In this episode of the My Forever Studio podcast, we welcome Grammy-winning mixer, engineer, and producer Caesar Edmunds, whose credits span from Ozzy Osbourne and Queens of the Stone Age to Wet Leg and The Last Dinner Party. From a music teacher in Singapore telling him he had “no chance” of making it as a musician, to his breakthrough in the UK engineering scene, Caesar Edmunds shares his incredible journey: from spending two years in national service as a police officer, to studing at Liverpool’s LIPA, hustling for work experience with future mentor Alan Moulder, and his eventual rise to his own Atmos studio at the legendary Battery Studios in London. In this episode, we get into Caesar Edmunds’s “Forever Studio” picks, his enviable guitar pedal collection, the art of creating a homely studio vibe, and the ongoing fight to save the iconic Battery studios from the threat of redevelopment. Expect banter, airhorns, and rule-bending.
In this episode of the My Forever Studio podcast, we welcome Grammy-winning mixer, engineer, and producer Caesar Edmunds, whose credits span from Ozzy Osbourne and Queens of the Stone Age to Wet Leg and The Last Dinner Party. From a music teacher in Singapore telling him he had “no chance” of making it as a musician, to his breakthrough in the UK engineering scene, Caesar Edmunds shares his incredible journey: from spending two years in national service as a police officer, to studing at Liverpool’s LIPA, hustling for work experience with Alan Moulder, and his eventual rise to his own Atmos studio at the legendary Battery Studios in London.
In this episode, we get into Caesar Edmunds’s “Forever Studio” picks, his enviable guitar pedal collection, the art of creating a homely studio vibe, and the ongoing fight to save iconic studio spaces from the threat of redevelopment. Expect banter, airhorns, and rule-bending.
Season 8 of the My Forever Studio Podcast is supported by Audient, and the impressive new Horizon range of audio interfaces.
https://audient.com/
https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/horizon-range/
https://musictech.com/
https://tyxstudios.com/
STUFF WE TALK ABOUT (SPOILERS AHEAD)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Moulder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebration_Day_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_Studios
https://store.solidstatelogic.com/plug-ins/ssl-4k-g-channel-strip
https://www.avid.com/products/pro-tools-mtrx-studio
https://www.overstayeraudio.com/modular-channel
https://pmc-speakers.com/products/twotwo6/
https://pmc-speakers.com/studio/active/qb1-xbd/
https://solidstatelogic.com/products/oracle
https://solidstatelogic.com/products/odyssey
https://www.instagram.com/stankoniaatl/
https://www.neumann.com/en-gb/products/microphones/u-47-fet-i
https://www.anthonydemarialabs.com/products/overview-1000.html
https://www.wrightwaystudios.com/
https://reverb.com/uk/p/lovetone-wobulator
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_Bender
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveless_(album)
https://www.uaudio.com/products/lexicon-224
Chris Barker:
Hi, 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.
Chris Barker:
In this podcast, we speak with musicians, DJs, engineers, and producers about their fantasy forever studio.
Will Betts:
That's right, the studios that our guests choose are ones that they must live with for all eternity. But in Fantasy Foreverland, we do have some rules— totally arbitrary rules.
Chris Barker:
Indeed, our guests will select a computer, a DAW, and an audio interface, Those are the free items that everybody gets. Then our guests will choose just 6 other bits of studio gear plus 1 non-studio-related luxury item.
Will Betts:
We do have one more rule though, don't we, Chris?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, we do. No bundles! That's right.
Will Betts:
Choosing something sold as a package of separate software or hardware as a single item is strictly forbidden.
Chris Barker:
This time we have a Grammy-winning mixer, engineer, and record producer who has worked with artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Queens of the Stone Age, St. Vincent, and many, many more.
Will Betts:
From work experience at Battery Studios assisting Alan Mulder to winning the Music Producers Guild Breakthrough Engineer of the Year Award in 2020, his journey from Singapore to having his own Atmos studio in London is quite inspirational.
Chris Barker:
Yes, it very much is, but I did hear there was an early obsession with guitar pedals that could prove complicated in the Forever Studio.
Will Betts:
We might have to stomp out a few pedal-owning dreams here, Chris.
Chris Barker:
Oh yeah, it's necessary. Well, let's see. This is my Forever Studio with Cesar Edmonds.
Will Betts:
Welcome, welcome, Cesar.
Caesar Edmunds:
Thank you, thank you guys for having me.
Chris Barker:
Thank you for joining.
Will Betts:
Well, you heard there that we are going to be building a Oh dear.
Chris Barker:
With just 6 bits of kit. Okay. So you're gonna have to think creatively. But before we get started, let's talk about that journey that we spoke of in the intro. Did you ever imagine you'd be in London doing this thing? Was there ever a plan for the UK? I mean, what's the journey from Singapore? And I mean, do you want to be a musician? Did you want to be a producer? Did you want to be an engineer? Or is it just, how is it carved out?
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh wow. There was no plan.
Will Betts:
No?
Caesar Edmunds:
But it was kind of sort of by this— kind of weirdly by design because being in Singapore, not well off at all, there was no career path to becoming— to doing music. It's just so far removed from the music scene or whatever that like, I remember being like 14 and it was music class, right? And music teacher was like, oh, what do you want to do? I was like, oh, maybe I'd like to be a musician. Looked at me dead in the eye and said, No chance. Literally.
Chris Barker:
Wow. What an inspirational teacher.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. And I was like, oh, okay. Like, who pooh-poohs on a kid's dream? And then I failed my GCSE twice. And then there was kind of no path for me apart from technical school. So like, I had a choice, like, go be a nurse. And it's no offence, like, you know, it's a great profession, but I just didn't think you would trust me to be a nurse. Yeah, I mean, it depends on what kind of drugs you can trust me to have, but like, but there was no chance. And then I got the call to— because in Singapore you've got like national conscription.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
So I got, I got given the opportunity to be a police officer, not by choice, but like it was a lucky draw. Did it for 2 years, and then at the end of it, I just realized what I didn't want to become to be just a normal person in Singapore, just because. And then I just applied to school in Liverpool, in LIPA.
Chris Barker:
Yep.
Caesar Edmunds:
And they gave me an opportunity despite me not passing my GCSEs. So I did, uh, Year Foundation, and then I went on to Sound Technology course, and then Year 2, I think, uh, I found out a few of my friends had, uh, had did work experience with Alan Mulder, and then I hounded 4 of them. One of them broke and gave me his email, and then I just emailed and just say, hey Alan, uh, big hero of mine, blah blah blah, can I come around and do work experience please?
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Like, you know, I'd love to, like, you know, just Just be around the studio, clean toilets, do anything. Like, just really just be in the vicinity. And he said, yeah, come, like, you know, come over. I'll set you up with my manager, Karen Chacon. And then she asked me, how long do you want? I was like, a month? That'd be incredible. Just a month. Just imagine.
Chris Barker:
Right.
Caesar Edmunds:
Just a month. And then he said, okay. First week went in. first day we're mixing Fall's Inhaler.
Will Betts:
Wow.
Caesar Edmunds:
And I was like, wow, this is incredible. Imagine like just going in first day work experience and then the chorus kicks in and it's just these wild guitars and you're like, what? And then at the end of that week, right, Alan asked me, he said like, hey, do you want to, do you want to stick around? And I said, Yeah, sure. Like, you know, but I had to keep this like top secret apparently. And I was like, okay, now you piqued my interest. And I was just like saying, okay, sure, I'll do it. And it's like, you can't tell anyone or your parents anything, but like, you know, you swear to God. And I was like, yeah, great. Press play and it was Good Times Bad Times by Led Zeppelin.
Caesar Edmunds:
It was mind-blowing because you just think like, you know, I'm a kid from Singapore, so far removed from the music industry.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Second week, I'm working— like, I'm not working with, like, I'm helping my sonic hero work on one of the biggest bands of all time.
Chris Barker:
Like, what?
Caesar Edmunds:
And then from then on, ever since, like, I just sort of never left the building, really. So I had to go back to finish my uni. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Did you have guarantees from Alan that he would take you back after uni?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Oh, he did?
Caesar Edmunds:
He did, he did. At the end of it, at the end of summer, he was just like, when you finish your uni, come back.
Chris Barker:
Brilliant.
Caesar Edmunds:
And I was like, yeah. Yeah, of course. Like, so I went back to uni, I couldn't tell anyone that I worked on Le Zeppelin.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
And it was crazy. So like at the end of the year when I finished uni and the album came out and I told my lecturers, they were like, what? That's insane. You kept this secret all along? And they were like, yeah, mind-blowing. It's like, it was a journey for sure.
Chris Barker:
So did you actually do music before then? After what that teacher said originally?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So did you learn instruments and you tried?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, I played guitar. Like, I was obsessed with like Yngwie Malmsteen, like trying to be fucking like as good as like, you know, as technically proficient and like, you know, as I could. And then when I went to LIPA, first week I went in, I realized like there's so much better guitar players than I am that can like write songs, and I was like, oh shit, I didn't learn that part.
Chris Barker:
Sounds familiar, that's why I'm like, yeah, same thing.
Caesar Edmunds:
And then someone brought me into a recording studio, I was just like, I'm locked in, like, this is me. And I kind of convinced a lot of my friends, like, they were in that course that just wanted to do the music part. I would say, hey man, like, you know, like, give me your studio time, I'll like record your music. And it worked out for me and for them because they were like, yeah, great, like And now we have to think of a location for your forever studio.
Chris Barker:
If you could put a studio forever somewhere in the world, where would you have it and why?
Caesar Edmunds:
I would choose the current studio that I'm in. Yeah, Battery Studio has got such a long, like, long history of—
Chris Barker:
Yeah, so for people who don't know, tell a bit about Battery for people that don't know.
Caesar Edmunds:
Battery Studio has been around since a while because it used to be called Morgan's back in the '60s. And then it expanded from like this small little place to like this humongous complex in like the '80s. I think it was— the height of it was like 5 recording studios, like from— yeah, this humongous complex with like publishing. And then they had like another stay-home thing or like you can live—
Chris Barker:
Residential.
Caesar Edmunds:
Residential studio across the road. And there was like— It was like fucking like 10 studios in total.
Chris Barker:
And that's 8, so at its peak, who was recording there?
Caesar Edmunds:
In its peak, you had like Bryan Adams, you had Iron Maiden, you had AC/DC, I think, and you had like Led Zeppelin and like loads of people because like it was part of this Zomba collection where basically you, it was such a big collective where they had ones, they had Battery Studios in Chicago, in Nashville, in New York, and in London.
Chris Barker:
Oh, wow. Okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. And currently, I believe there's only New York and London left, right? Yeah, operating. Because in the 2000s, I think Zomba sold over to Sony, right? And then so like a few change of hands and it's been in its current land.
Chris Barker:
Well, that was a difficult era for studios generally, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 2000s, yeah, where the industry was changing quite a lot.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So I mean, the acts you mentioned there were predominantly like kind of heavy rock. So is it known for that sound there?
Caesar Edmunds:
I think so. I think basically the room that I was in was Mutt Lange's mix room.
Will Betts:
Right.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
So Mutt Lange mix room, and then some people had it. I've heard stories that like Robbie Williams' Angels was mixed in my room. And it was a surprise that I just found that out like a few weeks ago. I was just like, what? You mean Angels? And then the next thing I know, like, I've got Trent Reznor's board from New Orleans, and you're just thinking Angels and The Fragile, Antichrist Superstar.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, so which board is that?
Caesar Edmunds:
What's Trent's? I've got an SSL 4000G. 4000G.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, the classic pop dynamite.
Caesar Edmunds:
Classic. Oh, hip-hop.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you'd have it in Battery Studios, okay?
Caesar Edmunds:
In Battery Studios.
Chris Barker:
In the room you're in now?
Caesar Edmunds:
In the room I'm in now. Okay. It is Because it's one of those things where, like, you think about it, the history of that room itself, just— and then from Mudleng to Alan Mulder and Flood, like, that history in itself is just like, I will never be worthy.
Chris Barker:
And what about, you know, the decor and stuff, putting your own touch on it, or would you leave it as it is? Or, you know, we haven't got to the equipment yet. You've only got 6 weeks to get to it.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, I've been putting in my own decor.
Chris Barker:
But, like, it's through the years.
Caesar Edmunds:
There's a lot of skulls that's been happening over the years, which is just like, it crosses the point where it's just like, is it?
Will Betts:
Is this the thing? Why the skulls?
Caesar Edmunds:
I have no idea. It's just an obsession with creepy looking things, I think. Okay.
Will Betts:
Yes. Are they human skulls or animal skulls?
Caesar Edmunds:
I wish there was human skulls.
Will Betts:
You wish they were human skulls?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, no. They are candle skulls at the moment.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Just iconography rather than actual— Yeah, not actual trophies.
Caesar Edmunds:
Don't want the stench.
Chris Barker:
Okay, okay, well that brings us on to— so the next 3 things you need in the room are the things you get free from us, and that's your computer, a DAW, and an audio interface. So tell us about computer. I guess Pro Studio, you're on Mac?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, I'm on a Mac.
Chris Barker:
So you're going to want a super duper Mac.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, super duper Mac, whatever that— which will lead into the next question.
Chris Barker:
Have you ever produced on PC though? Like in your time?
Caesar Edmunds:
No! So I had a weird childhood growing up where I didn't have a computer in my teenage years. And then my mum bought me a Mac for my 18th birthday and that was it. So I only kind of know—
Chris Barker:
Just straight onto Mac?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, just straight onto Mac. So like, that's the only thing I really know.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, because I guess most people as teenagers, they have cheap like Chromebooks or Windows machines or whatever. And then, yeah. Okay.
Will Betts:
So do you want a laptop or do you want a, like a Mac Studio, like a big desktop?
Caesar Edmunds:
Let's go with laptop.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. Let's go with laptop. Just, just so I can, I can bring it around if, if I, if I want.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
As the person who's got a humongous desk, I can't move anywhere.
Chris Barker:
Well, we haven't got the desk yet.
Caesar Edmunds:
All we've got is a Mac so far.
Chris Barker:
Okay. So next thing is audio interface.
Caesar Edmunds:
Audio interface.
Chris Barker:
Dream studio, money no object.
Caesar Edmunds:
Money no object. I would go for the MTRX.
Chris Barker:
MTRX, okay. We've had that choice before, I think, haven't we?
Will Betts:
I think once.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. The DAD or Avid.
Chris Barker:
Okay. So this is your, you mentioned off camera, obsession with DSP.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yes, yes.
Chris Barker:
You want some DSP in there.
Caesar Edmunds:
It's just one of those because I've came, I've started from like the TDM systems, right?
Chris Barker:
Right, yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
So like always having like the input being like on DSP, on Avid DSP, blah, blah, blah, it kind of helps. But I don't know if it matters nowadays as much as it used to.
Chris Barker:
But that makes the next choice quite obvious then. So the DAW?
Caesar Edmunds:
Pro Tools, unfortunately.
Chris Barker:
Well, it's not unfortunate. So tell us about Pro Tools. I mean, was Pro Tools your first DAW?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, GarageBand was my first DAW. Yeah, GarageBand came with the Mac and that was my first DAW, but Pro Tools is what I got taught at uni. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Did you do anything between GarageBand and Pro Tools or was it just once there? So how did you find that? Because very different styles of working.
Caesar Edmunds:
It was, but I think because like I was I was in uni and it was just drilled into me. You had to pass the course.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
So it was okay. It was difficult going from that to that, but like, I think it was like sink or swim, right?
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Okay. But are you a fan of Pro Tools now rather than it just being forced on you?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, no, I am a fan of Pro Tools because it's just all-round great for audio editing and stuff. So I've used a few other DAWs, which I will not shame. And I like Pro Tools the best because I can zoom in, edit, and like, yeah, just do all funky stuff. And like, because I'm not that kind of producer where I'm— I don't create music or stuff like that. So Pro Tools, edit audio, very simple. Yeah, and that's kind of what I do.
Chris Barker:
So, well, we've got those locked in, 3 freebies.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Now You have just 6 other items.
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh dear.
Chris Barker:
Forever.
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh dear.
Chris Barker:
So item number 1, tell us about what you're choosing and why.
Caesar Edmunds:
I've actually said this to Will. I really love the Overstayer stereo modular channel.
Chris Barker:
I don't know what this is.
Caesar Edmunds:
I think it's this stereo thing that you— that's got mic pres and it's got line in and you can distort, EQ, compress.
Chris Barker:
Oh, okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, just these 2 things that like, it just does it all and it's incredible.
Chris Barker:
Oh, I see.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, it's quite techy.
Chris Barker:
It's kind of, yeah, it's like one of those weird, weird all-in-one. Does it have filters?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Similar to the thing I used to have, that Evolvucifier thing.
Will Betts:
Yeah, so it's a channel strip, it's stereo channel strip.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's channel strip.
Chris Barker:
Oh, stereo, okay.
Will Betts:
But what are you using it for? Are you recording through this or are you using it in your mixes?
Caesar Edmunds:
I'm recording through it. So like usually if I'm recording through it, like will be synths or it'll be drum room or like something creative. So like I've used it on Suede, on like a few things where I'm recording through it. It'll be very crazy and distorted and like, and then you can dial it back and put it in as parallel and sort of thing.
Chris Barker:
And has it got valves in, I take it?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, no, no. Yeah, no valves, just very digital and yeah, and fun. And I've mixed, yeah, I've mixed through it, used like if something needs a bit of juice, you, or like something's a bit boring and dead, you just put it through it and like use like the, uh, what do you call it, like the frequency feedback with the EQ feedback sort of thing. And it's quite like you get some crazy sounds on it.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it's not, it's not a standard bit of studio kit that you would see.
Caesar Edmunds:
No, it's quite—
Chris Barker:
Was this in Battery or did you discover this?
Caesar Edmunds:
I discovered this when I was out with Alan, uh, mixing Queens of Stone Age, and I I think Jeff Tozo, who owns Overstayer, he came down and he had one for Mark Ronson and Mark Rankin, who was working on the record. And I looked at Alan and I just said like, hey, this is pretty damn cool. Can you loan me the money to get this? And he was like, of course. If I loan you money, can I use it? I was like, yeah, of course. What's yours is like, you know, Mine is yours. And then it's been, it's been a staple ever since.
Chris Barker:
It's a great choice. It's new for the podcast, which we always love. Nobody's chosen it before. Yeah, it's a bold first choice as well.
Caesar Edmunds:
Because everything else is gonna go downhill from now on.
Will Betts:
Like, what, what else can you do with it? And where can we hear it in your work?
Caesar Edmunds:
Uh, I've used it on a Frank Carter and Rattlesnakes track. Usually on an HMLTD track, and you can hear bits of it on Queen Susoni's Villain where you hear like some feedback and stuff like that. It's just like—
Chris Barker:
Did you say Suede as well?
Caesar Edmunds:
Uh, Suede as well, yeah, but I don't know if it's very audible. It's, it's, it's a while ago, so I can't even remember what I did on that, but like there was some synths that gone through that and some— most of the drum rooms would have gone through that, but not as, not as, not as intense as that.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it would have been It just gives things a bit of flavor, kind of like a seasoning. Yeah, nice.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, like a nice bit of— yeah, because it can go like, sometimes you do go a bit too extreme with it and then you just like, had to be the producer, Alan at that time would have been like, hey, too much. Bring it back, dial it back, dial it back. I'll be like, okay. And then here I go like, you're right.
Will Betts:
But that's a great accompaniment as well to Pro Tools, it feels like, because that's a very, you know, Yeah, it'd be a very clean environment, but then you've got like this completely other—
Caesar Edmunds:
yeah, yeah, character.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. The MusicTech My Forever Studio podcast is supported by Audient, makers of the Horizon series of professional rackmount audio interfaces.
Will Betts:
Yes, the Thunderbolt 3 Horizon range is aimed at the professional studio market, comprising 3 interfaces: the Horizon 8P, Horizon 16, and Horizon 32.
Chris Barker:
5 years in the making, the range delivers 32-bit mastering-grade conversion, sub-millisecond round-trip latency, and a scalable architecture. Add units together and create up to a 200 in-and-out stack, all on a single macOS driver.
Will Betts:
Aimed at pro studios and audio professionals, that 0.99 millisecond round-trip latency at 192 kHz is fast enough to track through native plugins with no perceptible delay, no proprietary DSP chips, and no walled ecosystem, to enable pro-level performance.
Chris Barker:
Plus, they look pretty slick too. The Horizon 8P 16 and 32 will be available from September 28th, priced from £2,199, €2,499, and $2,799.
Will Betts:
Visit audient.com for more information and to explore all the features of the Horizon Professional range.
Caesar Edmunds:
5 more.
Chris Barker:
Item number 2.
Caesar Edmunds:
Uh, don't know.
Chris Barker:
Uh, well, there's some things you're gonna definitely need if you think about it.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, uh, 1073. Okay.
Chris Barker:
That's not what I was suggesting.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh, do we need like speakers and stuff like that as well?
Chris Barker:
Oh, yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Yeah. Do you want to start there or do you want to work up to it?
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Let's, let's, let's, let's hear it. Let's hear the stuff. Let's see if we can hear the actual stuff.
Caesar Edmunds:
Speakers, I've just recently got PMCs 226 or is it 262? Yeah, is it 226?
Will Betts:
It's 262, the square ones. Yeah, yeah, double driver.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've just recently got those and they sound great. Kind of because I've had the 228s, the square ones for a while. And then someone convinced me to just give these a try. Yeah, you know, give this a try.
Will Betts:
Yeah, that was the person who convinced you to try them in the pay of PMC.
Chris Barker:
It was, was it?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, but like, it's also like I started seeing like it popping up everywhere and I'm a fan of PMCs and stuff. So I definitely gave it a try and it was definitely— They come up on the podcast.
Chris Barker:
love them.
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh my God, it's good. The only, the only trouble I have is I wish I've gone one bigger.
Chris Barker:
Well, you can.
Will Betts:
One bigger?
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Well, you can go the 8.2 then.
Caesar Edmunds:
Now I have to buy a new pair.
Chris Barker:
No, but for the fantasy.
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh yeah, for the fantasy. Yeah, for the fantasy. Let's go 8.2.
Chris Barker:
Upsold a dream. So 8.2s. Anything bigger than 8.2s, Will?
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh man, do they go all the way up?
Will Betts:
How big do they go?
Chris Barker:
There you go.
Will Betts:
See, don't hold yourself back.
Caesar Edmunds:
This is for Yeah, why not? Why don't let's go for the house deposit, the humongous ones.
Chris Barker:
The house deposit. Imagine if they call them that. That's a better name.
Will Betts:
That is a much better name for the speakers.
Chris Barker:
If ATC, PMC, Genelec, or any of the big manufacturers that do these full-on builds, that's the house deposits. That's great. It's really good. You got the Genelec house deposit? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I have actually.
Caesar Edmunds:
Why not?
Will Betts:
You're going for mains, the main monitors, which has like 8 drivers per side, and then you've got like The ATL.
Chris Barker:
And they're snapper. They should be called house deposits.
Caesar Edmunds:
They should be called house deposits.
Chris Barker:
But they're actually called the QB1XBDA. Not as catchy as house deposits.
Will Betts:
I'm just going to find you a price on those. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Those, I think if you ask, they're going to be— if you have to ask.
Will Betts:
It's quite a big house deposit, actually. It's $113,000.
Caesar Edmunds:
Is it just one or is it two?
Will Betts:
That's a pair.
Caesar Edmunds:
Okay.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
But that is a deposit on a house.
Will Betts:
A million-dollar property. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
A million.
Will Betts:
Wow.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So you can keep up with the payments. Well, yeah. I like the way you just go 10%. Yeah. No, it's, that's 10%.
Will Betts:
It's fairly normal, isn't it? Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Deposit. Or is it 20%? I have no idea anymore.
Chris Barker:
No, I think most people, if they had a grand though, they'd probably still get a house for about 3 or 4.
Will Betts:
Oh no, you gotta, you gotta live beyond your means. You gotta upsell your own dreams, my friend.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Wow. Well, we can, so we've upgraded that significantly then.
Caesar Edmunds:
Significantly.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Terrifyingly. Well, now we can actually hear the overstayer. We can move on to item number 3.
Caesar Edmunds:
Item number 3. Oh dear. Let's go for the— I can't believe I'm going to say it. Let's think of a desk, right?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, a desk is good.
Caesar Edmunds:
I'm toying between the new SSL. Is it the Oracle? Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Analog Digital Recall one, that one.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, the one, the fancy new— oh, is it the Odyssey? Sorry.
Chris Barker:
Maybe, I don't know, that's a film called Odyssey.
Will Betts:
There is one, the Oracle is a thing, yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
The Oracle is a thing, but I think the brand new one is called the Odyssey, the Christopher Nolan Odyssey.
Chris Barker:
Oh yeah.
Will Betts:
Yeah, fully analog.
Caesar Edmunds:
Or Andy Jackson Odyssey.
Chris Barker:
And it integrates with Pro Tools like a controller.
Caesar Edmunds:
Jesus, yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
And recalls sessions instantly, but it's fully analog and it's inline, so it's just like, it's really—
Caesar Edmunds:
I mean, there's another house deposit as well.
Chris Barker:
But that's a good one though for this show.
Will Betts:
Yeah, that's great.
Chris Barker:
So you haven't used this, you've just heard about it.
Caesar Edmunds:
I've just heard about it.
Chris Barker:
But you have an SSL G, you say?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, 4000 G. It's either that or the brand new one.
Will Betts:
I mean, it's only been out for a month.
Caesar Edmunds:
Instant recall, it sounds pretty damn good, man.
Chris Barker:
And do we know how much time are you spending recalling on?
Will Betts:
Do you have like, what system do you have? Do you have like total recall? So the one where it does the noise? Yeah, yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, I was in—
Chris Barker:
you just turn it until it—
Caesar Edmunds:
yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, you've got it on, on this, on the TV, and then you still have to like look at it and just go like, oh, okay, well, have I, have I got it quite right? And, and as my mentor would tell everyone, that I suck on it. I suck recalling.
Will Betts:
Really?
Caesar Edmunds:
Nah, I just, I just— it's so difficult to recall.
Will Betts:
You're his assistant though, right?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so difficult. No, because there's so many things that are in flux. Like there's Tube, you're talking about that. Well, I guess there's nothing. And there's about 100 patches going at the same time.
Chris Barker:
But does it tell you if you've missed anything?
Caesar Edmunds:
It tells you what you— if you've missed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just on the desk front, but not just on the outboard gear. And you're just like, oh.
Chris Barker:
Oh yeah, on the outboard as well, of course.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, okay. Pen and paper. No, pencil and paper. Yeah. Wow.
Will Betts:
This seems archaic, but obviously this is a—
Caesar Edmunds:
Old school.
Will Betts:
This is how it runs.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
But this is why the dream, I guess, for engineers and bands is going into a studio and not like doing it until it's done. So you don't have to— yeah, we've got a different thing in tomorrow. Yeah, if you're running a studio, different bands each day, you have to keep doing recalls, right? Whereas Exactly. The dream is to just keep somebody there and just go, right, don't touch anything. See you in the morning. Exactly. Your face is like, that's my neighbor. See you in the morning.
Caesar Edmunds:
See you in the morning. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Will Betts:
So it's a beautiful dream.
Caesar Edmunds:
So it is a beautiful dream.
Chris Barker:
Well, that takes a lot of it away then, doesn't it? That recall.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. Instant recall would take a lot of that away.
Chris Barker:
But you're not going to have much recall in the Forever shoot anyway, because you've only got 6 items.
Caesar Edmunds:
So.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
But yeah, yeah, but the whole board, like the whole board though.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, but how many channels are you using?
Will Betts:
Well, for mixing, I suppose.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the beauty, right? You've got instant recall.
Chris Barker:
You can do what you want.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, it's true.
Chris Barker:
What are you gonna go for though? But then you've got the lovely vintage.
Caesar Edmunds:
I know, that's the problem.
Chris Barker:
Just a pop question, and this isn't a test because I don't know, but what's the difference between G, E, and J series?
Caesar Edmunds:
I think it's the EQs.
Chris Barker:
Is it the EQs? Okay, that would have been my guess, but I wasn't sure, so I thought I'd just ask that randomly.
Caesar Edmunds:
I think Bob Clearmountain doesn't like the G EQs. He prefers the E EQs. They, they are a lot more aggressive on like when you touch it, it goes whoa, you can, you can hear it, whereas the G's a bit more like gentle.
Chris Barker:
G for gentle?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, G for gentle.
Chris Barker:
D for— Well, I'm glad we got that sorted.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Just a bit of expertise there from Rory.
Will Betts:
Just studio knowledge.
Chris Barker:
Right, back to item 3. Which desk are you? And that's why we get paid the big bucks for that kind of knowledge. Yeah, people will remember now though that E is E.
Will Betts:
E is E.
Chris Barker:
That's a fair memory. Anyway, what are you going for then? Are you going to go for the modern with recall or are you going to go vintage?
Caesar Edmunds:
Hmm.
Chris Barker:
How much romance is involved here?
Caesar Edmunds:
I'll go for the vintage. Romance wins.
Will Betts:
But no recalls.
Caesar Edmunds:
I mean, they're still old school recall, but not instant.
Chris Barker:
But like, you'll get good at it though. Forever.
Will Betts:
You've got forever to practice.
Chris Barker:
Forever to practice.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, I've got forever to practice. I've got a few years.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Right. Item number 4.
Caesar Edmunds:
Item number 4. Okay, we've got channel strip, speakers, and then desk. Let's go for microphone. 47 Fat. Not tube because, you know—
Chris Barker:
Tell us about that decision that went through your head.
Caesar Edmunds:
Why Fat? Because it'll last forever and I don't have to replace the tube.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
Okay. So just to throw this into the mix for you. And this is something that all of the Forever Studios have access to.
Caesar Edmunds:
In-house tech.
Will Betts:
Yeah, the Forever Studio tech. If that changes the equation for you at all, like sonically, would you prefer to have a tube or would you still go FET just because?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, I won't go for the tube. I think, yeah, I think that the FET is very consistent in whatever I've done. You know, people romanticize the 47 to so much, and each one of them varies so much. There's always like a magical one and a not so magical one.
Chris Barker:
Right.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. Yeah. Because of the maintenance, I guess, which is why the magical elf, magical maintenance elf would help. But yeah, let's go for—
Chris Barker:
We've never been able to call him that because of HR, but like, yeah, we'll let you call him that.
Will Betts:
Yeah. Your words, not ours.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. So when was the—
Caesar Edmunds:
Please don't cancel me.
Chris Barker:
When was the first time you You used the Fat— was that when you did work experience or did you use them at college?
Caesar Edmunds:
I think at college. Yeah, I think at college and at the studio as well. Because I think Lipa has got a very good relationship with Sennheiser who owns Neumann. So I've always been a Neumann kind of person. Okay.
Chris Barker:
Are U47s still available? Like just straight out of the shelf?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, they've reissued it.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, I think they should be just as good.
Chris Barker:
So, but still, I mean, we're trying to upsell some more Dreams here, but like, it feels like you could have some—
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, I know.
Chris Barker:
We don't have to if you don't want to, but like, you know, yeah, it's still not easy enough.
Will Betts:
Yeah, it's like, yeah, still.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, right. It's just like everything else has been house deposits, but this has been like chump change by comparison. Be the Oprah Winfrey of microphones. You have one, you have one, everybody gets one.
Will Betts:
U47. So what have you been using the U47 FET on then?
Caesar Edmunds:
For everything, right? Okay, everything really. So like vocals, guitars, bass, sort of like, yeah.
Will Betts:
So because it can take really high SPL, right?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, which is, which is the thing that like, it's like an all-rounder. And it's got— I like it because it's large diaphragm. Yeah, so it's got its bigger sound, not as compressed, because sometimes smaller diaphragm compresses the sound a bit more, just a little bit. And it's just a very accurate representation of, like, you know, it just might as well be a U87, which—
Chris Barker:
So tell us, have you ever encountered any unusual vocal mic choices from from artists or sessions you've worked on, or is it all pretty standard? Do people usually go for the same stuff?
Caesar Edmunds:
I usually try to pair vocal with like, say like whoever with a microphone, like, you know.
Chris Barker:
So how do you make that decision? Is it just trial and error?
Caesar Edmunds:
Trial and error. You just go through a few microphones and like whatever would sound good for the thing. And sometimes I go for dynamic microphones for a shoutier voice, like, you know, when there's more dynamic range, obviously. And if it's like a nice smooth vocal, like Oh nice, let's put condenser. Okay, a bit more old school.
Chris Barker:
So it's not— so you don't like know, I can tell by their previous recordings this would work?
Caesar Edmunds:
I would ask like, you know, like, oh, like what you usually use, what you're comfortable with, because comfortability as well, like, yeah, it's such a big thing.
Chris Barker:
Performance over—
Caesar Edmunds:
yeah, performance over— not performance over sonic quality, but like there is—
Chris Barker:
but it leans that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that way you can, you can you can get something out of— yeah, yeah, sonically, if you've got a great performance, right?
Caesar Edmunds:
Exactly. So like the whole thing where like, if the vocalist likes to just hold the SM7 and walk about and sing, yeah, let's do that. I'm not too technically like, hmm, no, yeah, we can't do that.
Chris Barker:
Especially if it's forcing them to perform in a way that they're not comfortable with, then you're not recording them. You're not recording them, are you? Yeah, yeah, it's a different thing. Yeah, exactly.
Will Betts:
So for instance, when you're doing Wet Leg, what's the approach there?
Caesar Edmunds:
The approach is just, let's just have fun.
Will Betts:
Right.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, let's just have fun. Yeah, so I've not actually recorded anything that's come out. I think we did a bit of— I don't know if I can say this, but we did a bit of trial with like, you know, just on like the second album. So And like the guys came in and we tried to have fun and just try to get a fun vibe because like, because it is— studio can be quite intimidating as you can imagine. Like, you know, you go in and there's loads of just microphones and stuff that you can't touch. Don't touch that!
Chris Barker:
Don't touch that!
Caesar Edmunds:
And it's just like sort of like you want to create like an inviting environment. And that's how I always like comfort.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
And like, there's usually like, there's not too many humans about. There's always like You know, just, just, just animals. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And their skulls. Yeah, skulls and animals.
Chris Barker:
Try and create a comfortable environment with skulls everywhere. Exactly.
Caesar Edmunds:
You got to put it on a bit on edge. Um, yeah, and sort of like comfortable environment.
Chris Barker:
And now it makes sense though to get, to get the performance over everything else.
Will Betts:
So what are the other things you do to sort of cultivate that? Just having people have a nice time in the studio. What do you do? Walk us through it. Say I walk into a studio today.
Caesar Edmunds:
It's a very strange thing because usually people I work with are quite similar to me in the sense that I've managed to attract people with the same wavelength as me. And every time they come into the studio, they say like, oh, this feels like home. Yeah, it feels like maybe it's like— it was maybe it's like my—
Chris Barker:
You've got all the skills too.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, oh, it looks like home. Like, it looks like a den, like a boy's den. Like, I like it.
Chris Barker:
No, but that's, that's a— that's obviously you've done that on purpose and it's, and it's attracted the right people.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. This sort of thing. So when you come into my studio, it's not very like— it's not super commercial. Like, you've been to my house.
Will Betts:
I have, yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. And it feels a bit like, oh, I'm just at home. I think I try to make it a bit like that.
Will Betts:
I felt like I could just sit down and have a chat.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
And it was really nice being in there because although you've got this massive desk along the one wall, you do have a nice comfortable sofa. And there's like a little side room as well where you can, you know, saying, don't touch that. But I was in there poking everything.
Caesar Edmunds:
Sorry. No, no, it's fine. That's why the recall doesn't come back the same.
Will Betts:
I'm so sorry about that.
Chris Barker:
Turns out you're not that bad at recall. It's Will. Messing with it.
Will Betts:
Oh my God, I'm so sorry.
Chris Barker:
Millions. But it's, um, but it's interesting, isn't it? Because I've been to some of these big studios that have been around for a while. And yeah, because they have a bit of a revolving door of clients and things, they can, they can lose that personal touch.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And I know that studios like Strongroom work really hard at having that homeliness as well. So like Battery, obviously. And so it's like, it's, it's a, yeah, it's a difficult thing to get it homely, but also where you could turn clients around in it and make a business, you know?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, I think that's why it's kind of like my room is just my room.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
You have to— I come with the room.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah. And we'll move on. You've only got 2 more items left. 2 more?
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Okay, okay. I would love to have a LA-2A, like the old school one.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
Because I've tried it recently in this studio in Baltimore, and I was like, whoa, this is great. Something that I don't have. I've got the ADL—
Chris Barker:
Clone, is it?
Caesar Edmunds:
ADL, I think, 2000 or something like that. It's sort of similar with the opto Transformer, but like the LA-2 was just like, it added this sheen that I was just like, I was very impressed.
Chris Barker:
Okay, so what's the remake, the ADL?
Caesar Edmunds:
ADL-1000, or is it 1000 or 2000 or something like that? But like, yeah, the LA-2A, the original. Yeah, the original.
Chris Barker:
So what year is the original? Is it '70s or earlier?
Caesar Edmunds:
I think it's like earlier, I think it's '60s, I imagine.
Will Betts:
Teletronix, yeah.
Chris Barker:
I mean, for those listening, if you don't know model numbers off the top of your head, like us nerds, it's the one you'll probably know from your Universal Audio and the many, many plugins. It's probably one of the most replicated—
Caesar Edmunds:
No, surely not.
Will Betts:
Really?
Caesar Edmunds:
I've never seen another.
Will Betts:
I mean, it's like, what?
Caesar Edmunds:
That and the Fairchild is just like, they're so weird.
Chris Barker:
That and the G-Series compressor are like In terms of software and hardware clones, those 2 are probably up there as the most copied or cloned or whatever the right way of saying that is.
Caesar Edmunds:
SSL EQ, G-Series, E-Series, and all those stuff.
Will Betts:
What was the studio in Baltimore where you were recording?
Caesar Edmunds:
Right Way Studios.
Will Betts:
Right Way Studios. I don't know.
Caesar Edmunds:
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Will Betts:
What were you—
Caesar Edmunds:
Ah, I can't say that.
Will Betts:
You can't say what you're recording.
Caesar Edmunds:
Okay. Yeah.
Will Betts:
Can you say who else is in the room? Any other names? Not a single name?
Caesar Edmunds:
No.
Will Betts:
Oh, you're such a man of mystery. That's great.
Caesar Edmunds:
Okay, brilliant.
Will Betts:
In what way was it different and what were you so impressed by when you were using it?
Caesar Edmunds:
I just love the top end that it added. It's just compressed and I just went like, whoa, it looks like it's doing a lot, but when you hear it, it's not doing that much.
Chris Barker:
So it's very, very clean.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, smooth. And I love that additional sheen that it added.
Chris Barker:
And it was definitely clear that it was much better than the clone?
Caesar Edmunds:
I mean, it's not, not the clone, just like the newer versions. Okay. I've, yeah, I think the clone is not really a clone. No, it's sort of like, you know, it's inspired by, inspired by, yeah, this sort of thing. But I was looking, it was just like on Reverb, on eBay, I was just like, I can't spare that much money. Sometimes they go for $10,000, some of them go for $20,000. I think it depends on how much you—
Chris Barker:
House deposit again.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, bottom end of the house deposit. I saw one that was from Paul Allen's boat or something like that, and it was just like—
Chris Barker:
Paul Allen, the Microsoft guy?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He had a recording studio, I think.
Chris Barker:
On a boat? Paul Allen?
Caesar Edmunds:
On a boat.
Chris Barker:
I can't say the name without American Psycho. Paul Allen?
Will Betts:
So what? Sorry.
Caesar Edmunds:
Paul Allen, the Microsoft guy. Yeah, I think he was, he was really into music and he really liked— yeah, he's got like a studio.
Chris Barker:
Hence Eno on the startup sound and stuff.
Will Betts:
Okay. Yeah, right. Okay.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, so he's got a crazy studio, I've heard. I've never been, never been invited, obviously.
Will Betts:
Billionaire boat, what could possibly go wrong?
Caesar Edmunds:
I know.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, I don't think I want to go.
Will Betts:
Never been invited?
Caesar Edmunds:
Never been invited, just for the record.
Chris Barker:
Record show. Okay, but just quickly on this bit of kit, because it is, even though not many people are lucky enough to have the obviously original. Everybody will know it from a software version.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
What would you advise our listeners to like try it on? Even the software version, what's your go-to?
Caesar Edmunds:
Vocals, guitars, everything. Just give it a try.
Chris Barker:
Full kits?
Caesar Edmunds:
Full kit, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. It's just, it's not as, yeah, it's not as like, but like the thing that I use, which is like a mono version. So obviously, because they're mono. So unless I don't think you can have a stereo version of it. No, and it was, I guess the plugin version. Yeah, yeah, the plugin would be stereo, I guess. And but like, you know, it's not that fast to do drums, but like you, you can use it if you want, but do be prepared that like it's not gonna do a lot.
Chris Barker:
Okay, okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
That's kind of the information I was trying to get out though.
Chris Barker:
It's like, so it's not necessarily a fast thing. It's for smoothing things out nicely like guitars. Yeah, it's a personal thing. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. Fantastic.
Chris Barker:
Well, that brings us to your last item.
Caesar Edmunds:
The last item. Goddamn it. What would I— am I missing anything obvious?
Will Betts:
Well, and we know you're a fan of pedals.
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh God, I can't. No, I can't. I can't get in. Like, how? There's only one.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Which one? No, you don't have to choose a pedal. You can choose whatever you like, but I'm intrigued by your pedal obsession. Oh my God, your pedal closet, cabinet, whatever you want to call it, locker.
Caesar Edmunds:
It is almost turning into a pedal room. Yeah, it's not just mine, to be honest, is because quite a lot of it is also Alan Mulder's, my mentor's, and very lucky to have his collection with me.
Chris Barker:
Are we allowed to say what the rarest or weirdest pedal is in the collection?
Caesar Edmunds:
I don't know if it's— if it's— I mean, I have— I've had access to it for like—
Chris Barker:
What do you have in there? Do you have a Fuzz Face, original Fuzz Face in there?
Caesar Edmunds:
Do we have— I think maybe, maybe, yeah, maybe I do. There's a lot of battles that like I've got there.
Chris Barker:
You know people have a decent collection when you ask what's in it and they go, I maybe have got it.
Caesar Edmunds:
It's like, yeah, yeah, I've got the old school like Roger Mayer's and stuff like that, like original Roger Mayer's.
Chris Barker:
Wow.
Caesar Edmunds:
And like the Wobulator and like loads of like quite classic because of my mentor.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
And it's just one of those things where like—
Chris Barker:
Clients must love it though when they come.
Caesar Edmunds:
They love it.
Chris Barker:
They get lost in it.
Caesar Edmunds:
They're like, what? It gets quite overwhelming when sometimes you bring them in and they're like, uh, well—
Chris Barker:
They can spend a long time deciding.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
And like the best way is just to like try it and stuff like that. But like, I'm very lucky. I don't know what's rare or what's not, but like, I had like a few people like come in and just went like, what? And like, I've got like 4 tonebenders, for example, Solar Sounds tonebenders. And like, they're all from different eras.
Chris Barker:
Eras, yeah. So they've got a different vibe.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, they all got a different vibe. And like, depending on who soldered it and like the age of like the germanium and stuff like that, it's just— I managed to assist on a My Bloody Valentine thing where they were remixing Soon, um, I think from Loveless. And, and Kevin Shields came in, we mixed it on like a 24-track, and it was— it's incredible just to be in the same room. And then we just— he's just looking at Alan's, uh, and my like guitar pedal, and he's just like, oh yeah, this one's good. And he's— there's a few like that he's, he's given to like Alan as well.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
And it's just like, it's one of those things, it's like, what does it do? And he's just like, it's just like you just Just try it and it's like, wow!
Chris Barker:
Have you, as a guitarist, have you tried every single one yet?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, no.
Chris Barker:
Wow, that's insane.
Caesar Edmunds:
I have not because, yeah, there's not enough time in the world.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, spending all your time doing recalls.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah. And by then I'll just be like, I'm too tired.
Will Betts:
Recalling guitar pedals is like the 7th circle of hell stuff.
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh my God. Recently Alan was working on his racket by Wolfmother, and Joe Berisi was the recording engineer. And like, I came about with this recall packet that was so meticulous. It was so incredible. Like, he would just recall everything. And this is recording, by the way. So like everything, the preamp, the whatever, like guitar pedals and like—
Chris Barker:
The dimmer of the lights.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, it could have been like, he's so meticulous.
Chris Barker:
There's got to be apps that do that now. Or have I just made that up?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, no, no, there is apps that do that.
Chris Barker:
But I think with AI, you could just go around taking photos and it'll just Do it for you.
Will Betts:
Just hallucinate the whole thing. Yeah, never get the same mix again.
Caesar Edmunds:
Exactly.
Will Betts:
But that is the best worst idea I've ever heard.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah, you're right. That wasn't the mix. You're totally right. That's my bad. That's my bad. That isn't the mix that you had. I apologize for losing it. 6th item.
Chris Barker:
Come on, 6th item.
Caesar Edmunds:
Last item.
Chris Barker:
1073.
Caesar Edmunds:
1073 because it is, I think, 1073. 1073 only because it is a different sound to the SSL and the Overstayer. So yeah, I think I'm not missing anything stupid, am I?
Will Betts:
I mean, you've got a lot of preamps and then you've got another preamp and then you've got another preamp and then one microphone. Speakers and a compressor.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Plus all the stuff in Pro Tools. What else are you using?
Chris Barker:
Like, what about things like reverb and—
Will Betts:
Oh yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
That's why I was asking you about reverb.
Will Betts:
Grammy-winning engineer, everyone.
Chris Barker:
Keeps it simple.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Nobody uses reverb anymore.
Caesar Edmunds:
Quite right too. Who uses reverb? It's all recorded in.
Chris Barker:
No, but I mean, I'm not—
Caesar Edmunds:
we're not forcing you to make choices, but you're like, there's a very big shout.
Chris Barker:
You've got maybe some kind of effects, or that's the only thing you're missing, I think, unless you use built-in Pro Tools stuff.
Caesar Edmunds:
I mean, deverb ain't that bad, but I recently bought a Lexicon 224.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, the classic one.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. Yeah. Classic one with the calculator.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. The LED one.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You're not a real studio unless you have one of those, really.
Caesar Edmunds:
No, we I've— so I'm lucky enough to have 2, a 480 and a 224.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, that's nice.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So why the 224 then over the 480?
Caesar Edmunds:
Uh, it's kind of, it's kind of making it sound, uh, sound digitally crap. But like, I, I do love it. It's like A to D, like, just because it sounds like a record, weirdly.
Chris Barker:
It's one of those ones, isn't it, where it's like you hear it and you go Yeah. Subconsciously, it sounds like lots of recordings, doesn't it?
Caesar Edmunds:
It's not hi-fi, where it's sort of like one of those things where like—
Chris Barker:
It's not trying to sound real, but it does sound like lots of music you've heard.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Am I right in thinking it's 12-bit? Or am I mistaken?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, I think so. Yeah, 12-bit.
Will Betts:
That's why it sounds a little bit crunchy.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
Who needs 24-bit?
Chris Barker:
As the tails go, you can hear it because it's the bits.
Caesar Edmunds:
It's all good enough, has it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're all going to compress it onto MP3, hear it off our phone anyway.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.
Will Betts:
So when did you get the 224? Was it for a specific project or anything?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, it wasn't for a specific project. No, just kind of because I've been using the UAD one quite a bit. I just went like, you know what, the real thing might sound better.
Will Betts:
Yeah. And does it?
Caesar Edmunds:
And it does. But the only problem is just no instant recall.
Chris Barker:
More recall.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, more recall.
Will Betts:
I feel like you need to get a t-shirt that says no recall on it.
Chris Barker:
That's like the Red Cross.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He makes it, that's it.
Chris Barker:
Never seen the movie Total Recall just out of— it's just too triggering, the title.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, the seaweed is like in the corner, just like frothy in the mouth.
Chris Barker:
Total Recall, an hour and 40. That sounds about right. Pretty quick.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Okay, so now we've got these locked in. You've got one more item to think about, which is going to be a luxury item, which isn't a bit of studio kit, but But take a, take a breath because Will is going to talk you through what we've just built.
Caesar Edmunds:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Have a listen. See if that sounds good.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And then we'll add your luxury item on. Okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
Mm-hmm.
Will Betts:
We are in northwest London.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yes.
Will Betts:
In Willesden Green.
Caesar Edmunds:
Willesden Green.
Will Betts:
At Battery Studios. Your very own.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
In your very own room. It's homely, surrounded by skulls, skull candles.
Caesar Edmunds:
Skulls.
Will Betts:
Um, it's a very sort of relaxed vibe inside. Yeah, comfortable. Your 3 free items, you've chosen a MacBook Pro.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Your audio interface is an Avid MTRX Studio. Your DAW is Pro Tools.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Can you go Ultimate?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah. Is it Ultimate? Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
The big one. Yeah, yeah.
Will Betts:
Okay. For your 6 items, you have chosen the Overstayer Stereo Modular Channel.
Caesar Edmunds:
Great choice.
Will Betts:
For monitors, you've chosen the PMC QB1 XBD.
Caesar Edmunds:
House deposit.
Will Betts:
House deposits.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yes.
Will Betts:
You've found the micro studio loophole, which is having a console.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
So you've chosen—
Chris Barker:
Hooray.
Will Betts:
Your console is an SSL 4000G.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
For a microphone, you've chosen the Neumann U47 FET.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
For a compressor, you have the Teletronix LA-2A.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yep.
Will Betts:
Original '60s vintage. Yeah, we can, we can find the cash for that, right?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, house deposit.
Will Betts:
Yeah. And finally, for a reverb, you have chosen the Lexicon 224.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
To go perfectly well with your SSL 4000.
Chris Barker:
That sounds all right. Yeah, it sounds like that's a good studio.
Will Betts:
Do you think you could You know, produce some stuff on there and make some things?
Caesar Edmunds:
I hope so.
Will Betts:
Because it's basically your studio right now.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it is. Okay, so now we have—
Caesar Edmunds:
It is quite crazy to think that that's my room. Just to think about it is just quite crazy when you think—
Chris Barker:
Hard earned though, man. Hard earned.
Caesar Edmunds:
Thank you. Thank you.
Will Betts:
Tell us a bit more about like what's going on at Battery right now.
Caesar Edmunds:
Oh, we recently got our landlords just putting a planning permission to try to turn it into flats.
Chris Barker:
So similar to what happened to Abbey Road back in the day and these kind of places. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Will Betts:
The same way Olympic went as well.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, same way Olympic went and stuff like that. And I think he's said that he's going to try to put, because it's 9 flats and 3 commercial units. So he said he's going to try to put it as like recording studios, like below sort of thing.
Will Betts:
But will this, will the building remain or will the building come down and then be rebuilt? Reborn, rebuilt.
Caesar Edmunds:
I think.
Chris Barker:
But this isn't a done deal. It's not a done deal yet.
Caesar Edmunds:
It's not a done deal. It's not a done deal. So we're still waiting on the council to see what they say. But it's one of those things where, like, you just don't know.
Chris Barker:
Are you guys— is it something that you're appealing against or protesting against, or is it something that you just have to wait and see and it's out of your hands?
Caesar Edmunds:
I, I mean, uh, some of us have, like, appealed for it, and, like, you know, I think some of the neighbors they're not into it because of how much noise and like digging it's gonna cause them. And it's just gonna be years of construction basically. And I think that—
Chris Barker:
This is a big site.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, it's quite crazy when you think about it, like in London sizes. Yeah, it's quite a big building. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like at the moment now, we're just waiting to see. Just one of those things where like it is weird because like we're in this situation right now, right, in London where we do need more flats. We do need more flats, but we also kind of need more recording studios.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, obviously people need places to live, but also people need places to work and to go to restaurants and to socialize and immediately you need community. You can't just be tower blocks full Otherwise you lose the vibe of an area as well. Like, you know, that, like, yeah, that's been there for so long.
Caesar Edmunds:
And it's quite funny because like I've been looking at like Morgan Studios, right? Like back in like the '60s, George Harrison would pop round with, yeah, with his like, with his old-school Rolls-Royce. And like, and you just think about Wilson Green and you're just like, what? Yeah, I always like—
Chris Barker:
But it brings, it brings, you know, it's the knock-on effect to the economy, isn't it? It's, um, when you've got clients and bands there, you're ordering food in, you're getting coffees and all that stuff. People are booking hotels in the area, all of this kind of stuff potentially. And it's like, it's a huge knock-on.
Caesar Edmunds:
I was just recently working with, uh, Sid from Working Men's Club. He's been in for like a month and a half, 2 months. And he's like, he's done exactly that, like hotel around the corner.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Caesar Edmunds:
And then we're like, we're doing takeouts, like, because there's no time to cook, really, as much as I wish I could.
Chris Barker:
Too busy doing Recall.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, too busy doing Recall. So like, yeah, so, so we're constantly ordering food. Yeah, yeah, our local shop.
Chris Barker:
That's the thing that people forget is that, that stuff is a massive knock-on. Luxury item. Yeah, not a piece of gear.
Caesar Edmunds:
Not a piece of gear.
Chris Barker:
A dinosaur skull? No, I'm projecting there.
Caesar Edmunds:
A mummy from— no, I'm just kidding.
Will Betts:
Okay, that'd be cool.
Caesar Edmunds:
I mean, luxury— what sort of luxury item?
Chris Barker:
I don't know. Is there anything you miss from Singapore?
Caesar Edmunds:
I was gonna say, I've got I've got a small jade merlion from Singapore.
Will Betts:
It's a lion's head?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, on like a lion. It's a mermaid lion thing. It's like the mystical creature of Singapore.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Caesar Edmunds:
Basically, I don't know if it's like the national animal.
Chris Barker:
So you want a real one of those?
Caesar Edmunds:
No, no, no, no. Oh, what, that's like spurting out water all the time? It's like my water feature in the studio.
Will Betts:
That's actually—
Chris Barker:
that would be cool.
Caesar Edmunds:
That'd be pretty awesome.
Chris Barker:
But you— so we've got— no, but you've got a mini one. Sorry to make it— I wasn't trying to make it ridiculous. But like, that's— so that came over from Singapore with you?
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that came over from Singapore with me. And it's just like, it's just funny that like I've got like this mystical mermaid lion thing.
Chris Barker:
No, but it's kind of, it's, you know, it's, it's part of like your history, isn't it? It's like, that's the thing. It's Jade Merlion.
Caesar Edmunds:
Jade Merlion. They could be—
Chris Barker:
it's a good name for a pop star.
Will Betts:
Jade Merlion.
Chris Barker:
Singaporean pop star.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I'm working with Jade Merlion at the moment.
Caesar Edmunds:
Yeah. You know, you know.
Chris Barker:
Nice. Okay. Well, all that's left to say is thank you so much for joining us on the My Forever Studio podcast.
Caesar Edmunds:
My pleasure.
Chris Barker:
Caesar Edwards. Thank you for coming down from Battersea for us.
Will Betts:
That was great fun.
Chris Barker:
Thank you.
Caesar Edmunds:
Back to Recall now. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Well, that's the My Forever Studio with Cesar, and it was nice to see a studio rooted in reality.
Will Betts:
It was indeed. So all that's left to say is thank you so much for listening, and we'll catch you next time for more adventures into Studio Foreverdom. Bye-bye.