Interview with Ian Bond
Interview by Phil Garfinkel, Artist Relations, Audix Microphones
Ian Bond has had quite the storied career; mixing some of the top names in Prog Rock: Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Marillion, and, most recently, King Crimson. Ian has been using Audix for over 5 years and we sat down with him to ask him about mixing and why he likes to use Audix on his stage(s).
Tell us how you got involved in audio, please. What’s your background?
I started by being a service engineer in a small rental shop in Southampton, England. The guy there needed someone to help on his sound rig so, being into music and playing guitar, I decided to give it a go.
Then I moved to have my own small rental company to cover the shows I was doing. It seemed that I could never get what I needed with any level of service from the local theaters or hire companies they used. If you want a job doing properly, do it yourself, (an all too familiar thing, unfortunately).
Who have you worked with? What’s currently on your agenda?
I just finished up a US tour with King Crimson. I’m prepping for Porcupine Tree in Europe this Autumn. My current clients include Blackfield (worldwide), No Man (Europe), Anathema (Europe) Bootleg Blues Brothers (UK), and Marillion (Europe).
In the past, I’ve mixed Dream Theater, Transatlantic, Oceansize, and lots of one-offs and theater shows across the UK and Europe.
What’s been your experience with Audix? When did you start using the microphones?
I’ve been aware of them for many years, and finally got myself an OM7 in 2003 to solve a particularly difficult monitoring problem… a singer with a loud guitar, a quiet voice (why is it always that way round?) and a bad cold!!! I’ve not considered using anything else on him since.
What Audix mics are you currently using and what applications?
On King Crimson we have a selection. OM5 for both vocals, D6 on both kicks, i5s for snare tops, D4 on Pat Mastelotto’s open-ended floor tom (sounds demonic!!), D2s on Tony Levin’s bass/stick rigs. And, a 112 CX on Adrian Belew’s guitar amp.
For Porcupine Tree, I have OM7s on Steven Wilson’s vocals, and an OM5 on Wes (guitarist John Wesley). I also have 4 i5s doing Gavin Harrison’s snares and a D6 on the kick.
What are your favorite things about using Audix microphones?
A number of things. First, they always work – that’s very important. Also, the sound is consistent within model numbers. If I need to swap a mic I don’t have to re-EQ the channel. Build quality is first class. And finally, they sound really good!