Me in my studio: Ben Westbeech
Intro
"I am a singer, producer and DJ who also goes by the name of Breach. My studio is based on Brick lane, London.
"I love being here as there are so many vibrant people and lots of creative energy. I have been here for nearly three years now and I am loving it. Sometimes spaces can become stale but there's always new energy here."
Sonny angels
"These little sonny angels help me through my days in the studio. I work on my own a lot so it's nice to have a lot of things around you. I collect these little bastards. They are really cute."
Vinyl
"It is important to have vinyl around me. I sample a lot and use the records as tools to make music from. I also like listening to records in the studio to get inspiration and energy.
"I will always go record shopping; just near my studio there is a really good record fair in Spitalfields market every month. It's great to find some weird and rare jazz and old funk records."
Neumann U47 fet
"This Neumann is a little different as it is a gun metal version which is quite rare. I found it on eBay and went straight in.
"After working with Jazzanova I fell in love with this mic and use it for most things I record. I have an old Rode NT1 and a Shure super 55 deluxe too, but this just works. My chain for it is a Neve 1073 into the Fatso, then into an LA2A."
Korg MonoPoly
"This is such a dope little synth. It creates mad sounds and some quite deep ones too.
"The chord tricks you can do on it are really amazing too. I don't use it that much but it can be useful when you need some weird sounds."
ARP Quartet
"My ARP quartet. My god the strings on this are so dope. I picked it up super cheap off eBay, but had to go down to Bognor Regis to pick it up.
"It was bought off some really old guy who lived in a bungalow with three cocker spaniels. Lovely bloke. Lovely synth. Lovely price. There is also an Alesis Micron in the picture and a mad little Yamaha synth from Brick Lane market that you can sample your voice through. But it is all about the ARP!"
German art
"This is an old German print I once saw in a restaurant, and then last year, I got given it as a present! I'm so into it. It had to go in the studio."
Monitoring
"I monitor through the Yamaha HS80Ms which are great, but also have some old KRK Rokit 5 monitors to reference through.
"I like how harsh they sound. When you get your mix sounding great through these you know you got it. I go to these a lot as I know them like the back of my hand. I used KRKs for so many years and want to get bigger versions soon. But for now, the Yamaha's are working for me."
Roland Juno-60
"My MIDI-modded Juno-60. This is my go to synth for a lot of music I make as Ben Westbeech or as Breach. It just has an amazing sound instantly.
"I am totally in love with it. There's nothing like messing with the filters and ADSR live when you are recording it in. So much fun and the arpeggiator and chorus are amazing."
Audio interface and processing
"I run an Apogee Ensemble interface and then use a Folcrom passive summer which is hooked up to the Neve 1073 for when I'm mixing.
"I use the stereo LA2A, which my friend Gus Pirelli made, and the Fatso on a lot of channels too. I use them then record back in to Cubase 6 which is my main DAW that I've been using since day one. I love putting anything through the Fatso or the LA2A. It makes such a difference when mixing out of the box.
"I also use the Slate Digital products to mix in the box, especially the FG-X and the VCC which are total game changers. And when it all comes out the Folcrom into the Neve I get the separation I'm looking for. I'm looking forward to trying the Slate Fox preamp when I get one next month, too."
Box of percussion
"There is so much crap in here that it is great to record! I just dip in and see if it works. Record it then chop it up in Cubase 6. Job done."
Ben Westbeech's Breach remix of DJ Cra$y's That Amen Track is out now on the Dirtybird HATCHED compilation.