Recording and Mixing

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I love every single album I worked on in a different way. The one Im proudest are : The Cosmic Dead - Psych Is Dead (Riot Season) : this is honestly such a cool album! has been recorded on a house facing the Mediterranean sea during a European Tour of the band, then mixed in analogue, OTB , back in Glasgow, Scotland. The opening song and whole Side A of the vinyl, Nuraghe, is such a great , dark, epic jam! it's a black hole eating itself and producing this album with Lewis Cook (now former Free Love/Happy Meals) and Omar Aboreeda, has been a great experience. Plus has been released by Riot Season , a UK record label that I always , always loved Kabobo - Bulo! (Stabbed In The Back Records) I loved working on this 10" ep for my band Kabobo. It has been recorded on an industrial estate , all live, and mixed in analogue as well. Working with DAvid SCorteccia has been so good, he's one of the best rock drummers in Glasgow and also a great FOH sound engineer. And a best friend. I love you , David! Trembling Bells - Dungeness (Tin Angel) Recording this album has been awesome. We tracked it completely live, including most of the vocals, at Chem 19, a great studio a bit outside Glasgow City. We then mixed it in the first incarnation of my studios. I LOVE this album and has been positively reviewed by many magazines, webzines and has been album of the day on BBC 6 and folk album of the month for The Guardian. Such an epic, gigantic, emotional beautiful rock-psych-folk album! I would love to talk about EACH record I made but I would take too much time .. I: loved working with the psychedelic band The Space Spectrum in Germany, with Benjamin Power and Outblinker making crazy techno-electronic-rock anthems in Ben's private studio, making all the Big Hogg records with Justin Lumsden, a favourite pal and underground producer from Glasgow... I loved working with the Kidney Flower, a really HOT garage rock band from Glasgow too.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Im working on many records : The Cosmic Dead last gig with the old lineup. A great live recording of a beautiful concert at Mono, Glasgow. Im also working on Alex Rex and Trembling Bells, both Alex Nielson's bands. Folk, psychedelia, 70;s sound and great lyrics. It's a pleasure to mix Lavinia Blackwall's vocals and Stevie Jackson (Belle And Sebastian) guitar playing. Im going to work also on a new Kabobo recording, and hopefully at the end of the summer I will work with my hero Benjamin Power (Blanck Mass and Fuck Buttons)

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both! I love mixing OTB using my analogue desks , I: love recording on tape and I love to use external analogue outboard, not just because of the sound you can reach, but also for the workflow that forces you to make important decisions, so you don't have the luxury of being distracted or not living in the moment. I also love digital for the flexibility, the clarity of the sound, for the many options you can have , for the fact that you can easily recall a mix on some projects where you have a high number of tracks and automations. Technology is just a medium to reach a result !

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: Only one thing: that Im there to listen to them and to comunicate. Im not there to judge anyone abilities or style, and nothing makes me happier to see an idea becoming something physical and real!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love meeting new people and sharing with them the wonderful experience of making an album and make it happen! I love to learn about new music and expand my music horizons I love the actual job, recording and mixing it's a challenge, a passion, and a very important part of my life.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Tell me your story. How did you start, what music you love, where you want to go with your music, and if you are planning any tour.

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: First of all, listen to my portfolio on www.luigipasquinisound.co.uk . You will listen to my selected work and also you could discover some very cool bands there! The main advice I have is : book me with at least a month of advance if you can and try to book a little pre-production session if you want to do a full album: it will make you save so much money , because I will know what you do and how you do it. Last advice: I just want to let you know that my studios are a safe environment where no one is judging you or pushing you to do things you don't want. Only people not welcome in the studios are racists and homophobic people, everyone else is well accepted!

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: Coles Ribbon 4038 microphone Kush Audio Fatso Stereo Compressor

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I started recording bands and choirs-orchestras in 2011, and started working as a FOH engineer for local music venues since 2014.. Since then I never stopped, and after working in many recording studios and using my mobile rig, Im opening in July 2018 my first recording studio with my friend and business partner Omar Aboreda (The Cosmic Dead)

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I feel like a Chamaeleon ! I change and shape my style according to the music Im working with, but one thing is the file rouge that is connecting all my productions : I try to find the feature that is making a band unique and helping the musicians to explore their wilder side and not to be afraid of who they are. I feel that every band and artist can be unique and find its own way to tell its story to the world.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: I had the pleasure already to work with bands and musicians I love: from the psych-jam-rock cult band The Cosmic Dead, I have been lucky to produce exciting rock-electro music with Benjamin Power (Fuck Buttons , Blanck MAss) and Outblinker, I recorded an intense and incredible band like Trembling Bells and I could record exceptional musicians like Alex Nielson (Trembling Bells, Alex Rex) and Stevie Jackson (Belle And Sebastian). And not to mention all the DIY bands and one of my fave Canterbury-sound bands from Glasgow, Big Hogg and Duke 72! But Im always looking for new bands! I would love to work with so many artists, new and not, that is really hard to write a list. I will think about that and upload this section!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Find your own sound playing live, touring, making demos. Then hit the studios and show the world who you are, and don't be afraid! Be brave, because you are unique and beautiful.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: Im open to any genre of music, mostly any kind of rock (from 70's-oriented rock to noise rock) psych and folk and extravagant and experimental music , but I love to work the most with bands or musicians who are not looking to make an overproduced album, but with artists who want to make the record mostly in the room, working a lot on the source, on how they sound while they perform.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is to capture the sound of electric and acoustic instruments, thanks to the techniques I learned in the years, my microphones setups and my really nice preamps. I also love to get

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I usually start doing a pre-production, listening to the songs and understanding the style and what the band wants to say. I try to talk

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio setup at the Anchor Lane Studios (website online soon) is a mix of high-end digital and analogue gear (tape recorders, analogue mixing desk and preamps and outboard) Anchor Lane studios have a live room with two spacious booths for amplifiers or acoustic instruments, a dead room for dry and tight sounding drums or overdubs , or clean vocal recordings, and a spacious control room. I also have a mobile rig that allows me to record bands and musicians anywhere, from their houses to hotels to any place where they want to go and make a record.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: The whole history of recorded music is a source of inspiration! I love the sound of classic early jazz records where the players and the rooms were doing most of the job, and musicians were rehearsing for days to get great performances straight to tape. I love the sound of 60's records , plate reverbs , echo chambers, natural reverb of big rooms , and the first studio experiments. Im a big, big fan of 70's records, from Canterbury Sound to USA rock productions, and I love the dry and focused sound of albums from Black Sabbath to Joni Mitchell , to Greatful Dead and Kraftwerk. Kraut Rock is also a big influence on me, and I love the idea of bands jamming and then re-work their jams in the studio! Love records of Can, Faust, Neu! and all the other Kraut bands! I love the sound of 80's record, where producers started to experiment in a different way, creating new synthetic sounds , generatic a brand new aesthetic, and making the first modern pop productions. I also love the 90;s! I love the rock albums , with big guitars and multiple overdubs, but also I love the pristine , clean but warm sound of live sessions straight to tape, like the one of Steve Albini or generally all the recordings of the whole Washington DC scene! And we could talk about bands like Tortoise, Motorpsycho , AT The Drive In, Kyuss . And how not to mention many, many other bands born in that era are great! PAvement, Quasi, and songwriters like Elliot Smith About the 00's until now... we had such an explosion of new , exciting music. Of every genre. Electronic, New Funky, Rock, Noise Rock, Crazy weird metal and experimental music. There are so many bands and styles and all of this is a big source of ispiration! We got access to such a vaste palette of colours, music-wise, that we have no excuse! We totally CAN make amazing records, and each band can sound different

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: The most common works I do are - Live tracking in the studio : we setup the Anchor Lane Studio in order to allow bands to record an album playing it partially or entirely live, using the booths for partial or total isolation . I can record that on tape 8-tracks or straight to Pro Tools using my high-end A/D D/A converters. - Multitrack Session : the band makes the record recording one instrument at the time. This is a fun why to get a production where you can get a bit more crazy with studio techniques Live Recording\Locational Recording : It often happens that I got bands who want to record in an environment that is not a typical studio. I recorded albums in big converted churches, flats, garages, houses in front of the sea, abandoned industrial estates (all in my portfolio :) I also got very nice locations in Europe (Italy and Austria) where I have access to really nice houses , one in the sea side and the other one in the Austrian Mountains, where I could