Late 2020, Weller, a fourpiece rock crossover band local to the Hive Rooms booked in a string of dates in Studio A to cut a couple of singles with Engineer/Producer Meyrick de la Fuente (VEXED, She Must Burn, Harbinger, Olly Steele). Both singles hit the iTunes charts with a good position and reception, notably 'Energised' taking the number 1 spot for a period.
The record needed a broad selection of guitar tones so Meyrick and the band rolled out some of our prized amps, notability the Fender Duo Sonic, covering all the clean tones and our Mesa Dual rec for some of the dirty along with the bands Orange rockaverb rig.
Meyrick wanted to get some massive sounding drum tones for the singles so opted to use the punchy Pearl reference kit which has become the current house kit in Studio A. Although the Live Room isn't the biggest space for roomy drum sounds it is possible to get some sweet-sounding room mics, you just have to be a little pickier with the placement. A pair of ribbon microphones coupled with some heavy-handed use of the distressors worked a treat for this. The drums and bass were tracked together for both tracks which definitely adds some vibe and glue.
The mixture of pitched rap vocal needed to be punchy and also dynamic so Meyrick opted for a U87 into a Neve 1073 pre amp, and it worked a treat with Vocalist Charlie's voice.
Looking forward to having these guys back in, so keep an eye out for their next single and go give 'Energised' some Love.