Safire Palms

Recording, Mixing & Mastering.

Safire Palms are a Blue Mountains-based four-piece band, with keyboard and vocalist Nick Macken, guitarist Rory Wilson, bassist Riley Johns and drummer Bailey Brown.

The goal was to capture a classic vintage funk sound with a modern twist. All three of our vintage electric pianos made it onto the record - the beautiful 1972 Rhodes Fender Mk1, the funk-monster Hohner Clavinet D6, and front and centre, the Wurlitzer 200A. Everything was run through Rupert Neve preamps cranked for maximum transformer goodness, with vocals through the Chandler EMI REDD for that tube warmth. For the modern twist, we layered synth parts from the Dave Smith Instruments OB6 on top.

After recording, re-amping and overdubs, the tracks were hybrid-mixed through the outboard, adding even more tone.

The result sounds like it was recorded in 1975, with equipment from the 21st century!

Read more in the Blue Mountains Gazette article by Michael Smith.

Rebecca Mann

Producing, Recording, Mixing & Mastering.

Rebecca Mann is a singer/songwriter whose impassioned and creative music conveys honest emotion. Rebecca's poetic storytelling and distinctive folky style is influenced by musicians such as Augie March, Leonard Cohen, Paul Kelly, and The Whitlams.

Rebecca's latest release "It's a Show" (2021) exemplifies her distinct songwriting style, reflecting the nuances of the human experience.

We produced the record, building out each song with extra instrumentation and bringing in session players for bass, drums, piano and organ.

Future State

Artist, Producing, Recording, Mixing & Mastering.

Hobart-based independent artists, Future State, released their debut EP "Rising Tide" on 30th April 2020. This cinematic 5 track EP captivates the listener with trip-hop beats and haunting vocals, creating a sombre reflection of this current moment in time.

Future State consists of two extremely different and yet complementary individuals. Stuart Cam, originally from Bristol UK, brings musical influences such as Portishead and Massive Attack to his production, crafting melancholic soundscapes pushed along by brooding beats. Ally Oliver sings haunting vocals, inspired by Florence Welch and Regina Spektor, bringing a modern twist to the genre.

"The concept for the Rising Tide EP came to us through the current isolation we are all experiencing. Isolation creates the opportunity for self reflection, it is no coincidence that our selected tracks express the themes we are all feeling during this time of loneliness; reminiscing on lost love, uselessness, addiction and the human condition".

"Whilst the themes we are exploring are quite dark we hope the journey of the EP leaves the listener feeling seen and ultimately uplifted".

Read more in the HMC Music article by Hayley Casey.

• Official band website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Spotify

Merekat

Recording, Mixing & Mastering.

Merekat are Jake Coleman (music & production) and Kay Collier (lyrics & vocals). Based in Katoomba, together they create honest and down-to-earth alternative hip-hop.

After producing their debut album Some Spent Summers independently, the duo came to us to mix and master their sophomore album, Twenty Two Years in Babylon.

We ran the individual stems through our outboard analog gear to add punch, warmth and tone, then mixed in-the-box - checking balance across the multiple reference monitors in the studio. The mixes got the full treatment: 2-bus enhancements, tape effects, transformer tone shaping and analog compression. We also re-recorded some vocals and guitar parts in the studio for better clarity.

Once mixing was done, we unified the tone and loudness across the whole project. The finished album has a depth and quality that just wouldn't have been possible with a purely in-the-box approach.

January 2019 interview on Radio Blue Mountains:

Wolf van der Made

Recording artist and street performer Wolf van der Made blends elements of baroque pop, indie folk and alt rock into a creative and accessible sound. As full time independent musician Wolf balances his time between producing original material, busking classics on the street and developing his skills.

After spending several months recording at home, Wolf came to us to mix his 99% nothing EP.

The goal was to keep the dynamics of the original performances intact and get a consistent sound across the EP. Since it was all recorded in his home studio, we spent some time processing the stems to unify the EQ across each track, then reamped all the guitars through real amplifiers and ran the vocals through our Neve Portico and LA2A clone.

The trickiest one to mix was the 15-minute Gothic Spectacular - a journey through a haunted carnival! With well over 100 multitrack recordings, it needed serious attention to the vocal performances and overall dynamics.

Studio Work