Sleep Token have divided the world of metal, some seeing their use of influences from outside of the genre as groundbreaking, others as heretical. From lyrics delivered by frontman Vessel that address non-metal, and often personal, issues to the technical precision and genre-mining of the beat beneath them from ‘II’, they are an enigmatic prospect. The British band also obscure their identities by playing masked, and have largely avoided engaging with both fans and the music press.

FOH engineer Thom Pike has been with the band since their third gig in 2018. For most recent tour, his mixing desk of choice was a DiGiCo Quantum 338, with Samuel Schmitt, a long-time DiGiCo user, also using a Quantum 338 for his monitor mix.

‘The original idea of the band was just to listen to the music, and not to worry about who’s singing, who’s playing,’ Pike explains. ‘The music world is all about the “who”, but Sleep Token is just about being moved by their music.’

‘This was the start of a new cycle and a new era in terms of venue sizes,’ Pike continues. ‘Solotech helped us out in terms of budget, so for our first gig at Wembley Arena I went straight to a DiGiCo. By the end of the tour I was in love with the console. I feel like there were no limitations; the desk does exactly what I want and more.’

Being with them since the very beginning, Pike used to mix FOH and monitors, as well as manage the production tours As the band’s success has grown, he has been able to delegate some of these responsibilities, and now concentrates on the FOH mix. The band’s rise in popularity has seen the band go from 130-capacity clubs to selling out 23,500 capacity venues like Manchester’s Co-Op Arena in just a few years. The increase in venue size and production elements was just a part of the reason behind using DiGiCo consoles, as Schmitt recalls.

‘I am a DiGiCo evangelist,’ he claims. ‘When a band is rapidly growing in terms of venue sizes, there are things you want to do that other consoles are just not able to do, and that means you will be running in circles. That is never an issue with DiGiCo; the workflow is much cleaner.’

It was Schmitt’s enthusiasm and support that made Pike feel more comfortable taking the leap to DiGiCo and, if issues did come up, Schmitt was only too happy to show Pike a quick fix, knowing DiGiCo’s support team were available – just in case...

‘We joked that I was Thom’s personal DiGiCo tech support,’ Schmitt says. ‘The thing about DiGiCo is – even if the worst did happen and a shackle fell from the sky and smashed into the desk – they’re so widely available. We could get a replacement, load up our file and be OK. Beyond robustness, it’s the availability of a huge support team – that’s the important thing.’

Before Pike got hands on with his Quantum 338, Schmitt sat down with him in any spare moments they had to talk through the DiGiCo workflow and features he thought Pike would enjoy. Slowly-but-surely, Pike came to see that the Quantum Series was going to serve his needs and the future needs of the band.

‘Compared to other consoles, the DiGiCo just seemed like a big scary computer,’ he recalls. ‘But you can make them sound how you want them to. Other desks just sound like they sound, but DiGiCo is really clean and there is plenty you can do to change the sound if needed. I love Mustard [onboard processing] and basically use it on everything; for this tour, I didn’t use a single standard EQ or on anything. When I started, there was a limit on Mustard channels and I ran out, but for this tour we upgraded to Pulse, so now I have Mustard for everything.’

The band do not rely on playback; elements of track are used, but the emphasis is on live music. This fluidity and interaction works well with the spiritual side of Sleep Token’s music, which plays with themes of ritual and iconography, heightening the audience’s experience. It is a vibe that also resonates with the crew, creating a real sense of camaraderie.

‘Sleep Token is great to mix because it’s a real rock mix,’ says Pike. ‘Using a DiGiCo was a big change for me, but it’s been great. I get a lot of support from Solotech, and whatever the issue is, they are there to help us.’

‘The crew are all good people and the tour has been the glue that keeps us all together. When it all works this well, it just makes sense keep everything the same,’ Schmitt adds. ‘I’m on the North American side of things, so I’ve worked closely with DiGiCo’s Ryan Shelton and Chip – they’re the best customer service and tech support. If they can’t help, they always know who is on call and will pass me on to them. Even if I just have a simple question, I never feel ignored by DiGiCo.’

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