Inferno Interview Preview – September 2009

SDM: From past to present, a lot of your studio experience has been pretty intensive.  Going from Demigod, to Apostasy, to Evangelion…  Can you tell me a little about the differences in the studio for each of these records, and what you did differently with drum preparation and triggering?

Inferno: Every session has been a little different with the drum kits.  On Demigod I had a Pearl Masters kit, and we triggered the snare and kicks, but I was not so happy with the sound, as it was too synthetic and I could not hear the sound of the real drum or the wood.  On The Apostasy, loved the sound.  It was the first production in my life where I was satisfied.  It was the first time using the Spaun drumkit from the US, California, with all-maple shells.  We triggered only the kicks and mixed that sound with some dynamic microphones, until I could really hear the level when playing fast or slow.  Until I got to the “root” of the sound, or it was natural, you know.  Now on Evangelion, we did the same thing and just opened up the room, which was more closed for The Apostasy tracking.  We opened it up more and put ambience microphones at the end of the room, which just made it all sound bigger and fatter.  This was all the idea of Daniel Bergstrom who did the drum production.  For the snare drum, we used two microphones on the top, one on the bottom, and two triggers clamped to the drum, but no drum module (just straight into the board).  One of the mics he chose from the studio was huge and I had never used anything like it before.

SDM: Which one of these three albums would you say you spent the most time in the studio with?

Inferno: The Apostasy, because it was really the first time in the studio for us.  Especially with Malta, who recorded the drums with Daniel, we had a much better idea of what was going on.  From the desk, to the speakers… it was just easier, and we were more prepared for this album.

SDM: From the Pearl to the Spaun, have you stayed with the same heads?

Inferno: Man, we change drumheads three times a session! [Ian laughs and explains the question again.]  I don’t remember the heads we used on Apostasy, but on Demigod I used G2 coated from Evans, and clear heads on Evangelion.  I like both a powerful clear sound from time to time, and a more natural sound as well.  Both are good, just different.

SDM: Has any of the time spent in the studio changed the way you look at a live performance, or changed it to try and emulate the studio sound in a live setting?

Inferno: Everything is exactly the same, but I use the DM5 in live situations.  The drums, drumheads, everything is the same.

SDM: So no different triggers up top for the live shows?

Inferno: C’mon… fuck that!  Triggers are here! [points to his arms]

SDM: [laughs] That’s good to hear from you!  A lot of guys are taking crap for relying too much on triggers these days.

Inferno: It’s easy to play with triggers and get the sound from the drum, like the snare or toms, but you really need to feel the real drumming.

SDM: I didn’t see you do any kind of warmup tonight —

Inferno: But I did.

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