Me in my studio: Crazy P
Jim Barron ponders what it means to turn a knob.
Welcome
Crazy P have been getting their electronic disco groove on for almost 20 years now, and 2015's Walk Dance Talk Sing demonstrates that they're in no mood to call time on the party just yet.
We asked founding member Jim Barron to photograph and describe the band's current studio setup, which features classic synths and effects and a laptop running a DAW to bring it all together.
If you want to see this gear put to good use, you can catch the band at one of their forthcoming live dates. Before that, though, click through the gallery and find out where Crazy P's musical magic happens...
Roland Juno synths
“Without fail, these two beauties get used on every thing we do, in some shape or form. Such versatile synths and easy to use, and especially good for pads.”
The DJ area
“We DJ a lot as a collective, so this is a pretty important area of the studio. Featuring a pair of Pioneer Nexus 2000s, a pair of Technics 2010s, a Pioneer DJM500 mixer and various records lovingly filed away for easy use!”
Guitars
“The Axes. Well, some of them (the coolest!). From left to right: a Fender Tele, Takamine Cool Tube Acoustic, Gretsch Electromatic and a vintage Fender Precision. These are the four that probably get the most use.”
Nord keyboards
“Both absolute staples in the studio and when we play live. I've had the Nord Lead 2 (top) for about 20 years. It's been through the wars - broken keys etc - but still functions absolutely perfectly. I love its hands-on simplicity.
“The Electro (bottom) is the go-to keyboard for all thing vintage: Rhodes, piano, Clav, organ etc.”
Moog Voyager
“Based on the classic Minimoog and given a few mod cons of the modern digital age. But it hasn't lost all the analogue warmth and character.
“Another staple for playing live, although how it's survived the baggage handlers I'll never know - a testament to its durability!”
Godwin String Concert
“A vintage old string synth. We're a big fan of those '70s synth strings as used by Herbie Hancock and such like. This delivers on all levels. It sounds lush through the Mu-tron Phasor.”
Allen & Heath mixer
“We've had this a while. It's great for tracking when we have the band in and live musicians. It's nice to have a half-decent analogue desk for jamming as well - it makes the studio less entered around the laptop.”
Mu-tron Phasor
“As mentioned previously, this little beauty really brings the Godwin alive and spaces out those string sounds. It's great for the Juno and Nord 2 as well.
“This one's been retro fitted with a frequency knob on the right-hand side.”
Computer and DAW
“This is where the laptop lives - very much the heart of the studio in a lot of ways. We use Logic to record and sequence, and there are a few tasty plugins which we like to use, but we try and keep as much 'out of the box' as we can. It's more fun that way.
“Jim is demonstrating one of his favourite studio poses, tweeting the knobs of the Vermona Kick Machine. Also featured here are our trusted and highly budget Tannoy Reveals. Yes, they're low-end monitors, but we've been using them for years and know them inside out.”
Auratone Super Sound Cube
“This little reference monitor is invaluable. It's wired for mono, and great for sorting out overall levels and the midrange”
