Interview with mulit-platinum awarding winning producer from the Dairy studio in London – Roy Merchant :
How long have you been recording/performing?
I started assisting in a London studio around 1990 aged 17 and professionally producing in ’94 after learning as much as I could about studios and how they used to operate.
What are your thoughts on Phoenix audio processors?
Really like the Phoenix stuff.. I only first heard of them about 3 years ago (2013) when an old studio mate recommended the N16 as a summing amp. I got home that night and randomly saw a reconditioned one on Ebay and had it shipped over. Haven’t looked back since….. Its called a Nicerizer for a reason.
How do you use your Phoenix Audio in the studio/live?
I have a bunch of lovely mic pre/EQ’s in my set up but to be fair the DRS-Q4 mk2 has been the go to for quite a while now. It’s sitting on the mix bus at the mo, love the EQ and saturation!
What projects have you used the gear on that you can talk about?
Been working on a project called “Ella on the run”. She has a down tempo cover of “All that she wants” (Ace of base) which was snapped up by the same label that had the original. Off the same ep we’ve had a sync with H&M. Again that was the DRS-Q4 on the mix bus
Have any songs or albums you’ve recorded with Phoenix gear garnered any acclaim or awards?
Top10 hits (anywhere), music awards, press…
I did a Pop album last year (Bars and Melody) that was No 4 in the uk album charts and recently went platinum in Poland. That was the nicerizer.
What piece/ kind of gear would you like to see us make next? Or, what Phoenix gear do you want next?
Love the DRS, stay on that track, maybe built slightly more “brickshithouse”-esk…..
artists/tracks
Ed Sheeran, Nadia Rose, Coldcut, Bars & Melody, MIA, Omar, Wiley, So Solid crew, Example