“It was the start of a new cycle and a new era in terms of venue sizes,” Pike recalls. “Solotech were able to help us out in terms of budget, so for our first gig at Wembley Arena I went straight to a DiGiCo. By the end of that tour I was in love with the console. I feel like there are no limitations. The desk does exactly what I want and more, and there is no looking back.”

The identity of the members of Sleep Token is a closely guarded secret and their following has grown organically over the last five years, without press interviews from the band. They wear masks and the stage is kept clear. This anonymity avoids distractions and enables fans to purely enjoy the music.

“The original idea of the band was just to listen to the music, don’t worry about who’s singing, who’s playing, just listen, it’s definitely different,” Pike explains. “The music world is all about the ‘who’, but Sleep Token is just about being moved by the music.”

Being with them since the very beginning, Pike used to mix FOH, monitors, manage the production and the tour. As the band’s success has grown, he has been able to delegate responsibility and now solely concentrates on mixing FOH. Their rise in popularity has seen the band go from 130 people capacity clubs to selling out 23,500 capacity venues like Manchester’s Co-Op Arena in just a few years. The increase in venue size and production elements was just a part of the reason behind using DiGiCo consoles, as self-confessed enthusiast Schmitt recalls.

“I am a true DiGiCo evangelist!” he explains. “When a band is rapidly growing in terms of venue sizes, there are going to be things you want to do that other consoles are just not able to do. And that means you will be running in circles. That is never an issue with DiGiCo, the workflow is just much cleaner.”

It was Schmitt’s enthusiasm and support that made Pike feel more comfortable taking the leap to DiGiCo and, if issues did come up, Schmitt was only too happy to show Pike a quick fix, knowing DiGiCo’s support team are available should the worst happen.

“We joked that I was Thom’s personal DiGiCo tech support,” Schmitt says. “I just love it! The thing about DiGiCo is, even if the worst did happen and a shackle fell from the sky and smashed into the desk, they’re so widely available, we could get a replacement, load up our file and be ok. Beyond robustness, it’s the availability of a huge support team that’s the important thing.”

Before Pike got hands on with his Quantum 338, Schmitt sat down with him in any spare moments they had to talk through the benefits of the DiGiCo workflow, and features he thought Pike would enjoy. Slowly-but-surely, Pike came to see that the Quantum Series was going to serve his needs and the future needs of the band.

“Compared to other consoles, the DiGiCo just seemed like a big scary computer,” recalls Pike. “But you can make them sound how you want them to. Other desks just sound like they sound, but DiGiCo is really clean and there is plenty you can do to change the sound if needed. I love Mustard and basically use it on everything. For this tour, I didn’t use a single standard EQ or compressor on anything. When I first started there was a limit on Mustard channels and I ran out! On this tour, we upgraded to Pulse, so now I have enough Mustard for everything.”

The band do not rely heavily on playback; elements of track are used, but the emphasis is on live music. This fluidity and interaction works well with the spiritual side of Sleep Token’s music, which plays with themes of ritual and iconography, heightening the audience’s experience. It is a vibe that also resonates with the crew, creating a real sense of comradery, as Schmitt and Pike conclude.

“Sleep Token is great to mix because it’s a real rock mix,” says Pike. “Using a DiGiCo was a big change for me, but it’s been great. I get a lot of support from Solotech, and whatever the issue is, they are there to help us.”

“The crew are all good people and the tour has been the glue that keeps us all together. When it all works this well, it just makes sense keep everything the same,” Schmitt concludes. “I’m on the North American side of things, so I’ve worked closely with DiGiCo’s Ryan Shelton and Chip, they’re the best customer service and tech support. If they can’t help, they always know who is on call and will pass me on to them. Even if I just have a simple question, I never feel ignored by DiGiCo.”

Hi-res images and Word doc available for download from here.

Photo Credit: Adamross Williams @adamrosssi

Press Contacts:
Maria Fiorellino at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: maria@digiconsoles.com
Web: www.digico.biz

Sarah James at Gasoline Media
Tel: +44 1483 223333
Email: sarahj@gasolinemedia.com

Using a DiGiCo was a big change for me, but it’s been great.