The band spent much of last year holed up in a stately home in Wiltshire writing and recording 'Join With Us', the follow up to the smash hit, 'Twelve Stops And Home'. And an essential part of that process was the delivery of a selection of Sennheiser and Neumann microphones that enabled the band to create release-quality audio in a house not designed with 21st Century recording as its primary concern.
"We took advantage use of the wonderful acoustics in the wood panelled, tapestry-lined dining hall," explains guitarist Kevin Jeremiah. "It was incredibly important to have quality microphones on this recording, as we were getting a really good sound in the room, and needed to be able to accurately capture exactly what we were hearing."
Lead singer Dan Gillespie Sells used a Neumann U87 and Neumann M149 as his main vocal mics throughout the session, while other band members employed Neumann KMS 104s for backing vocals.
"For the first album we used whatever we could borrow from other people, in combination with our own cheap mics," explains Jeremiah. "The only decent mics we had last time were a pair of Neumann TLM103s, without which I don't think we could have recorded the album at all! This time round, we had great mics on everything, and it was nice to just push the faders up on the desk and have a great sound straight away, without having to over-EQ everything just to make it sound vaguely like it's supposed to."
After the band left Wiltshire, the next item of the agenda was setting up a studio space in London, with the Neumann and Sennheiser microphones both essential parts of that process. In addition to the Sennheiser SKM5200 they were using on stage and the KMS104s, the band also used Neumann an M149 vocal mic, a Neumann USM82i and a Nickel U87, plus Sennheiser MKH40, MD421 and e912 microphones for drums, guitars and backing vocals, for both live work and recording. Sells and Jeremiah also choose Sennheiser ew372 wireless systems for their guitars.
"We used our Neumann and Sennheiser mics on the final bits of recording that we needed to do in London," states Jeremiah. "I can't see that we'll ever have cause to hire a studio again. It would be hard to top the results we got doing it ourselves."
(Lee Baldock)
