Globe-jocking
Formed in Montreal but now based in London, BLOND:ISH are DJ/producers Anstascia and Vivie-Ann. Their genre-crossing style has marked them out over the past few years, and they’ve just performed at the SXM Festival on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
The duo’s jet-setting lifestyle has required them to create a studio setup that can be taken anywhere, and we asked them to show it to us. Read on to find out how it all comes together.
The studio
“This is our mobile studio. It seems we've been escaping to paradise as much as we can for the winter, and can’t lug around so much gear, so over the years we've really tried to figure out how we can get the most bang for our studio, but still be able to fit it in our suitcase. So far we've come up with this type of setup, which works for us.”
Genelec 8030A monitors
"For their size, they are our favourite speakers for the mobile studio. As for our ears, they give us the best impression on dynamic range. Bass frequency is quite true as well; not too much colour like other speakers their size. They’re a bit heavy on the luggage front, if you’re worried about weight, but for sureeeee definitely worth it."
“They are not dual voltage, so remember to convert them if taking them overseas.”
Moog Mother 32
“This isn’t called the mother for no reason! The sequencer is ace, and so are its modulation possibilities; it can control any of those CV patchable parameters. It’s where we get all our weird groove lines. Moog filters are our go-to as well on the UAD platform.”
Roland HPD-20
“We call him Roro. He gets so much attention in and out of the studio especially live at our gigs. For dynamic, lively, and versatile percussion, this is our go-to - there are so many ways to dig into this machine and make it go wild. Special mention goes to the ROLL button - it gives us some crazy options for picking up our tracks that get a big response on the dancefloor.”
Moog Minitaur
“Bass. Every single track we make uses this for bass (with filter cutoff). We don’t use anything else, and with its little rack size, it’s easy for us to bring around and just throw in the mix.”
Universal Audio Apollos
“We always switch up our setup on the road, but one thing that has remained constant is using UAD to power the sound. There were so many musicians/DJs in Tulum this year, and no options to really jam and record, so we brought the Apollo in so when we did jam with other producers, everyone had a channel on the back to plug into with the Mac mini as the main system.
“We also had the UA Apollo Twin with us from one of our home studios, which we ended up using as the studio control unit (like a Mackie big knob)”
Sennheiser HD 650 headphones
“These headphones really save us on the road. Because of the fact that our mobile studio doesn’t really have acoustic treatment and there are limitations in paradise, the rooms always give us interesting reverbs, extra boom and reflections. The HD650s are the truest reference headphones we've encountered, so we can do mixes ready for club testing while on the road.”
