L.A.-based alternative outfit Starling told us about their love for their Kurzweil K2000 sampler and more...
Starling: When it comes to live gear we definitely don’t go into any maximalist sound design that would call for an immense spread of pedals and amps yet. We try to stay true to the arranged parts when performing. But in mixing our record Forgive Me, three pieces of hardware really mattered; A Kurzweil K2000 sampler, a 1968 3-head Krumar reel-to-reel, and a cassette recorder used as a preamp for strings and vocal mixing. While mixing lead guitars for three of our songs, I’d chain guitar loops using the Kurzweil, into the reel-to-reel to used for its flutter and echo.
The cassette usage is straightforward. It was for overdriving certain elements of songs. (This application has since rendered my cassette deck pre amps forever screwed.) A chunk of my inspiration in the studio comes from the musique concrète writings of Pierre Schaeffer, which I try to practically apply to our sound, and the production style of a peak 90s electronic group called ‘Autechre’.
This record is dear to us as we completely put ourselves into its every step, with love, care, and amateur truth to how it came out. Listen out for these three effects, the way we like to try and decode recording techniques when listening to music.
Starling's new EP Forgive Me is out June 27.
