Formerly the bass player with US rockers Static-X, Andy The Kid recently announced his first solo tour with a new approach to stage monitoring. Touring to promote his new album, Linchpin, he is using an Allen & Heath Qu-Pac digital mixer.
‘With Static-X, we didn’t have the budget to send a big monitoring rig to other countries,’ he says. ‘The weight and size of the equipment made it a huge barrier for us to get overseas. However, Qu-Pac allows me to go anywhere on the planet because of how compact it is. It makes a world of difference.’
Andy The Kid – ATK – doesn’t intend to take backline amplification on the road because he will be running instruments directly into the desk: ‘The Qu-Pac has made all of these touring opportunities a lot more realistic and affordable. I am really excited about it,’ he says.
Not only does he like the compact desk/rackmount format, but he is also pleased with the onboard effects and operation: ‘Allen & Heath has a really nice stored library of onboard effects. I don’t have to mess with the compression on the bass,’ he says. ‘It is extremely user-friendly – you don’t have to have a degree from the Musicians Institute or 50 years of touring experience to be able to operate this digital mixer. That’s huge to me,’ he says.
ATK says that wants Linchpin to be a tribute to his former band mate Wayne Static: ‘Wayne’s passing last year was a tragedy and it hit everybody really hard. I’m hoping to honour him through this project.’
More: www.allen-heath.com
