June 2005

Since their 2004 album 'Out of Nothing' reached number one in the album charts, things have been set to be even bigger and better for the Yorkshire based collective.

The band is made up of: The McNamara brothers (Richard and Danny) on guitar and vocals, Steve Firth on bass, Mike Heaton on drums and Mickey Dale on keys.

The band have been together for many years now, and their first single came out back in 1997 - just as the media's fetish for all things 'Brit-pop' was starting to fade. The band made it through the transition period of industry trends, as well as surviving a split-up with their former record label. They have now carried out several tours (including a recent one in the States) and made numerous appearances at major festivals including Glastonbury and T in the Park.

Although they had dreamt of having their own studio since their first album, it was after they parted company with their previous label that they decided to invest their money into studio. They were cautious not to become another band who "focus on every tiny detail and forget the main reason that they're there". They needed to build a creative epicenter in which to express and record their material and they needed the right desk to aid them. Richard recalls, "I was looking for a console that was not only functional, but was inspirational as well.... I found it!"

It was producer Martin 'Youth' Glover who first pointed them in the direction of the VTC. Youth had a VTC-32 fitted in his Spanish studio retreat and was showing it to the band when they had flown out there in January this year. Richard recalls "He [Youth] has worked on some great desks and is used to using SSL and Neve... but when I heard him gushing about the VTC - I knew it had to be great"

"We already use some TL Audio outboard, and we like that it can be really clean sounding, but that you can also crank it up for some classic lush valve sounds... we had a vision of how the desk would sound in our heads and when we heard it, we liked it... the second I plugged the VTC in I could hear all this fantastic bottom end that I'd been craving since we built the studio."

The band were concerned however that having the studio on their doorstep, might take the fun out of recording. "We didn't want the studio to become like a work-room, so we needed something to 'sex it up'!... The desk does that and it’s got a great feel!'

Well... is that a nomination for the world’s sexiest desk? ; )

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