Bicycle Ride is the follow-up album to 2014’s Spectrum album from independent producer, composer and musician, Shook.
‘Creating music is kind of therapeutic for me,’ says Shook, who is based in the Netherlands and recently spent seven months in hospital battling acute pancreatitis. Throughout his recover, he Kept his laptop and Audient iD4 audio interface and Korg Minilogue synthesiser with him for company.
He describes his recovery as ‘a heavy time’ and admits to having ‘almost died twice’. As his body got stronger however, his creativity prospered. ‘I used the iD4 to record sketches in my hospital bed,’ he says. ‘I remember the constant beeping from the hospital equipment: heart rate monitors and stuff like that. It was quite trippy. I remember wanting to write a song with bleeps and record multiple melodies; each would overlap to create interesting harmonies.
‘When I was allowed to finally go home again, I used these ideas to record new songs. I actually made a lot of very psychedelic songs when I was just back home.’
His simple recording set-up gave him the opportunity to harness ideas as he got better, in preparation for what was to become Bicycle Ride.
At home, the studio set-up Shook (known as Jasper Wijnands outside the studio) uses is rather less streamlined. ‘At the moment half of my living room is filled with equipment, synthesisers, acoustic drums and guitars,’ he says, confessing to a particular obsession with vintage synthesisers. ‘I like to have things nearby when I work on music. I am running out of space; it’s a little bit crazy. I have this rule when if I pick up a new piece of gear, one would have to go out – a rule I often neglect, but I try.
‘I have to tidy things up after I have a creative outburst, otherwise I can’t walk around in my room anymore – which is often the case,’ he says. ‘I can’t have a whole acoustic drum kit standing around here all the time, unfortunately. So when I need a particular drum sound – for instance a snare – I dedicate a whole day recording only snare sounds for a project I am working on. Like, a lot. I would go through them all and pick out the best ones. I did this all the time for Bicycle Ride.’
Key to the studio recording process are Audient’s iD22 audio interface and ASP880 eight-channel mic preamplifier.
‘I take my time to record the best possible drum sounds. I often get the best results when I play softly and dial in more gain on the ASP880 preamp. The results are always very rounded, crisp and detailed. The ASP880 is like an instrument with its own character. The detail in sound is very important to me, in songs like ‘I Will Be There’ and ‘Love Trip’, you can hear that in the vocal recordings where every breath and detail is captured.
‘Part of the creative process in making a song for me is how I approach the recording process. For me it’s always a lot of fun to have this hands-on experience when I am creating a song. I like gear with its own personality. This is why I enjoy working with the ASP880 and iD22 – they are so hands-on and intuitive.
‘I often go from one instrument to another one: sitting in front of my piano for a few minutes, then moving over to the Arturia Drumbrute to record percussion, then quickly move to the Prophet 08 to record multiple layers of strings, then switching to the iD22 to monitor at different settings, and then switching on the +48V to record more hand percussion with my microphone.
‘I guess I like moving around in my room a lot,’ he considers. ‘I don’t have to think too much what I am doing, I am always more focused what I am recording in terms of composition, rather than thinking about the technical side. It’s very nice that Audient makes these things less complicated.’
Spectrum carried the track ‘Milestones’, which featured in the first episode of the Netflix series, Better Call Saul.
‘Music is very connected to how I feel in life,’ he reflects. ‘It’s nice to have an outlet and it calms me down when I create. The music sometimes comes first, I reflect on that and then I understand why I made it in the first place.
‘My life has changed since my illness, so the music has too,’ he says, describing the whole experience as a very difficult, but happy time. ‘The new album is, therefore, really positive – I think you can hear this in the music. I have more trust in my work now, less fear in creating music that is honest. I can be more honest with myself, which is very important to me.
More: www.audient.com
