06 June 2012

Repeat Fanzine interview (2009)

Ladytron on Their Past, Present & Future...
March 2009

"In 2001, the first fruits of what would become the new electronic-rock movement began to fall. Ladytron's debut, 604, was an integral part of that first strike. A pristine, analogue adventure of sound and substance, the album would go on to influence the genre itself, while the group quietly made a global impact both visually and stylistically. Ladytron's counterbalance of emotional vulnerability and psychological ingenuity – personified by the opposing vocals of Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo – created their own world that had yet to be fully explored". OFFICIAL LADYTRON BIOG EXTRACT

"Ladytron's doom-laden arrangements feel as accomplished as Radiohead jamming with the Pet Shop Boys". BLENDER

Having perfect symmetry, would be an ideal way of describing Ladytron – who formed in Liverpool in the Summer of 1999 and took their name from a Roxy Music song. As aesthetically, with two bombshell femmes, Glaswegian born Helen Marnie and Bulgarian born Mira Aroyo, plus two Liverpudlian hommes, Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu, they are one of the classiest, most refined and razor-sharp union's you'll ever lay eyes on! For whether Ladytron are gracing artwork, music videos or the stage (in post-Apocalyptic, Blade Runner-esque, utilitarian military-style uniforms), their cool, calm and collected composure, savoir faire + iconography, has always been sympathetic to their songs and is nothing short of enamouring!

And that's just for starters, as I haven't even begun to touch on the other important part yet – their crisp, chilly and crystalline electropop, with a dark edge and slick polished sheen. Which has rainfalls of processed / pneumatic beats, 'Teutonic Krautrock' motorik rhythms, sparks of treated effects, programmed loops, spiralling synthetic samples, embers of effulgent guitars and galvanised metallic bass. All incased in a shiny cybernetic shell, with the simmering, sexy and sparkling 'signature' vocals shared between dual singers, Helen and Mira (who also sings in her native tongue).

Automaton and euphonious voices that are complete opposites, yet as if by magic, gel seamlessly together. Be it Helen's sweet velvety purr, gliding and caressing your ears with ghostly emotion, or Mira's vampish exotic tones, writhing with icy-detachment and dripping with sensuousness. Perhaps this is because every single word and every single breath, is bolted to luxurious and immaculate songs that sound like they've fallen from the sky. Which when allied with the group's enigmatic / oblique lyrics, could be summarised as an alchemic extraction of beauty from technology – or what Mira once spiritedly coined as, "Electro with a fist!".

At its core then, Ladytron's clean, smart, methodical and streamlined retro-futuristic music, cuts both a resplendent and wistful path, and is fundamentally programmed electronica with a human touch, that's festooned with blips + bleeps and emanates a wintry wonder, clandestine romance and vitality, rocketed by the band's zeal and commitment to craftsmanship. Four tantalizing albums are currently available for your delectation – 604 (2001), Light & Magic (2002), Witching Hour (2005) and Velocifero (2008), along with one DJ mix compilation, Softcore Jukebox (2003). Sterling bodies of work, whose spectrum of sound, elegant precision and vapour trails, will quicken your pulse, evoke shivers of pleasure and enrich your life!

So far, each consecutive release hasn't merely been a continuation of the previous LP, it has been a quantum leap record that's raised the bar, with the group swiftly progressing and growing by "focusing on a balance between pop structures and digitally-edited analogue electronic sound, with experimental leanings". Which at this moment in time, has blossomed into a much fleshier, full-blooded, souped-up and robust whole, that's firing on all cylinders! Adding to this eclectic nature and multifarious output, is the fact that each band member now brings his or her own individual musical piquancy to the table; "We've gotten to know each other's strengths a lot better", Mira once reflected on Ladytron's pool of talent and their close, co-operative relationship.

In this sense, with arrangements, instrumentation, complex circuitry, musical compounds and detail to the Nth degree, that can be pored over, Ladytron can rightly be classed as maestros, scrupulous technicians, modern architects and premier purveyors of glacial sonic washes – the "heavyweight template" or omnipresent bedrock of their sound. As they persistently squeeze phenomenal and innovative creative juices from their hearts and minds. In turn, transferring their inspiration / ideas to synthesisers and producing coruscating tracks, that provide vantage points from which to see how far they could possibly go! And on repeated listens, individually disrobe their multi-layered splendour along with a collision of nifty noises that will leave you smitten. A fact not lost on other musicians or club promoters, as exclusive Ladytron remixes and DJ sets are highly-coveted!

Thankfully, the group's latest long player, Velocifero, has been their most successful to date – helping elevate their status by delighting the faithful and crucially, picking up new fans. And after taking a well-deserved break following the completion of their lengthy 2008 tour + writing songs with Christina Aguilera at her LA home, for the diva's forthcoming album. Helen has very kindly filled in an Exclusive Questionnaire for R*E*P*E*A*T, as Ladytron prepare for a new 3 month tour of the USA and Europe – where they will also be supporting the legendary Depeche Mode on some dates! They have even been personally invited by Brian Eno (one of their biggest musical heroes) to perform at the Sydney Opera House in June, as part of his curation there!

So, by continuing to fuse intrigue with accessibility, many more people are now beginning to wake up to the sound of Ladytron, discovering that they are utterly beguiling and endlessly fascinating, with music that lingers long past listening. And as a meritorious band who need to be seen, heard + felt, and who have their own vision of success, I predict that Planet Earth will soon be witnessing the rise of the robots...

Growing up, what was your biggest source for discovering new music, and can you remember the first press coverage, radio airplay or TV exposure that Ladytron ever had?

I was a regular Top of the Pops and Chart Show viewer, so I guess that's where I found different types of music. I think the first coverage we got, was when John Peel played "He Took Her to a Movie" on his Radio 1 show. And then following that, we got 'Single of the Week' in the NME.

You have long had an extremely devoted / cult following throughout Europe, but why do you think Europeans have always been so drawn to subcultures / dark electro, rock and gothic music?

It's strange how particular pockets across the world just seem to 'get' our music. As well as in Europe, we've also always done really well in the US, along with South and Central America. It's a surprise when you go somewhere for the first time and find a fanbase that has been waiting years for you to come and play. It feels good, but the reason for it – I don't know? Perhaps they just appreciate good music and don't want to conform to the norm.

Continuing with this train of thought, Johnny Marr recently gave a lecture at The University of Salford, where he argued that "Outsiders are the lifeblood of The Music Industry, but too often overlooked". What are your feelings on this?

It's true. 'Outsiders' inspire others to do things, but often don't get the success that they deserve. It's not always the case, but it does happen often. It's like the whole surge in the mainstream at the moment for electro / synth tracks. Everyone has resorted to it, and bigger artists are heavily influenced by bands that may never break through. It's just the way things go. Always will be.

What has been the best thing that someone has ever said about Ladytron?

In China, a journalist asked myself and Mira, "Why we looked like men?" It was funny. The girl was sweet, but just got her words mixed up... I assume.

As a primarily electronic-based group, of all the beats, effects, loops, samples, textures etc. in your songs, which have been the most rewarding to create?

I think every song is rewarding in some way, and when you hear them all come together as an album, then it all makes sense. We don't have a formula for songwriting, it changes from track to track. Sometimes it starts with a lyric, other times a melody or riff. "Predict the Day", from Velocifero, started with a whistle and grew from there.

Has the way you worked changed over the years?

The main thing that's changed over the years, is that we are all writing now. When we first came together, Danny had already written the whole of the first album. It's more equal now and more diverse too, because we're all contributing. We all have studios at home and usually we individually construct a track, then pass it on for someone else to add to.

Would you ever consider stripping away some of the electronica in your music, in order to create more acoustic, organic and pastoral songs, similar to what Goldfrapp did with their Seventh Tree album?

I would never say never – as long as it was a natural progression. I wouldn't want to create anything that was contrived. I really like the way Bat For Lashes has melded her folk-like tones with electro.

The Pet Shop Boys deservedly received ‘The Outstanding Contribution to Music' prize at The 2009 Brit Awards, but who for you, would also be worthy of such an accolade and why?

As a kid, I loved Michael Jackson and Madonna. I think they've both done enough to be worthy. Madonna's new stuff might not be what I want to listen to, but at least she has the ability to change.

You seem to have a very strong sense of self, and have clearly taken great care and consideration over the band's style and artwork. Is this important to you?

It is important, because people will take one look at you and judge you. So it's important you get it right, or at least show how you want to be perceived. We're all interested in design – Reuben previously was a product designer and Danny did a lot of graphic design – so it was natural for us to take an interest in our own artwork.

Your live shows are both cherished and celebrated for their all-encompassing nature, but what type of experience do you hope that you give to your audience?

Audiences differ a lot – it depends where you are and what night it is. We mostly get a lot of happy faces and dancers, but occasionally, we get starers. I'm unsure why they need to stare at us, expressionless. I would hope that people go away from our gigs wanting more and wanting to relive the whole experience all over again. We like to mix up the gig as much as possible to include songs from all 4 albums. It's difficult though to please everyone, without doing an Elton John length gig.

And if you had an unlimited budget, what would be your dream stage set-up?

Lights are the most important part of the stage set-up, so if our budget was bottomless, then I'd fill the stage with all sorts of bulbs and an interactive map as a background. It's a crowd pleaser!

What have been some of your personal highlights / defining moments, during your career so far?

There have been quite a few highs with Ladytron. Just touring the US for the first time was pretty amazing to me. Going to South America, to Brazil or Columbia – where the record isn't even out – and playing to a crowd of over 3,000 people is quite a shock.

When you do have some free time to yourself, how do you like to spend it?

Time is precious, that I know. When I'm home, I like to just settle in – see friends, family, my dog, my boyfriend… but not in that order. I've recently taken up the rock 'n' roll art of Knitting and I'm also into sewing and fashion design.

If you were asked to look after 'Later… with Jools Holland' for 1 week, as well as featuring Ladytron in the line-up, which other 5 acts / bands (a mix of new + old) would you book to appear on the programme?

Bat For Lashes
Kate Bush
Phosphorescent
Fairport Convention
MGMT

Lastly, chips or cream buns?

Most definitely chips.

Source

04 June 2012

Ladytron - Montreal, 2011



Format: MP4, 1280x720
Size: 1.1 GB
Source: audience recording

Content:
01. Soft Power
02. International Dateline
03. Mirage
04. Ghosts
05. High Rise
06. True Mathematics
07. White Gold
08. Runaway
09. Ace of Hz
10. Little Black Angel
11. Discotraxx
12. Fighting in Built Up Areas
13. Seventeen
14. White Elephant
15. Destroy Everything You Touch

Download: part 1 | part 2

30 May 2012

The Skinny interview (2011)

With their fifth album on the neon horizon, Ladytron show no signs of putting their feet up. Singer Helen Marnie takes time out to talk "electro music with heart".

Hitting the ten year mark and still sounding innovative and forward thinking is no small achievement in the electro pop world. Whilst many of their contemporaries faded from sight or became niche concerns, Ladytron spent the last decade channeling their underground sound into wider exposure on their own dime.

With that period crystallized in their recent Best Of, the Liverpool-based quartet have put a line underneath their past. With fifth album Gravity the Seducer promising a new direction, it seemed a good time to check in with singer Helen Marnie.

Congratulations on reaching your tenth birthday as Ladytron. Do you feel like veterans?

I wouldn't say we feel like 'veterans', more like a bunch of kids trying to figure out what works for us. We've learnt a lot over the years though and I think this has attributed to our longevity. We've been very lucky really. Luck, hard work and hard touring have made us the Ladytron we are today.

What made you want to take stock of your first decade with the recent Best Of album?

After ten years it felt like we had the right to put out a package that encapsulated us. [We wanted] a brief history of the 'Tron, so any newcomer could pick up the album and know exactly where we came from, and where we're going.

Can you remember there being a point where everything clicked into place and you knew Ladytron were going to have legs?

I'd say the turning point was when we all left our 'proper' jobs. When I was younger I was more into risks like that, so it wasn't a big deal. Witching Hour was probably the album that changed us. It was like a coming of age, we were all writing, coming up with ideas, and I think it presents like that. It was received well and because of that, a massive whirlwind of touring followed. Looking back it was kind of nuts!

Your electroclash sound, if you will, is considered fair game for pop music these days. Does this feel vindicating or just depressing?

Neither really. The mainstream always catches on soon enough, so no surprises really.

Are you able to see a more genuine influence in anyone popping up these days?

It's weird to name people that may or may not be influenced by you. Who knows where peoples' inspiration comes from? I've enjoyed the last two records of both MGMT and Yeasayer. I think they're flying the flag for electro music with heart.

Is it difficult to remain 'forward-thinking' after four albums?

What's difficult is deciding which tracks make it on the album as we always have too much material. With Gravity the Seducer our approach was pretty easy. We'd all been writing, plus we'd had over a year off from touring which really made a difference and cleared our heads. We were all excited to just get back in the studio and hear the new tracks coming together.

It was recorded, I'm faithfully told, in the English countryside. This seems rather incongruous to the Ladytron aesthetic. Can we expect something of a curveball in September?

It sure was, in Kent, the Garden of England. It was great. In-between takes I could go outside and feed the horses in the field. I think people will be surprised by Gravity. It isn't like our other albums. It sounds warm, lush, full of strings, organs and bells. It won't please everyone, you never can, but we're all pretty happy with it.

You originally lived in Glasgow. Will your gig at the Arches be something of a homecoming and how are Scottish audiences in general?

I love coming home to Scotland. I'm hoping to move back permanently. Like they say 'you can take the girl out of Scotland, but you can't take Scotland out of the girl'. The gigs have always been great north of the border. Glasgow audiences always show us a good time. Here's to June 9th!

Source

29 May 2012

21 April 2012

Electronic Musician interview (2008)

Unknown to the world at large or even his bandmates in Ladytron, Daniel Hunt has a brand new theory about The Beatles. "They were the Internet of the 1960s", keyboardist/guitarist/producer Hunt says. "There's so much information available now that music is one of the few forms of communications that is actually pretty direct. You can have one important album that reaches an enormous amount of people, probably more than any news broadcast. Back then, The Beatles could release an album to a wider audience than any other form of media. There were no global news networks, so one of the most globally pervasive forms of media was The Beatles".

Vocalist/keyboardist Helen Marnie and keyboardist/programmer Reuben Wu seem surprised to hear this revelation — apparently they had no idea that such a concept has been forming in their collaborator's mind. Co-lead vocalist/keyboardist Mira Aroyo is not with them here in the multimirrored basement bar of a Manhattan hotel; instead, she's recovering from a broken leg suffered on a European ski slope. She'll have to learn about Hunt's Fab Four concept at a later date.

Forty years or so later, Ladytron has unassumingly asserted itself as another Liverpool foursome to be reckoned with. Their fourth album, 2008's Velocifero (Nettwerk), fires a fresh salvo into the broodingly energetic atmosphere of electronic music that they alone seem to occupy. The 13-song collection has all the signatures of Ladytron, which start first and foremost with Aroyo and Marnie's unmistakable vocal arrangements — tense, soaring, beautiful, cold and expressive. The simple danceable beats are tough without being overpowering, almost always wrapped around a grain of distortion. On the new disc, art and science combine in the multilayered analog synth lines, a pallet of mechanical organic sounds mixing increasingly with the precision of soft synths.


Code of the road

Life has been a positive blur for Ladytron throughout the current decade. Their 2001 debut, 604, and 2002 follow-up, Light & Magic (both on Emperor Norton), caught the attention of an audience struck by the group's analog-heavy style of storytelling, as well as their unique visual style. In 2005, the album known as Witching Hour (Rykodisc) combined indie-rock bite with the sawtooths of their Korg MS-20s, and propelled them on a road trip that technically never had to end, based on the Ladytron cult that grew around songs like "Destroy Everything You Touch", "International Dateline" and "High Rise".

"We toured for ages", Hunt says. "We started in mid-2005, and if you include when we went to China, it was more like three years. We could have carried on that way forever. We had to finally just say, 'No'".

"Once you get into the swing of playing live, you stop being in a musical state of mind about the record that you're playing onstage", Wu adds. "And it becomes an incubation period for the next record".

"It's not as if you're on the road writing", Hunt says.

"Some bands do", Marnie interjects. "But maybe what they write...".

"...songs about being on tour?" Hunt concludes for her. "I prefer to wait until you get home and get some energy to go and write somewhere else".

Ladytron took maximum advantage of any breaks in the hectic schedule, with each member putting together demos of their own songs while at home, typically using Steinberg Cubase SX running on laptops, along with Native Instruments soft synths and analog instruments recorded directly into the computer. As in the past, the band remains steadfast in their right to use the DAW that they believe is best for them. "People are always saying, 'Use Pro Tools, use Logic'", Hunt says. "Why? Is it better? We've had no problems; we know how to use it. We get results very quickly, and there's no use changing. Pro Tools is a necessity when there's a rig in the studio, but in that case you just get a good engineer".

As a result of their abundant-yet-homeless existence, it was inevitable that infinitely portable soft synths would play a larger songwriting role for Ladytron. For many electronic bands this would not be particularly noteworthy, but it is for a group that made its mark via its commitment to analog synth legends such as the ARP 2600, Solina String synthesizer, Harmonium (with Leslie amp) and Korg MS-10 and MS-20.

"I just think you have to be realistic about it", Hunt states. "If you're traveling a lot and using a laptop to make music, you need soft synths. Soft synths would be of little use to us live, but they're indispensable in the recording process. They sound increasingly good now, and we always combine that with live instruments. But it's not just for tradition's sake: There are things you get from an MS-20 that you couldn't get out of anything else".

"The act of playing an MS-20 in the studio is different from sequencing by putting boxes onto grids", Wu says. "It's not as perfect, but you can hear the groove".

"People are building analog-style instability into soft synths now, but it's a different kind", Hunt adds. "I like the way its converged there. Some people are hardcore about software and say hardware is dead, while other people are ultra-fascistic about the hardware and say that software can't replicate it. I think we're somewhere in between".


Into the fire

Armed with a treasure trove of skeletal demos, the foursome of Ladytron officially concluded Witching Hour touring on 29 September 2007. Their breather would last exactly 96 hours, as the group dove into the studio to sift through two albums' worth of material to begin creating Velocifero, a name that quite appropriately translates to mean "Bringer of Speed".

According to Hunt, the quick return to recording came from an even combination of outside pressure to release a new album and their own eagerness to create. "We toured longer than we expected, and we knew we had to get the record out and keep things moving", he says. "It would have been easy enough to have a break, but it's now four years ago since we recorded Witching Hour. We made this album, and when we get a chance, we're going to record another one pretty quickly — we've basically got another album in reserve with a different feel".

While Witching Hour was recorded in a Liverpool studio with producer Jim Abbiss, the seeds of Velocifero would be sown across the Channel in France. Before hard drives could get spinning for real, however, first came a brief misstep in a record company's in-house studio. The lighting was shot, the air conditioning was running hot, and despite the laid-back nature of Ladytron, the facility was graded unacceptable.

"I had to say, 'I'm sorry, I can't record here'", Marnie recalls. "It was just like a hole. We spent a day in there and said, 'Look, this is a bad idea'. Then we went to The Garage, and it was perfect. The lighting was good".


A spacious garage

In Paris, a little studio called The Garage served as the headquarters for tracking a large proportion of the vocals, as well as the creation of additional demo tracks. What followed from there would be a near nonstop amalgam of writing, recording and mixing, with the band continuing to generate new songs in bursts even as final mixes were being put to bed late in the game. The next stop for this amorphous process was the Parisian Studio de la Grande Armée.

"This place is very old-school", Hunt says. "It was built in 1978. It's modern now with a big SSL room, but the stuff that had been recorded there is pretty funny: Jagger's solo stuff from the '80s, Tina Turner, Murray Head, Duran Duran's Rio, Bryan Adams' Waking Up the Neighbors, OMD — loads of stuff. It was nice and expensive, spacious and comfortable with free Internet — it made us feel important!"

But seriously. "It was vibe-y", Hunt concedes. "This place has got a pedigree, and the plan was to mix there. But when we got there we realized we had loads more to do, and it became a tracking place as well as a mixing place. We planned just to mix what we had, but when we arrived, Helen had gone to Australia and had an operation [on her throat], so we said, 'Let's keep layering'".

Velocifero's opener, "Black Cat", is just one example of the multilayered approach that makes the album stand up to repeated listenings. Extra-crispy bass, perky-dark electric piano pop hooks and Aroyo singing quite seriously in her native Bulgarian set the tone for much of what follows on the disc. "'Black Cat' is a mixture of analog synths, soft synths, a real Korg MS-10 doubled up quite a few times and filtered through some of the custom modules that [mixer] Michael Patterson had", Wu explains. "It also has some xylophone, and the incessant thing is Rhodes".

The in-your-face beat, programmed in the Native Instruments Battery software drum sampler, propels the track relentlessly forward. Lightly infused with a nasty dose of distortion, a close listen to the Ladytron programmers' work reveals subtly effective tricks such as slightly truncated snare samples on the fills — a touch that adds to the rush without technically affecting the tempo.

"Battery is so tweakable", Wu notes. "You can load your own samples. But the main thing is that it's easy to use".

"But it feels like a drum machine as well", Hunt adds. "It's not literally represented like a drum machine, but in terms of what is represented onscreen, it's very logical. I like that you have easy access to the bit depth to nasty things up. The control over the samples is so clear".


Voices carry

Of course, not every sound that shows up on a Ladytron album requires electrical juice to run, like those hauntingly unforgettable vocals by Aroyo and Marnie, for instance. On "I'm Not Scared" there are ooos and ahs that flit to the left and the right around Marnie's arrow-sharp lead; on "Runaway", she pierces through a heavy landscape of growling synth stabs, echoes of her voice peeling away like feathers floating rhythmically out into the air; "Ghosts" confounds as she intones throughout the chorus, "There's a ghost in me who wants to say I'm sorry/Doesn't mean I'm sorry".

Despite their reputation for studio wizardry, the members of Ladytron go blank when asked about the science of capturing vocals — no dissertations on microphones, mic preamps or the proper compressor ratio settings here. Instead, they're content to let the engineer set things up for the art to follow. "We've got two vocalists in Mira and me, and we play off the differences between us", Marnie says. "That way we have another level — my vocal doesn't need to be on the track. When I'm recording at home, I'll use a Shure mic, but when we go out to the studio, it's a variety of microphones".

"Champagne helps for recording a good vocal track", she says, "but you can have a glass too much, and it does go over the edge! [Laughs.] It's important that we're in the right place: The Garage was a good place to record because I felt quite relaxed. It's got the right atmosphere".

"The vocals are what make it sound like Ladytron, honestly", Hunt observes. "Just listen to the difference between ‘Versus'' [the album closer which sees Hunt joining Aroyo and Marnie on vocals] and 'I'm Not Scared', musically. The thing that makes it Ladytron is the voice".

Ladytron also has been known to interact with a real live drum set. The Witching Hour tour saw them traveling with drummer Keith York (as well as bassist Andrea Goldsworthy), and the Velocifero sessions were supplemented by Seba, skinsman for the band Panico. "He came in and laid down a load of tracks", Hunt says. "We sat him there for three hours and said, ‘Go for it'. He's a fan of the band, and we got him to do stuff like Stewart Copeland; that was the catch phrase. He improvised at the end of 'They Gave You a Heart, They Gave You a Name', and the hats on 'Tomorrow', which is very subtle".


No shirt, no shoes, no producer

Although their friends Vicarious Bliss (Ed Banger Records) and Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails) are credited with assisting in the production of the album, the members of Ladytron themselves are the official producers on Velocifero.

"We might have needed a producer on the last album, but we don't need one anymore", Wu says. "Jim Abbiss taught us a hell of a lot on the last album, but the important thing is to work with a really good engineer and mixer. The kind of band we are is we're producers. We're producers from the beginning, although we collaborated a lot with Alessandro Cortini and Vicarious Bliss, and they got production credits".

"This is obvious these days, but everyone produces themselves anyway", Wu continues. "That's what we've done all along, but we've hit a level where you think, 'We'll have to bring a producer in'. But unless they really understand the band, what are they going to bring to it? They're not going to understand it better than you do".

Ladytron acknowledges that they learned at least two important things from Abbiss' efforts on Witching Hour. 1) How to drink vodka gimlets, and 2) the fine art of layering. "Whenever you think you've got enough, you need more!" Hunt says. "You have a lot of frequencies, but make sure they're not doing the same thing. An experienced producer told us that he really liked our first album because it sounded minimalist to them; it's only got four sounds on it, but that's because we didn't have any other sounds".

"I think it's a perception of putting on more layers and giving the impression that there aren't any more layers", Wu explains. "It's a thick sound and a lot of space. The way that 'Runaway' was built up was the product of experience: there's layers of EBow and drones using delays, building vocal textures with delays, recording synth sounds twice and panning them left and right, generally fattening things up like that. Even though we're putting on a lot more layers now, we don't want it to be too much".

"It depends what the layers are; it has to be good stuff", Hunt reasons. "With drones, for example, you play a flat line with a mono synth and a lot of modulation on it, then double it with an EBow, then double it with another keyboard, it's going to sound better if those are the ingredients. It's when people apply it without any taste that you have a problem. So it's really not about how many layers; it's about the right layers".


In pairs

Seven years into a career that hasn't gone the way anybody could have predicted — least of all Ladytron — the band has reached a happy stage where they find they're not just layering tracks, they're layering albums.

"I felt Witching Hour was like a coming-of-age album", Wu muses. "At that point it was the best album that we'd done so far, and basically lots of different factors came together, and we've now created this work that we're really happy with. I see that as a foundation, a whole new set of opportunities to broaden our range again".

"I think it might be that this record was easier to make", Hunt concludes. "It felt like we knew what we were doing a lot. It gets easier each time, but Velocifero also feels like our second album, in a way. The first two albums make a pair, and these two do".


Velocifero: built for speed

Computer, DAW, recording hardware
Apple MacBook Pro 2.16 GHz running Logic Pro 8 (in Alessandro Cortini's studio)
Digidesign Control|24 console (courtesy of Vicarious Bliss)
Digidesign Pro Tools software
Steinberg Cubase SX software

Synths, soft synths, instruments
Analogue Systems French Connection synth
ARP 2600 modular synth, Solina String Synthesizer
Buchla 200e synth
EBow electronic guitar bow
Farfisa organ
Fender Rhodes
JoMoX SunSyn synth
Korg MS-10, MS-20, Delta synths
Moog Minimoog, Voyager synths
Native Instruments Battery software drum sampler, Guitar Rig software, Komplete software bundle
Ovation Breadwinner guitar (with EBow)
Roland MKS-80, SH-09, SH-2 and Juno-6 synths
Phantom 6-string guitar, bass guitar
Sequential Circuits Pro-One synth
Sequential Circuits Prophet VS (courtesy of Daft Punk)
Live drum kit

Mics, mic preamps, EQs, compressors, effects/plug-ins
API 2500 stereo compressor
Crane Song HEDD signal processor (for synth parts)
Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synthesizer effects unit
Neumann TLM 103 mic
Roland RE-201 Space Echo tape echo
Shadow Hills GAMA preamp, The Equinox preamp/summing mixer
Shure SM7 mic (for background vocals)
SoundToys EchoBoy plug-in
Tonelux MP1a preamp, EQ4P EQ and TXC compressor
URS Classic Console Strip Pro plug-in
Various effects pedal combinations

Monitors
Genelec 1031s (courtesy of Vicarious Bliss)
Genelec 8030s

Source

18 April 2012

Korg interview

Interview with Daniel Hunt of Ladytron

Most musicians would never admittedly claim their own musical imperfections, but Daniel Hunt of Ladytron feels comfortable with playing what he hears and not what he knows. "I'm no virtuoso on any instrument. I play each instrument my own way. I have zero knowledge of theory, and I have my own names for chords. My music teachers would be turning in their graves", says the multi-instrumentalist and driving force of the band. However, take a listen to any of Ladytron's three full-length albums, or watch as they perform to packed houses worldwide, and a sense of disbelief may cross your mind concerning Daniel's previous statement. Their unique blend of synth-driven, minor-sounding pop evokes the spirit of northern soul and '80s new wave with a modern sensibility catchy enough to acquire fans from any and all age ranges and cultures.

The basis of Ladytron's danceable soundscape revolves around the group's four Korg MS2000B synthesizers. Every member of the group, Reuben, Mira, Helen and Daniel, have their own MS2000B with a name of their choosing written on the back. "We named them to make sound checks easier, not as any kind of statement. Though the interpretations of the names so far have been hilarious", Hunt confesses. Daniel named his "Ulysses", Mira's is "Babylon", Reuben's is "Gloria", and Helen's is called "Cleopatra!"

Ladytron have a passionate preference for vintage analog synths and Daniel says, "It helps that the MS2000B is part of the lineage from the MS10 and MS20 we love so much". A consequence of that love is the abuse brought on from constant travel and use. "Taking the old gear on a world tour eventually costs a fortune in repairs and needless nightmares. It can't take the stresses of every flight and knock". Happily, Daniel is confident in the quality of the newer MS line. Hunt praises, "We got the MS2000Bs because we needed a reliable keyboard to use live that could do all we needed to do. The MS2000Bs haven't let us down".

Along with Ladytron's MS10s, MS20s, and MS2000Bs are many other Korg products in their arsenal, including a Korg Delta, an Electribe•R, and a MonoPoly. And they don't plan on stopping there, as Daniel confirms, "We're about to get a Legacy to play with and to use as a backup".

While Daniel confesses that he had the majority of the first record written before the band's conception, it is now the case that everybody in Ladytron writes. Each member comes from a different mindset, and even different parts of the world. They all met up in Liverpool, England where their personalities and talents meshed together to create one unifying sound and identity. Ladytron are very conscious that they are a single entity and have their collective hand in almost all aspects of the group's image. From their artwork, which early on was done completely by the band, to their style of dress, which has changed from album to album to include military uniforms and futuristic, gothic get-ups. Ladytron works like a well-oiled machine, making constant progress and keeping ahead of the times.

Unlike many of their "electro" contemporaries, who borrow from the great songwriters of the past, Ladytron creates all of their tracks through the use of their instruments. They produce a sonic array of sounds ranging from hard bass-driven beats, to beautiful melodies, to extremely haunting, spacey tones. This, combined with the sensual female vocal stylings of Mira and Helen, creates a rare atmosphere within each of their songs.

Ladytron's latest album, Witching Hour, is their first on a major label. Two previous releases were put out by smaller independents, along with countless EPs and remixes. Daniel made the ultimate goal of the band clear, when he proclaimed it was, "To have an effect, to leave our mark, and to influence others", which in the minds of many they already have.

Source