This weekly music guide is brought to you in partnership with PPL PRS Ltd. Big thanks for their ongoing support of local acts and venues.
Stay in the know and be the first in line. Every week.
Diary Dates
The Milk Men – Saturday 8 June
The Musician
The Milk Men is a band made up from the cream of British R’n’B talent and pedigree, bringing together members of legendary R’n’B band The Pirates, and British Blues Award nominated The Mustangs, The Milk Men have been tearing up venues all over the uk with their dynamic, white hot versions of classic R’n’B and blues tunes, alongside unforgettable originals.
Cavalera – Wednesday 12 June
O2 Academy
Brazilian thrash metal from members of Sepultura, Soulfly and Gojira. Featuring Max Cavalera (vocals and guitar), Igor Cavalera (drums), Marc Rizzo (guitar) and Joe Duplantier (bass).
FuFu Sailors – Friday 14 June
The Donkey
FuFu Sailors are a well established covers band based in Leicester and known for crowd pleasing performances, party songs and awesome covers.
Threaded – Sunday 30 June
The Musician
With the unique instrumental line up of clarinet, violin and guitar, Birmingham based Threaded creates a distinctive sound like you’ve never heard before. With a classically trained background but a love for folk and acoustic music, this young and inspired trio wanted to combine their passions into one musical experience. Featuring beautiful melodic lines, combined with stylistic harmonies, atmospheric counter melodies and carefully crafted riffs, the balance between these three musicians is stunning.
The Hunna – Wednesday 3 July
O2 Academy Leicester
Hertfordshire four-piece, The Hunna, have become one of indie rock’s brightest lights. With obvious influences from the likes of Kings Of Leon and Foals, they deliver frantically-paced, guitar-driven anthems with a dramatic statement of intent.
••••
INTERVIEW: Catching up with Adam from Deadline Studios
Spending time in the studio can be a huge highlight for many recording artists, but what makes a great track and how can a studio ensure you get the best possible end result? Deadline Studios in Aylestone has been a key part of Leicester’s recording scene and they’ve welcomed local stars from Englebert to Sam Bailey, as well as hosting Mark Morris from The Bluetones when he was in Leicester.
We caught up with owner, Adam Ellis, to find out more about the studio.
What has been your highlight since running the studio?
There have been many great sessions over the years. The 160 member choir session at Abbey Road Studio 1 certainly stands out. All singing parts I’d arranged and sung myself on the demo. The session with Englebert was special of course. Such a masterful vocal delivery and phrasing. The sessions with Sam Bailey, Mark Morris (Bluestones) and Sally Barker were very rewarding too. Great singers and some great songs. I also have fond memories of the sessions in which I put on my musician’s hat and get to play and sing on other people’s records. Lovely to get the chance to be creative and help shape the songs from the ground up.
For anyone looking to get into this what is your advice?
The industry has certainly evolved over the years. It’s much more possible to afford a good quality home set up. Becoming fluent with the software helps workflow and developing a broad musical knowledge can be useful when assisting artists with their projects. Apprenticeships and work experience in existing studios is always a good start in terms of understanding the working practices required. And recording friends and your own music is a good way to practice and improve your techniques.
What made you want to start the studio?
I started writing songs in my mid to late teens and was lucky enough to sign a record deal towards the end of the nineties. I’d always recorded my own demos and after touring and recording in several large studios I developed a good grounding in recording and production techniques. I expanded my kit and the demos I was recording were becoming more like records. It seemed the next logical step to move into the studio engineer role more permanently. I’ve always loved the sonic side of records. The drum sound, the depth and width and sense of space that can be achieved. A great organ tone, an extensive synth or reverb effect.
What has been the favourite song you recorded?
Difficult question! There have been loads of great songs over the 23 years I’ve been running the studio. Some of Kevin Hewick’s left field epics, Diesel Park West aren’t without a few cracking tunes to say the least, and bands like Dead Slow, Dijenik and The Screening have some perfectly crafted songs. For now I’ll say There’s A Grace by Diesel Park West although that will change tomorrow.
What is main advice for local acts looking to make their first recording?
Good preparation will certainly help with your first session. Get your instruments set up nicely with fresh strings etc. Practice the songs and try to look in detail at the individual parts so you have a good grasp of what you’ll play in the session. Can the parts be improved or is there too much going on? Listen to the other band members. Have a good think about production style, maybe considering drum sound, guitar tones, effects, keyboard layers etc that you might want to aim for. Coming with a reference in mind for these things can really be a useful guide for the engineer to know what to shoot for.
What makes a track stand out?
For me there is no substitute for a great melody. It’s usually a memorable emotive melody against a good chord progression which sells me on a song. Impressive sonics and production will certainly get people’s attention but without a strong hook they are unlikely to remember the song. If the core of the song sets your creative juices flowing the rest can come together naturally. Much harder to think of great parts to add if the initial idea is lacking.
You can keep up to date with news from Deadline Studios by following them on Facebook. You can also find out more via their website. Or email them at [email protected] to book studio time.
Deadline Studios is based in Aylestone, LE2.
PLAYLIST
In this week’s playlist you can check out some of the acts who will be performing live in Leicester over the coming weeks. Find someone new and buy some tickets.
