

The best description I can give is that the 16s make everything sound good, but with the 11s, certain things sound great. They definitely have less low mids, so they’re suited to the musicians that are singing and blowing, as they need that extra presence. All twelve of the band are on them, including Paloma, and

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JA MES

NEALE

they’re all very happy with them.

How is your working relationship with Paloma? She seems a real character...

It’s all about developing a trust, and she is an absolute pleasure to work with. Having that relationship is much more important than any audio skills. She is very vocal, she knows what she wants to hear, and she’s good at explaining it, so it’s been a really enjoyable experience working with her. And yes, she has got a great personality, and she’s always good fun to be around.

Finally, James, before you head out on the road, do you have any tips for anyone who wants to become a monitor engineer? [pauses] Study harder at school, and find another career! [laughs] It’s not as glamorous as it seems! I‘d say don’t burn any bridges, definitely. Everyone knows each other in this industry, and they all talk! www.dpamicrophones.com www.digico.biz www.jhaudio.com

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PA LOM A

FAI TH

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l u f h t i A Fa n o i t a t n e s e r Rep We take a look at the fascinating musical journey of Paloma Faith, and talk a little with her about that all-important stage sound how having the trust in your engineer, and the right microphone, means you never have to lose your voice again!

aloma Faith is certainly one of the most talented female singer-songwriters to have emerged out of the UK in the last decade. Her distinctive vocal style, formidable range, and refreshingly down to earth demeanour, has earned her a major international following, and most recently, of course, the long-awaited (and bloody well deserved, we say) BRIT Award for Best Female.

Paloma’s musical journey has been pretty amazing. In her BRIT acceptance speech, she spoke about her early days, when she would regularly trawl the streets of Hackney (her birthplace), fly-posting to promote her shows.

Those tables have turned in a big way, of course; today, she’s already plastered all over billboards pretty much everywhere she goes!

She’s also an artist that’s never shied away from hard graft: after completing A-Levels, Paloma studied for a degree in contemporary dance, then went

on to fund her MA in theatre directing at Central St Martin’s College of Art & Design via some pretty off-the-wall jobs, including singer in a burlesque cabaret, and even a magician’s assistant!

Face The Music

Fast forward to 2009, and Paloma’s first two singles, Stone

stayed there for sixteen weeks, but it was after the release of her second album, Fall to Grace (2012), when she really started making waves; it reached number two, prompting two nominations at the 2013 BRITs. 2014 arrived, and with it, Paloma’s third release, A Perfect Contradiction - the quickest

“The sound of the DPA mic takes away a lot of the shrill tones in my voice, which are not conducive to my love of classic old music.”

Cold Sober and New York, both of which reached the top twenty, and demonstrated her love of old classic singers such as Billie Holiday and Etta James. Her debut album followed, Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?, which Radio 2 awarded Album of the Week. It peaked at number nine in the UK Album Charts, and

selling of her career. Released in March, Platinum by June - not bad going! Add to that a Pharrellproduced title track, Can’t Rely On You, which made the top ten, and a second single, Only Love Can Hurt Like This, which is her most successful single to date, reaching number six in the UK Singles Charts, and number one in

Australia. It’s also the song that she performed so immaculately at the 2015 BRITs a couple of months ago, which seems all the more fitting.

Never Tear Us Apart

It can’t be easy singing like Paloma for a living, belting out notes that most vocalists can barely hit with their head voice. So how does she look after that voice?

“Well, I have previously experienced issues with losing my voice, but those problems have been completely resolved since [my monitor engineer] James Neale joined the team,” Paloma explains. “I’ve been working with James for just over six months now, and we have forged a strong working relationship. He is superb at his job, and he helps me feel confident that my sound and my onstage experience is absolutely optimum.”

According to Paloma, it’s Neale’s ability to deal with any situation at side stage that keeps everything ticking along nicely. And a damn fine vocal mic, of course.

“James is extremely intuitive,

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“I honestly couldn’t be more happy about sound right now; I feel like I am in perfect harmony.” and has technical knowledge far exceeding any of my expectations,” she insists. “When he came onboard, he also introduced me to the DPA d:facto microphone, which has really helped my voice reach its full potential live.

The sound of d:facto takes away a lot of the shrill tones in my voice, which are not conducive to my love of classic old music.”

Paloma is about to embark on a tour of Australia, and will be hitting the UK and Europe throughout the summer. We saw her at Hammersmith a few years ago, and she was dynamite then, but now with a perfect team behind her, everything’s going even more swimmingly, it seems.

“I honestly couldn’t be more happy about sound right now,” she confirms, with a smile.

“With the combination of James, my front-ofhouse engineer, Huw Richards, and this new mic, I feel like I am in perfect harmony.”

Glad to hear it, Paloma, and thank you for talking to us. A special thanks also to James Neale and Derek Fudge for helping us make this interview happen, especially during the midst of a busy tour. We know how hard you guys work, and we most certainly owe you a drink (or three). www.palomafaith.com www.dpamicrophones.com

TRIBUTE

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A NDY

All Right Now Getting to know Andy Fraser was an absolute pleasure.

Headliner began working with the Rock Against Trafficking (RAT) team last year, of which Andy was a pivotal part; and we had the pleasure of spending quality time with him in California just a few months ago. Andy was a giver. He was all about helping other people. A humble, heroic, determined, and dedicated man that left this Earth way, way too soon. He was a social activist, and in addition to RAT, was heavily involved in a string of other international charities and organisations: Blue Sphere Foundation; Avaaz; Discovery Arts; Operation of Hope; Legacy of Hope; and Elton John’s AIDS Foundation, to name a few - the latter of which was particularly close to Andy’s heart, having lived with AIDS and its debilitating consequences for many years.

Andy was also one of the greatest bass players of all time, in perhaps one of the world’s most underrated rock bands of all time, Free. He was a phenomenal songwriter: All Right Now is one of the great rock songs, which Andy was involved in the writing of; and he also penned the mega-hit, Every Kinda People, made world-famous by the late, great Robert Palmer.

Andy’s legacy must live on, so to find out more about both the man and the musician, we caught up with some of his treasured musical friends. God Bless, Andy, and rest in peace.

FRASER

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GLENN HUGHES Beautiful British Eccentric

It

was 1969, and my band, Trapeze, were playing at Wolverhampton Polytechnic, and I was seventeen-years-old. We were opening for a band called Free, and I didn’t really know anything about the band at the time. We did our set, and we shared the same dressing room as those guys, but none of us really talked. I went out front to hear the band; we all know how great Paul Rodgers is, and Kossoff, but I had been playing bass a year, and in front of me was a guy about to play that would change my life, as far as the bass was concerned. What he played, or more importantly what he didn’t play on the bass, opened a whole new world to me.

Andy underplayed; he had incredible bass lines, and a great melodic instrument in his head that told him to play these groove notes, and these incredible phrases. I was mesmerised by him.

He taught me that the notes not to play were the most important.

Several decades passed, and I’d still never met Andy, and then four years ago, Bass Player Magazine called me up and asked me if I would do a cover shoot for them, where I would interview Andy, and he would interview me.

Andy came up to my place, and it was a big moment for me. I wanted to tell him how important his role had been in my life, and I need to tell all you musicians and artists who are reading this, check this man out, he was a life-changing bass player.

Andy Fraser became a dear, dear friend to me. He was beautifully ‘British eccentric’, and the songs he wrote in Free were jaw droppingly brilliant. I don’t think there is anyone out there so engaged in the love affair I have with his work, and that’s before I talk about his human kindness. When he started playing on that stage in Wolverhampton, he directly spoke to me, and I didn’t speak to him in person until four decades later.

Every person has to have a mentor, and Andy, unbeknownst to him, was my bass mentor. He probably didn’t realise how he affected bass players, especially in Britain, but if you didn’t like Andy Fraser, there was something wrong. It freaks the shit out of me that he’s not here; to have him taken from us so abruptly completely

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A NDY

FRASER

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staggered me. I’ve lost a lot of people in my life, but when I heard about Andy, it stopped me in my tracks.

Andy was so involved with Gary Miller and Rock Against Trafficking. He, Slash, and myself were the first three to record with Gary, and Andy was so, so proud to be involved. He had a real vision for the cause, and when you think about that, how many kids are being taken from us every day, it’s beyond scary. I brought Julian Lennon in, too, and it’s taken three to four years to get the exposure that we need, and to show that we are actually a real cause and a real deal.

When I went and sang Roxanne in the studio, I truly realised what I was singing for, and what Sting had written, and what it means to the human race.

Sometimes you’ve got to be honourable, and give back, and I wasn’t giving anything back twenty-five to thirty years ago: I was taking. I got sober a long time ago and I am now a giver, and Andy was a complete giver.

A message to any musician out there: you have to bury yourself in Andy’s work. I’m talking 1969-1972; that window for him was unbelievable. Un-fricking-believe-able. I went on to do some amazing things in my life, and people have applauded me, but I have always said, from the moment I had success with Deep Purple, who my influence was. A lot of people would say, ‘Who?’, and I just said, ‘Go look him up’.

A

ndy was completely unaffected by material things and fame; when he was diagnosed with AIDS and knew he had cancer, and he realised he could survive, his whole life changed. He had a story, and it was heard loud and clear.

One thing I wasn’t at twenty-three was wise.

I was a young guy in all his glory living in LA in one of the biggest bands of all time. But at sixty-three, what I am for sure is wise, and I now understand this ‘give back’ factor. Young people who read this may not know what I’m talking about, but when you get older, you slow down, you look back, and you say, ‘I’m glad I did that so I don’t have to do it again’. I was supposed to meet this man, there is no doubt, to become friends, to share laughter, to share the stage in our home country. I honestly thought Andy would go into old age, because when I was with him, I noticed the meticulous way he took care of himself, and he was particularly on point. He was so shy, but he had this booming big voice.

I remember being backstage at Wembley with him, and I regressed to that Wolverhampton moment. I said, ‘Andy, about thirty-four bars into the song, you missed a note on the bass’, and he said, ‘Really?’, and I said, ‘oh yeah’, and I played it to him, and he didn’t remember it, because it’s his trademark.

What Andy Fraser did as a 16-year-old on the bass defies logic. How can someone play with

so much sex driven funk soul black Memphis Detroit vibe when they’re only a mid teen?

Andy was the grooviest, badass, most sensual bass player alive, and still in his death he is. My love for him is immense.

JOE BONAMASSA Mr. Big

I

interviewed Andy for my radio show when I had it on Planet Rock, and obviously I was a fan first - the biggest Free fan in the world, in fact - so just to get to meet and talk to him was something special for me. It’s still such a shock that he’s not around anymore, as the last time I saw him, he seemed so happy, healthy, and vibrant. The thing I first realised about Andy was his love of music, and his passion... Man, he was so passionate, it just came out of his pores, you know? What I also realised by hanging out with him was that he wasn’t even aware of how influential he was as a musician, or as a bass player, especially to people like Glenn Hughes.

Glenn and I have had many conversations about Andy Fraser, just the bass part of [Free’s hit] Mr. Big was enough for me to get him in the Hall of Fame. The bassist in my band, Carmine Rojas, is also a huge Andy fan; and really, if you talk about any rock bass player who has ever decided to amp it up with a guitar pick and play slightly distorted, there is always a level of gratitude for Andy. He was the archetypal rock bass player, but he also had all of the chops, and all of the real deep soul that you would need in a bass player.

He also had the ability to fill this tremendous amount of sonic space; he was a one of a kind musician that can’t be replaced, you know?

I

remember when we did Mr. Big and a few other tunes in a charity event in San Diego, and immediately when he picked up the bass, I couldn’t help but start grinning, because the way he would sonically fill space and play always melted in with the guitar, and if you were hip enough to realise that was what he was doing, to create these big power chords - because he played the root and the five, and you could also

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A NDY

FRASER

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play the root and the five up an octave - and it’s such a lesson in simplicity, yet so devastatingly effective. Man, it was such an honour to know him for the last four years of his life, and always such a joy to see him.

We would also do these little guitar hangs in LA, and he would come up to every one of them. People would start travelling for hours, just to meet Andy Fraser, because the music of Free was so powerful to so many people. They thought it was so cool that he was being a nerd like everyone else, and they loved it. God bless him.

I remember when I asked him, ‘When you guys in Free would just show up to a gig or to a TV show, you always sounded like the record - was that just a day at the office?’ And he said, ‘Yeah we’d just turn up, Paul [Rodgers] would sing, Kossoff would play, I’d play bass, and Simon would play the drums’. And I just thought, ‘wow, they were the definition of a perfect group’. If you took one element away, it would be diminished, but if you added something, it wouldn’t be the same. He was one fourth of probably one of the top three to five British rock bands of all time, and they were criminally underrated. The fact they’re not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is criminal; and the fact that All Right Now, something that Andy was involved in the writing of, is the most played song in live radio history, especially in the US, and they’re not in the Hall of Fame? That doesn’t make any sense to me. Free is a hugely underrated group that deserves its due, and unfortunately they’re gonna get their due, but two of them are now not here to see it; and that’s bad.

That guy holds a special place in my heart. He was really just a wonderful person, and will be sadly missed both as a human being and a musician.

Headliner remembers...

RAT Party In London (words Len Caven) Growing up in the ‘70s, Free were a huge influence on me, and in September of last year I had the pleasure of meeting Andy Fraser and music producer Gary Miller when they were in London doing their tireless promotional work for their charity, Rock Against Trafficking.

We met at a pub called The Churchill in Kensington, and Andy asked for a Mojito (which the pub claimed not to serve).

Immediately, Gary ordered the various ingredients of a Mojito to be filled into a pint glass, which Andy accepted with much enthusiasm.

Being the week before the vote in Scotland, we discussed independence, and Andy summed it up perfectly: ‘The rest of the world are building bridges, and they (the SNP) are putting up barriers’. Direct, and to the point. After more beers, cranberry vodkas, and Mojitos, we went onto Maggie Jones’s restaurant at the bottom of Kensington Church Street, and when the waiter asked Andy if he wanted chips with his steak, he replied, ‘Chips are a waste of space’, and ordered a salad.

We then carried on to The Archangel, and I asked Andy about Free’s Top of The Pops performance of All Right Now, and was it live? He explained that Paul Rodgers sung live, and the rest of the band was ‘piped’. He then told us (without any encouragement) how All Right Now came to be: “We had just played a gig in Durham on a wet and miserable Tuesday, and it had not gone that well. In the dressing room after the gig, we were all a bit despondent, and Paul Rodgers was sat with his head in his hands. I put my arm round his shoulder and said, ‘It’s all right now, it’s all right now’. Ten minutes later, Kossoff played the power chords...”

Written there and then in the dressing room, the song was a result of Andy’s immense musical talent and his act of friendship.

What a shiver down the spine moment, just a small example of his strength, positivity, and ability to elevate everyone’s spirits when they were down.

Slash, one of the first to get behind the RAT cause, also paid his tributes from on tour in South America: “Andy Fraser was a bass player’s bass player. He made the role of the bass in rock and roll substantial; melodic, and rhythmic, and without ever being too busy or intrusive. Andy also had this great bass tone; there really was nobody that sounded quite like him.” www.rockagainsttrafficking.org

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MARK

FEEHI LY

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Mark Feehily was at the forefront of one of the world’s most successful boy bands, Westlife. Thirteen albums in twelve years is a hell of an effort, and in that time, the five-piece also toured the world over: Europe, America, Asia, Australia, you name it, they cracked it (or should that be craic’d?). Today, Feehily is in the process of making his first solo record, due out later in the year, and his debut single, Love Is A Drug, will hit the shelves (well, iTunes libraries) on April 19. It’s seriously removed from the Westlife material: an upbeat, soulful sound with a rock solid vocal performance, and it’s already been A-Listed on Radio 2. Headliner arrives in South West London to join Feehily and Becky Pell, who mixed monitors for Westlife for many years, and is now riding the faders for his new musical venture.

fter greeting us at his front door, Feehily immediately offers us tea, which he then leaves the house to go and buy! Ten minutes later, he’s back, with two steaming builder’s brews and half-a-dozen huge choc-chip cookies. I begin picking his brain on his new direction. He’s just finished a three-gig mini tour, beginning at The Scala in Kings Cross, and finishing in Glasgow.

“The idea of having new fans and breaking new territories is very exciting, and I’ve had a little of that already with my new material, plus the fans I already have from the Westlife days,” Feehily explains, planting himself in an armchair by the window. I briefly scan the property, spying an electric blue acoustic guitar, and a baby grand, slam bang in the middle of the living quarters.

“That was a gift,” he smiles, as I observe some quirky sketches propped up where you would normally find sheet music. I ask him about them. “I started drawing back in the Westlife days during meetings that went on a while, you know? I tend to start with the big eyes, and go from there!”

I suggest that it’s a ballsy move, coming out of something so successful, and heading in a seriously different musical

direction. Feehily plays it down a little, and replies: “For a long time, we were following a lot of rules, and there was a formula; and coming away from any formula or rule book, being completely free to express yourself as an artist, means you have no limits, so I guess that’s kinda cool. Labels these days are becoming increasingly safe, and the idea of taking someone from Westlife and not playing it safe would scare the majority of people away, so I am with Kobalt Label Services (Google kobaltmusic.com) which is effectively like having my own label: I am the creative director and the A&R person, and I am doing it completely by myself, which is the complete opposite to Westlife. It’s just something I felt ready to do.”

THE COMFORT ZONE

I ask Feehily how it was, taking to the stage for the first time as a solo artist?

“Well, singing for an hour completely by myself with nobody to take the second verse and no breaks was a little alien to me [smiles], and I’d never tested my voice to that point live, but

I’ve been in studio sessions before doing vocals for six or seven hours non-stop, so it put me at ease to some extent,” he says. “Once I started, I took to it like a duck to water, and I honestly didn’t expect myself to! [laughs] I thought I would be really awkward, because it could have fallen on its arse, basically; and I was also worried I would forget the lyrics, but nothing like that happened, and if I did, whatever, they’re new songs, and people don’t know them yet, anyway!”

A refreshing attitude for a bloke that’s been in the limelight almost non-stop for the best part of half his life. So it’s about creating a new identity, in a way?

“Exactly. These three gigs were like showcases to release a bit of the pressure I felt over the last six months, where people were like, ‘where the hell are you, what you doin, like?’ you know? I wanted to give people a taster of where things were going, and I invited people from the industry,

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MARK

so they knew what to expect from the new album. Westlife ran its own live ship, and I definitely would never paint myself as a puppet that just turned up, but none of us were as big as the music Westlife made. I would never change that, but now it’s different.”

RIGHT HAND WOMAN

One constant throughout Feehily’s career is his strong working relationship with his monitor engineer, Becky Pell.

She rode the faders at monitors for years with Westlife, and was first to get the call when Feehily decided to pull the solo career trigger.

“The new music has quite a different feel [to the Westlife material]. We’ve got three lovely gospel sounding backing singers on stage, so it’s certainly different to mix than a Westlife show,” Becky explains. I grab another cookie.

“There are different things to deal with acoustically, because we’re in theatres, not arenas, and in this environment, one and the next are never really the same.”

Feehily and Becky met through Steve Anderson, now the MD for Mark’s live gigs, and his main writing partner and producer.

“Once you find someone that knows exactly what you want it to sound like in your in-ear monitors, it wipes out all your worries before you go on stage,” Feehily insists. “There were times, pre-Becky, when we’d go on an entire tour and forget about the performance, because of a massive barrier between us and the audience, because we just couldn’t hear ourselves. I found myself projecting into next year! But Becky knows exactly what I want, and how to get it, so I am able to deliver the performances consistently. When we met, we just clicked; she is fantastic at what she does, and we have a constant communication.”

Console-wise, Becky works on ‘anything

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by DiGiCo’, and for Feehily, she is on an SD9.

“I see my role as basically creating as comfortable an audio environment as possible for Mark, so he can forget about everything else, and deliver a great performance,” she explains. “I give him just enough [in his in-ears] to hear his timing and pitching, and take out everything that might distract him from his singing.

The increased clarity is particularly noticeable when running [the SD9] at 96kHz, and gain structure is always key for me, as Mark is on a radio mic and inears, so there are variable gain settings involved on the mic itself, as well as the IEM transmitter.

“Getting that right means he gets plenty of himself with the big dynamic range of his voice without distortion when he goes into fifth gear. There’s no compression or reverb, and I’m not having to EQ a great deal on the console at all; it’s just a little boost at around 2.5k, and I roll off a little low-end.”

THE ROAD AHEAD

Before I ask my next question, Feehily announces that Becky is ‘the ultimate enabler’, and they both laugh.

“She really is, though,” he continues.

“She enables me to go on the stage, perform, and not think about whether I sound good or not, because I can hear every last tiny detail. I will go from something really intimate, to a belting vocal, and it feels just the same.”

“Seeing you at fairly close quarters, singing songs you’ve written yourself, the emotion on your face,” adds Becky. “And your body language... I was very much, ‘wow, he is absolutely feeling these songs’.

I know you put your heart into the Westlife stuff too, but... Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, totally. All the Westlife material was quite happy, and now I’m sharing my personal feelings with rooms full of strangers,” replies Feehily, with a smile.

“I now feel a real connection with the audience, because they feel the honesty.

These are my own songs, which often lean towards situations in my life that aren’t

or weren’t so great, but that’s what blues and soul music has always been about, and that’s what I’ve always been drawn to as a singer.”

I ask Feehily if anything particularly comical ever happened while on the road.

He pauses for thought, then throws this little Spinal Tap-esque gem at me: “We were set in these globes that were up in the roof; the globes come down, and land on the stage. For four out of the five band members, the globes came down, and we all got out, then halfway through the song, we’re all like, ‘where the fuck is Shane?’ I remember looking up and there he is in his globe, singing in the rafters, spotlight still on him, too. When things go so wrong, sometimes you just have to laugh about it them!”

So how does Feehily measure success today, then, after such a roller-coaster of a career?

“That’s the thing... For a long time, it was about album sales and chart success, but now it’s on my own terms. I won’t be disappointed if I don’t have the best ever chart position or record sales, as that’s not what’s driving me at all,” he assures me. I believe him. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and after the positive reaction to those few gigs I just did, everything is a bonus from here on in. Hopefully when the album comes out, there’ll be enough fans that love it to allow me to go on tour. The real magic is, it multiplies it fifty times over that I have written the songs and people still like them. In this industry, any pop acts that get big are constantly reminded that they could be replaced in the morning, but this is about me now, so you can cross off all those different excuses. It’s now purely about my own abilities, so we’ll have to see how it goes!” www.markfeehily.net www.rocknrollyogi.com www.digico.biz

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A DAY IN THE LIFE To most of you, London’s Abbey Road Studios will need no introduction, but just in case...

It is arguably the most renowned recording facility in the world, made most famous by the Fab Four, who recorded eighty percent of their music here in Studio Two during the swinging ‘60s. And let’s not forget Pink Floyd’s seminal Dark Side Of The Moon, also recorded within those same four walls. The list of artists goes on, and on, and on... Today, under ownership of the Universal Music Group, the studio is buzzing, and as busy as ever. Raiders of the Lost Ark was the first film to be scored here in the late ‘70s, and Studio One in particular has become a real hub for that medium in recent years; many bands, old and new, are still clambering to record here. This is my first visit to the establishment, so perhaps you’ll forgive me for taking the obligatory selfie as I walk briskly across that zebra crossing before entering the hallowed ground? No? Okay... So without further ado, in we go.

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ON

arrival, I am greeted by the very accommodating Mirek Stiles, who became Abbey Road’s first ever runner back in 1998 before moving on to assistant engineer, then engineer.

Today, he heads up the audio products department, a key role, which suits him down to the ground.

“I’ve dabbled in engineering, working on a lot of projects: films, rock and pop, a bit of everything, really,” he explains, as we make our way to the canteen, where the entire LSO orchestra seem to be having a tea break. Plan B it is, then: the coffee machine, and then through the rather glorious garden area to an outbuilding.

“Abbey Road used to have an interactive department, things like DVD, Blu-Ray, interactive tech, and I was interested in that as well; and after the engineering, I just wanted to get some control – and sleep - back in my life! When the head of audio products role came about, I already had the studio background and the project management experience, so for me, it was the best of both worlds. I work with the software, plugins, samples, and I look after the hardware too.”

I admit to Stiles that I feel a sense of nostalgia and a kind of unique energy about the place, then ask him if I am, in fact, going mad? “[laughs] No, it is a very creative hub, and that’s how we want to perceive ourselves, really,” he smiles. “Four hundred thousand people come here each year, and we don’t promote it - we don’t even let the public in! So yes, I would say there is certainly a vibe and a buzz about the place.”

Onwards And Upwards Conversation turns briefly to when EMI dissolved. Abbey Road was then owned by a private equity group, Terra Firma, which didn’t work out so well, but then Universal Music Group came to the rescue. I say rescue, but it’s never actually been in the doldrums, has it?

“No, not since I’ve been here,” Stiles assures me. “It is great being owned by a music company again, though, and Universal [Music Group] are really behind Abbey Road, and are investing a lot back into the studios. There has always been a constant flow of work here: a lot of film scoring; and mastering has

always been chock-a-block, though I do hear stories of some darker times, when Studio One was dead in the late ‘70s.

People tell me badminton and five-a-side football was going on in there, and there were even plans to divide it into four pop studios with underground parking facilities! Thankfully, the manager at the time, Ken Townsend, stepped in and put a stop to that. A scoring company called Anvil were losing their scoring stage, and Ken suggested Abbey Road join forces with them, and that’s when the whole film thing really started happening.”

Today, Abbey Road has many departments: studio, post production, marketing, online, audio products, and the tech department, to name a few. It’s like one big, happy family.

“It’s great, because we’re all under this one roof working together as a team,” Stiles concurs. “The studio actually opened back in 1931, and the doors you walked in today are of number five Abbey Road, the old house that was built in the 1870s. Everything behind that, including the studios, didn’t exist. That’s what attracted HMV to the site all those years ago: a quietish area, close to central London, with this massive plot of land behind it. And all this history, even the deeds to the house - little gems like that - is housed in a massive archive in Hayes, along with all the old master tapes, bits of kit, and documents from back in the day.

It’s like an Aladdin’s Cave!”

Aladdin’s Cave This sounds very interesting... And it is.

The huge ‘cave’ is not only bearer of the Abbey Road legacy, it’s been key in the development of some super-authentic plugins.

“Abbey Road had released a few plugins off its own back, but what the team wanted to do was expand the sample side, getting into using the rooms and the instruments,” Stiles

explains. “When I took over the [audio products] department, we were already talking to Waves about a partnership, and since the first product, I’ve been involved one hundred percent, liaising directly with the Waves guys on creating our Abbey Road plugins.”

The first plugin Abbey Road worked on with Waves was a bit of an experiment with King’s Microphones, and from there, they designed a series of classics including the REDD Desk, the RS56 Passive EQ (Curve Bender), the EMI TG12345 console plugin, and even an ADT plugin.

“There are some quirky, funky things here at Abbey Road, and some classic bits of gear with a very unique sound, and to us, it was important to get that out to a wider audience, to preserve our legacy,” says Stiles. “Up until plugins, this gear was only available to people with a lot of money to spend, or that came here and worked. But we still have all the gear, all the schematics, and now an amazing line of products, thanks to our collaboration with Waves.

“Just as an example, the ADT plugin we released, to get that out to the wider audience is just great, because there have been some misconceptions about what ADT is, and it’s very difficult to recreate, unless you have a Studer J37 and a VTR tape machine! We even used the original EMI tape they would have used back then, too. I went down to the archives, pulled out tape reels off each aisle, noting down tape numbers, and checking which ones still had some blank tape on that I could sample, and that’s what we used to create the ADT and the J37 Tape Saturation plugin, to make it as authentic as possible.”

Okay, so can you explain to our readers how you actually make a plugin?

“Sure. First, I’ll send the original schematics to Waves. Then, there’s the gear itself, where we have one of two scenarios. I try to ship stuff over to Waves where possible, but obviously shipping a

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J37 is completely impractical, so in these cases, Waves will send me some test files, and I’ll run those files through all the settings of the piece of equipment we’re working with. From there, Waves can do a virtual circuit build using the schematics, and then we compare their build with the test signals they’ve got, make sure we’re on the same page, and then they’ll send me their initial draft of the sound of the software.

I’ll then A/B it to the original piece of equipment, and the engineers will listen to it here; it’s like a process of elimination until we tweak it, but it’s not a quick process, by any means!”

The Holy Grail Our final stop is Studio Two, the moment I have been waiting for.

As I push open the old blue door, I know I’m ticking one off my bucket list; then comes the ‘wow’ moment. This place hasn’t change in fifty years... Has it?

“Not really, no,” smiles Stiles, walking me through all the bits and pieces including the famous Challen and [Mrs. Mills] Steinway uprights that were used on so many classic Beatles records. “Studio One has changed over the years; it was once very art deco and a very dry room, but the acoustic is now way more lush with a much bigger sound, but Studio Two, where eighty percent of The Beatles’ material was recorded, has hardly changed at all.”

As we scan the remarkable echo chamber at the back of the room – the only one left at Abbey Road, and still in use today - Stiles continues to educate me on the incredible history of this famous facility. By the time it opened, Columbia, Parlophone, and HMV had joined together to create EMI: HMV had Studio One; Parlophone had Studio Two; and Columbia had Studio Three. So three former rivals were forced together to work under one roof! I take a little time to reflect on how this industry has changed so dramatically over the years, then begin the walk up to the Studio Two control room.

“Here’s our Neve 88R console, and the smallest control room in the whole place; we’re physically limited by the space, so it can get busy in here,” explains Stiles. “It’s a great sounding room, though, and we have the Pultecs, Fairchilds, and some of the old EMI gear in here, too. We’ve even got the VTR tape machine, which is really rare, at the back, and there’s some EMI tape in here as well. It’s pretty special.”

It really is... A few minutes later, as we make our way back down the stairs, Stiles informs me that the first ever stereo recordings were also done in Studio Two. I did not know that. Really?!

“Oh yeah, it was Alan Blumlein, a former EMI R&D technician, that actually invented Stereo,” he says, very matter of fact. “He was in a cinema theatre watching a film, and someone walked from one side to the other, and he noticed that the sound didn’t move, it stayed in the middle. His idea was, ‘why can’t we use two speakers, and pan the sound with the pictures?’ He did this back in the early 1930s! If you consider stereo records didn’t come out until the mid ‘50s, and even then, it took a long time for stereo to catch on, you will see that Alan was way ahead of his time - so much so that they’d not only invented stereo, they’d worked out how to record it, the correct mic technique and disk cutting technique, and they still didn’t know what to do with it, so it got filed away! Amazing history, and incredible minds, eh?”

I concur. Long live Abbey Road, and its truly spellbinding legacy. www.abbeyroad.com www.waves.com

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38 HEADLINER

10 10 MINUTES WITH...

ANOUSHEH It was in the mid 2000s when ANOUSHEH first broke onto the international music scene after being spotted by renowned DJ duo, Deep Dish, on a local cable TV channel. This led to two international chart successes, and even a Grammy nomination. This year, however, she’s gone down the solo route, and has come up with an eclectic, quite fabulous debut full-length release, Make Noise - a hook-filled fusion of trip hop and electronica, with heartfelt lyrics to boot. We catch up with the Washington DCbased artist to find out all about it.

How did you get involved in music?

I started with piano lessons as a kid, so played music from age six or seven, then wrote my own songs at high school. I had a band in the Washington DC area, and got to perform on some cable TV; that’s how I met Sharam [Tayebi] and Ali [Shirazinia] from Deep Dish.

Sharam saw me on that show, as they live in DC, and they contacted me. At the time, I was still a relatively indie artist, and he asked if I wanted to sing on a couple of tracks with them. I actually didn’t even know who they were at the time, as dance music wasn’t so huge in the US back then, but this was just when they were getting big. I did one track with them, Flashdance, and it turned out to be this huge success, so then we did Say Hello, and that’s how that whole thing happened. It was a bit of luck, for sure, and a huge dynamic between the three of us. We had some great success with those two songs in particular.

Say Hello was a mega-hit, and also Grammynominated... Was that a shock at the time? [laughs] YES! The piano part in that song was off my first indie solo album, which was a very piano-led record. Sharam pulled that riff out and said he loved it, and suggested we write a song around it, so I wrote those lyrics very quickly in a hotel room just to throw something on there that I thought would fit, and it just worked so well. It all fell into place, and we weren’t really sure how it happened! My biggest regret, in fact, is not coming to the UK, as I never really got the full feeling of how big it truly was!

This was around 2005, right?

Yeah, 2005/2006 time, and after that we had a whirlwind success. I toured for a bit with Sharam, doing some vocals, and then I took a break from writing music, for a lot of strange personal reasons, but got back into it with Sharam again. I wanted to get back to my solo stuff, so started writing again and put out an EP myself a couple of years ago with some local guys that I work with, to get my songwriting chops back in action; and then with this album, I decided to really go for it. It’s my first fulllength solo record since all of the Deep Dish success.

This record is Make Noise, of course – and it’s somewhat of a melodic treat, in my opinion.

You only released it in February this year, yet Q Magazine has already named you Artist of the Week, and Fortitude Magazine said you are ‘one to watch for 2015’. So you are already making some pretty serious noise, then? [smiles] I guess! I am one of those people that never took [singing] lessons, so I totally don’t

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know what I’m doing as well, though I do have some professional vocalist friends who have helped me keep my voice in tact. But honestly, I really have done it intuitively this entire time.

I am lucky that way. I started singing at fifteen, and have tried to push it with every project that I work on, so I can get better as I go.

Are you involved in the production side of things?

With Make Noise, yes; I worked with a producer very closely, and it was a lot more about electronic music, which I have always loved - the more trip hop, ‘throwback to the ‘90s’ sort of sound for electronica, and I am really excited to be working like that, so I am very into the sounds, and it definitely helped that I collaborated a lot.

Collaboration seems to be somewhat of a buzz word in the music industry at the moment...

Yes, for sure. Collaboration, in general, for me personally, is great, as I am not the kind of person that likes to do everything myself.

I could if I tried, but I think it would end up sounding a little bit dry, so it’s wonderful to collaborate with people, as you get so much more creativity.

This feels to me like it’s the record you really wanted to make... [smiles] Yes, totally! I was in a record deal for a while that didn’t really work out, and I felt really under the thumb of that for a long time, so when I was free of it, even though it’s a lot more work, for me, getting myself out there on exactly my terms is really important. The producer I worked with is a good friend of mine, and although he’s not one of the hugest in the game right now, he was on the same wave length as me, and it was such a natural creative process. I am very happy with the album, as I put everything I had into it. It has a lot of hooks, but also the lyrics are meaningful and true to my situation in my life, and all of it really just came together for the perfect balance artistically, but also creating some very memorable songs...

Hopefully! [laughs] Many records I’ve listened to, I like at first, then I realise, ‘actually this is amazing’. That’s what happened as I listened to Make Noise for the second time through.

That’s so cool! It’s funny, as that’s my favourite way to listen to records, too! You listen, you think you like that one the best, then you listen to another song and realise, ‘hey, no it’s that one!’ I love that.

10

ANOUSHEH

What’s a typical day in the life of Anousheh, if there is such a thing?

Well, I am doing so much myself at the moment, organising a tour, and I’m really trying to get to the UK at the end of May, so that’s the short-term goal. I don’t have any official announcements yet, but I am working on some things, and I am about to head out to Austin for a few unofficial SXSW shows, and kind of work that circuit quite a bit – and go to Nashville, too. I’m putting my nose to the grind trying to just get out there and play to support the album, plus I have another music video in the works, so there will be another single off the record as well.

If I was to come and see one of your shows tonight, what should I expect?

Oooh, well it depends. I sort of have a set for any situation at this point, so I can play as much as possible. At the moment, I have a tight group with two other people I am playing with live, and we are doing an electronic hybrid with guitar, keys, and a drum machine. So we have that, but also I do have a live drummer as well, so I can really flex in and out. And for SXSW, it’s just gonna be two of us, so we will do a more kind of paired down thing. So the electronic elements are gonna be there in some form just to keep with the spirit of the album... Unless it’s just me and the keyboard, then it’ll just be me and a piano, obviously! [laughs] But it’s how I’ve always written, piano and vocal, so stripping the songs down should work out okay, too. www.anousheh.com

“I AM NOT THE KIND OF PERSON THAT LIKES TO DO EVERYTHING MYSELF...”

40 HEADLINER

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V ERONA

2015

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We’re all aware that audio technology is constantly evolving, but a very interesting little ‘live experiment’, which occurred under the guise of Verona 2015 in Italy recently, certainly raised an eyebrow or three. In fact, it’s prompted the question, ‘Could DXD be the ultimate game changer in live sound reproduction?’ Headliner investigates... erona 2015 was the brainchild of the VDM Group, a leading Italian audio distributor, whose CEO, Igor Fiorini, has a real passion for sound. His love of music started at just nine-years-old, when he learned the flute, and from there, he studied the art of musical composition, which led to many performances at live concerts both in Italy and overseas. So what was Verona 2015 all about, then?

“Well, we had been talking more and more about the idea of doing a live show in high definition sound, and decided it was about time we did it,” Fiorini explains.

“So we invited some renowned musicians to play in a small concert hall, along with an audience made up of sound engineers, artists, and the general public. It was essentially an HD sound demonstration.”

These musicians were seriously renowned, I might add: legendary jazz pianist, Danilo Rea, and seminal Italian singer-songwriter, Gino Paoli, both of which were blown away by the results (but more on that later).

Essentially, the idea was to mix the entire show, which fused pop, rock, and classical, to demonstrate the capabilities of working in DXD (or to the layman, super hi-res audio). For those into the real technical jargon, we’re talking 352.8kHz hi-res PCM - a pretty big deal. To do this, a range of Merging Technologies products were deployed.

“We wanted to show the people the wonder that is DXD, and how it’s full of dynamics and provides supreme audio quality; and in a live environment, that

proved very interesting,” he explains. I ask him to take it from the top, and he kindly obliges. “Eighteen months ago, I was in the studio listening to a DXD recording, and suddenly I had this idea of bringing all the studio stuff with me and using it to amplify a show. I thought, ‘why not give the people the quality of 352kHz?’, and the only way to make that happen was to use Merging products, as it’s the only brand that can deliver that kind of resolution: Horus, Ovation, Virtual Mix, Hapi; using Merging, you can get many channels in a tiny footprint, mix in high quality, and create a stable system direct into your computer [using Horus and Ovation].”

OK, so what about the sceptics? Those that might argue we don’t need such a high level of production, when people only listen to mp3s as standard?

“That’s the main enemy!” Fiorini laughs.

“Classical music is a little different, but you’re right, all the other genres always have this problem, as they’re mainly listening to music on their smart phones.

This is why we wanted to try to offer the best sound possible to such a mixed audience, where everything is under control. Modern day PA systems are getting better and better, so audiences can almost get that headphone experience at a gig, now.”

They started with a small PA and no monitoring, placing one Horus on the stage to directly connect the mics (with the shortest cables possible); and then using a single Cat-5e cable, signal was sent to the front-of-house console, where one computer running Ovation managed

41 HEADLINER

the show.

“From there, we devised a specialised computer to manage the live shows, with a stronger construction,” Fiorini continues.

“The microphones went directly into Horus, then via Cat-5e to the console, and the output from Horus went directly into the main PA system.”

Fiorini then began experimenting with touch screen computers: one on stage, one at front-of-house, along with two Horus.

“Everything was then managed from the computer: one output card went to the PA system, the other to the monitors, and the results were genuinely amazing,” he insists. “Because of this, we now have one sound engineer that goes around Italy whose whole system fits in a carry-on case that you can take on an aeroplane! He has a Hapi, a touch screen computer, and a power supply. He just opens his laptop, and starts working; only two cables, and his session is set and ready. And the HD quality I have honestly never heard anything like before in a live show.”

During this ‘audio experiment’ with Gino Paoli and Danilo Rea, audio began at 44.1kHz, moved up to 96kHz, then 192kHz, and finally they ‘made the jump to DXD quality’. So, were any eyebrows raised by the sound engineers or the general public when you made the jump?

“When we jumped to DXD, the sound engineers’ mouths fell down! They were like, ‘okay, this is serious!’, and people started to sit on their chairs upright with serious faces,” Fiorini says, with a smile.

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V ERONA

2015

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“The really cool thing about it is, there is no barrier to stop this quality being available for everybody, right now. It really is very exciting.”

And what about the artists? Did they notice a change?

“They were the first to notice it,” Fiorini says, proudly. “Gino [Paoli] is eighty-yearsold, and a very famous singer in Italy, and the first time they started to play on stage with the monitors, he was so surprised. For the first time in his life, he said he really felt the dynamics, and more importantly, the micro-dynamics in the music; and as a result, the playing suddenly got better.

Because you have micro-dynamics, even if one voice is very strong, and the pianist wants to do something very soft at the same time, you still feel exactly the same presence of both. It’s been a real commercial surprise for us, really, as this was just set up as a test and an experiment, but now, it’s something way, way bigger, and everyone agrees.”

Just to make sure, I decided to hunt out the main front-of-house man, Luca Giannerini, and the artists themselves, to get their take on proceedings.

“Honestly, collaborating on this project with Igor was the best thing I have done since I started out as a sound engineer,” Giannerini insists. Quite a statement. Tell me more. “I can get a really clean mix, and with incredibly impressive dynamics; it just sounds ‘complete’, with all these micro nuances and harmonics that I have never, ever, been able to receive in any live

concert before. It’s set a new standard, no doubt about it.”

One down, two to go... What about you, Danilo Rea? “Oh, I strongly supported Luca to jump on this new adventure,” he says, instantly.

“For the first time in my life, I have never heard a sound so deep and beautifully colourful in a two-monitor stage setup.

I found myself hearing harmonics that I could not hear even acoustically, which is just incredible, so on that evidence, I think this really is the new future for live music.

I now always want to play in DXD!” Gino Paoli concurs, and some...

“The thing that stunned me most about this system is its ability to reproduce the subtle nuances and colours of each instrument,” Paoli explains. “In the case of my voice, when listening through in-ear monitors, I was able to perceive all the dynamics, and control my singing much easier; and from what they tell me, the result of the mix outside is also really fantastic. This is a winner!”

OK, Igor, now I’m convinced, and I can’t wait to get my first experience of DXD sound. Watch this space, VDM Group, Headliner is on a mission... www.merging.com

42 HEADLINER

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MPG

AWARDS

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MPG AWARDS

Headliner descended on London’s South Bank for what was, in our opinion, the best MPG Awards to date. As media partner, perhaps we’re a little biased, so we let some of the winners do the talking.

DAVE STEWART “Being honoured by the MPGs is very humbling, as I never saw myself as a record producer; I just wandered into different situations, met different artists, and stumbled into making records.

But having now made eighty albums or something ridiculous, I guess that’s what I am! The process is such an art and a science, and the general public don’t know much about that, but it’s dedication and it’s work. I am genuinely honoured to be part of the MPGs, and around these fantastic people.”

FREDDIE COWAN,THE VACCINES “The studio environment is crucial when recording, and the more the music industry progresses, the more the big studios will become labours of love. It’s about personal sacrifices and passions, as the money isn’t in the industry in the same way as it used to be. There’s a philanthropic element to it, and you have to be grateful to the likes of Air, Rak, all those places that give us a place to make art. I’m very pleased that Rak won the MPG Award for Best Studio, as it’s my favourite studio; it’s an institution, and deserves recognition, and it’s also where we recorded our first album, so I have the happiest memories.”

ALISON GOLDFRAPP “I am totally gobsmacked at winning the MPG for Album of the Year! It was quite a niche record in a way, and we didn’t expect it to get great recognition. It was the record we wanted to make, and we took our time to make it. Craig Silvey helped us a lot with the sound; he’s a very patient man with a

great instinct, and he doesn’t ask many questions, he just does it. He has a very nice dog that likes to pee on me, so that’s always a good sign! Getting the MPG is like being counted amongst the serious people, which is praise beyond words; it’s just amazing.”

KORDA MARSHALL, WINNER OF THE A&R AWARD “The MPGs is a lovely awards show, and quite different to the rest, as it’s about the artists, the musicians, the engineers, and the creative process in the studio. The trick of being a good A&R is knowing when to do nothing!”

DAVE STEWART

BEN THATCHER, ROYAL BLOOD [Wielding a fire extinguisher, and swigging on a half pint of something very alcoholic] HEADLINER: Happy Birthday, mate.

Enjoying the MPGs? BEN: Thanks. Yeah, it’s a great night. Lots of great people from our industry under one roof.

HEADLINER: What’s that you’re drinking?

[Ben hands glass to us, we both sip, and almost vomit] HEADLINER: Half a PINT of tequila?!

BEN: [smiles] Yeah, why not?

Hmm... Each to their own! We would like to say a big thanks to the MPGs for their hospitality, and on running a superb event.

Thanks too, to all the artists for taking the time to speak to us, and a big shout-out to G-Technology, the headline sponsor, who we look forward to working with again soon. www.mpg.org.uk

DOUGY MANDAGI & KORDA MARSHALL

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JOHNNY

HI LAND

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Q&A

Nashville-based Johnny Hiland is an artist like no other. This world-class guitarist got the bug for the instrument at just two-years-old, and by the time he was four, he was the proud owner of a vintage 1939 Gibson J-45 (yes, you read that right!). What’s even more incredible is, he was born legally blind, so his skill set comes from pure dedication to his craft, without any help from sheet music or tablature.

He’s made multiple albums, performed with the greats, and got a standing ovation at his debut show at Nashville’s Ryman Theatre. So what is it that makes him tick? Headliner investigates...

I’m not sure where to start, your story is that incredible... At the beginning, I guess? [smiles] Sure. I grew up in Baileyville, Maine, and was born legally blind with an eye condition call nystagmus, which is something that is not correctable, even with today’s medical technology. I was certainly not like all of the other kids in my neighbourhood. Then one afternoon, I’ll never forget it, my Aunt Brenda walked in our front door and handed my dad this old guitar case. Inside was a 1939 J-45 Gibson that used to belong to grandpa. I then found that my dad did not play guitar at all, so it was passed down directly to me. My dad tuned the guitar to an open key, and from four-years-old, I started developing my own style of playing the guitar flat on my lap, kind of like Jeff Healey. I won my first talent show at age five, and performed on Dick Stacey’s Jamboree in Brewer, Maine at age seven, which was aired on local television. I told Dick that my dream was to play the Grand Ole Opry one day...

People laughed at the time, but, well... [laughs] You then formed a band with your brother and sister called The Three Js...

Yeah, and learned to play guitar the correct way! We played numerous shows around the northeast and Canada, and even opened shows for Boxcar Willie and Lynn Anderson. By that time, I was playing guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, drums, and bass. The Three Js worked until I turned fifteen, and my voice started changing. Then, at age twelve, my dad bought me my first Fender Stratocaster. I remember having that strat, a Peavey Classic 130 amp,

some DOD pedals, and a wah pedal. The electric guitar craze came for me when my folks took me to see Ricky Skaggs for the first time. He blew my mind, and I started practicing morning, noon, and night. I was dedicated, and relentlessly wanted that chicken pickin’ tone that Ricky was getting. I then formed a band called Standing Room Only with drummer and mutual friend, Jon Eales. We had a blast all over the state picking country music until I graduated high school and went on to college. I attended the University of Southern Maine for three years in Portland, which was a wonderful experience for me, yet my heart was striving for those neon lights of Nashville.

And you moved there at twenty-one...

Yes, and on my second day in town, I played at the world famous Turf, a cool honky tonk down on Lower Broadway. A big tornado tore up Broadway in 1998, and that changed the downtown honky tonk scene in a lot of ways.

I then started performing with the Don Kelley Band at Robert’s Western World, five nights a week. Don’s always been known for having one of the best bands in Music City; he’s had guitar greats such as Brent Mason, Rod Riley, Troy Lancaster, Kenny Vaughan, and Redd Volkaert.

Robert’s was the place that actually spawned my guitar career. Gary Chapman, the host of TNN’s Primetime Country, saw me play there, and invited me on the show. He said that we needed something to discuss, so he also asked me to come perform at the Ryman Auditorium for his show called Sam’s Place. So, that following weekend, I went and performed at the Ryman

for the first time, and received a standing ovation. What a thrill! That is the mother church of country music, where the Grand Ole Opry started. A few days after the show, the security guard from the Ryman called to me saying I had a phone call. It was the secretary to the president of the Grand Ole Opry. She essentially asked me to perform that Friday night! I ran down to the local Western shop to deck myself out, and proceeded to call all of the family, back home in Maine, to give them the good news.

Wow... And how was it?

Amazing! And I’ve played the Opry several more times since then. I then met my first manager, Mac Wilson. He really allowed me to open up about what my dreams and aspirations were for my career. Then I signed my first record deal with Steve Vai’s Favoured Nations label in 2003, and my first self-titled debut record came out in 2004. Since then, I have become an acclaimed session player, playing on numerous records for some real greats. On that debut night, I was introduced by country legend, Bill Anderson. I walked out, plugged in my guitar, played my song, and then, as the crowd cheered, I watched the stage techs unplugging my rig quickly to get me off the stage so they could prepare for the next artist coming out.

As that was happening, Bill asked me to stay out there. He talked with me a few moments, and then asked me to play one of the greatest country guitar tunes ever, Sugarfoot Rag. I told him that I’d be glad to, and watched the techs running back, frantically trying to plug me and

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Q&A

my board back in. When they finished, I started the song. I had no idea that when they plugged the pedalboard back in, that my distortion pedal was on! On the legendary stage of the Grand Ole Opry, on my first night, I actually played the Sugarfoot Rock! Hank Garland would have been proud of me! [laughs] Truly memorable, then! So how would you describe your style?

It came about from loving bluegrass and chicken pickin.’ It started out with a love for Tony Rice, and his bluegrass style, and then, I mixed that style with the b-bending country licks of Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Jimmy Olander. Then, I added Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Vince Gill, and Steve Wariner. As a teen, I also loved blues and rock. At the time, I was really searching myself to find out what style I loved more. I learned licks and runs from Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Frank Gambale, Jeff Healey, and Eddie Van Halen. I blended those with chicken pickin’, and then worked in some Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, and Jimmy Bryant. Finally, I mixed all of these licks, chops, and runs with the overall versatility and aggressiveness of my main guitar hero, Danny Gatton. Being legally blind, I wasn’t able to read tablature books, or learn from videos, or pick up chops off of the Internet like players are able to do today. I had to learn by listening to CDs, and jamming along with them the best I could. I remember the days when I would break, rewind, and fast-forward buttons off tape players trying to figure out licks or soloing. Those were fun days. In fact, I still even do that today. Just don’t tell anybody I told you my secret! [laughs] Dare I ask how many guitars you have? [laughs] I have a LOT of different teles and strats, an R7 historic goldtop Les Paul, a

beautiful handcrafted Bill Comins jazz guitar, a 1968 Martin D-35, some Godin guitars, and others that I take into the studio. Live, I use two Ernie Ball Music Man Silhouettes that are decked out with my signature MSSC knobs and wiring harnesses, along with my signature pickups by Electric City Pickups. I also carry two 1998 Music Man Ash Axis Sports. They are decked out with MSSC harnesses and ECPs as well, and for acoustics on the road, I use a Godin Acousticaster, and a Godin Multiac nylon string.

You use the Lectrosonics PT-PRO wireless on the bigger stages, right?

Yes, I teamed up with Lectrosonics back in the mid 2000s. Matt Robertson, Brian Hannie, and all the boys there quickly became family to me. I sincerely love Lectrosonics wireless units as they deliver the absolute best signal on the market for a wireless system. I have simply been blown away and amazed with how clean my tone has been, totally unaffected by the wireless unit. As I moved away from my rig with the wireless pack on, and I’m talking quite a distance away, I didn’t have any latency at all, and my tone stayed true. Unaltered.

That is what made me a huge fan and believer of Lectrosonics. And I actually find myself using it even more in the studio. Being legally blind, the Lectrosonics wireless system is literally a blessing to my life. It helps me get around the studio easier without having to continually take my guitar on and off, which is a Godsend.

What about your best show ever?

The Tulsa Blues Festival in Oklahoma, where I was on the same bill with Eric Sardinas and Eric Johnson. That was a Johnny Hiland band experience that I will never forget! It was actually my first time meeting both of those guys. It was simply awesome. And as far as the best show I’ve ever been a part of, that

was jamming with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony at the Starwood Amphitheater, here in Nashville. I was playing Eddie Van Halen’s parts on Finish What You Started. The other awesome part for me, on that show, was that my mum was in town, and she was absolutely thrilled with the experience.

Is there anything you’d like to change in today’s music industry?

To be honest, I feel that our music industry is in some pretty bad times right now. I guess the one big thing that is really bothering me is, that guys like myself cannot tour like we need to, as booking agents will hardly take on independent label-based artists anymore. The other massive thing is that our music is being stolen and pirated off the Internet more and more every day! People, stop this; at least respect your favourite artists, and buy the downloads or CDs. It’s killing our music industry! You see, there is a cycle here: a talented artist gets signed to a label; the label helps them by paying to create a record, and then also the distribution, publicity, and marketing, which gives the artist’s music the capacity to get out to the world. People then hear the artist on the road, and on radio, and buy the record; and once the album sells enough, the label gets paid back. Then, the artist can start the process again by making a new record. That’s how the cycle goes folks! When an artist’s records are being pirated, there is a severe break in that process.

The label can’t survive, and then the artist can’t survive. No record, and no tour. I, personally, am going to continue to play my guitar and create music the way I know how. I have a lot of wonderful fans all around the world, and I’m a very blessed man. So please help keep music alive in this world, and stop pirating! www.johnnyhiland.com www.lectrosonics.com

HORU

S

Usher is one of the most successful artists in the US today, having sold a jawdropping 65 million records worldwide. He first hit the Billboard charts in the late ‘90s with his second album, My Way, which went six-time platinum, but it was his 2004 release, Confessions, that shot him to super stardom status, shifting an amazing 20 million copies all by itself. Eight Grammys later, Usher has just completed a European tour. We caught up with his team at the penultimate show at Birmingham’s impressive Barclaycard Arena.

ERIC WADE has been illuminating

Usher for fifteen years, in which time, his show has evolved almost as much as the artist. We sat down at front-of-house to talk all things lighting.

I’ve been out on the road with bands since I was seventeen-years-old, so it’s all I’ve ever done. My role is to make sure that everything is perfect, visually; and Usher gets more involved as we go along. I’ll get initial concepts, which he’ll sign off on, then he lets us run with it for a bit. When we get on the road, he starts feeling things, and he starts saying, ‘oh, I could do something here’, or ‘this could work here’. We only have two shows left, and we were still writing new cues yesterday with him! [laughs] We are running everything on two Grand MA2s for lighting, and two Grand MA lights for video. We use a company out of Pennsylvania called Control Freak Systems that basically interfaces everything together (except the sound) so we run all the cameras through them and the lighting, and we then control everything from

front-of-house. We have a video director that calls out all the program shots for IMAG, and then we cut and go, and we manipulate that however we like. It took three months to build the show, Baz Halpin came in and did the creative with Usher, and we moved forwards from there. Mort Swinsky did most of the initial programming, and built the looks, and we have taken it from there. We did a whole month of rehearsals as it’s a very cue heavy show... We have close to seven thousand events!

WALLS OF LIGHT

The big look of the show is the GLP X4S. There are 216 of them on the back wall, and I absolutely love them. They are the core of everything, really, except for the pods overhead. I have known [GLP President] Mark Ravenhill a long time; he is a great guy, and he always ends up sending me stuff. I look at it as I trust his opinion, and what I like about GLP is, they’re always interested in finding out what we think, which is great for the X4S, as we knew what we needed it to

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USHER

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RYAN CECIL

ERIC WADE

do. We were looking for a small light with much more versatility - more an RGBW than just RGB - and we definitely wanted more speed, and control of the individual pixels; and the GLP X4S was the answer; it’s a perfect little light.

Tait Towers built our fantastic rolling stage which only takes three hours to put up. The GLPs are all on these ladders at the back which Tait also built for us: there are twelve ladders in total with eighteen lights on each ladder, and those ladders move up, down, left, and right, so when the video wall splits, we can move all of them into the middle, or vice versa. It means we can keep the lights exposed by moving them around, which is perfect. We have a lot of motion and movement on this show, and automation-wise, we have the ladders, the pods, the video lifts that come out of the deck, plus elevators, ribbon lifts, all kinds of toys.

Everything we can hear, we pretty much do lighting to it: every little accent, cut, and bump. It’s pretty meticulous! And Usher is a lovely guy. Very easy to work with. His rig was quite a bit smaller in the early days, but as he has grown, so has the show. Every year we escalate it, because he wants to do more, and he tries to give the fans 150 percent every night. He wants everything perfect the whole time, which in turn makes for a great experience.

RYAN CECIL

was initially brought in to dep a few shows, and has now been a permanent fixture at side stage for the last four years. Since switching console, everything’s also been that little bit rosier...

At the beginning, it was a smaller band, and we didn’t have backing singers. We were doing nothing but one-off shows, but now everything is way bigger, so we

switched to DiGiCo. We have an SD5 at front-of house [with Focusrite RedNet preamps], and I run an SD7 with the 192kHz racks.

I run my console at 96kHz for two reasons: increased clarity, and the lowest possible latency. I did work with an SD10 for a while, but there is more stuff going on now, so the SD7 is the better fit. Some of these light-up ladders are actually triggered off of audio from the console, so I send eight mixes to the Control Freak guys out back, which vary per song, and it’ll show up on the bar graph meter on the actual video wall. I never thought I would be generating content from my SD7! [laughs] We used to use a lot of outboard reverbs from song to song. Usher’s studio engineer would come out and say, ‘this is what we used on this song’, and so on, and that’s what we would go with, but when we switched over to the DiGiCo console, from almost the first show, he was like, ‘I don’t need that reverb’. It went down at least thirty percent straight away, and we’re so comfortable now using all the inbuilt effects in the SD7 that I don’t have to use any other outboard processing.

KEEP IT SNAPPY

I use a snapshot per song, and if there’s a change in a song for a band member, it also gets snapshot, whereas if it’s for Usher,

I do it manually. I am hands-on mixing his show the entire time. We have 56 aux sends, most of which are in stereo, and on the console, between inputs and outputs, I think I only have eight spare, so there is a lot going on.

I also use the DiGiGrid MGB for virtual soundcheck, as it’s so compact - there are 112 channels of MADI in this unit, which is pretty ridiculous! It sits at the back of my desk, and an Ethernet cable plugs into my laptop, then I record onto Reaper. I like it so much, I actually bought two of them!

After a few shows, then a few more, you eventually get to a point where you have built a true relationship with the band; and with this band, if they trust me, then Usher can trust me - that’s the feeling I got from the very beginning. He and I will talk together about each show, and what he needs, and I might say, ‘hey, tonight it’s gonna be a very ‘live’ room so the audience mics are gonna sound really boomy’, but now, to be honest, it’s got to the point where I don’t need to say anything, because he really knows his stuff. He is a great guy, and this really is a great show. www.glp.de www.digigrid.net www.usherworld.com www.digico.biz

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t’s been years since anyone signed off a letter to me with the endearing sentiment SWALK ...

An acronym for, as I’m sure you all know, Sealed With A Loving Kiss. I’m more likely nowadays to get an FU, even though that’s more of an abbreviation. But did you know the word laser was an acronym? Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation, no less. Then there’s Radio Detecting and Ranging radar. Get it? BIBLE is one of my favourites: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. I think that Ryan Air are making these available on their flights now, for a small additional charge, obviously; and then there’s the more modern versions like WTF and (loosely) See You Next Tuesday.

Do you remember the American band WASP formed back in the early ‘80s? FWIW, it was generally thought that their name was an acronym for We Are Sexual Perverts, but the official descramble is White Anglo Saxon Protestants.

The latter is more ethnically incorrect in these modern times of political correctness. Whilst the lovely Waspies thought that they were being oh so clever back in their day having sex and perverts in the same sentence, if they’d gone for the official line, they’d have been far more confrontational. LOL! Which brings me nicely into the main thrust of this month’s contributory rambling. Our little industry is peppered with acronyms/abbreviations, and it occurred to me whilst at this year’s TPI Awards where I met up with BG from BRP who told me that XL had just lost U2 to a subsidiary of PRG or what was once LSD operating out of the same warehouse in Birmingham as SSE. This was in the days when TASCO (Trans Atlantic

Sound Company) led by longforgotten industry icon Joe Brown (See You Next Tuesday), and ENTEC were one and two in the audio rental popularity stakes, and HSL hadn’t even started (I don’t think?). ASR, the theatre suppliers, had just set up ASL much to LMC’s disgust IYKWIM. I can’t remember who supplied AC:DC back then, but AFAIK ELO was a TASCO account. Now we’ve got USA giants VER over here in the UK as our borders become closer. I imagine they’re all fighting with 8thD to pick up 1D? Of course we were limited

to rehearsal space in the ‘70s.

Pinewood was my favourite, just off the M25 and A412, on the lot next to 007. We’d load out straight into the RAH, unlike today, where we load straight out of LH2 or LS Live into the O2 (although the new FBN rehearsal complex looks promising). Talking of FBN, EST ruled the trucking world back then, and MA were even then promoting some big shows. Now we’ve got AEG and LN promoting the lion’s share, although AAA and KSE are no slouches.

With the PSA overseeing our current welfare, newer specialists

to the industry like LTM and EFM make every aspect much easier, quicker, and safer for us all.And if it wasn’t for the likes of E2TB, we’d all starve to death.

As old JY from BBC2 would say at the end of his ‘prog’, TTFN. But he never said FFS, well, not on air anyway. See you all next Tuesday.

Gor

PS: RIP ML PROCISE – An old friend

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