Me in my studio: Mice Parade

Intro

"Hi, I'm Adam Pierce from Mice Parade and this is my good friend Jeremy Backofen. My studio is in upstate NY, about an hour north of Manhattan, at my house in the beautiful Hudson Valley region.

"When I moved upstate 6 years ago, I chose a place with a mountain view and a three-car garage at the back - a separate building which I converted into the studio. I've had a studio wherever I've lived since college; it’s simply evolved and now is more of a 'real' space, yet still small and cozy.

"I've never had a proper name for my studio, it’s changed with each location. Frightened Rabbit called it ‘Adam's bit’ and our resident engineer Jeremy calls it ‘The Scooberdome’, which was what we called my old studio space 20 years ago. What I like most about the current space is its seclusion within natural surroundings. I'm in the middle of a state forest here, and I find it much more enjoyable than recording in a big city. The wooden sound diffusers came from the vocal booth at the old Bearsville Studio, so they might very well have absorbed saliva from Michael Stype, James Hettfield, Janice Joplin, who knows!"

Piano

"The living room of my house holds a bunch of fun instruments, behind the piano lies a cimbalom, a koto harp, a Balinese gamelan, an old living room organ, and some other knick knacks. High ceilings in this room make for good recordings…"

Tape machine

"What a terrible picture of our lovely two-inch tape machine… I think tracking stuff to a computer should be avoided at all costs…"

Synths

"Casio SK-5 on top, the best Casio model in my opinion. Fender Rhodes on the bottom, and then that digital Korg thing that everyone has nowadays is in the middle.

"I also have a SC Pro One keyboard from the late 70s or very early 80s, which is the wooden case the others synths are resting on, but it's seen better days."

Chandler TG-1 compressor

"Studio life improved a lot when I finally got the Chandler TG-1 compressor, the perfect crunch for drums and a great energy addition for vocals.

"I'd wanted one for a while but boy do they cost a pretty penny. It's the recently made version of the classic Abbey Road-style compression.

"Plus, no studio is complete without a Roland Space Echo. Meanwhile this Roland Chorus Echo is the more badass, version which I prefer."

Korg BX-3 Organ

"The almighty Korg BX-3, a mid-80s analog and more portable version of a Hammond Organ.

"I might even like it better than a real Hammond since it actually has a distortion knob."

Avalon mix chain

"My Avalon stereo mix-chain and the nicest EQs that I have. Most mixes go through these two racks. On top sits the Radam unit, a quirky VCF that a friend handmade for me as a gift."

Candela, the new album by Mice Parade is out now on FatCat records