Brighton-based Royal Blood – bassist/vocalist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher – are following up their Mercury Prize nomination with a tour of the UK. At front of house is Phil Jones from Output Audio, and on stage is a selection of DPA mics.
‘I didn’t think the d:vote 4099s would survive with the way Ben plays drums,’ Jones says. ‘A couple of times in the summer he pushed the whole drum kit over and I was mildly terrified what I would find when the risers got pushed round. But, fingers crossed, no problems so far. The d:vote 4099s are so small and discreet they just stay out of the way, which is extremely important. They sound very natural; they sound like the drums! . do very minimal EQ work and that’s what we like – natural sound.’
In addition to the d:vote 4099s on snare bottoms and toms, and a DPA d:discreet 4091 on the kick drum, Jones is using a d:facto Vocal Microphone for vocals.
‘The d:facto Vocal Microphone is genius,’ Jones says. ‘Even in a small club, I can get it as loud as most dynamic mics without hideous feedback, and the sound quality and intelligibility is still there. Both the d:facto and the d:vote 4099s sound very natural without having to use any obvious big cuts and boosts. It makes for a far better starting point EQ and processing-wise, as long as your source is good.’
Working with a duo as energetic as Royal Blood, demands a degree of precision of Jones’ work: ‘With only 17 channels to work with, it has to be perfect,’ he agrees. ‘You’re not going to get away with losing the third keyboard or second backing vocal in a mix. If something is slightly off, you’re in big trouble; there’s nowhere for anything to hide. I’m constantly on my toes, but it does leave quite a bit of room for interesting FX and creativity.’
Part of that creative experimentation is the d:discreet 4091 omnidirectional mic on Thatcher’s kick drum: ‘I come from more of a jazz background and for that, it would be amazing,’ Jones says. ‘Outdoors, with lots of sub, and control of the sub especially, it’s brilliant. I get some extra bottom end that I can’t put my finger on and I love it.’
Royal Blood’s autumn tour and subsequent clutch of European dates were thrown into disarray when Kerr caught tonsillitis. However, dates are being rescheduled, and it’s almost easier to find places where they aren’t playing in 2015 than where they are, with a support slot on a North American tour with the Foo Fighters being one of the highlights. And where Royal Blood goes, Jones and his DPA mics follow.
‘All of our DPA microphones were supplied by the company’s UK distributor Sound Network,’ he says. ‘We now fly the mics round the world and use them for everything. We have some very expensive mics, but the results are fantastic and consistency is key. That’s especially true for broadcast when we can’t have total control, but we just turn up, turn it all up, and basically it sounds great.’
More: www.dpamicrophones.com
