Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • EVH trance state
  • Antonoff on Please Please Please
  • “Mick looked peeved. The Beatles had upstaged him”
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Superbooth 2025
Synths "There's too much new gear!": The 12 best instruments, effects and innovations you need to know about from Superbooth 2025
Behringer Model D
Soft Synths “It's probably my Behringer Model D monosynth. So simple and obviously cheap, but it’s just so versatile. I’ve used it on basically every track that I’ve created”: 10 producers share the tech they can’t live without
lone
Computers “You could take everything away from me but leave the laptop and I'm confident I could make interesting music quite happily for the rest of my life”: Lone on the gear behind his technicolour, rave-adjacent electronica
Suited and booted, wearing wraparound shades and a wide-brimmed hat, Steve Vai performs with King Crimson supergroup BEAT, playing his signature Ibanez PIA.
Artists “It is beautiful... it’s clean and it works great, and it does everything I need”: Steve Vai shows us just what’s needed to play ‘80s King Crimson as he offers tour of his custom-built BEAT rig
Floating Points The Sunflower
Artists “I need to build a sound of my own that has the power that I want”: Floating Points hates festival sound systems so much that he’s invented his own
Riva Starr
Artists “I have an original 909 – every time I try to use it I feel like I’m ruining it”: House hero Riva Starr on his studio essentials and his love of analogue synths
Superbooth live
Synths Superbooth 2025: all the latest synth news from Berlin, as it happened
  1. Artists
  2. Gigs & Festivals

In pictures: Factory Floor's live setup

News
By Future Music ( Future Music ) published 12 September 2014

Discover the gear that powers the London-based three-piece's stage show

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Floor show

Floor show

In demand as remixers and much remixed themselves (recent How You Say EP is a masterclass in cool), it’s when Gabe (Gurnsey), Nik (Void) and Dom (Butler) convene in the live arena that electronic improvisers Factory Floor start to get seriously intense. The Factory Floor live experience is incendiary, uplifting and relentless… in all the right ways.

Not ones to lazily chuck a few presets at a few pre-programmed beats, they use the humble MIDI clock to underpin their shape-shifting improvisations, with Gurnsey harnessing an array of drum machines and real drums, Butler taking care of the synth side of things, and Void utilising a variety of samplers and effects to treat her vocals.

Factory Floor live is an incredibly compelling experience, so Future Music magazine was never going to pass up the chance to speak with the band ahead of a recent sell-out performance at London’s Oval Space. So, in a quiet moment twixt soundcheck and gig, they caught up with Gabe and Nik to discuss the gear they take on stage.

NEXT: Roland TR-8

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of 8
Roland TR-8

Roland TR-8

Gabe: “If you think about Roland, they were the pioneers of all these great bits of kit like the 808 and the 909 but, in many ways, they’re now moving those forward, which makes you think maybe they’re not just into going back and doing retro stuff.

“Integrating digital with analogue sounds, virtual analogue, kind of works better for live in a lot of ways. You can get really murky analogue stuff going on but this digital/analogue integration is the way forward… for us anyway.”

NEXT: Nord Drum 2

Page 2 of 8
Page 2 of 8
Nord Drum 2

Nord Drum 2

Gabe: “I’ve got the Nord Drum 2; they are amazing little units. They’re tiny and weigh nothing. I replaced my Roland SPDS, which I’d had for ten years, with the Nord just to try something new.

“The Nord is incredibly versatile - virtual analogue again and it’s very ‘Simmonds-y’. The great thing about virtual analogue is that you can save it all and you don’t have to stress yourself out dialling stuff into it prior to going onstage.”

NEXT: Roland SP-555

Page 3 of 8
Page 3 of 8
Roland SP-555

Roland SP-555

Nik: “The SP-555 is a great little sampler. You can really bash it about and there’s a great choice of effects.”

NEXT: Eventide H9

Page 4 of 8
Page 4 of 8
Eventide H9

Eventide H9

Nik: “The US tour made us realise that we can improvise more with effects. The H9 is a great pedal to use for that.”

NEXT: TC Helicon D1

Page 5 of 8
Page 5 of 8
TC Helicon D1

TC Helicon D1

Nik: “I know it’s a very ‘studio’ thing, but they’ve got brilliant preamps in them, enabling me to get the volume to cut through the mix.”

NEXT: EHX Holiest Grail

Page 6 of 8
Page 6 of 8
EHX Holiest Grail

EHX Holiest Grail

Nik: “If you use an analogue reverb, that takes the volume down a lot. With these digital units the volume still keeps well up there.”

NEXT: Mackie 802VLZ4

Page 7 of 8
Page 7 of 8
Mackie 802VLZ4

Mackie 802VLZ4

Nik: “I run [my vocals] through a mixer with some Boss pedals on the aux-in, so I can take the effects on and off.”

Page 8 of 8
Page 8 of 8
Future Music
Future Music

Future Music is the number one magazine for today's producers. Packed with technique and technology we'll help you make great new music. All-access artist interviews, in-depth gear reviews, essential production tutorials and much more. Every marvellous monthly edition features reliable reviews of the latest and greatest hardware and software technology and techniques, unparalleled advice, in-depth interviews, sensational free samples and so much more to improve the experience and outcome of your music-making.

All-access artist interviews, in-depth gear reviews, essential production tutorials and much more. image
All-access artist interviews, in-depth gear reviews, essential production tutorials and much more.
Get the latest issue now!
More Info
Read more
Superbooth 2025
"There's too much new gear!": The 12 best instruments, effects and innovations you need to know about from Superbooth 2025
Behringer Model D
“It's probably my Behringer Model D monosynth. So simple and obviously cheap, but it’s just so versatile. I’ve used it on basically every track that I’ve created”: 10 producers share the tech they can’t live without
lone
“You could take everything away from me but leave the laptop and I'm confident I could make interesting music quite happily for the rest of my life”: Lone on the gear behind his technicolour, rave-adjacent electronica
Suited and booted, wearing wraparound shades and a wide-brimmed hat, Steve Vai performs with King Crimson supergroup BEAT, playing his signature Ibanez PIA.
“It is beautiful... it’s clean and it works great, and it does everything I need”: Steve Vai shows us just what’s needed to play ‘80s King Crimson as he offers tour of his custom-built BEAT rig
Floating Points The Sunflower
“I need to build a sound of my own that has the power that I want”: Floating Points hates festival sound systems so much that he’s invented his own
Riva Starr
“I have an original 909 – every time I try to use it I feel like I’m ruining it”: House hero Riva Starr on his studio essentials and his love of analogue synths
Latest in Gigs & Festivals
Bruce Springsteen performs during the first night of 'The Land of Hopes and Dreams' tour at Co-op Live on May 14, 2025 in Manchester, England
“In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict”: Springsteen issues rallying cry against Trump at Manchester gig
Andy Bell and Liam Gallagher 2005
“I’m in and I’m really looking forward to it”: First non-Gallagher member confirmed for Oasis reunion line up
Neil Young at Farm Aid 2024
"We're fighting for our lives": Neil Young and John Mellencamp confirmed for Farm Aid 2025
Nick Banks performing with actual Pulp in 2023
"Can you believe this?": Watch Pulp drummer Nick Banks join tribute band Pulp’d at Fake Festival
Liam and Noel Gallagher
"This is very much the last time around”: Make the most of the Oasis reunion says the band's co-manager
Eurovision 2025
Tempo shifts, key changes and the return of nonsense lyrics: Is Eurovision 2025 set to be the most musically weird contest in its history?
Latest in News
Lindsey Buckingham Charli XCX
“Getting kinda saucy already”: Watch Lindsey Buckingham react as he checks out Charli XCX’s Von Dutch video for the first time... alongside his daughter
David Lee Roth in 1985
“The acrobatics. The sexuality. In his prime, he was the super frontman of all time”: The rock icon hailed by Gene Simmons as the GOAT
Money
From bedroom to billions… The Sunday Times Rich List 2025 just revealed the wealth and rankings of the UK’s biggest music stars
Lorde
“I love making bangers. Someone’s got to make them. I’m really proud when they come out of me”: Lorde reveals that she used the drums from Radiohead’s Reckoner while she was writing new single What Was That, and they probably weren’t too hard to find
teenage engineering
"I snuck in an easter egg that most people don't know about - I don't think anyone's found it yet": Teenage Engineering engineer reveals hidden Pocket Operator feature
Deals of the week
MusicRadar deals of the week: Score a massive $550 off a premium Fender Strat, £380 off the Epiphone Dave Grohl DG-335, and £189 off the Boss SDE-3000D delay pedal

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...