Up-and-coming British pop sensation FKA twigs (Tahliah Debrett Barnett) began her career performing as “Twigs,” but after a dispute with another artist using that same name, changed it to FKA (Formerly Known As) twigs, and the new moniker has stuck with her ever since.
Beginnings
Born of a Jamaican father and a Spanish/English mother, she was raised in the somewhat “nowhere” environs of the U.K.’s Gloucestershire County, where she began singing in clubs while a teenager. At 17, she moved to London and appeared as a dancer in videos for various artists including Kylie Minogue, Ed Sheeran Taio Cruz, Jessie J and others.
Refocusing on music, she released her first recordings — an EP entitled EP1 — in late 2012, followed up by music videos, which drew a lot of attention to her songs. When the British daily newspaper The Guardian chose her for its “New Band of the Day” selection, it described FKA twigs as “the UK’s best example to date of ethereal, twisted R&B.” Next up was EP2, this time on the Young Turks label, and more performances, which led to a BBC “Sound of 2014” nomination. FKA twigs also made Billboard’s “14 Artists to Watch in 2014” list.
Off On Tour
A 2014 world tour ensued to support FKA twigs’ first album release —named “LP1,” of course — last October, beginning at The Dome in Brighton, England and ending in Orlando, FL last December. Besides vocalist Tahliah Barnett, the current FKA twigs tour features Cyan Assiter-Clark doing beats (he also serves as the band’s resident Ableton “black belt”); Joseph “LJ” Howe on bass; Timmaz “Tic” Zolleyn on guitar and keys; and, when there are live drums, Paul Stanley-McKenzie. The ongoing tour continues in 2015. The U.S. stops include this month’s Coachella Festival and a performance at the Brooklyn Hangar in mid-May, followed by shows planned for Portugal, the U.K. and Spain during the summer months.
In the midst of this whirlwind schedule, we caught up with FOH veteran Andy Carrington, who talked about capturing the essence of FKA twigs. Performing mostly at theaters and large clubs, this is essentially a “racks and stacks” tour — using a different sound system at each venue — so the team has focused on carrying gear that provides maximum punch with a minimum of cartage. Tristan Finn and SAS are the sound companies handling the dates in the U.K.; in the states the tour sound companies are Thunder Audio and See Factor.
In some ways, touring with FKA twigs brings Carrington back to his roots. “I got my start in London’s Marquee Club and underground nightclubs, and I was also involved in setting up a pirate radio station. I went on the road with band like The Kills, Wiz Khalifa, The Big Pink, Mac Miller, Super Furry Animals, The View and Primal Scream,” he recalls. “For most of last year, I traveled with FKA twigs, and I’m happily globetrotting with her again this year. We’ve been touring Europe and the U.S., and she’s building a terrifically dedicated following.”
The FOH Mix
Almost every FOH mixer worth his salt has developed a special bag of tricks geared to optimizing, sweetening, or in some instances just magically fine-tuning his artist’s sound; a “secret sauce” that inexplicably ratchets a performance up from terrific to sensational. In the spirit of peer-to-peer camaraderie, or sometimes when the high-octane spirits themselves are flowing, trade tricks will be shared as freely as beer nuts, and those tricks will be eventually adopted for the universal good.
Over the past few years, as Avid VENUE and (the more recent) S3L console platform have dominated sectors of the touring scene, and with that, a variety of Sonnox Oxford plug-ins have made their way out of the studio and into live venues, last year being offered as the Sonnox LIVE bundle of Oxford plug-ins.
Carrington, an outspoken fan of the Avid platform, travels with his own S3L console, which offers compatibility with the VENUE series and also is compact and lightweight. “Just three cases weighing under 23 kg [50.6 pounds] went with us to Australia on 11 flights,” he notes. “The S3L has been great, and we also record every show” — making the board’s built-in Pro Tools compatibility another big plus. Having a familiar console (especially your own) along while on tour is a definite advantage, adding some consistency to the equation of working in different venues with unfamiliar sound systems. “I utilize an Avid S3L on virtually all these gigs, and Sonnox plug-ins are an integral part of the mix,” Carrington says.
Effects and More Effects
“Tahliah’s album is dripping with effects, and the entire show is very effects-laden, so I’ll start with the Oxford Reverb,” Carrington continues. “Each song has a different sort of reverb, but with the Oxford, I can create anything. I begin with the presets, which are all clearly labeled and do exactly what they say. Then I adjust and rename it for each song. There’s a ‘short cut function’ switch on the S3L, and I’m instantly into the plug-in on the touch screen. It’s the fastest interface of any plug-in ever, literally at my fingertips within a split second. I use it constantly, on virtually every song. But I use the encoders when I go to the EQ page. It has a nicer feel, and I feel it’s more accurate than dragging my fingers and getting the key right. It’s just brilliant, and easily my favorite interface for reverb and effects.”
Carrington emphasizes that the speed of access to effects is a huge asset, especially when making real-time changes based on the room’s acoustical response. “One of my favorite presets to start with is the EMT 140. On one song, ‘Papi Pacify,’ the first eight bars have a 7-second-plus reverb — a super long tail. If the room that night allows me to get away with it, it might even stretch up to eight seconds. And then, over the period of the last phrase, I bring it down with my finger to just below three seconds. Because it’s so fast and I can get into it so quick, I can constantly dial it in. With an outboard rack, you would be scrolling through pages — so more often than not, you’d probably just leave it alone. But now it’s just there — I can just make tiny adjustments all the time, which I love.”
He also uses the Inflator to add power, presence and warmth on the mix bus — without damaging peaks. “It helps gel everything together, and it also makes things pop out. Certain songs are more powerful than others, and towards the end of the set, we have ‘Two Weeks’ — the big single. I usually start off with the Input just over 0 dB, and the Effect up just a bit. I can build it up and bring it down during the set.” Here, he also finds the SL3’s plug-ins shortcut comes in handy where he can instantly bring the plug-in onscreen. “I can make slight adjustments, and sometimes, when your crowd is really going, I can pump it. It’s a great thing to gel the whole mix. I use it on the lead vocal too.”
Vocals are the Star
Clearly, the music is beat- and ambience-driven, but conveying the purity of the lead vocal is paramount. “Some amazing leaps forward in our sound came from the addition of the Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5045 Primary Source Enhancer and the DPA d:facto 2 capsule, which has an incredibly natural response that works extremely well with Tahliah’s voice.”
The 5045 definitely suits FKA twigs’ production style. “It enabled me to get an additional 10 to 15 dB of gain without feedback, and without affecting the tonal qualities of her voice,” Carrington explains. “I don’t know what magic they’ve planted inside that unit, but it works like a treat, and has become essential for such an effects-heavy mix. My UAD solo twin is one of the, if not the most powerful for its size pieces of audio kit out there, and my Eventide H9 harmonizer pedal, also a miniature powerhouse. Nothing else sounds like an Eventide.”
Another staple piece of “get out of jail” equipment is a Boss RE20 Space Echo pedal residing at FOH. “It’s essential for tapping delays for FKA twigs, as we don’t use any track or click. It’s got rock-solid construction and a great tactile feel.”
Beyond his pedals-in-the-vocal chain effects, Carrington also uses the SuprEsser de-esser plug-in on voice as well. “It’s amazing, and eliminates the latency. In addition to her terrific voice, Tahliah is an accomplished dancer, and she does a very physical performance. With the virtual sound check, I can go back through the show and then figure out some characteristics of the songs where I know she’s moving. Then I can find the areas I need to focus on with the SuprEsser.”
The virtual sound check goes straight from his laptop and out to Pro Tools. “We can just try a song, then go straight back — virtual sound check, exactly the way it’s played. When I get a chance, I can go back and review things from the sound check, and I can play back parts of songs where I can change it around and smooth off certain edges. It’s a refining tool that I’ve never had before, and very helpful,” he adds.
Drumz ‘n’ Bass
“I use Oxford EQ on the stereo bus to finely notch into mixes. I have a highly gained vocal and a lot of effects in the room, so I’ve really got to get into certain things. Of course, different rooms have different sounds and different P.A.’s — especially with the band’s percussive and drum elements. The EQ really helps if I hear something that sounds a bit harsh. Like with snare sounds, I can go in there and take a tiny dip around the area that’s bugging me, without losing the snap or power of the actual snare sounds. I also use Dynamics on the bass, because its got quite a wide dynamic range. I can just keep hold of it in a very solid way and add in the Warmth feature, which also sort of gels in between the live bass and the digital one.
When FKA twigs added a live drummer, Carrington began using the TransMod plug-in for altering attack characteristics. “TransMod has a devastatingly positive effect on the on the kick and snare, and from loving what it was doing there, I have since added it to the live bass. Our recent shows with the live drummer were a departure from what we’ve been doing. We also added several more synth lines and a few more triggers as well as some additional songs. Twigs has certain rap parts that she wants distorted, so she’s asked me to mutate the vocal so it’s ‘barely human’… I’m happy to oblige.”
FKA twigs World Tour
Crew
- U.S. Sound Companies: Thunder Audio; See Factor
- Tour Manager: Joel Eriksson
- FOH Engineer: Andy Carrington
- Monitor Engineer: Jon Simcox
- Stage Manager: Michael Noonan
- Backline Tech: Sam Hair
- Lights: Stu Dingley
P.A. System
- Venue-provided racks and stacks
FOH Gear
- Consoles: Avid S3L
- Plug-ins: Sonnox LIVE Bundle; UAD solo twin
- Outboard: Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5045 Primary Source Enhancer; Eventide H9 Harmonizer/Multi-Effects pedal; Boss RE20 Space Echo pedal
Monitor Gear
- Monitor Console: Midas PRO2
- IEM Earpieces: Ultimate Ears
- IEM Hardware: Shure PSM 900’s and Sennheiser G3’s
- Wireless Mic: Sennheiser 5000 with DPA d:facto capsule
