Synth-obsessed Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele, aka Soulwax, join us for our final episode of Season 3. As well as making music as Soulwax, their 2manydjs mashups and mixes have become legendary and last year their remix of Marie Davidson’s 'Work It' was nominated for a Grammy. How will these collector-level super-hoarders of vintage synths fare with only six gear picks? Find out in this episode which fantasy synth they forgot they owned and how they plan to subvert our rules with robots – and crime.
Synth-obsessed Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele, aka Soulwax, join us for our final episode of Season 3. As well as making music as Soulwax, their 2manydjs mashups and mixes have become legendary and last year their remix of Marie Davidson’s 'Work It' was nominated for a Grammy. How will these collector-level super-hoarders of vintage synths fare with only six gear picks?
Find out in this episode which fantasy synth they forgot they owned and how they plan to subvert our rules with robots – and crime.
Season 3 is sponsored by EVO by Audient: https://evo.audio/
STUFF WE TALK ABOUT (SPOILERS!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulwax
https://www.musictech.net/features/interviews/soulwax-studio-ems-synthi-100/
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/mac-pro/rack#
http://www.wunderaudio.com/consoles/
https://soniccircus.com/product/neve-bbc-console/
https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=27258
http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/sys700.php
http://www.vintagesynth.com/sci/stk.php
https://burlaudio.com/products/b80-mothership
http://www.vintagesynth.com/sci/drumtrx.php
https://global.honda/innovation/robotics.html
Chris Barker:
I'm Chris Barker.
Will Betts:
And I'm Will Betts, and this is The MusicTech My Forever Studio podcast.
Chris Barker:
In this podcast, we speak with producers, engineers, DJs, and industry figureheads about their fantasy Forever Studio.
Will Betts:
It's a studio that our guests will have to live with forever, and even in fantasy Forever land, we actually have some serious, serious rules.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, so let me talk you through these rules. Our guests will first select a computer, a DAW, and an audio interface, those are freebies, then they will be able to only choose six other bits of studio gear plus one non-studio kit related luxury item.
Will Betts:
But Chris, there is one more rule, isn't there?
Chris Barker:
Yep. I think by now, it's the end of the series, it's a stone-cold classic we're all aware of, it's no bundles! There it is. Yes, choosing a package of separate software or hardware as a single item from the six choices is not permitted.
Will Betts:
Today, we have the incredible synth bingeing Belgian brothers of David and Stephen Dewaele, otherwise known as Soulwax.
Chris Barker:
Their 2manyDJs mixes have become legendary, and last year their remix of Marie Davidson's Work It was nominated for a Grammy. It's also worth noting, if you've seen any of our interviews with Soulwax before, you'll know they're collector level super hoarders of vintage synths and studio gear.
Will Betts:
Yes, it's quite the synth stash. Let's see if they can still have fun in a six-item studio.
Chris Barker:
Yep, let's do this. This is My Forever Studio with Soulwax. Welcome, guys.
Will Betts:
Welcome.
David Dewaele:
Hi, hi. Thank you for having us.
Stephen Dewaele:
Hello, hi.
Chris Barker:
Thank you for putting up with my big, long intro.
Stephen Dewaele:
It's like a challenge. It's like, "Ah!"
Chris Barker:
If you haven't heard the podcast before, there were some rules there. Basically, we're going to talk about your fantasy Forever Studio. Now, most people, this is quite easy and fun because they have no gear, but for you, you have all the gear. It feels like you've already started building your fantasy Forever Studio. What we like to do first at the start of the podcast is ask you where in the world, money no object, fantasy dream, would you put the studio, and what would it look like?
David Dewaele:
I think Tokyo's an obvious one. It's one of those things that we have wanted to do for maybe 20 years, is to do something in Japan or in Tokyo at least for a period of time, and this seems like it would be indefinite, so even better.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it's forever, so yeah, that's important. What's the vibe of the Tokyo studio, and whereabouts in Tokyo? Are you talking sky-rise overlooking views or outskirts? Because we've had Tokyo before, haven't we, Will?
Will Betts:
We have indeed, yeah.
Chris Barker:
A kind of Blade Runner-esque studio vibe.
David Dewaele:
Yeah. No, no, I'm not thinking Blade Runner, I'm thinking just a nice green area. There's parks everywhere, but maybe Yoyogi Park or Nakameguro or something.
Stephen Dewaele:
Dave's like, "Yeah, Yoyogi Park, yeah, but [crosstalk 00:02:56]."
David Dewaele:
I mean, this is completely hypothetical, right?
Will Betts:
Completely hypothetical.
David Dewaele:
It's not like you guys are giving us this at the end of the podcast.
Chris Barker:
No, we are, yeah.
David Dewaele:
Well then yeah, Yoyogi Park, in the middle.
Chris Barker:
Good, good, good, good, yeah, okay.
Stephen Dewaele:
We'll Google Map it to you.
Will Betts:
Perfect.
Chris Barker:
It's fine, Will's on it. When Will goes silent, he's just booking everybody in, it's fine. What's the aesthetic of the studio? I can see behind you now in your studio there, it's wooden and a little bit like classic retro recording studios of the past a little bit.
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah, but it doesn't have to be like this. The premise of all of this is really good, because like you said, we built our studio because we'd been hoarding all this stuff for years, and it was custom made to whatever we wanted. The experience of recording in a studio or producing other people, like we're now in the cellar, there's no windows, there's nothing because we're in Ghent, we're in between buildings. We had to do this, but this idea of if we would have to make, like you guys were asking, a place somewhere else, I think Tokyo because we could also maybe look outside and see what's going on on the outside.
Stephen Dewaele:
Now we're closed in, but this idea of having a window where maybe even people could watch us, I wouldn't mind it. It could even be in a storefront or something.
David Dewaele:
Ooh, I don't know if I would want people to watch us.
Stephen Dewaele:
Dave doesn't want it. We're breaking up, studio differences.
Chris Barker:
It happened here.
Stephen Dewaele:
That's one step too-
Chris Barker:
You could just have the studio split in half where I guess one-
Stephen Dewaele:
I just need my ... Great, Dave's underneath-
Chris Barker:
No windows.
David Dewaele:
Obviously, there are many other places where it would be entirely ... Like Steph says, we've already built the dream studio, and we are here day and night, we have been for more than a year, we've been here stuck. We love being stuck here, but in the context of this exercise of building somewhere else, I said Tokyo because I know we talk about it so often, but it could be anywhere.
Stephen Dewaele:
We always talk about Japan because we would love to record ... You know what? It's not just technical, it's also being away in that environment, because we love that culture so much. I guess it's also everything around it that would really maybe excite us. It's more psychological maybe even than technical, to be really honest.
Chris Barker:
If we're going to talk about the design inside of the studio and the aesthetics, because they come in many shapes and sizes, are there any other studios that you've visited in the world or any other artists' studios apart from your own that you just thought, "Whoa, I'd love this"?
David Dewaele:
If we go Japanese, we have to go postmodern architecture, because we're not going to build it in some temple. A good friend of ours has an incredible studio in the Hollywood Hills, and it's a 1920s house with a pool, and it's just=
Stephen Dewaele:
It's like the dream.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, it's insane, it's a lovely house.
Stephen Dewaele:
It's fully built by the film studios, where they would put up actors. It's super old, has a little bar inside, and then it has a swimming pool, and he completely converted the whole building into a studio, so it doesn't-
Chris Barker:
We're not allowed to know their name?
David Dewaele:
Sure, his name is David Sardi.
Stephen Dewaele:
David Sardi, so yeah, he does-
Chris Barker:
Is it a commercial facility, or is it something private?
David Dewaele:
No, I mean-
Stephen Dewaele:
Privately owned, I think, and he-
David Dewaele:
Not that dissimilar from here, like it's his studio.
Stephen Dewaele:
He comes with the building.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, he comes with the building, like if you hire him.
Stephen Dewaele:
I think he did the last Oasis record there and a lot of bands, big things, really big things. I think we always loved this idea that the building had a history, and he built a studio inside of it. It's of course very LA to do it, like it's a very LA thing, but for us maybe in a similar fashion then, if we would go to Tokyo like Dave said, we would try and use the aesthetic of what we see around there. Our building, to be really fair, I don't know if you've seen photos of our studio here, we were inspired by Japan. It's not a big building, it's a super functional small building, but you can record in every room.
David Dewaele:
If we do Tokyo, then we have to go postmodernist Tokyo Japanese architecture, but let's not go too deep into who, like we don't have to say it's Tadao Ando, like it's just-
Stephen Dewaele:
But it could be.
David Dewaele:
Let's just say mid-1970s to mid-early-90s Japanese architecture.
Chris Barker:
Okay, let's lock that in, Will. From the complex question that we just had there to the more routine and boring questions of your three free items before you get to the six forever studio items. Your three items are, you get to select a computer, so I guess Mac/PC/Atari, if you're brave, a DAW, and an audio interface. Let's start with a computer, what's your dream studio computer?
David Dewaele:
That's very difficult, I don't think we know. We just have whatever's the newest one that comes out and is fast. This is not our forte.
Chris Barker:
Excellent, because we're already bored of this question on the podcast too, so shall we just lock you in for the best ever Mac?
David Dewaele:
Exactly.
Chris Barker:
Are you going to be Mac, not PC?
David Dewaele:
Yeah, we have been Mac since like the mid-90s.
Stephen Dewaele:
Because that's what we've been doing our whole lives.
Chris Barker:
What's that, the $80,000 Mac or whatever it is.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, that one is fine.
Stephen Dewaele:
It's done, don't worry about it.
Chris Barker:
I'm whipping through these, because I want to talk synths with you guys. The next thing is your DAW of choice, do you care on that? You must've changed a lot over the years.
David Dewaele:
In this hypothetical situation, can you also fix that we then also have learned Ableton? Because that's the one thing, like-
Chris Barker:
Well, we don't have to do that because you have forever to learn it.
Will Betts:
It's on you.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, but we don't want to take forever to learn it. Can you guys fix that we already know it by then?
Chris Barker:
Okay, what we'll do, we've got a lot of videos on our YouTube channel, and we'll give you the best ones and you'll get up to speed on that, that's fine. That'll be fine.
David Dewaele:
Great, because we're on Pro Tools, we have been on Pro Tools since the mid-90s, and we hate it, but it's too late to change.
Stephen Dewaele:
Also, a lot of the people we've been working with, they all use Ableton. Whenever they show it to us, they're always like, "Wow, you guys do this on Pro Tools?" They look at us like we're dinosaurs, and then we look at Ableton and we're like, "Yeah, but wait, you guys can do all of this?" I feel the limitations of the Pro Tools has maybe been good for us.
David Dewaele:
There's something, I don't know, it might've changed now, we haven't checked in the last six months or so, but for some reason the exact same file through our Pro Tools system, this must be something, so that's why we stick to it.
Stephen Dewaele:
It must be a common port.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, any company that makes you pay to call them up for support is evil.
Chris Barker:
That's fair. Speaking of Pro Tools though, I remember I was studying music production at university at the time when I got the first 2manyDJs mix, the legendary one that went out kind of underground, didn't it at first? That was all done in Pro Tools, right?
David Dewaele:
Yeah.
Stephen Dewaele:
Everything we've done has been in Pro Tools.
Chris Barker:
That's kind of madness, isn't it? That must've been such a job. I remember having Pro Tools at university, and having your mix CD and thinking, "I'm going to do some of these." It was such a nightmare to do, because Pro Tools just isn't designed to do-
David Dewaele:
It isn't.
Chris Barker:
Like Ableton is, DJ mixes and stretching.
David Dewaele:
Funnily enough, maybe like nine months after that album came out, we did a little thing, like a 12-minute mix for a shop in Paris called Colette, and they asked us to do a little mix, this is 2002. We did it on Ableton one, because it was like, "Whoa, this is the thing that's going to change it all for us," and obviously it's changed quite a bit since then, but obviously back then it was easier, but it just sounded terrible, like everything just sounded stretched and pitched.
David Dewaele:
I think maybe that's why we never went ... I mean, we do use it for live for Soulwax live and all that stuff, but in the studio, it's why we never went back to Ableton and we stuck with Pro Tools. It's also just because-
Stephen Dewaele:
It's all we know.
David Dewaele:
I think this is going to come back a lot in the interview, it's like when you are in the studio working on stuff, we really don't want to get bogged down.
Chris Barker:
In learning as well, it's like you just get it done.
David Dewaele:
Yeah. It's just we have an idea, you get it done, and this is what we've learned to do it with.
Chris Barker:
Fair enough. Okay, so we're locking in Ableton. Ableton Suite is usually the one, isn't it, Will?
Will Betts:
Yeah, you can have Ableton 11 Suite.
Chris Barker:
Then so the final one is your audio interface. What's-
David Dewaele:
Whatever the most expensive new one is that everyone loves. We don't know, we just have the Pro Tools ones that we've had for ... Oh no, we've upgraded, we upgraded maybe five years ago, something, and then-
Chris Barker:
What was the upgrade to? Have you got-
David Dewaele:
HDX, I guess? They're 192s.
Chris Barker:
That's the Avid stuff.
David Dewaele:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
What's the dream? Is it the Burl Mothership or something?
Will Betts:
Do talk about the Burl, yeah.
David Dewaele:
No idea, man. When those emails come in, my brain ... I don't know.
Chris Barker:
It's fine.
Stephen Dewaele:
I've already zoned out.
Chris Barker:
Will, you can just Google some ridiculous interface and we can add that as a surprise when we run down later on.
Will Betts:
I'll find you something suitably expensive, yeah.
David Dewaele:
Whatever the most expensive one is, and that everyone loves, I'm sure it'll be fine.
Chris Barker:
I'll tell you what is important in that decision though, when you've got only six items coming up in the studio, is do you need an interface with mic pres or not, do you not care?
David Dewaele:
In this hypothetical situation, we are going to be building a postmodernist architectural building in Tokyo where we're going to have the most ridiculously expensive computer and DAW and only six machines.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, and an interface.
David Dewaele:
That's interesting. It does make sense in terms of –
Chris Barker:
Correct.
David Dewaele:
It's pretty Japanese.
Stephen Dewaele:
To be fair, it's pretty much up our street.
Chris Barker:
Let's start with item number one of your actual six fantasy Forever Studio items, so any studio kit this is, but item number one, what is something that you would definitely have to have in that studio?
David Dewaele:
We can take six items from our existing studio?
Chris Barker:
You can take stuff out of commercial facilities, rare stuff, other artists' gear, stuff you're missing.
David Dewaele:
Oh my God.
Chris Barker:
It'll be quite exciting to find out the stuff you don't have that you want.
David Dewaele:
There are six items, for sure we can find six items that we don't have yet, but then we'll be stuck in a studio with only those, and we won't have the ones that we already have.
Will Betts:
This is the dilemma, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Exactly, that's the challenge.
David Dewaele:
My God.
Chris Barker:
I knew this was going to be fun with you guys.
David Dewaele:
All right, so the most obvious number one is the desk that we are using right now. It's unlimited budget, correct?
Chris Barker:
Yep, no budget.
Stephen Dewaele:
Do we want the same desk?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, if you want?
Stephen Dewaele:
Why don't we just go for something else that we've always wanted in our lives?
David Dewaele:
Fair enough. Our friend James Murphy, he just built a studio, and he built a desk. It'd be cool to make your own desk. That's pretty cool, because he can make it so it's pretty fancy, like he designed his own faders. That would be cool, to just make it from scratch with someone and do it based on what we need.
Stephen Dewaele:
Somebody in Japan.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Wunder Audio had those crazy -
David Dewaele:
They are cool, yeah, but someone had some issues with it that we know. Yeah, that kind of stuff.
Chris Barker:
Who had it?
David Dewaele:
Joachim.
Chris Barker:
Joachim, yes.
Stephen Dewaele:
But if you would have to go for a desk, maybe like the one that we use in the Magic Shop.
David Dewaele:
That's like a Neve.
Stephen Dewaele:
Like a BBC Neve, the ones that go-
David Dewaele:
The wraparound.
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah, it just also looks insanely good.
David Dewaele:
But again, it's something we've already-
Stephen Dewaele:
Worked on.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, so in this futuristic hypothetical dream, I don't know if that counts for you, but it would be a custom bespoke desk that we make for us.
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah.
David Dewaele:
With, and this is where the bundle loophole gets in-
Chris Barker:
Finger on the trigger for the-
Will Betts:
I'm ready.
David Dewaele:
This is the one, it's kind of like what I said about James Murphy, because what's clever about his desk is that he can use multiple 500-series pres or EQs, or like he could just hot swap them. It's not that dissimilar from the Wunder one, but that is a bit of a loophole, because what that means is we can have one desk filled with all the EQs and mic pres that we like.
Chris Barker:
This is making me itch of how much this is a bundle now.
Will Betts:
I think you're pushing the boundaries slightly.
Chris Barker:
People always come on and break the rules, Will, they always come on the show and break the rules.
Will Betts:
Unbelievable.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, I guess that's true. You mentioned Neave there, and what's the desk you've got at the moment in front of you, is it a Neave?
Stephen Dewaele:
This is a Cadac.
Chris Barker:
Oh, great.
Will Betts:
Cadac, okay.
Stephen Dewaele:
It's pretty much what we're used to working on. With Soulwax, we recorded three albums, and the first one we recorded in Sunset Sound and then Hollywood Sound in LA, and the second one, I just think-
David Dewaele:
Also Sunset Sound.
Stephen Dewaele:
Also Sunset Sound, and then the third one was at Flood, and with Flood we went to a lot of studios. We went to Rack in London-
Chris Barker:
Nice.
Stephen Dewaele:
What's the one around the corner of our flat?
David Dewaele:
Strong.
Stephen Dewaele:
The Strongroom one. I guess we've been on different desks in different studios, so I think every desk has its pros and cons, but it's like Dave says, if you can make it custom, make it the way that you want it for whatever things that you need or specifics ... Because even the Cadac that we have, there's parts of the desk that we not always use, and there's parts that we-
David Dewaele:
Or have never used.
Stephen Dewaele:
Or have never used. A custom made desk would be the smartest move, and let's hope it's made with somebody in Japan and Tokyo who works at the Japan University and can add some robotics into the desk.
David Dewaele:
Exactly, flying fader robotics of where the knobs are-
Stephen Dewaele:
There's like a robotic arm that goes instead of a ... Like we'd make something sculptural that's amazing.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, see-through.
Stephen Dewaele:
See-through, plexi-see-through desk with a robotic arm that, instead of flying faders, does it for you.
David Dewaele:
And you're going to have to give us this loophole where we put in any 500-series-
Stephen Dewaele:
And it's a joint venture with Honda, because they're delivering-
Chris Barker:
What?
Stephen Dewaele:
The arms.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, of course.
Stephen Dewaele:
And they have the technology.
Chris Barker:
What are the sound of the pres, in comparison? You're customising this, but are they Neave style pres or Cadac pres, and what's the EQs like? Is there a massive compressor? What's that like, you know what I mean? Give us a quick overview, it doesn't have to be exact because obviously this is going to be custom, but in your head, what are these modules inspired by?
David Dewaele:
The beauty of this loophole-
Chris Barker:
Here we go.
David Dewaele:
Is that we can do what we have here, like in this studio we have a quite sought after 1969 Cadac with 24 Cadac pres, but in the studio over the years, we've bought all these weird ones like Spectra Sonics or Flickinger or whatever, Trident, like we have a range of different mic pres that we use dependent on the situation. If we want a certain kind of drum sound, we will say, "Oh, it'd be cool to put the snare through the thingy here, what's it called, Spectra Sonics or Neumann or Quad Eight." The beauty of this particular desk-
Stephen Dewaele:
What's the name of the desk?
David Dewaele:
It's going to be called Deewee-san.
Stephen Dewaele:
Diwi-san, ah.
David Dewaele:
The beauty is that it comes with 24 options, and you can [clicks] like a Tetris, you can switch-
Chris Barker:
You can't have things that you take in and out, then that's full bundle. I'm gonna let you fit this permanently.
David Dewaele:
All right.
Chris Barker:
Because we had to do this, we've had people that chose the API desks, and obviously they have the little 500-module things, but you've got to decide what you want.
David Dewaele:
All right, okay, let's just fill it with all replicas of our Cadac.
Chris Barker:
Item number two.
David Dewaele:
Now we have to go like, "What do we make music with?"
Chris Barker:
You can have whatever six items you want. I will like to just remind you, you don't have any speakers or headphones yet, or like so-
David Dewaele:
Oh my God. Just the amp and the speakers is already three.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. You have to get active speakers on this.
David Dewaele:
No, no active speakers. We're going to get the ones, like we-
Stephen Dewaele:
We're going to do Tannoys.
David Dewaele:
We're addicted to these Super Reds.
Stephen Dewaele:
Super reds Tannoy.
Chris Barker:
You've got wall mounted, do they come ... Will, say it.
Will Betts:
Soffit mounted.
Chris Barker:
Do you have soffit mounted speakers, are you in walls or are you on stands?
David Dewaele:
They're in the wall, and I don't know what exactly, because we did buy two pairs of them just in case anything went wrong, and these are the '70s ones I think. It has to be combined with the correct amp, because this particular amp has been in repair, and when we changed it with so-to-speak exactly the same amp, it was terrible.
Chris Barker:
Is it a vintage '70s amp, it's the-
David Dewaele:
Yes.
Stephen Dewaele:
It's a vintage McIntosh.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, a McIntosh, MC ... What are they called? 2205.
Chris Barker:
MC-2205. Will, we actually let people do the amp and speakers together, don't we?
Will Betts:
Yeah, this is the loophole, I think you're allowed.
David Dewaele:
You're saying we would be allowed to combine this amp and speakers.
Chris Barker:
Yes, we'll give you that as item number two, those speakers.
David Dewaele:
That's nice, that's very nice.
Chris Barker:
Give us the model, Tannoy reds.
David Dewaele:
They are Tannoy reds, but sorry, the 15-inch ones, and they're not in a Lockwood cabinet, but they are in the original Tannoy cabinets with the holes in them. We've replicated this, because we have another studio upstairs in this building, and we put the smaller ones there. We're so addicted to them that we are currently building a sound system-
Chris Barker:
Nice.
David Dewaele:
With dual concentric Tannoys.
Stephen Dewaele:
But that's another hypothetical, that's for another podcast.
Chris Barker:
The MusicTech My Forever Studio podcast is supported by EVO by Audient. The fantastic EVO Start Recording bundle, and the EVO four and EVO eight interfaces.
Will Betts:
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Chris Barker:
That's right, featuring loop back and smart gain, the new EVO bundle and compact interfaces make sure you can achieve studio quality recordings from the start.
Will Betts:
Smart gain means you don't have to worry about setting input levels, making it ideal for music makers who want to spend time creating, not engineering. Loop back lets you record everything you hear through the interface, making it a great fit for home recording rigs, podcasters, streamers, and content creators.
Chris Barker:
EVO's Start Recording bundle is suggested to retail at £199, €220, and $249 in the USA.
Will Betts:
Discover EVO online at evo.audio.
Chris Barker:
Item number three.
David Dewaele:
If I understand correctly, we have to pick four more items that we make music with.
Chris Barker:
You don't have to make music with them if you don't want to. I mean, it's just your perfect studio.
Stephen Dewaele:
This is a studio we go to every day in Japan.
Chris Barker:
Forever.
Stephen Dewaele:
Forever.
Will Betts:
Forever.
David Dewaele:
For the VAR, will we be allowed to have them repaired?
Chris Barker:
Yes, you get-
David Dewaele:
Okay, so it's not like we're locked-
Chris Barker:
It's not like an end of the world scenario, and reliability of kit isn't an issue. Do tell us if it is unreliable, we want to know on the podcast, but-
David Dewaele:
Most things we have are unreliable.
Stephen Dewaele:
All things we have are unreliable, and all things we have need to get repaired, okay? Nothing has not been repaired.
David Dewaele:
The reason I ask is because that is sort of the beauty of having many things, is that they have to go into repair, and then when they come back it's like new. Like they've been away for nine months, and now-
Stephen Dewaele:
Or we lend them out to friends, and after three years they're like, "Hey, I got this thing," and you get it back and you're like, "Oh my God."
David Dewaele:
In this scenario, we really have to pick the four machines that don't fit this whole thing like, "Oh, they come back and we love them again."
Chris Barker:
Yeah, and they don't have to be things you own now, and they can be from commercial facilities or things you want to steal off friends or colleagues.
Stephen Dewaele:
Oh, oh.
Chris Barker:
He's interested now I said stolen.
David Dewaele:
Does someone have-
Stephen Dewaele:
Benji's ARP.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, but it doesn't have to be his, we can find another one, Steph.
Chris Barker:
No, take it, take it.
Stephen Dewaele:
No, but it's because we played on it.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, it's one of the ones that ... Yeah.
Stephen Dewaele:
It's the ARP 2500.
David Dewaele:
Very nice.
Stephen Dewaele:
Because we don't have one, but that was a studio we spent a couple years in and there was one there, and we played on it, and-
David Dewaele:
A couple of months.
Stephen Dewaele:
A couple of months, sorry. Fuck, we've been in this studio too long, Dave. Yeah, that's one of those machines that we don't have and has endless capabilities.
Chris Barker:
Whose studio was it? Benji?
David Dewaele:
Yeah, you must know him, right?
Stephen Dewaele:
Do you know Benji?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it's the guy with the orange telephone on the desk and that.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Stephen Dewaele:
The guy with the orange telephone on the desk. By the way, it's like that's a great title of an album.
David Dewaele:
I think it's a Kate Bush song.
Chris Barker:
The Guy With the Orange-
David Dewaele:
Because definitely the ARP 2500, but then-
Stephen Dewaele:
This is where your podcast just keeps going on and on and on and on, because is it the EMS 7100 or is it Benji's ARP 2500, or is it, Dave ... We have to use it for the rest of our lives.
Chris Barker:
Exactly.
David Dewaele:
I think we have to go for the things that we know. It'd be very strange to be-
Stephen Dewaele:
We'll talk to each other here, and people are watching us.
Chris Barker:
No, it's fine, it's good.
David Dewaele:
It'd be very strange for us to make music forever and for there not to be an ARP 2600, and I think we'd be wasting an opportunity if we do ARP 2500 and ARP 2600. It's a boring reply to this question, but if I really follow through on this hypothesis, I think we have to go ARP 2600.
Chris Barker:
Oh, so we're not stealing Benji's anymore?
David Dewaele:
No. I mean, however lovely it would be to have an ARP 2500.
Stephen Dewaele:
Sorry, man with the orange phone on his desk.
Chris Barker:
The orange phone has stopped ringing now.
Stephen Dewaele:
The ARP 2600.
Will Betts:
We got three left, but tell us about the 2600 then. It's featured heavily in your work, tell us where.
David Dewaele:
It's basically anything since we've bought it, which was 2003, I think.
Stephen Dewaele:
When you ask people, "Is there a synth or a piece of gear that you wanted to buy but you never had the money?" There's a couple of those, but there's one that stuck in our heads, and it was in Holland. 20 years ago-
David Dewaele:
Longer, Steph, it was '96.
Stephen Dewaele:
'96, they had Pet Shop Boys Fairlight with all the floppy discs, and that's always been in our heads like, "Oh, wouldn't that have been great just to have?" One, the machine is already amazing, you could sample pretty much every ... We could come into the studio in Japan and sample sounds and do that, but we'd still also have whatever they had on their floppy discs that they've done. That would've been-
Will Betts:
That's actually a pretty good loophole.
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah, because see-
Chris Barker:
No loophole there, I mean I think-
Stephen Dewaele:
It's no loophole, it's a Fairlight.
Chris Barker:
That's okay, Will.
Will Betts:
No, it's fine, it's all legal.
Stephen Dewaele:
That's it, that's one of the three then.
Chris Barker:
It feels like we've managed to sort of upsell your dreams.
Stephen Dewaele:
It also feels, because we have a custom made see-through plexi desk with robotic arms custom built by-
David Dewaele:
Honda?
Stephen Dewaele:
Who also gave us one of their robots to serve tea-
Will Betts:
Sorry, no, I'm going to stop you there.
Chris Barker:
That's the bundle.
Will Betts:
That's where I draw the line. I'll allow the robotic arm, but yeah.
Stephen Dewaele:
But we do have Pet Shop Boys' old Fairlight that they used in the '80s, and we use it to record stuff and we sample things with it. This is a very futuristic sounding-
Chris Barker:
It's 1996, you're in Utrecht, you've seen this Fairlight, how much is it? Tell us.
David Dewaele:
I don't remember, but it was too much for us then.
Stephen Dewaele:
It was too much for us then.
Chris Barker:
Are we talking hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands?
David Dewaele:
No, like literally maybe €4,000 or something.
Stephen Dewaele:
What?
David Dewaele:
Yeah.
Stephen Dewaele:
There's two things, there's that and there's the Synthi 100 we encountered, and we were going to buy one in Montreal because somebody had found one in an old TV studio in, I don't know, Poland or somewhere.
David Dewaele:
Somewhere in Eastern Europe, yeah.
Stephen Dewaele:
In Eastern Europe. We also didn't have that money, and we were in Montreal in Canada, we didn't know how to do it. Also, what was the price he was asking for?
David Dewaele:
Back then?
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah.
David Dewaele:
Do we want to talk money?
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah, but just how bad we feel, but it's still-
David Dewaele:
I mean, I mention this with real pain in my heart.
Stephen Dewaele:
A pain in the heart.
David Dewaele:
Because what happened is, we were idiots. The guy was asking for $20,000 Canadian dollars, and we lowballed and we said, "We'll give you $17,000," and the next we heard is we sold it to the guy from Microsoft.
Chris Barker:
What, Bill Gates?
David Dewaele:
No, the other guy.
Stephen Dewaele:
Phil Gates.
David Dewaele:
Who apparently has a vintage synth museum.
Stephen Dewaele:
But then the Synthy 100, we found one here in Gdansk in the university, we made a record with it. There's been one here in the studio for over a year maybe, so we've worked on it. It's a machine with endless capabilities, so it would also fit in that studio, but the Fairlight then would give us the chance to come up with new sounds that we create ourselves.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, but that leads us to the next instrument stuff. We are going to need something to sample.
Chris Barker:
You're going to need a mic.
Stephen Dewaele:
So a microphone, where are we going?
David Dewaele:
Forget about microphones.
Stephen Dewaele:
What do you mean, "Forget about microphones"?
David Dewaele:
We're going to need an instrument to play so that we can sample it in the Fairlight.
Chris Barker:
But only through a DI.
David Dewaele:
No, the-
Stephen Dewaele:
This is where it's getting [crosstalk 00:31:36]-
Chris Barker:
Yeah, that's the point.
Stephen Dewaele:
Wait, let's go back. Custom made desk, and then we need one synth.
David Dewaele:
Well, we have an ARP 2600.
Stephen Dewaele:
ARP 2600, we can pretty much do everything we want with that.
Chris Barker:
Will, so far, just do a quick rundown, not the full rundown.
Will Betts:
We've got the desk, we've got the Tannoy Super Reds, we've got the Pet Shop Boys Fairlight, and then we've got the ARP 2600 so far.
Chris Barker:
You've got two more items left.
David Dewaele:
Oh my God, a drum kit?
Stephen Dewaele:
No, a grand piano.
David Dewaele:
Polyphonic synth?
Stephen Dewaele:
That's the thing though with the Fairlight, there's a keyboard, like we can play polyphonic.
David Dewaele:
Have people tried to do this loophole, of the Euro RAK modular system?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, and they failed. I think if you want modular, we could do like the model 15 or one of the Moog all-in-ones. If it comes like a module, modulars ready, then that's fine.
David Dewaele:
We have a System 700, eight oscillators, so that can be an eight-voice polyphonic synth.
Stephen Dewaele:
But you still need the keyboard.
David Dewaele:
It comes with it, there is a keyboard. That can be our modular loophole, where we also have a polyphonic synth and it has a built-in sequencer and everything.
Chris Barker:
And you can plug that into the 2600, right, as well?
David Dewaele:
We can, yes, but that only leaves us with one more machine, which is very stressful.
Stephen Dewaele:
And we still don't have a microphone.
Chris Barker:
Any other dream bits you don't have? I mean, that Pet Shop Boys Fairlight is a great one, we've never had that before.
Stephen Dewaele:
Neither did we.
Chris Barker:
I wonder, do we know where it is now?
David Dewaele:
No.
Stephen Dewaele:
No, no, no. We could ask the guy, maybe we ... What was the name of his shop?
David Dewaele:
It's gone, that shop, because with the money that we did have, we bought something else, a sequential-
Chris Barker:
I really wanted it to be something like a Yamaha Motif.
David Dewaele:
No, because it was a cool shop, it was rare back then to find a shop with vintage gear.
Stephen Dewaele:
It's super ahead of its time, yeah.
David Dewaele:
They had cool stuff, and we bought a six-track, remember?
Stephen Dewaele:
Ah yeah, it's amazing.
David Dewaele:
A sequential six-track.
Stephen Dewaele:
I love that machine.
David Dewaele:
And what are they called, the Prophet samplers, the DSI or something? The Prophet V? That's what we got from the shop with the money, that's what we could afford back then.
Stephen Dewaele:
Also, it was sold as from The Pet Shop Boys, but it could also be from some really bad Dutch band.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, it would've been 2 Unlimited.
Stephen Dewaele:
We have no idea, it could've been like a scam, but in our heads it's always been sort of like something we let slip.
David Dewaele:
Wait, wait, wait, I just want to look.
Chris Barker:
For everybody listening, Dave's just stood up, taken the SM58 or something out into the studio to get inspiration, because he's getting stressed with what's left.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, because-
Stephen Dewaele:
Only got one more item.
David Dewaele:
Well, and it has to be a microphone.
Stephen Dewaele:
It has to be a microphone.
David Dewaele:
There's no guitars, no bass, no drums, nothing.
Stephen Dewaele:
But the guitars and the bass and the drums we have to reproduce, or if it's our studio, we can invite the bass player in.
David Dewaele:
Of course, yeah.
Stephen Dewaele:
We could call up [Josono 00:34:44] and go like, "Hey, want to come and play the bass?"
Chris Barker:
Yeah, that's cool. We allow that.
Will Betts:
You could do that.
Chris Barker:
You just need a way to record him.
David Dewaele:
Sorry to be difficult, but then he could also bring his own microphone.
Will Betts:
Yeah, okay, fine.
Chris Barker:
If you want to break the rules like this, then that's fine, you can rely on others for the microphones.
Stephen Dewaele:
Then maybe because we're there for the rest of our lives-
David Dewaele:
Why don't we just get five amazingly cool things that we have never tried, and then we have an amazing laptop and just whatever, Fruity Loops?
Chris Barker:
You've got Ableton, Ableton's free, locked in, don't worry.
David Dewaele:
Okay, yeah, that's already in.
Will Betts:
Correct.
Chris Barker:
FL Studio is what it's called, FL Studio now.
Stephen Dewaele:
Wait, one more item then. Dave, microphones and bass players, drummers, we can record Yellow Magic Orchestra and mix it there, we could do it.
Chris Barker:
What's on your shopping list right now? Come on, guys, like what?
David Dewaele:
Time.
Chris Barker:
Time, oh God.
David Dewaele:
That's our problem right now. It's not gear, it's time.
Chris Barker:
A little tear just came out of my eye there when you said that, a single tear, just ... Time.
David Dewaele:
It's the truth.
Stephen Dewaele:
It's also, the thing that we've been doing the last six, seven years, it's a little bit like the podcast, in the sense that we always try to limit ourselves to a couple of pieces of gear. Let's say if you were doing a record or something, we're like, "We can only use these two synths." Because I can feel that people come into the studio and they go, "Oh, you have all this stuff," and they say, "Ah, what do we use?" We've been playing with this the last 30 years so we kind of know what they are, but when you're creating, it's sometimes really good to limit yourself to one piece of gear.
Stephen Dewaele:
In this case now, we're at five items, and I think if you have to work with them for the rest of your life, they need to be pretty specific, or let's say they need to have a signature that you know you can expand on and you can keep going in for. Then having said that, the one thing that Dae and me always gravitate to, and he's going to kill me for this now, but in every studio we've been is a grand piano, because it's the thing that we-
Chris Barker:
Boring.
Stephen Dewaele:
I know it's super boring, but it is the one thing that we end up playing a lot.
Chris Barker:
It's a popular choice on the podcast, actually.
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah?
David Dewaele:
We could also just-
Stephen Dewaele:
Oh, here we go.
David Dewaele:
Hire a piano player who comes with his own grand piano. Why don't we just get something ... Because that's the other thing, for the last 20 years we've had a studio filled with currently desirable vintage gear. Many of that stuff wasn't particularly desirable when we got it.
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah, it was super cheap.
David Dewaele:
And it is now, like there's been a whole-
Chris Barker:
Total renaissance of all this vintage stuff, for sure.
David Dewaele:
If we're going to go for the number six, we should have something futuristic, like something that's like-
Stephen Dewaele:
Ahead of its time.
David Dewaele:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
That's actually an interesting point. With all that stuff, do you guys keep an eye on what's coming out that's new? Has any new gear really made you go, "Whoa, that is genuinely different, we really need to get hold of that"?
David Dewaele:
My memory isn't working, is there anything that you would say that is worthwhile that we should've-
Will Betts:
This is a really tricky one, because it depends, if you're into ... Do you have any interest in the MPE landscape, any of those MPE instruments, maybe like a-
Chris Barker:
Beyond MIDI expressionism with the rollie keyboards and-
Will Betts:
The ROLI stuff, or maybe like a Hakan Continuum or something like that.
David Dewaele:
You know what? I have a feeling in 10, 15 years, we're going to like this, but right now we find it ridiculous, but we should think ahead.
Stephen Dewaele:
We should do this podcast again in 15 years and be like, "It was so ahead of its time."
Chris Barker:
We know what will happen. In 15 years, you'll open Zoom, you'll be sat there on Pet Shop Boys Fairlight remixing West End Girls for the 400th time.
Stephen Dewaele:
I wouldn't say no, but that song cannot be remixed. Some things should be left alone.
Chris Barker:
Fair, fair, okay.
Stephen Dewaele:
The only reason why the Fairlight was so attractive for me is the fact that you can sample it. That's something I've always loved about some of my favourite records, are the ones where they combine acoustic instruments or synths and then maybe like even old Depeche stuff, where they made drum loops with it and weird sounds. If you're going to be in Tokyo, one of the attractions of being in Japan is there's sounds everywhere, like in the metro, if you go in a restaurant, in a car and a cab, there's all these little sounds.
Stephen Dewaele:
It's a very sound sensitive maybe place, so this idea of using whatever is around you on your daily commute to the studio or the things you encounter, it should be something that we could play with. You could do that in Ableton as well, all this stuff, but there's something about that machine that was so basic and simple that maybe with that limitation, it would work.
Chris Barker:
It's not reportable though, is that? You're going to have to have some kind of Fairlight wheelbarrow or something to move it around.
Stephen Dewaele:
That's very true.
David Dewaele:
You know what's embarrassing is, I've just remembered that we have a Fairlight in storage.
Chris Barker:
How do you forget?
David Dewaele:
It's not Pet Shop Boys, this one.
Chris Barker:
How do you possibly forget that?
David Dewaele:
It's ours, and we've had it for 15 years.
Chris Barker:
Final studio item.
David Dewaele:
What if it's a drum machine?
Stephen Dewaele:
Dave just opened up another vortex.
Will Betts:
Any drum machines that you don't have that you would love?
Stephen Dewaele:
Just tell us that we're not the only people who are struggling while we're thinking.
Will Betts:
Oh, everybody struggles.
Stephen Dewaele:
Or do most people prepare this? Because we weren't prepared.
Chris Barker:
It's a mixture. I kind of like it when people are unprepared, because it makes it interesting to see people think on their feet.
Stephen Dewaele:
Spontaneous.
Chris Barker:
The interesting thing is, with most people we have to upsell their dreams all the time, because they'll just pick like Sylenth or something. We'll be like, "Are you sure you don't want the CS80?"
Stephen Dewaele:
Silence?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, or they'll pick some synth software, or they'll pick things that they already own. We try and upsell them to-
David Dewaele:
Got it, got it, got it.
Chris Barker:
Which has been quite interesting for you, because Pet Shop Boys Fairlight is a good one, but you have most of the stuff.
Will Betts:
Yeah, there's been very little upselling going on. We're saying no to the grand piano, is that right?
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I mean, we have had people have, what is it, the Clavinova, is it, Will, or the grand piano with the MIDI?
Will Betts:
Disklavier
David Dewaele:
Oh yeah, that one.
Stephen Dewaele:
No, that's not coming in, no. That's wrong. No, but we're in Japan, we will contact Yamaha and we will get a fully automatic see through plexi grand piano. I mean, listen guys, this is an architectural world, we're moving-
Chris Barker:
David's face is like thunder, he's not loving this. I feel like we've made Dave really sad on this podcast, look at him.
Stephen Dewaele:
He's left the podcast.
David Dewaele:
I'm really thinking of what could be the thing that complements the other ones that we already have, because you want it to be ... Like first of all, this is forever, and it means all the other stuff cannot come into our studio. I would say drum machine.
Will Betts:
Which one?
Chris Barker:
Are we going to do a drum machine with sampling capabilities, or just a straight up-
David Dewaele:
Yeah, EPROMs, you can have your own PROM-er to make your EPROMs, but like whatever, it doesn't matter which one, Drum-Traks or DMX or whatever, because you can switch the EPROMs anyway.
Chris Barker:
Is that a bundle, Will? Is that some kind of drum machine bundle?
Will Betts:
I think we'll allow it because it's pretty limited, actually. I think that's not ... Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I mean, if we're allowed the Fairlight with the floppy discs, we're allowed the drum machine with the EPROMs, right? I think that's fair.
Will Betts:
That's allowed.
David Dewaele:
At least that way, Steph, we can make drums.
Chris Barker:
I mean, you do have Ableton.
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking the whole time, I'm like, "We do have a lot of these capabilities in the box."
David Dewaele:
Someone needs to make a DMX that has built-in Ableton, because they're just so much more fun to play. Does that mean we have all six?
Chris Barker:
Of the EPROMs? Yes, you have all six. That's what we're doing, we're locking that in.
David Dewaele:
I think so.
Chris Barker:
Are you going to pick which one, a DMX? Are you going to go for DMX?
David Dewaele:
Actually, the Drum-Traks.
Chris Barker:
Before we get to luxury item, Will, do the full rundown of the studio, and you guys have a listen, see how this sounds, and then we'll go onto your luxury item.
Will Betts:
We're in Tokyo, in the middle of Yogi Park in a postmodernist Japanese abode. We have your computer, the biggest Mac possible that's about £50,000. I've chosen for your audio interface a Burl B80 Mothership because it fits your aesthetic. The DAW is an Ableton Live 11 Suite, then within the studio, your six items are a Cadac filled transparent custom built Honda desk with a robotic arm called the Diwi-san, you have your 15-inch Tannoy Super Reds with vintage Macintosh 2205 amp, you have the Pet Shop Boys Fairlight from the '80s, you have an ARP 2600, a Roland System 700 for poly, and your final selection is the Sequential Drum-Traks with all the EPROMs. How does that work for you?
David Dewaele:
In my own house, can I have a PROM-er where I make my own EPROMs?
Will Betts:
Sure, why not, yeah.
David Dewaele:
Okay, cool, then yeah.
Chris Barker:
What you do in your own house with EPROMs is your own business.
Stephen Dewaele:
This sounds pretty good though, I think.
Chris Barker:
I think it sounds actually really good, yeah.
David Dewaele:
I would sign up for it, yeah.
Chris Barker:
We'll lock that in, Will, let's lock all of that in, and we'll move onto the final item, which is not a bit of studio kit, so it's not a bit of gear, but something, a luxury item that you'd like to have in the studio. I'll just put that out there before I give you any hints to what other people and stuff have had, because I don't want to influence you, but something that isn't studio kit that you feel like is nice to have in the studio.
Stephen Dewaele:
I guess in this postmodernist aesthetic and the fact that we're in Japan and we're doing this together with Honda, we definitely need one of their robots to serve us tea, and to do any repairs, and sort of the hospitality as well when people come to the studio. That would be-
Chris Barker:
A bit dangerous, what if it becomes sentient, like Terminator style?
Stephen Dewaele:
Or what if it becomes creative, and it makes the most amazing music?
Chris Barker:
Wow. Do you think that's how Terminator started? They were like, "It can paint. Oh no, God, it's got a gun, run away!"
Stephen Dewaele:
Then they're called Guns and Roses.
Chris Barker:
What's the Honda robot called? I've currently forgotten the name.
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah, I forgot.
Will Betts:
Asimo, it's called Asimo.
Stephen Dewaele:
Oh really? He comes with the desk, and also we have a perspex Asimo who has a LED structure inside which changes colours while we make different sounds.
David Dewaele:
Like a very expensive [crosstalk 00:46:37].
Stephen Dewaele:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, really expensive.
Chris Barker:
So the robot can see inside his own body, so no mirrors.
David Dewaele:
Ours, ours.
Stephen Dewaele:
Our bodies, so he-
David Dewaele:
It reflects our mood.
Stephen Dewaele:
Read our mood or the music we're making, and then he will reflect that within the [crosstalk 00:46:52]-
David Dewaele:
I thought that was clear.
Chris Barker:
Well, I mean it's hard to keep up, guys.
Stephen Dewaele:
Wait, you guys are selling the future, no?
Chris Barker:
Will, I never thought we'd do an episode where we upsell dreams so hard. Some of the luxury items we've had on the series have been a 128-foot waterfall that overlaps Tonto.
Stephen Dewaele:
What?
Chris Barker:
Which was quite nice, and we've had a bio-hacked sushi train that takes fish straight from the sea into the studio and makes it into sushi.
David Dewaele:
Can I stop you?
Will Betts:
That was a good one.
David Dewaele:
Was that a loophole with the Tonto?
Chris Barker:
No, that was a single item.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, but that's a loophole because they're getting an extra studio.
Chris Barker:
No, Tonto was a single item within the six.
Stephen Dewaele:
Ah, okay.
David Dewaele:
Oh, I see.
Chris Barker:
I think David's just mad because he didn't pick Tonto now.
David Dewaele:
No, no, no, perfectly happy with our choice.
Chris Barker:
Okay, fine.
David Dewaele:
I thought someone as a luxury item added Tonto.
Chris Barker:
No, they had the Tonto as their sixth item, and then the luxury item was a waterfall that passed over it, so you had to walk behind the waterfall.
David Dewaele:
To be honest, I think the waterfall is very nice, but I think our robot can do more things.
Chris Barker:
That's true. Okay, all that's left to talk about is what's coming up for you guys.
Stephen Dewaele:
We're moving to Tokyo.
David Dewaele:
Hold on, I thought we had three luxury items.
Chris Barker:
No, one. That's it.
David Dewaele:
Oh, just one?
Chris Barker:
You've just got the robot, yeah, one luxury item.
Stephen Dewaele:
It was the robot.
Will Betts:
Just one, just one.
Stephen Dewaele:
Also by then, any sushi, any coffee, any tea, anything-
Chris Barker:
He can make.
Stephen Dewaele:
Culinary, he can make, and also we're in Japan, it's there.
Chris Barker:
He can go out and he can be like your little Deliveroo bot or Uber Eats bot who just goes out and gets it for you.
David Dewaele:
It is a little bit like unlimited wishes.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it is.
David Dewaele:
Like make one wish, you can ... Yeah.
Stephen Dewaele:
"Asimo, we would like to record some grand piano," "Here's Sakamoto-san," and Ryuichi Sakamoto is there, he's already prepared it for us and we're doing a collaboration with him.
David Dewaele:
Brilliant idea.
Stephen Dewaele:
Brilliant idea. "Dave, Dave ..."
Chris Barker:
That's nice, yeah.
David Dewaele:
"Asimo, we would like Benji's ARP 2500."
Chris Barker:
"Go and steal it in the night."
Stephen Dewaele:
He's like, "We don't need to get it from Benji, I already found one here in Japan."
Chris Barker:
Klepto-bot, yeah, so he's like a cat burglar as well, I like it.
David Dewaele:
Yeah, or it's just the Behringer version, which is probably great.
Chris Barker:
"When will you learn?"
Stephen Dewaele:
We're going to be ashamed about this.
Chris Barker:
Well, what I was going to say, guys, what's coming up for you for the rest of the year? You've been locked down, locked in, but are you hoping to get back out there? Have you got releases coming?
Stephen Dewaele:
We're very lucky to be in the studio, and we've finished off a couple of albums which are going to release on our label, Diwi. We just released a compilation on Diwi, we've done a bunch of remixes for a lot of people, we've done another big project that we can't say yet but that we've been working on since the beginning of the lockdown. There's a lot of, lot of stuff, so we've been more productive than ever, but it's because we weren't doing any live gigs. We weren't travelling, we weren't doing any gigs with the band with Soulwax or DJing as 2many or any of that stuff.
Stephen Dewaele:
We do miss it, the playing part, but then on the other hand, I think being in a studio, it was a bit of a luxurious way of doing the lockdown, but it also means that everybody knows that you're in the studio. Maybe let's say our economy was half gigs, half being in the studio, let's put it that way, and now it's been 100% in the studio. It was good for us, like Dave said, we rediscovered the instruments that we have. It was really, really good, but I guess we miss also being out there, we miss London, we miss a lot of places.
David Dewaele:
Tokyo.
Stephen Dewaele:
We miss our studio in Tokyo.
Chris Barker:
Yes, exactly. That studio in Tokyo sounds fantastic. All that's left to say is, thank you so much for joining us, big fan of your guys' work, and real pleasure to have you on the show. Thanks for putting up with our complicated rules, very complicated.
Stephen Dewaele:
No, it's cool, it's really cool.
David Dewaele:
No, it's cool, it was a good exercise.
Stephen Dewaele:
We should do this again in 15 years' time, and then we go, "Oh man."
Chris Barker:
Let's do it, 15 years, I'll get it in the diary, I'll send a cal invite 'round. That would be hilarious, actually.
Will Betts:
Do it.
David Dewaele:
Do you think in 15 years, people will look at podcasts like the way that they look at vinyl now, like, "Oh, it's so cool to have a podcast"?
Chris Barker:
Brilliant. Okay guys, thank you so much.
David Dewaele:
Thank you.
Stephen Dewaele:
Thank you.
Will Betts:
Amazing, thank you.
Chris Barker:
That was absolutely incredible, thank you so much to Soulwax for taking the time to come on the My Forever Studio Podcast, it was amazing. What an end.
Will Betts:
It was amazing, wasn't it? Oh my God, so I've been listening to Soulwax forever, so this was like-
Chris Barker:
Yeah, same.
Will Betts:
A personal and career highlight, so thank you so much to those guys. Also, I feel like we allowed them to bend the rules somewhat with the robot arm on their custom built desk, but we'll let it slide.
Chris Barker:
A little bit, I mean it's not really music making as much though, so what's one robot arm between friends?
Will Betts:
Between friends.
Chris Barker:
Exactly. Anyway, a big shout out to everybody that's tuned in for this season as well. We have so much fun making it, and thanks to everybody that listens, we really appreciate it. Do get in touch. If you're a fan of the MusicTech My Forever Studio Podcast, just subscribe so you don't miss nay episodes, and also give us an email at editors@musictech.net and let us know what you think, who you want on the show, any questions, whatever. Just get in touch, keep in touch, and we'll see you for the next season.
Will Betts:
Before we do, don't forget also it does help us a huge amount if you leave us a rating and a review, so other people can find this podcast, because everybody has a podcast, but this one everyone should listen to, obviously. Thanks again for listening, and catch you soon. A bit of bias.
Chris Barker:
Bit of bias.
Will Betts:
Catch you soon for another season of the My Forever Studio Podcast.
Chris Barker:
Thank you so much.