Award-winning songwriter and producer Fraser T Smith id on the verge of releasing his second album with psychedelic rock band Future Utopi. He’s also got an insane list of credits including Adele, Stormzy, Raye, and Kasabian. This time, we talk about his master-of-all-trades mic, a trusty sampler that he describes as “home”, and why he can’t bring himself to hoard studio gear.
Award-winning songwriter and producer Fraser T Smith id on the verge of releasing his second album with psychedelic rock band Future Utopi. He’s also got an insane list of credits including Adele, Stormzy, Raye, and Kasabian. This time, we talk about his master-of-all-trades mic, a trusty sampler that he describes as “home”, and why he can’t bring himself to hoard studio gear.
STUFF WE TALK ABOUT (SPOLERS AHEAD)
https://www.instagram.com/frasertsmith/?hl=en
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_T._Smith
Craig David - Can't Be Messin' Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrn3aYpveao
https://www.instagram.com/markhillmusic/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kano_(British_musician)
https://barefootsound.com/micromain27/
https://reverb.com/uk/p/akai-mpc4000-music-production-center
https://oberheim.com/
https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/en-gb/products/gibson-hummingbird-sunburst-1970s-1296858
https://steinway.co.uk/piano/model-b/
https://pianorestorations.co.uk/
https://www.beaandher.business/
https://www.manley.com/pro/refgold
https://sequential.com/product/prophet-6/
Chris Barker:
I'm Chris Barker.
Will Betts:
And I'm Will Betts. And this is the MusicTech My Forever Studio podcast brought to you in partnership with Audient and we're coming to you this time from TYX Studios in London.
Chris Barker:
In this podcast we speak with musicians, dj's, producers and engineers about their fantasy Forever studio.
Will Betts:
The fantasy studio that our guests come up with this time is one they must live with forever. But even in fantasy studio land, we do have rules.
Chris Barker:
That's right, the rules. Our guests can select a computer, a daw and an audio interface for free. Then they get just six other bits of studio kit plus one luxury item.
Will Betts:
However, there's one more rule, isn't there?
Fraser T Smith:
Yes.
Chris Barker:
No bundles. No bundles. 100% no bundles.
Will Betts:
That's right. Choosing something that's sold as a package of software or hardware is not permitted.
Chris Barker:
That's right. Our guest today is about to release his second album with psychedelic rock band of Future Utopia.
Will Betts:
He's also a Grammy winning Ivan Avello winning artist, songwriter and producer who's worked with some of the biggest names in music.
Chris Barker:
So let's get started. This is my forever studio with Frasier T. Smith. Welcome.
Fraser T Smith:
Hello. How are you doing?
Chris Barker:
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Fraser T Smith:
Thanks for asking me.
Chris Barker:
Building the fantasy Forever studio.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Something that you've probably done while not being able to sleep late at night.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, I mean, I was lucky enough, I was thinking, I honestly feel so grateful where I am at the minute and I was trying to think of somewhere else, which is hard when you. I mean, I feel like I'm in my forever studio at the minute. But I've definitely got some that gives us some take homes and, you know.
Chris Barker:
A great opportunity for us to upsell some dreams.
Will Betts:
Upsell your dreams that might come in again.
Fraser T Smith:
I love it.
Chris Barker:
Okay, before we get to the building the studio, briefly, let's talk about, you know, how you came to be the music songwriting powerhouse that you are. Where did it all start? Did it start with an instrument or did it start with a computer?
Fraser T Smith:
It started with the piano in my nan's house and south London years and years and years ago when I was very, very small, just found myself gravitating towards this piano as the parents were sort of talking and got kind of boring. You know, when you're father sex. I just found myself getting lost in the, in the piano keyboard, which I still do. You know what I mean? I think I played piano on quite a few records and I think because of that people expect me to be like, I don't know, like a grade eight, but piano player, but I'm definitely not. And, you know, I'll be writing a song and people say singers will go, can we just move it down a semitone? And I'm like, maybe should we have a coffee or go for lunch? Maybe you go for lunch. And I'll just work that out while you. You know.
Chris Barker:
So you can't sight read music or read music?
Fraser T Smith:
No, I can't. But I sort of. I think I've thought about this long and hard, and I've beaten myself up for many years about not reading music. And I actually just think the keyboard, for me, is meant to be this sort of thing. I don't quite understand still, but just I find stuff on it that I like and I do know the names of the chords. I'm not gonna say I'm that sort of out in the wilderness, but, yeah. So I just used to experiment when I was a kid and then I got. Bought a guitar and then was a musician for many years, touring with artists like Rick Waitman and Craig David on guitar.
Chris Barker:
What a combo.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, we're not together quite good.
Will Betts:
I might want to hear.
Fraser T Smith:
So progressive garage two step. Yeah, yeah. Could be cool. So it just had a very wide grounding in music, you know, going into studios and having to play loads of different styles and guitar and then touring with lots of different people. So I had the sort of musical apprenticeship, was as a musician, but then I always had bands and I was always the guy to, I think, guitar players, probably. I feel like a. Sometimes more often than not, I'd say, the closest musician to the singer, you know. So you'd be like, how you feel? You know, should we write a song? And I'll come up with the chords and don't worry.
Fraser T Smith:
You do your thing, you come up with the lyrics, and I'll show this to the band and would be that sort of dynamic. So I'd always be doing that, I think, sort of assuming the role of a producer through being the kind of band leader, I guess, in any one of the many bands I was in. And so then when I was in the studio for one of the many guitar sessions that I'd be asked to do, it would be great because I'd get to sort of access to the engineers. So when everyone used to leave, you know, I'd go like, who are the guys sitting at the back? They're not the artists. And they say, oh, one's the producer and one's like, the songwriter. And I was like, where are the artists? And they're not here. I was like, that seems so weird, because I always just thought everyone was like, joni Mitchell. That used to, just as an artist, you'd always produce yourself.
Fraser T Smith:
And it was like, no, it doesn't work like that. So that became, like, blew my mind. And then the cogs started going in my brain. I thought, actually, wow, I could be a commercial songwriter and a commercial producer. I could kind of do this whole thing. So then I started on that journey and that's been amazing, you know, make it sound like it's five minutes. It's like 20 years of doing that. But it's so wonderful because I still get to play and I get to play music as a musician.
Chris Barker:
So was it on the record? Did it feel really gradual and natural then? Or was there one recording session or moment where it was like, okay, now I'm the producer songwriter version of me? Like, it's happened?
Fraser T Smith:
Well, I guess the crossover period was working on a track called can't be messing around on Craig David's first record, you know, and it's funny, like, I don't think anyone could have anticipated how big that record would be. Craig came to me after having worked predominantly with Mark Hill on that record in Mark's studio in Southampton. And bowler counts, you know, it's quite, quite rundown, super vibey. And I had a studio that was not that run down, but it wasn't my studio. I was sharing it with a friend of mine, but the gear was sort of dotted about. And I remember just in those days, I mean, it makes me sound like I'm 110, but I'm not that old, I assure you. But we were recording things to Tascam J 88. And I think Cubase at the time was we were triggering stuff on my MPC, aka MPC 2000, and it was just really kind of.
Fraser T Smith:
So making can't be messing around on this record was very sort of ramshackle way of doing it. And then you look back and this record sold, like, millions of albums all around the world, you know, but it's kind of. I think it was a good introduction because it wasn't like I cut my cloth in Abbey Road or air studios or whatever. So I was very much from, like, a bedroom type of scenario where you do everything, you know, as a producer, where you play and you. So I didn't.
Chris Barker:
That would have worked for Craig David at the time as well. Coming from 100%, from the artful Dodger.
Fraser T Smith:
Style studio to 100 was very similar.
Chris Barker:
You don't want to go straight to Abbey Road after that, it would be like, no, strange.
Fraser T Smith:
I sort of then for creating anyway, 100%. So then I moved my studio into my flat in Acton, and that's when I met Kano and started working with Canaan. He approached me initially as a guitar player, and then we really just hit it off and. And I was doing more and more production. So I guess that the album that had the first tracks on in bulk, I guess, was Cana's first album, which was amazing because the styles on that was so different. Songs that signs in life and typical me and nobody don't dance no more. It's called that just in case. I know you're thinking about the grammar, but it's called nobody don't dance no more.
Fraser T Smith:
I know. It's a dramatic.
Chris Barker:
I wasn't thinking about grammar, you know, challenging my grammar. Lives in Leeds.
Fraser T Smith:
How is she?
Chris Barker:
Oh, my God.
Fraser T Smith:
Sending my love.
Chris Barker:
Let's kick off the build. Where in the world would you have your dream studio, if you could, and why?
Fraser T Smith:
The dream studio is overlooking Lake Garda in Italy, in an area that. I mean, but this is a dream, so anything you want in here, right? So it's in an uninhabited area of Lake Garda. There's obviously, Lake garda is quite popular, but it would have to be in an area where there's a kind of forest, and the forest overlooks the lake.
Chris Barker:
A George Clooney free zone.
Fraser T Smith:
A George Clooney free zone, although there would be Nespresso museum, which is my luxury.
Chris Barker:
So why Lake Garda, then, is somewhere you visited and just stunning.
Fraser T Smith:
I just love it. I love Italy. I love italian people. I love culture. I love the art. I love the music. I love the coffee. I love the food.
Fraser T Smith:
You know, it's just. It's. I've toured Italy, and we have some friends that live in Florence, and we go and visit them from time to time. I just love it. You know, the thing is attention to detail. Every small detail, which I think resonates maybe with my personality. Hopefully, I would make this studio, as my current studio set up, where hopefully people would say. I think people do say that the small details are really important, you know, so that when artists come, there's things that artists need all over the place.
Fraser T Smith:
It's well stocked.
Chris Barker:
Are you thinking it's residential, or is this something that could be.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, I think a lot of sustainable, maybe reclaimed palettes. We've got a barn adjoining our current studio, which is made from that, and it seems to sound really good. And I think that that means that it would be sustainable, which would be important to build something in the forest, but also lots of glass so that we had lots of natural light coming in.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Fraser T Smith:
Very important.
Chris Barker:
And the vibe is very calm, very kind of homely. Is it not corporate?
Fraser T Smith:
No, no, no. Not corporate at all. Very homely. Lots of kind of jungle prints on the wallpaper, you know, very homely.
Chris Barker:
William Morris style.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, absolutely. Ralph Lauren. Super homely, but professional. And sort of clean lines and beautifully sort of put together in terms of, like, the architecture of it. So lots of nice pieces of art. But I mean, imagine like, a mezzanine coming back. Maybe the bar area above. So the main control room.
Fraser T Smith:
Control area where you'd have. Do I get. Do you use the speaker? Is that one of the six? That is one of the six. Sugar. Okay, well, we'll get to that. The speakers, which we'll talk about in a minute, would be the left and right. You imagine huge pane of glass overlooking Lake Gaza. Look behind you.
Fraser T Smith:
You've got all the instruments set up, and then you have a mezzanine area where it's like a chill out, sort.
Chris Barker:
Of real world esque ish.
Fraser T Smith:
I guess so, yeah. Yeah.
Will Betts:
Nice.
Fraser T Smith:
Does that. I'm a painting the picture.
Chris Barker:
Yes, we've got.
Fraser T Smith:
Perfect. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Very, very well.
Fraser T Smith:
Vesper just parked outside to take two vespas to take me and the artist I'm working with to a local restaurant.
Chris Barker:
Coffee? Yeah, love it. Okay, that's locked in. It's in the system. It's in the order.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Now we'll move on to the three free items that everybody gets to choose, which is a computer, an interface, and a daw. What are your choices here? Kind of like the basics. The fundamentals.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, the one daw.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. I mean, well, you can have another one, but it'll come out of your six items later on.
Fraser T Smith:
Okay, this is a free one. Ableton live twelve.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Fraser T Smith:
I think in recent years, I've always used Ableton with Pro tools, and I love pro tools, but if I had to take one now, it's really hard because I use pro tools every day. But I think I would. I would commit to the workflow in Ableton, bearing in mind I record a lot of live instruments, but I think, you know, the comping tracks now and the playlists are really, really good on it. And I just think for me, Ableton and enables me to create really quickly, you can loop stuff. You know, you can add plugins without it sort of glitching and losing the beat and all those kind of things that for whatever reason, you know, pro tools are amazing, but it's like a tape machine for me. And I know you can do loads of stuff with the new sketchpad thing. That's incredible.
Chris Barker:
But you essentially see Ableton as a bit more of an idea generating tool than a creative tool, which I think.
Fraser T Smith:
For me is everything but my latest future utopia record. Just to give that a shameless plug, which we can. But it's related out on July 12, all good record shops near you. We did that all in Ableton, which is interesting. Scott, my engineer, and myself, usually, I'll usually start an engineer idea in Ableton, and then we'll port it across to boatles, which is lovely. And I love doing that. But we ended up just staying in Ableton because so many of the chains that we had. I don't know, it can sometimes sound and feel a bit different when you bounce stuff out and then you're just the bussing, the way that it all comes together.
Chris Barker:
So was that right to the end?
Fraser T Smith:
Right to the end. And then we mastered it.
Chris Barker:
It was mixed.
Fraser T Smith:
Mixed and mastered, yeah. Wow. Which I think is really cool.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, very cool. Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
So. So Ableton would be the daw.
Chris Barker:
Good choice or of choice computer, I guess. Mac. PC. Atari.
Fraser T Smith:
No, like it. I mean, you wouldn't be able to put Ableton on Atari, sadly.
Chris Barker:
Does that have to all work together? Does it just have the box of Ableton?
Fraser T Smith:
Brilliant. Yes, we could. I guess you'd have the standalone push, could be one of your other items, and then you could be like complete standalone studio, which would be pretty cool. But I'm just gonna go the trodden path of a Mac cheese grater going for it. Mac.
Chris Barker:
Yep.
Fraser T Smith:
What was the other three?
Chris Barker:
An audio interface.
Fraser T Smith:
Audio interface.
Chris Barker:
Fantasy.
Fraser T Smith:
So fantasy, you see, I've been down the fantasy road, which is things like prisms and which are fantastic. I'm with a uad Apollo now. And it just, like, what I love is that it just, it's. Everyone has them there. So ubiquitous. Mm hmm. So it kind of interfaces with lots of different. Different.
Chris Barker:
So what, we're going for the x eight p. The preamp one or could.
Fraser T Smith:
I go for an x six? Can I only have one?
Will Betts:
Can only have one.
Fraser T Smith:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
One interface.
Fraser T Smith:
X 16, I think. X 16, yeah.
Chris Barker:
With no pres.
Fraser T Smith:
Um, it would have to have the Prius.
Chris Barker:
Well, it doesn't have to.
Fraser T Smith:
I'd like it to.
Chris Barker:
Well, you can have flirty that. I've never flirted over preamps before. Don't lie. Don't lie.
Fraser T Smith:
It's a bit flirty because I'm trying to not use up my. Yeah, I know.
Chris Barker:
That's sugar.
Will Betts:
Okay, well, you can have the. The preamps on the x eight p.
Fraser T Smith:
So there aren't the preamps on the x 16?
Will Betts:
No preamps on the x 16.
Fraser T Smith:
Shit. Will have to be the x eight then. Okay. With how many preamps that come with eight. Okay, cool. Yeah, that's great. Heaps. That's great.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, I do. I love the U eight. I love all the universal audio stuff. But we do have a external clock, which. In the studio, which is not going to be one of my six. But it's.
Chris Barker:
It's worth a mention, though. What did your clock with?
Fraser T Smith:
That's a good point. Which clock is it? I'm sounding like not the guy I thought I was. I thought I was way more tacky. But I think in recent years, I've just. It's brown. Does that help? Just put.
Chris Barker:
It's brown.
Fraser T Smith:
Brown.
Will Betts:
Brown clock.
Fraser T Smith:
It's a weird google, but your grandma's house. Yeah, exactly. It's got a funny name. It's part of the furniture almost.
Chris Barker:
Things that aren't. Sorry. Anybody listening I just overlooked Will Google Brown clock and then be surprised when actual. Just clocks that are brown appeared in Google.
Will Betts:
Unbelievable. Okay.
Chris Barker:
Well, that brings us on now to the meat.
Will Betts:
The meat.
Chris Barker:
The main clock.
Fraser T Smith:
The big six.
Will Betts:
The big six.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, the big six. Okay, so set up to recall, we've got our eight preamps, we've got a great computer, we've got a great, great.
Chris Barker:
Interface, and a great location.
Will Betts:
Super location.
Chris Barker:
So what's your item number one.
Fraser T Smith:
Now, I'm assuming. I mean, you guys are quite hard. I'm assuming that a pair of speakers is one. I mean, don't.
Will Betts:
Yeah, we wouldn't go.
Fraser T Smith:
The weird thing, you know, sometimes you look at the.
Chris Barker:
Sell them individually. Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
Sometimes they're selling speakers individually. I don't know.
Chris Barker:
I guess around. But what I don't like is the. It's not consistent. It's not even consistent on the same shop.
Will Betts:
No, that's true. And they literally just bought a genelec. A single genelec speaker.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Thinking it was the price for two.
Fraser T Smith:
Oh, no. And you're going to get that TPG you're going to turn off, which is going to be in mono.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
Could work. Could work. Maybe we'll go back to the. To the old school days. My speakers would be the barefoot. Which barefoots would they be? They would be the biggest.
Chris Barker:
Meaning.
Fraser T Smith:
No, not the biggest ones.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Fraser T Smith:
Because I wouldn't want to use up two credits on some. I think I'd be good on the micro mains.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
Okay, good choice.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, yeah. Which I've got two pairs in my current studio and I love them.
Will Betts:
And that's not a small speaker either.
Fraser T Smith:
It's not a small speaker. I think it fits.
Will Betts:
And are they the ones with the passive radiators on the side?
Fraser T Smith:
Yes, as well. Okay. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Solve size of the focal. Six, twin six b. Those ones. Right. Or are they bigger than those?
Fraser T Smith:
They're.
Will Betts:
Show us with your hands.
Fraser T Smith:
Well, they're about that big.
Chris Barker:
Oh, they're bigger.
Will Betts:
Okay, so they're like two foot. Two foot tall, so.
Chris Barker:
Right.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Oh, anybody watching and listening. So they're 11,000 pounds.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
They're not cheap. They're meaty. Meaty speakers. Proper fantasy speakers.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. Good. They sound great. I love the way they sound. And they got loads of low end.
Chris Barker:
Took a while for them to get popular this side. They were huge in America, that brand.
Fraser T Smith:
Barefoot. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So them in like, when, when focal was sort of getting really, really popular here, they were the kind of us choice. You get studios and they'd be the equivalent. This is like ten years ago when I used to travel around doing that kind of stuff. But, like, now they seem to have stuck here as well. You see them a lot more. Is it an american brand?
Will Betts:
Is an american brand.
Chris Barker:
That's probably why then. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay.
Will Betts:
Where did you come across them then? What was the story of you?
Fraser T Smith:
When I moved into my current studio, which is out in the country, I wanted to get some speakers that could translate into different areas because I've got a production rig, but I've also got where the main, where the desk is and I've got atcs as the main monitors and then the barefoots. And I just thought I'd try them and they sound brilliant. I've had genelecs before. It's great. And the genelettes I've had before have been tuned to the room, I think, is the way you.
Will Betts:
Oh, yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
Pronounce it. Yeah. Which is great as well. I think it's like what you're used to. I don't think there's such a thing as like, I mean, there's obviously you want, you want something that sounds good. But if you're referencing stuff all the time, you just get to know them, don't you? And all speakers have their pros and cons. I just, I like the ways these sound. It's weird.
Fraser T Smith:
You know, people, for years, you know, people were on the Yamaha and s ten s. And I was like, why would you put yourself through? I mean, I know you say you can hear everything, but they just don't sound great. And of course, you know, I had some. I was just thinking, but I just want to be sound. I want things to sound nice, you know? And that's. Yeah. That's not to over flatter the things, because I'll always reference. You know, you have that sort of soul crushing moment where you think everything's sounding great and you're in the room, and then you put a reference track in that's already massive and been mastered, and you're like, God, everything's so quiet and, like, sounds dull or, you know, whatever.
Fraser T Smith:
But then that's part of the game, isn't it? Yeah.
Will Betts:
So do you think that comes from your background in writing rather than coming from a background in engineering that you're thinking in terms of. You want it to be a fun experience rather than wanting it to be necessarily the most clinically accurate representation of what you're listening to? Is there an element of that?
Fraser T Smith:
I think there's an element of that. You know, when you're writing songs and you also producing, you want to just. You'll be listening to stuff. That's. That's fine. I mean, it would also not. Yeah, I don't want it to be unrepresentative of what I'm putting in and what. Because everything's.
Fraser T Smith:
That's really important, but I just think that when, you know, what the speakers are doing, that's more important to me, you know? Then, like I said, accuracy is, in some ways, is relative in. In some ways, you know? So I think it's you. Yeah, I think all the big names, they're accurate, but they impart a sonic. Something.
Will Betts:
Characteristic.
Fraser T Smith:
Characteristic. Which is, you know, everyone's gonna like it's taste, you know? Okay, interesting.
Chris Barker:
Locked in, locked in, locked in. Item number two.
Fraser T Smith:
Item number two is a akai MPC 4000 drum machine. Now, there have been many iterations of the many iterations.
Chris Barker:
So 2000 with Craig David, was it?
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, 2000. I just can't get away from this. I almost. I really try. I love Akai, and I love. You know, I've got a akai MPC X. I've got MPC live, and I love them in all of their fashion. The MPC live of the speaker.
Fraser T Smith:
It's just sounds crazy, but, you know, we were in the tour bus before Christmas, and we'd have beat club where we'd all. We'd all come up with a beat and then present it to each other, you know, the speaker and the band. Yeah. Just. It's so cool. And the MPC action, all the things you can do with it. Phenomenal. But I don't know, when it comes down to it, I'm just straight back to that, to the 4000.
Fraser T Smith:
And the resolution on the screen. The screen is small. There's no reason for me to go back to it other than what is it? It just is home to me. And I've just made so many records on an MPC 4000. I'm not even trying to be cool in old school and wearing my cap back to front or doing any of that stuff. I really not. You know, and I'm not. I'm trying to hear it in terms of, like, the swing on the MPC X is amazing.
Fraser T Smith:
I'm not that guy either. That will get into heated debates about swing from an MPC 60 to a. You know nothing about that. But I just. If I've got that, I just know I'm. I'm good because you know it so.
Will Betts:
Well and you can just get to where you want to go or.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it's funny that that's where it stopped because you went. So you've been 2000 and then it got to that and you've tried all the.
Fraser T Smith:
But, yeah, I think the difference between the 2000 4000 in terms of MIDi ins and outs. There's more midi ins and outs. Right. Okay.
Chris Barker:
So you're triggering all this stuff with it.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, I just feel like I can come up with something that's just, for me, feels really engaging and great and something that I would really want to continue with less options. I think that's maybe the thing. Sometimes when you sit down at the drum machine to have all these options of things you can do.
Chris Barker:
So you sampling into it at all the 4000. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
Okay. Yeah. And it's limited, but I do think that that's, you know, but like, a guitar is limited.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
As opposed to a guitar synthetic, you know, but I think that, you know, all instruments have their limitations, but what they do, if you pick the right instruments, what they do is really good at the one particular thing. And I think that's great. And I think then you can, for me, then starting in that way with limitations, and then you get into the world of Ableton, which is limitless. Really.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, that's. That's. You're in a different headspace, but I think from the. The beginning.
Chris Barker:
So is that where it starts? Would you say? You would. You would start, especially in the forever studio. But, you know, in your normal day to day. Would you start ideas there and then go to Ableton?
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
So that's your main hope.
Fraser T Smith:
That's the main hub. And I think for me as well, the limitations of having the drum machine. But also a maybe some module and a synth, you know. So you've got currently. What do I have? I have a oberheim Oba X as one input and a moog voyager on another. So essentially you've got drums, a bassline or a lead synth. I mean, bassline, really, from the Moog Voyager. And then one part from the ova X bones of a track.
Chris Barker:
Straight away.
Fraser T Smith:
They're quite minimalist like that, you know? I know.
Chris Barker:
Well, it's that old phrase, if you can't get something good from that.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
It's not a good idea. That's the bones of most music there.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. And I think then you can get into the layers within Ableton. It's more sound design at that point. I mean, obviously, I will also start lots of tracks within Ableton. And that's fantastic. But that's my favorite way of making music. I think the way that the sequencer locks in the other two things that. Well, in my case, the Voyager and the Oberheim.
Fraser T Smith:
It's just so tight and it just feels like it. For me, that rhythmic dependability is really important to start things off.
Chris Barker:
So that is what somebody. Well, a lot of people say about those old archives. Those are that midi timing thing. And again, without going too nerdy about it, people have said that it isn't translated into the modern ones. But I don't know, is there an.
Will Betts:
Element of that that you don't get any of the same latency that you might through 100%?
Fraser T Smith:
Right. Okay. Yeah, I know. Like, again, I know the machine ni. Machine is great. But whenever I played it, even on 64 samples. I don't know, it just didn't have that. That I was just used to.
Fraser T Smith:
And that's, you know, maybe a failing on my behalf. Definitely not failing with native instruments. Their stuff's amazing, but just something that I could feel and, you know, I mean, I would get nerdy on, say, like, the pads are just the pads on a 4000 compared to even NBC X. Or something about. That's the build quality. It's like a tank. That's a great way to put it in hitting stuff. Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
The MPC X is built brilliantly. But the 4000, I think it's better built. It's better just going nowhere.
Chris Barker:
They were built with more performance in mind, I think. Whereas now it sort of feels like they're built for programming a little bit.
Fraser T Smith:
I don't know.
Will Betts:
Well, on the MPCX, don't the pads.
Fraser T Smith:
Light up as well? Is that the.
Will Betts:
Yeah, but then on 4000, were they just gray? Yeah, classic gray ones.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. So you have to go through and something you can't remember, which is half the thing, it's half the. You know, and you're looking into the screen and some of the times the screen's got lines on it because that's what happens after you leave it on for too long and just all these sort of crazy things. But it's just. It's great. You know, I think it's.
Chris Barker:
It's funny how it sort of fetishizes all of the problems, but it's kind of like that.
Fraser T Smith:
No, I'm saying that. I'm saying that. I'm trying to. I'm not fetishizing it. I'm, like, saying I should be on the NBC. I mean, everything else in my life is designed to be kind of easy. I mean, I've had. I've had old cars and, like, me and old cars just did not get on.
Fraser T Smith:
And I've had cars falling in love, you know, and be like, no, this has got to go. I can't, like, where's the heater? The heater's not working. No power steering. What's that about? Things like that. So it's not. It's not about that, but it's. Yeah, just. They sound brilliant.
Fraser T Smith:
Well, they sound brilliant to me, so.
Chris Barker:
Well, that's in and we move on.
Fraser T Smith:
That's locked in. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Two.
Fraser T Smith:
Two.
Chris Barker:
Done. Item number three.
Fraser T Smith:
Item number three is a Gibson hummingbird acoustic guitar.
Will Betts:
Lovely.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. I've had.
Chris Barker:
Any particular year, any stolen from any particular artist or era?
Fraser T Smith:
Something. Something I guess in the. In the seventies would be really good. And I don't even know whether that's the revered decade of Gibson hummingbirds, to be honest. I've got one that would be our.
Chris Barker:
Colleagues on guitar.com that would.
Will Betts:
They would know the answer to that.
Fraser T Smith:
The ones. But I've got a. I think it's pretty standard Gibson hummingbird, and I just.
Chris Barker:
When did you get yours?
Fraser T Smith:
About three years ago. Okay.
Chris Barker:
Oh, so quite new.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. I absolutely love it. It just resonates the sound of it. So warm. It records so well. I'm just. Just in love with that guitar. And did you have to play a few or like.
Fraser T Smith:
No.
Chris Barker:
People say the real nerdy guitar guys, I don't know. So that different hummingbirds will sound different.
Will Betts:
Yeah, like real hummingbirds.
Fraser T Smith:
Each one's different. Yeah, I love that. No, I just.
Chris Barker:
First one you tried, that was the one.
Fraser T Smith:
I've got some great friends over at Gibson and they sent one over for me to try and I was just like, I love it. Can I buy it? It was just. Yeah, simple. I don't know. I'm very. I'm not nerdy in that respect. If I like something, I just go for it. It just feels good.
Fraser T Smith:
And that's very sort of visceral in terms of how instruments feel. And I think when something's good, it's. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Seventies. One that you've got up there looks very nice.
Will Betts:
So what sort of finish you want to. Sunburst or natural?
Fraser T Smith:
Sunburst. Sunburst, yeah. Lovely.
Will Betts:
And in terms of the breakdown of how you start tracks, because you say that, you know, the MPC is having the limitation of that.
Fraser T Smith:
What's that?
Will Betts:
Split between starting on a guitar, starting on piano, starting on the MPC?
Fraser T Smith:
What's that? It could be any of the above.
Will Betts:
Just whatever takes you fancy, that particular moment or whatever.
Fraser T Smith:
Whatever the song is going to require. Whatever kind of. Whatever kind of theme.
Chris Barker:
So will that dictate depending on the artist?
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, 100%. And if I'm writing for myself, then depending on what kind of. Kind of song. But I think the. The MPC is such a mainstay for me in terms of the drums have always come from that. The drums are really important to me.
Chris Barker:
Are there any counters to that story? Like, as in, there's some songs that you hear that were written on piano and you think, how is that written on piano? Like, the end product is nothing.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
One I always think of is Andrew WK's party hard was apparently written on piano.
Fraser T Smith:
Oh, really? What was it?
Chris Barker:
Which is so straight up like heavy rock.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
It doesn't seem like you can imagine writing that song on piano.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, no, I'm. I guess with the sort of production side in my head, I'm thinking the kind of song. Yeah. Right. And I think that if. If I'm working on a particular song, I think the piano just brings out so many different emotions as. As certain synths do. And I think that you're going down that road and then if it's not working, you're trying, like, a different vibe.
Fraser T Smith:
You'd come off that. I would come off that, yeah. I was trying to think if there's any examples I have of songs that were, you know, made their way funny.
Chris Barker:
Kano record written on acoustic guitar.
Fraser T Smith:
Finger picked.
Will Betts:
He's a guitarist, so that might make sense.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. Yeah. No, it's pretty much that. Typical me was electric guitar. And. Yeah, I think Kano would, if I was starting to play a song that wasn't resonating, he'd be like, yeah, put that down immediately.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it kind of.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Ends quite quickly.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Okay, so the Gibson is in.
Fraser T Smith:
Hmm. Three. It's really locked. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Three locked. Three to go.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. Okay. Um. A. This is a big one. We're gonna have SpaceX fantasy, right?
Chris Barker:
Yeah. I thought you meant big ones.
Fraser T Smith:
In what, emotionally?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, mostly. Like.
Fraser T Smith:
This is, um. This is a Steinway piano. Steinway model B, which would be restored by a company called piano restorations, who are friends of mine. That's a great family owned business.
Chris Barker:
Can you answer our questions that we had on a previous. I thought Danny went up. I thought Dee was the only one. So there's a b.
Fraser T Smith:
There are others. Yeah, there's a b. Oh, yeah, there's an a.
Chris Barker:
What's the name? Conventions. Well, how's it relate to the largest.
Fraser T Smith:
D is the concert ground. It's a sizing.
Chris Barker:
It's a sizing.
Will Betts:
So how big is the b, then, compared to a d?
Fraser T Smith:
A b is smaller. Definitely smaller. To me, it's not a baby grand, although I don't know what the official thing is. But. But I've just taken ownership of this piano, which is why I would. I would ask for. And it'd be lovely to get another one because I'm assuming that this would be like a second studio. It's an edition, isn't it? Forever studio.
Chris Barker:
No.
Will Betts:
You gotta just uproot your entire.
Fraser T Smith:
No, it's fine. It's fine. It'll still be the Steinway model B.
Chris Barker:
I've been educated on this now. I'm glad we found out. We had this question. We were riffing on the numbers and what that meant just a few episodes ago.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, it's.
Chris Barker:
Oh, I see. Yeah, it's kind of a baby grand, I would call that, but I don't know.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. Child. Well, adolescent toddler. Than a child toddler. Yeah. I've seen other baby grants, and they're a lot smaller. I don't know. It seems to be like a gram.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, it's pretty. It's pretty big. But, you know, the d is the concert. It's the. The. You know, you'd need to be able to play some Chopin to take ownership of that, which I definitely can't. So that's the prerequisite in your model b?
Chris Barker:
That's what they do in the piano shops, isn't it?
Fraser T Smith:
Play c to f. This isn't for you. Yeah, get out.
Will Betts:
It's like no stairway, no Chopin, no piano.
Chris Barker:
Okay, fair. And have you got it in black in this wood finish?
Fraser T Smith:
I've got it in a mahogany.
Chris Barker:
That's the one we're looking at right now.
Fraser T Smith:
Beautiful.
Chris Barker:
Google.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, it's beautiful. It's beautiful. The low end on it is just. And the low end is so deep and warm and rich and the high end is so sweet. It's unbelievable. And this. Yeah. Would have to come from piano restorations, who are just a fantastic family owned business.
Fraser T Smith:
Paul Leverett and his father. His father is, I think, in his mid eighties and is still working there every day. His father used to import bluehner grand pianos in the sixties and seventies, so was importing these pianos for let it be Beatles in the abbey road, and would come in and then tune them. And yet he is still around doing whatever you do to restore a piano, but literally going into the. To the minutiae of filing down whatever you have to file that, you know, tiny. And he's still there doing it. And his son Paul has now taken over the, you know, running with it as well, so that his father is still working. And it's just fantastic.
Fraser T Smith:
And this piano, I don't know, it's just. To bring things back to life is fantastic, you know.
Chris Barker:
Has that made it onto any records? Is it on the future utopia?
Fraser T Smith:
There's. No. There is a little bit, but it's not just a tiny bit, but there's. It's on a snow patrol album. Okay. I've recently finished, which I'm very proud of everyone that comes just. Just.
Chris Barker:
Is that out yet?
Fraser T Smith:
Absolutely loves to hear that. No, it's not.
Chris Barker:
No. So when that comes out, that'll be that piano sound.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. There's a great young artist called be in her business who. We did a song called me against my head. And the first song, literally, I'd had the piano like a week and wrote the song on piano.
Chris Barker:
So it's all, when you get something, does the songs come out of you?
Fraser T Smith:
I've read a lot about Johnny Maher because I'm a Smith's fanatic and I love Johnny Ma. And, you know, I've got this book called Johnny Maher's guitars and he says all these wonderful stories about these amazing guitars, this collection he's got. And he was like, yeah, this song, this guitar had a lot of songs in it. And I bought this in New York.
Chris Barker:
It's a great phrase. I heard him on the radio.
Fraser T Smith:
Queen is dead. Just came out of it. You know, I just love the guitar.
Chris Barker:
Had a lot of songs.
Fraser T Smith:
Almost taking away his genius, you know, it's. That was the guitar did it, not me, you know, but I love that. Yeah, I love that. And I. Yeah, I feel like this piano's got a lot of songs. Songs in it, so. Love it.
Chris Barker:
Two more left.
Will Betts:
Two more left.
Chris Barker:
We're gonna need something to record this Gibson and this piano whiz.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, we are. You've given me a hint, then. Because, to be honest, I hadn't really thought this through in that. In that way.
Chris Barker:
We try and help.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
But it's six for a reason. It's meant to be a challenge.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, no, that's good. So my. My microphone choice. It's gonna be the Manley Gold.
Chris Barker:
Okay, nice.
Fraser T Smith:
I love this mic so much.
Chris Barker:
I don't think that's been chosen before.
Fraser T Smith:
No, that's good. Like. Yeah, like to be a.
Chris Barker:
It is nice.
Fraser T Smith:
A leader of Trent, trendsetter, trailblazer.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Why the manly gold?
Fraser T Smith:
What's your history with it? My history is I've had it for about two years, and I've had wonder audio, CM seven, fantastic. The Sony C 800 G, which is an amazing mic. Not amazing on everybody, but it's on when you get the right rapper or singer on it. It's really, really great. Manly to me.
Chris Barker:
Can you qualify what that is like between the right person, like somebody's tone of voice, would they have in their voice for you to go. Their voice is going to work great on this mic.
Fraser T Smith:
I think you just have to try it. There's certain frequencies that it picks out that can be.
Chris Barker:
You couldn't tell from somebody singing generally. You would have to just have it.
Fraser T Smith:
You'd have to have. Yeah, I would have to have them. For them to record in the booth. And sometimes you just know. It's just. It's a mid, like a two k thing that it pulls up a lot. It's not great. But then you.
Fraser T Smith:
Another rapper or singer will walk in and it'll just be like a dream.
Chris Barker:
That'll be what they need to.
Fraser T Smith:
But I'm not like a. Personally, everyone's different, but when artists are singing, all manner of artists or even myself, you just want to get on with it. And there isn't that time to be like, let's just test four mics while you warm up. It never has happened, and I can't imagine a situation where it would, unless.
Chris Barker:
You, in the eighties or maybe.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, I just.
Chris Barker:
Heady music.
Will Betts:
If you're working for a music production magazine, maybe.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Oh, yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
Or another producer or something recording another producer that sang, maybe you'd be like, let's get the, you know, the revered sound or whatever. But, yeah. So for me, the, the manly. Is like a swiss army knife, but it's, it's like a swiss army knife made of gold because it's swiss army knife.
Chris Barker:
You could sort of go, which is also very swiss.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. You could say, sort of say jack of all trades, master of none, but it's like jack of all trades, master of all. I mean, Scott and my engineer, we're like, should we use the man? Yeah. Now it's got to the point where it's, anyone can go on it and it's, they sound incredible. From Lewis Capaldi to Gary Lightbody. Very different singers, too, being her business, to Avellino the rapper. You know, just, just, it's, it just whether it just works with our vocal chain or.
Chris Barker:
And still good for your piano and your guitar recording as well, I think.
Fraser T Smith:
I've never used it on piano, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't. But we used it on guitar. It sounds amazing.
Chris Barker:
It looks amazing.
Will Betts:
And you've used it with the hummingbird.
Fraser T Smith:
Have you as well? Oh, yeah. Incredible. Yeah. Incredible.
Will Betts:
And so what specific records can we hear that vocal sound on? You said Lewis Capaldi. Is there a specific record?
Fraser T Smith:
Lewis Capaldi songs that we did aren't out yet, so. Well, being a business, there's some NIA smith stuff which is going to come out a lot of the new snow patrol album. Yeah. So lots of different opportunities to hear that.
Chris Barker:
So still quite a relatively recent purchase for you, then?
Fraser T Smith:
A couple of years.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
They just, it's just set up and, you know, ready to go.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Locked in. Final item before we have, then we'll have a quick, then we'll have a quick rundown for any last minute changes and then we'll go on to your luxury item before we close the show. So item number six.
Fraser T Smith:
Item number six. I'm just, I'm just now going through the chains. I should have thought this through a little more deeply because. So we're, we're going to the mic pre's. Okay. No, it's cool because the universal audio stuff we can compress on the way in. We've got good options there because we have software. Right.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You get what comes with the card? Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
Okay. That's good. So we've got, you don't get the whole.
Will Betts:
You don't get the whole bundle of uad stuff. I don't want to have to hit.
Fraser T Smith:
You with the air, but.
Will Betts:
Yeah, anything that it comes with when you buy it.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. So you'd have an 1170. You'd have nice. You get some options. Yeah. Did I get a MIDI keyboard? No, you guys, I don't know. That's. That feels like that would.
Chris Barker:
What, are you trying to hack it?
Fraser T Smith:
I'm not trying to hack it.
Will Betts:
There are ways you could hack it.
Fraser T Smith:
There are ways you can hack it.
Will Betts:
You do have a keyboard there.
Fraser T Smith:
You do.
Will Betts:
I mean, you have a piano, so that's not.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, I mean, you could replace.
Fraser T Smith:
I'm gonna put a midi retrofit thing on a Steinway. I don't know, I just didn't.
Chris Barker:
Or a clavinova, is it?
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well, I am gonna go for a Dave Smith prophet six.
Chris Barker:
Can't upsell dreams to her.
Will Betts:
To a profit. Ten.
Fraser T Smith:
No, I had a prophet twelve. I didn't like it as much as six. Really? What is it about the prophet six? Then again, immediacy is quite. Yeah, maybe I need to develop some more patience. Absolutely not.
Chris Barker:
No, I won't hear of it. Think things are going fine.
Fraser T Smith:
Stick with.
Will Betts:
Don't mess with the formula phrase.
Chris Barker:
Formula is good. It's doing well.
Fraser T Smith:
It's quite simple, isn't it? You can make sounds on it really easily. The effects are just right there on the top right hand corner. It just, it.
Chris Barker:
This is a bit of a hack because then you get your MiDi keyboard.
Fraser T Smith:
You get your midi turf. That's. That was the bit of the hack.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Have you got one then? You've got a six, actually.
Fraser T Smith:
Not at the minute, interestingly. But I'm gonna get one again. I've had one sold one. I tend to. Sounds crazy, but I tend to buy equipment for certain projects and, I don't know, I just get bored of them and then regret it. I think I've had like three manly massive passives in my life. I'm currently out of a. I've got one wife who I love, and I hope she feels the same.
Fraser T Smith:
I think she does. I'm going to be with her forever, you know, but I'm almost like with, with gear, I'm almost, you know, like I've got six x y's, I've ever cat, three, I've ever cad. You know, I love you, I hate you. You're not giving me the sound I want. You're going on reverb or, you know, I don't know. A bit of a cad. I'm not. I'm a minimalist.
Fraser T Smith:
I'm a minimalist.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
I don't like having stuff that is sat around, but.
Chris Barker:
And I guess if you've got songs out of equipment, like, as we said with the guitar, if you've got songs out of it for a particular project, it feels like it's done and it's got its value there. If you've.
Fraser T Smith:
It has.
Chris Barker:
If it's on records, it's on recordings, then you know. And.
Fraser T Smith:
And I feel like I'd like other people to use it as well. I just. I'm not. I'm not a collector, but I do. I worked with Damon Orban and gorillas once. Damon's got it really sussed because he's got so much equipment. But when you go into the studio, it's relatively minimal. But he'll.
Fraser T Smith:
Whether he decides or he's engineer, will just decide the pieces that are set up.
Chris Barker:
Yes.
Fraser T Smith:
So you go in and there's like. That's wicked, that two synths and a. And then if it's not, it's like.
Chris Barker:
A store cupboard full of toys, you know, which is. I think, yeah, that is a nice way to do it.
Fraser T Smith:
That's a good way of not being like. Like me. Like, shit. I wish I hadn't sold the CS 80. I've never had one of those.
Chris Barker:
But there's got to be something that you would never sell. Is there anything in your. In your gear hoard at the moment that you would never get rid of?
Fraser T Smith:
That's a question that's been asked. Could I give you a few? I'm not a hoarder. So there's a Tom Anderson electric guitar, which I played on my latest record. Played a lot across this record, but also I played. I bought it specifically to play with Kasabian. And I just did. I worked on the alchemist Euphoria with. With Kasabian.
Fraser T Smith:
And then surgeon, who's a great mate of mine, said, we would love you to play with us at three gigs, notably Nebworth. Wow. And it was. And I played this guitar at Knebworth, and I'm just like, I could never sell that. It's a funny story, actually, because it was the year of the jubilee, and my wife Sarah, who's my manager, had invited some freight. We were hosting a village Jubilee, fate, on the Saturday, and Sarah knew I was playing Nebworth, but she didn't know that I was playing on the Friday and Saturday, you know. So then it came to the point where I was saying, oh, but, you know, we've got the fate, but I'm gonna have to leave. So I went, why? You're playing on Friday.
Fraser T Smith:
Why do you need to do that? The second night, I was like, nebworth in front of 100,000 people playing clubfoot. I don't need to do that on the second night. I definitely do. If this was, like, for a thousand more nights, I would need to do every single night for a thing. Like, you could never get bored without music. And it's at Knepworth, like, we're supporting Liam Gallagher. Yes, definitely. So she punished me to pick up dog poo in the garden as a sort of.
Fraser T Smith:
I don't know, like, get back down to earth. You may be playing Knabworth, but there's still some dog shit that needs cleaning up in the garden, you know? So brought me back down to earth. Yeah. Performed in front of 100,000 people. And I was like, pooper scooping up this stuff around the girls. Like, hang on minute. I was having a dream last night, and now it's reality. Sure.
Chris Barker:
Liam was doing it that next day as well, probably. Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, probably was. Keeps it real.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, keeps it real. Okay, well, as we're closing on time now, let's. Let's get to the end. We're. We're going to get will to give you an overview of this studio you've just built, and then we'll get on to the final luxury item.
Fraser T Smith:
When's it going to be ready? Because I heard that the coming on here, like, it's. The fee is the studio.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
So when do. When do we. Is there. How many builders have we got on the job?
Chris Barker:
We're starting the build in 2025.
Fraser T Smith:
Great. Although a little longer than I'd anticipated. My agent said that we'd be ready to move in sort of summertime. I don't know. You are music tech.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, that is true.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Okay, well, have a listen because you might change your mind. Have a listen.
Will Betts:
We're overlooking Lake Garda in an uninhabited area surrounded by forest. It's all sustainable with reclaimed pallets, but lots of glass for natural light. Very homely vibe with jungle prints, clean lines. And there's a mezzanine at the back. You've got two vespas parked out front for when you need to go and get coffee with an artist. You're working with your free items. You've chosen a Mac Pro. Your interface is a UA Apollo x eight p.
Will Betts:
Your daw is Ableton live twelve studio and then for your six main items, for speakers, you've got barefoot micromain 27s, an Akai MPC 4000. Your guitar is a 1970s sunburst Gibson hummingbird acoustic. Your piano is a Steinway model b in mahogany restored by piano restorations. Your microphone is a manly gold valve mic. And for a synth, you've chosen the Dave Smith prophet six. How does that feel as your forever studio in heaven?
Fraser T Smith:
Do anything with that. Love it. Well, here in Lake Garda, to complete.
Chris Barker:
It, you also get now one luxury item, which isn't a bit of studio.
Fraser T Smith:
Kit, but some subscription to on there.
Chris Barker:
Kit could be subscription?
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, subscriptions to music tech. Okay, music item. I thought it was. It's.
Chris Barker:
I mean, music tech.com. No subscription required.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, I love it.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Fraser T Smith:
Straight in. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Luxury items you have in your studio is anything that's gone from studio to studio with you.
Fraser T Smith:
No, I mean, this is luxury. I think it is a Nespresso coffee machine.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Weren't joking about the Clooney vibes in Italy.
Fraser T Smith:
I mean, it's weird. You'll know from my request as I came on. I don't drink caffeine. You know, so it's decaf. But I don't know, something about just marking. You might have something to eat. You just have a decaf afterwards. I don't even know if they'd, they'd send decaf pods over to Italy.
Fraser T Smith:
Because if you go to Italy and you say, can have a decaf coffee, they're literally like, I don't drink either. So I'm like the laughing stock of Italy because people go, he wants, like, a non alcoholic beer and a decaf. Like, who is this guy? Get him out. Get blade out.
Chris Barker:
Taking all of the fun out.
Fraser T Smith:
Two things which are not. They don't go down well in Italy, okay.
Chris Barker:
But you find as a decaf drink and an espresso, one's good.
Fraser T Smith:
It's great.
Chris Barker:
It's a good tip.
Fraser T Smith:
Yeah, it's a good tip. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I'm fully caffeinated all the time, actually. Might be yourself.
Fraser T Smith:
Love it.
Chris Barker:
Okay, well, that rounds up the my forever studio episode. And thank you so much, Fraser.
Fraser T Smith:
Thanks for having us.
Chris Barker:
Well, that was a luxurious build from Fraser today.
Will Betts:
Indeed it was. All that's left to say, though, from us is thank you so much for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time for another adventure into studio foreverdom. Bye.