Suzy Starlite and Simon Campbell are a powerhouse songwriting and musical partnership specializing in contemporary folk and Americana. They are currently deep in sessions for “The Coat,” a new acoustic album which will be released in summer 2021. It features the Sequential Tempest interwoven with traditional acoustic instrumentation.
Suzy has a folk background (see for full details) and was featured in Bass Guitar Magazine in 2018. Simon released a contemporary folk/Americana album, The Knife in 2014 which was produced by Andy Seward and featured several highly-regarded musicians including Andy Cutting, Malcolm Stitt, David Kilgallon, and BJ Cole.
We chatted with Simon and Suzy on how they’ve been using the Tempest:
What made you choose the Tempest?
We were looking for the finest drum machine on the market and the Tempest was really the only choice. Not only did it have the finest sounds available but they can be edited to a very fine level of detail. It was also very important that it could be used in a live performance environment. Simon had used a lot of Sequential and Roger Linn drum instruments in the past and he has a great amount of respect for Roger and Dave.
How are you using it?
Suzy and I are principally songwriters and have a number of simultaneous projects on the go. One of them is an “acoustic” contemporary folk record that we will be releasing in 2020. Along with a plethora of fine acoustic instruments, it incorporates ambient, and not so ambient, electronic elements which contemporise the material. Live performance is our passion and we will be taking the tempest to all our shows. We also use it for writing.
What’s one of your favorite things about it?
It’s difficult to pick out one, but if we have to, it’s all about the sound variety and quality plus the ability to tailor them exactly to your needs. We have a very well-equipped analog studio where Suzy and I record all our material with a very large CADAC analog console and ATC SMC25A monitors which reveal the smallest detail. We are very fussy!
What does it give you that other instruments don’t?
We love the live performance elements of the Tempest which give you real expression. Imagine this scenario: Far from using it in a club with massive, pounding beats, Suzy and I are using it in a venue where we play acoustic music and you can hear a pin drop. The dynamics you can create are breathtaking. We will soon be purchasing a Prophet Rev2 to compliment our material even further.
Any interesting tricks or techniques you’d like to share?
Well I am sure there are much more qualified people out there than us to answer this but we have recently used it direct into our Supertone/Matamp 200W valve (tube) bass head and 6×10 Bergantino cabinet and then miked the cab using a Neumann U47FET and a Sennheiser MD421. This does give a very punchy sound with a lot of depth for recording.
LINKS
Starlite-Campbell official website
facebook.com/starlite.campbell
www.instagram.com/starlitecampbell
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