Music Production Podcast for DIY Music Producers and Artists | Inside The Mix
If you're searching for answers on topics such as: what is mixing in music, how I can learn to mix music, how to start music production, how can I get better at music production, what is music production, or maybe how to get into the music industry or even just how to release music. Either way, you’re my kind of person and there's something in this podcast for you!
I'm Marc Matthews and I host the Inside The Mix Podcast. It's the ultimate serial podcast for music production and mixing enthusiasts. Say goodbye to generic interviews and tutorials, because I'm taking things to the next level. Join me as I feature listeners in round table music critiques and offer exclusive one-to-one coaching sessions to kickstart your music production and mixing journey. Get ready for cutting-edge music production tutorials and insightful interviews with Grammy Award-winning audio professionals like Dom Morley (Adele) and Mike Exeter (Black Sabbath). If you're passionate about music production and mixing like me, Inside The Mix is the podcast you can't afford to miss!
Start with this audience-favourite episode: #175: What's the Secret to Mixing Without Muddiness? Achieving Clarity and Dynamics in a Mix
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Music Production Podcast for DIY Music Producers and Artists | Inside The Mix
#94: Harmonizing Live Music, Band Chemistry, and AI: A Conversation with Pensacola Mist
If you are looking for mixing tips on topics like *How can I be a good live performer? *What is a great stage presence? *How do you build chemistry in a band? Then check out EP 94 of the Inside The Mix podcast and my conversation with Pensacola Mist.
What happens when you mix captivating live music with on-stage chemistry and a touch of AI? You get the incredible band, Pensacola Mist, and their inspiring journey! We had the pleasure of sitting down with Ollie, Melissa, and Dan to discuss their collaboration with the Martin Brothers, their unique live performances, and the future of artificial intelligence in the creative industries.
From building connections on social media to trusting each other on stage, our conversation with Pensacola Mist covers everything you need to know about being in a band today. Listen in as we discuss their ambition to open for The Midnight, how their fan community rallied behind them, and how they've honed their on-stage chemistry after each show. Plus, we delve into their thoughts on using AI-generated artwork and the ethical implications of incorporating it into their content creation.
Don't miss this fascinating and inspiring conversation with Pensacola Mist. Learn how they balance professionalism with a personal touch in their music videos, the importance of sound engineering and tech lists for venues, and their upcoming single, Dead or Night. Join us as we explore the world of live music, band unity, and the undeniable impact of AI on the future of the music industry.
CLICK HERE, to follow Pensacola Mist: https://www.pensacolamist.com/
CLICK HERE, to watch 'Heart to Heart' behind the scenes: https://www.youtube.com/@PensacolaMist
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Hey, inside the Mix podcast fans. It's Sarek here from HyperBitscom. We're a collective of producers that help artists sound as good or better than their favorite artists, and it's working. Our students have been streamed over one billion times on Spotify alone, and I just released a new track called Another Life, featuring the vocals of Sam Welsh, which you can check out on Spotify as well, but right now you are listening to the Inside the Mix podcast. Here's your host, mark Matthews.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to the Inside the Mix podcast. I'm Mark Matthews, your host, musician, producer and mix and mastering engineer. You've come to the right place if you want to know more about your favorite synth music artists, music engineering and production, songwriting and the music industry. I've been writing, producing, mixing and mastering music for over 15 years and I want to share what I've learned with you. Hello, folks, and welcome back to the Inside the Mix podcast. If you are a new listener, do hit that subscribe button and if you're watching this on YouTube, make sure you hit subscribe and that notification bell so you get notified when we release new episodes every Tuesday. So this episode I am joined by Ollie, melissa and also Dan of Pensacola Miss. Now, i interviewed Dan a number of episodes ago and this time I've got all three on board, so this is a fantastic episode.
Speaker 2:So we dive into the Pensacola Miss approach to live music in particular. So we look at the changes from their first show up until the most recent show and what has changed in terms of their live performance and what underpins their chemistry on stage. We then dive deeper into analyzing their on stage chemistry and how and what underpins that. So we look at the idea of trust on stage and confidence on stage. We dive a bit into their collaboration with the Martin Brothers. Do go check out episode 90 of the podcast If you want to learn more about the Martin Brothers, because I had the pleasure of interviewing or rather chatting with both of them, and it's a fantastic episode. Also, we look at tools that help musical performance. So what tools are there or what tools do Pensacola Miss use in their live performance that they could not be without? And that is a fantastic topic, and one in particular if you are or you are planning to take your music on the road. We then talk about AI artificial intelligence in the creative industries and what that might look like going forward, and also their opinions on AI and the current climate with regards to artificial intelligence.
Speaker 2:We then also discuss the idea of a live podcast episode. So that would be a live episode at a Pensacola Miss gig at some point next year. So very exciting stuff. That was a very on the fly discussion, but I love the idea of taking the podcast on the road at various live events or it could be a seminar or something like that and actually discussing and having conversations there and then. So maybe that's something we'll do next year, in 2024. We'll take the podcast on the road. Who knows, maybe I'll even get an audience where we could have an audience and viewing these interviews, that'd be amazing. I'm now thinking on the fly again. So these are fantastic ideas. I'm going to make a note of that, folks. So we also discussed the midnight and the midnight's influence on Pensacola Miss and, in particular, interactions with Tyler Lyle on Twitter, and it was a really good conversation because we go into the whole idea of how you approach people on social media and how you network and how you build those connections and the Pensacola Miss approach. So it's a really, really good topic of conversation if you struggle with networking and how to approach people online, so that's a really really good topic of conversation in this episode.
Speaker 2:So, folks, without further ado, let's dive into this episode. Hey, folks, and in this episode I'm very excited to welcome some returning guests, or a guest and his collaborators as well. So this is from episode 38. So today's guests are Pensacola Mist. So I spoke to Dan. Yeah, it was episode 38 and I've been joined today by the full cohort, so I've got Dan, ollie and Mel joining me today. So exciting times. Oh, i've just clicked on someone on my iPad. This thing runs on steam man. So Pensacola Mist, if you're not familiar, if you haven't listened to that episode, obviously listen to this one first and then go check that one later, ideally straight after this episode. So Pensacola Mist is fast becoming the UK's favorite synth pop trio, known for their 80s inspired powerhouse co-lead male vocals, larger than life light show and electric onstage energy. Hello, pensacola Mist, thanks for joining me, and how are you all today? How are we? Hello, hi Great.
Speaker 3:Hello, hiya, i'm good.
Speaker 2:Fantastic, love it. I'm good, i'm great.
Speaker 3:Lovely stuff.
Speaker 2:Just before we went and recorded this. We went live. We were just talking about Angry Birds, which is quite interesting, and I'm not going to dig in and reveal to the audience who is who is playing Angry Birds, but I didn't even think it was still going.
Speaker 4:It's not me, it's not Dan.
Speaker 2:It's extremely hot down here. So I'm based in the Southwest and you guys are in Scotland, right, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 4:We are in. Angkor Brown. I'm in the Northeast, I'm on the barrack at the top of it Yeah, they're in Scotland and Edinburgh and I'm in Barrack at the very top, the tibetny top of the UK, so of England. Sorry, on the lion side of the border and it's not very warm today, but we did have a nice day yesterday. So that will see us through for the next six months.
Speaker 2:I love it. Yeah, i always find with a podcast I start talking about the weather and I think it's become a thing now with the whole British, though I speak to people. So for all over the globe and stuff, i'm always intrigued what it's like where they are.
Speaker 3:It's a stunning day in Edinburgh today.
Speaker 2:Is it? I've got this? Yeah, it's very sunny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the.
Speaker 3:UV is high, So nice Sun cream on.
Speaker 2:Sun cream. That's such a joke. I need a trip to Edinburgh. I'm going to say it now. I've never actually been, and I'm amazed I've never been to Edinburgh.
Speaker 4:I know, i know, i know Right we'll check our counters with you When you're gigging. Yeah, yeah, we'll do a gig in Edinburgh when you have a free weekend, so that you've got an excuse to come up as well, and then we can go for a minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that'd be amazing. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how far south of you. We're going to dip for the audience listening. We are going to dig into live performance of live music and Pensacola Miss Live. But how far south have you come in terms of gigs?
Speaker 4:Brighton- We've gone the very south. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we did Brighton in the tour last November. We played with young Empress and Infraviolet down in Brighton.
Speaker 1:That was our last day of our tour? Yeah, Intra.
Speaker 2:I was in Brighton only a few days ago. It's a lovely place, Lovely place and it was extremely hot.
Speaker 3:Yeah, come back to the weather again.
Speaker 2:That's cool. It'd be great to, because I think I messaged you a while back about Bristol. I think you guys would go down so well like coming.
Speaker 4:We had one lined up in Bristol, so next time we get on a tour, bristol will definitely be there. We'll be on the list.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that'd be brilliant. Yeah, you go down so well though. I was at a synth gig there recently, and it was I'll Nines, zach Vortex and a few others playing.
Speaker 3:Oh amazing.
Speaker 2:It was a day gig and it was brilliant. Yeah, they've got so many cool venues there, so many cool venues.
Speaker 3:All day. so much I haven't lived there for a while.
Speaker 2:It's a great city as well. Yeah, yeah, that'd be brilliant. I'm surprised there's nothing on at the moment. As far as I'm aware I could be wrong There's nothing planned there at present?
Speaker 4:Oh, because I mean I know that they're doing those all days and I'd love to get involved in those. But I've been thinking as part of my brain of going, yeah, we just need more to do. I think Scotland needs a big all day synth fest in Glasgow. So I've been kind of half planning who would be on the line up for that one, and it's like I really don't need to do that right now, but I mean it would be lovely to see something kind of represented there. We can maybe do a tour that way, where you've got an old day that goes to four or five locations. I'm making the project bigger, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's say aim high, aim high, isn't it? Yeah, that's the way to do it. That'd be cool, though I know there's a few artists in Scotland that are regularly on the podcast, so he got Russell Nash, and there's Neon Highway as well, and Blockhouse as well. Shout out to Blockhouse, actually, who's now helping with the Facebook community, so I must give him a big shout out to go and check out his work. But yeah, there's quite a big scene in Scotland, so it kind of makes sense to have it, doesn't it Yeah?
Speaker 4:absolutely. We saw the midnight there this year and last year too. We all went as a band out in see our musical heroes, and just that, the audiences were huge and they're packed, and so there is something there for that. There absolutely is a market up there to do something. So, yeah, whether it's us or someone else, i'm hoping that there'll be something.
Speaker 3:Yeah, find a way to reach all those people because, like you said, when we went to see the midnight both occasions in Glasgow, the pool is just like so big So it's trying to kind of roll those people in to be like, if you like the midnight, i'm sure you're like us, and build up an engagement that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i saw your post with regards to the midnight, because obviously your music and your live show would fit in so well on a midnight show. And it reminds me when I was in a band and you see these artists, you're like they're there and they're kind of like that's where you want to go. And it's finding that bridge in between, isn't it Of how, like, who do you contact, how do you get to support that artist?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really hard to do And this was years ago that I was doing it. but how do you approach that? This is going to tell you off to Angela. How do you approach that? How do you reach out to those larger artists?
Speaker 3:So like me personally. So like when I started working with Dan and Oliver and kind of getting into this whole scene, i was totally like kind of new to everything in every aspect. And so I had that same thought, because when they'd asked me to do Sex and Violence and then that was released on their Want to Believe album, i was then also really, really wanting to push that because I was so proud of that song and to be part of that. So I was also in that same boat of how do I get people to listen to this? How do I do that? And so I kind of went down this synth rabbit hole of like finding all these like artists and people, and I was just probably a bit brash and a bit cheeky And I would just sit on Instagram and just direct message people and be like, hey, listen to this.
Speaker 3:And I just kind of thought I've got nothing to lose because either they don't open the message or they don't respond or they do. And, in fairness, i have managed to network with a few people now, which has been great for us, because I wouldn't be able to do anything without Dan and Oliver really. And so, like, for me personally, that's how I've kind of reached out and we have landed a couple of collaborations from that, like with the Martin Brothers, and then we ended up, you know, that led to then doing a music video and things. So for me personally it was just being a bit cheeky and thinking, oh well, either they respond or they don't, and it's fine, nothing to lose.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we, when we saw the midnight were coming to coming back this year, we'd, when we'd all seen them collectively last year, we saw the support and we thought this is either going to light a fire under our bellies to say we can do it, we, we'd be a good fit for this, or we'd see an amazing thing go Okay, we've still got a way to go. And we left going, with all the respect to the band that were there. We thought you know, i feel like there's a better mesh of us and the midnight if we were to get to do it. So they announced quite quickly the midnight that they were going to do a follow up tour and I saw they didn't have support announced for that one yet. So I thought this is it, let's try and get on the radar a bit.
Speaker 4:I put some calls out on social to say if you think we'd be a good fit, it'd be great if you could help us try and get their attention. And I was really touched because a load of people tweeted them and tagged them on Instagram and and put out all the message and underneath them, twitter of the tour announcement. They all say Pentscullimus would be great to support this and you know, fingers crossed, you never know what was going to work Ultimately. It didn't necessarily turn into something on that occasion, but every little bit that might get on someone's radar is just another little check, so none of that has wasted time.
Speaker 4:It was really heartening to hear people support and of us and being so helpful to us and obviously felt like they believed in us or that they cared about us enough to pretend that they believe in us And and just yeah, we'll see what happens down the line. But it's, it's that you know this. It's. The internet brings everyone so close together, but you can be reminded how it's a massive void and it's just hard to reach people if you don't have that direct line sometimes. But Melissa's method of being kind of like brash is good.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, as soon as we like need to do anything, i'm like, don't worry, guys, i'll just. I'll just because I'm I'm a nobody And it's like no, it's not going to matter. But you're right, like Dan said, having that pool of support, that time is so great And even if it just leads to, you know, people retweeting. If that then goes on, some like the right person's timeline and they click a link and like you know all these like tiny things, it just needs to kind of land in the right place And I guess it's a bit of luck as well. But you know, even if Tyler or Tim were to even favorite something, or I think there was, there was one video and we were like Tyler's seen this, tyler's seen this, Yeah yeah, yeah, we had a tour trailer for November.
Speaker 4:We had a trailer for the tour in November and we would because people leave it quite late to book tickets anyway And it was our first tour. I was having kittens about thinking is anyone going to be there at this thing? And time was was going on and the ticket sales were still fairly, you know, modest. And so we put out that, put that out and put a call out to Tyler on Twitter and asked if he would retweet it. And he did And that was incredible because you know just that little bit, he retweeted it to his people. You know, i don't know whether that, how many people that that went out to, but again, it's another little step of just hopefully getting on a radar that we'd, that we'd love to, you know, i just think as a career goal for us, if we open for them, i think we could say, right, well, we can just take 10 years off now because you know we just go to bed and be like I've done it.
Speaker 2:There's nothing else to see.
Speaker 3:Good night everyone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I really like that cheeky approach.
Speaker 3:And.
Speaker 2:I think it works really well And it's it's something that I do now with the podcast because it's interesting. You mentioned Tyler because I saw he followed the podcast and I immediately just went on Google, on Instagram DMs and I recorded an audio message and I was just like Hey, tyler, blah, blah, blah. If you fancy jumping on the podcast, i was a bit more diplomatic and a bit more formal in my approach, but I do the exact same. Yeah, i'm just kind of like Yeah, i'll just DM them, see what happens, because the worst that could happen is they ignore it Or, i don't know, they block you. Yeah, the worst is they block you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, that would be so embarrassing Like we can't imagine supporting the midnight and then realizing that Tyler's actually got me blocked for spamming his direct messages.
Speaker 2:Yeah it would be quite funny, though In the same breath it's kind of like it's not a life goal, not a career goal, but I know what you mean. There are things like with the podcast, where there are certain guests where I'm like, if I get them on, i'll just stop after that. Yeah, you kind of like hit that pinnacle. Now I'm not entirely sure who that would be, maybe that's what I'll have to think about. But yeah, that cheeky approach definitely works And I think it's great for the audience as well to hear that and just think just reach out, just reach out, because, like you say, the worst that could happen is they'll just say no or they just ignore it. And the audience power as well. If you combine that with audience power and have that behind you, that catalyst to propel, move you forward. Because I think there's like a, there's a statistic in a what, there's seven touch points, so you need to like have someone see something seven times for them to then take action.
Speaker 3:I'm not saying that's going to happen every time I'll send seven messages, but it certainly seems like that works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, exactly, just send seven over over, sort of seven weeks.
Speaker 3:People do reply, though I've had. So there's a singer who I discovered more recently. They're called Mint Simon And they do a lot of collabs with all the Dan vampires And I absolutely just love, love that album. Like for me that's one of my favorites in albums. And then I started diving into their their catalog now of like their releases And they've just done a recover cover of you get what you give, and I just thought you know what I love this so much. I'm just going to message them and tell them how much I love their voice, and I did, and they responded just you know, to say, oh, thank you, i'm so glad you enjoyed that. But I was like that's no harm done either, like I love it when people tell me nice things. So what's the harm in bigging up someone else, especially when you love their stuff? So, but yeah, people do reply And if they don't I just delete the message. So I don't feel embarrassed that I sent it.
Speaker 2:I've got loads of those on the Instagram for the podcast. Not that I'm spammy, but I just look through and I'm just like, yeah, no reply, no reply no reply. But there you go, it's. it happens, you know, like you say, if you've got a piece of out there. And it kind of mirrors the conversation I had with Michael Oakley before Christmas where, because you mentioned it earlier, about like hitting that pinnacle and what, like he said, like you could Have you. He usually gets back very, very, very quickly.
Speaker 3:He did. He's a really really nice guy. Yeah, he did. I was like love your songs, Because, then, because he's, he's from Scotland, isn't he?
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's lived, he is he's living in the States. I want to say I think is he in Canada? He might be in Canada.
Speaker 3:I think, where he was from, because I heard bagpipes on one of his track and was like hang on a minute. And then I messaged and he was like yeah, i'm actually from Scotland too And I thought, great, there's a connection. You just never know what's going to happen in the future.
Speaker 2:And it always cats he's got. I know he's very fond of his cats as well, as one of the audience listeners pointed out, so I had to ask a question about his cats. But he was saying that, like, a lot of artists will get to that point whereby they're at the cusp of like kicking on and just breaking through, but then they fall short because they're thinking, actually I'm never going to get there. So it's one of those ones who you just got to. like you say, be cheeky, use that audience leverage and just keep pushing through. Yeah, it's, it's. I think it's easier to do it now. I remember when I was in a band and we would just message everyone or these big artists, these metal bands that we wanted to play with and stuff, and invariably wouldn't hear anything back, or just it was metal as well, so they could be quite harsh about our music.
Speaker 2:But, you know, but I think it's much more forgiving in the synth arena.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, well, since people are, so friendly, like the community is really generally very friendly. There's very little drama And if there ever is drama, everyone seems to know about it and it goes away after a day or two. It's like it's just such a fleeting thing. So people are really friendly back. But and I mean I know that that we're saying about getting in touch with people and kind of using that cheeky approach, but much like you and you're asking podcast guests We're quite discerning still about people that we really do want to have a connection with because we feel genuinely that there's something that we can have in common or that we could work together well with.
Speaker 4:And it's just about trying to get in front of their eyes, because there's so much, There's just so much out there that it's easy to be absolutely flooded by content and by things there. So having to kind of go up and try and push to the front of the queue sometimes is the only way. But yeah, we try and tackle it in a most respectful as possible way. But also, you know, as I say, picking people that we genuinely feel that we've got some connection to.
Speaker 2:That would work well with, i think you have to be discerning as well, like I say, when you're making these connections and you're reaching out to people, because you could easily get overwhelmed. I found I remember when I was starting out doing promotion as an artist and stuff, And you just be messaging people just left, right and center and you can get a bit overwhelming. So I think you do have to be discerning when you're choosing those that you want to network with, specifically when you start this conversations as well, because if you've got multiple conversations going on, that that can be like a part time job in itself just monitoring those conversations, you know. So I totally echo that in terms of how you need to be discerning with who you're talking to and you're approaching And and I don't want to use a business terminology, i know that I did this off air, but it's got to be something that if you're watching this online, you kind of it needs to move that needle a bit for you, you know, and help you kick on. So yeah, i totally agree with that. It's fantastic advice, folks.
Speaker 2:I realized we haven't actually chatted about any live music yet. We're almost 20 minutes in. I always do this like often tangents all the time, what I wanted to start off with which I thought would be quite a cool question, was maybe casting your mind back, because we're talking about live music to like the first Pensacola Mist live show with all three of you and how that looks. Now, what is the biggest difference between the first live show and, say, for example, the recent one you did in Newcastle? Is it pronounced Clooney? I hope I got it right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, huh, thank God, should check that off there. Yeah, what's the biggest difference between the first, that first show with the three of you and, like, compared to the most recent one?
Speaker 3:I remember it was, it was actually not long after the second lockdown and so there were a lot of restrictions in place and Dan and Oliver had I wasn't like officially a part of the band by that point, but I was working with them quite a lot, which was great and they had asked me if I would want to perform Sex and Violence Live, as well as some harmonies for some other songs, and I was like absolutely yes, because I come from like a performing arts background. So, with everything being shot down for so long, the opportunity just to kind of be on the stage and performing live again, absolutely. But that was in. I think it was June, 5th of June, i think that was two years ago, i think it was 20.
Speaker 4:Oh well, it's come up to the anniversary. then it was on 4th of June. Yeah, 4th of June today.
Speaker 3:So that was great, but because of the restrictions, so it was at the radio rooms in Berwick and people had to be seated so you couldn't stand up, you couldn't really dance along, so that in itself was quite daunting, because the kind of music that Pensacola Missed makes it's very up on your feet. It's so much fun, and so to have people sitting and watching that was a little bit, i think the principle's awkward. But I would say I think for me personally, the difference between that gig and then the most recent one we did is I think we've always had really good band chemistry, like right from the first meeting. So that was like really good. We all know that we could work together really collaboratively and really well. But I think definitely confidence and it's just grown. It's grown with each show and just how we work together and we've tried to kind of level up every single live performance.
Speaker 3:So we always look back and debrief and pull it apart what could we do better, what worked really well, what can we try next time, and so much of what we do as well, because before Oliver moved to Edinburgh the guys were in Berwick and it was a lot of commuting, so actually being able to practice together in the room as a three was almost not possible.
Speaker 3:So everything we would do if the show was starting at seven, we would be doing a sound check from 12 o'clock, because that was also the time that we had to work together and practice and actually practice and so, yeah, but I think the biggest thing for me from my perspective is the confidence between that first show and to what we have now. It's just it's evolved so much in such a short space of time and we have done a lot of gigs between then, but actually you could probably still count them like well, on two hands I was going to say on one hand on two hands, but it's actually, in the grand scheme of things, that's not a lot of gigs to have come as far as we have. So I'm always really, really proud of that yeah, we do.
Speaker 4:We record each gig generally just with a phone and we watch it back. And I mean there's two ways. People kind of do this in everything, in sports and things you hear this a lot as well and some people like to go back and kind of dissect what they did and others don't want to see it because whatever reason they'll put them off. They just need to mentally focus on the next thing. But I think we do like to go back just even once, skim through it, see what felt like it worked, what maybe didn't work as well as it could, what, and just try and see it from the other side of the stage, i guess, about how we can oh, there's a good opportunity there to do XYZ or, you know, always about just kind of, as Melissa says, improving to the next show, from the next show to the next show. And and that rapport that we had initially, that Melissa talked about and that has grown with every show, is so important because I think we've had one actual like pre show rehearsal ever in any gigs, like with the three of us, and that's before that first one. I think this came a week before so we could run the songs, but we generally, because of the locations, we do a lot of solo practice and rehearsal at home and then we kind of come together and we already have that connection that doesn't take long to slip into and then we can do that and we know that we can trust each other and they will all just kind of click back in when we get together and and that is something that Melissa had quite difficult job with coming into something that Oliver and I felt like we could, we, anything could happen on stage, and the other one we kind of cover, cover for it and it would work out.
Speaker 4:It would work out well and Melissa I, you know I don't envy how hard that might have been to try and come into something that, especially when it's a two as well, if it was a bigger band then it's maybe be easy to add another piece. But she's absolutely done that now. And and there are times, admittedly, because I'm running samples as well as doing some live instrumentation, but the samples are the backing tracks of the drums and there are some times when a bit repeats that shouldn't repeat or cuts out when it shouldn't cut out, and you know, but going on the fly, there have been shows when my wife has said afterwards I love what you did at that bit where you cut the drums out and you all did a cappella harmonies and I said I just forgot to hit the button and we just all did the harmonies just there without looking phased and then kind of come back in and it's like that stuff.
Speaker 4:You know you can practice that into you. But also, if you've got a connection already and you kind of feel in sync, then you can tune into that quite quickly when you get together.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it keeps things fresh in a way, though, and a little bit exciting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, i would agree with that. I would agree. I my experiences is like the opposite, where we would rehearse every week and a lot of the time we rehearse and we didn't need to rehearse and then it almost became a bit of a kind of not a day job but a part time job, whereas the way you guys do it, you kind of you're going to be looking forward to it, it's going to be unique, it's going to be by the sounds of things, you always you've got all these different things happening and I love the idea that you reflect afterwards as well, because you can have those happy accidents, as you say, like with the harmonies, and you can reflect on those afterwards. And I love the fact you record and reflect as well, which is brilliant and I totally agree with that. I think it's a great thing to do rather than just put it to better move on.
Speaker 2:I'm a trained teacher so I go into like, yeah, but when I was teaching yeah, what I was teaching, i don't anymore I'd always reflect on what it was that went well and didn't go well in a lesson, and it's the only way you can move forward. One question I do have with regards to the chemistry, then. So you mentioned confidence and trust, would you say those are like the two things that really underpin the chemistry you have, or there are other aspects as well that really bring that pencil columnist chemistry together on stage.
Speaker 3:That's a good question, because I remember coming to Dan's house for the first ever time and I'd spoke well, actually, i'd met Oliver a handful of times, but I would say that we were very much acquaintances. So I would say the relationships between me and Dan and me and Oliver, they all started pretty much from like a virtual, like an online basis where we would just message. The first time I ever spoke to Dan it was me messaging to say I really I really love the track, like thank you so much, and he sent me like a preview link to the album and but it was all very, you know, you're messaging someone you don't know, so you don't really like. No, you just you're very formal.
Speaker 3:And I remember being nervous because then when I first met Dan and Oliver again in person, that wasn't until a few months later and there was that kind of How is this? is this going to be a really awkward day? what if I need to cut it short? I'll check the train times just in case and I'll have an excuse ready just in case. This is like just not working or whatever, but thankfully, like there was none of that and it was honestly it was like meeting people that I'd like always, always known it was like meeting school friends, although I never went to school with them, but it was. There was just a really kind of low stakes, chilled environment, and I think that has just continued to always be the case and we all have kind of, we share the same humor and Really silly, the same kind of person, so that we all get along so well.
Speaker 2:that really helps like.
Speaker 3:There's no filter, there's no worry about oh, how am I coming across, or yeah, it's really chill, that's. Yeah, it's like meeting up with, like your cousins, or something.
Speaker 4:I think it's good as well that we all kind of realize that we play quite a specific role in the band and I may have mentioned this last time, but but we want this approach when we, when we're on stage and when people see us and they know us that We're quite, we're like a unified, one front. so some tracks Oliver sings lead, some tracks Melissa sings lead on I don't do anything in In lead anyway, and but on stage the three of us have different energies but we're all in a line as a as a one kind of piece, and I quite like the idea that you've kind of got Different characters. you might have a favorite one, like people had a favorite beatle back in the day, and that's kind of like the idea I want people to kind of have to dip into our personalities and we've kind of used that. the way that we with our stage dress is Initially we all dressed quite differently On stage, but then we've kind of tweaked that into dressing how we would like to dress, but with some sort of cohesive, cohesive idea behind it which for the last few shows has been the full head to toe blacks, black sequin outfit. so it's dressing how we would before.
Speaker 4:I always wear a biker jacket and fingerless gloves on stage And all of us generally in a bomber jacket. so we got him a. there's a bomber jacket that's black sequins, and I've got a black sequin biker jacket and black sequin gloves and Melissa's in some incredible two piece Flurry ensemble that that you know it just I would never really helpful to bring us together.
Speaker 4:That's part of the fun, though, isn't it? So it's, yeah, bring us together in that way, knowing that each of us kind of do a different role.
Speaker 2:Brilliant. That's going to be a great sound bite for the podcast Fantastic. So would you say then, with that in mind, are there like three front people for the band, then Three front I don't know what the correct terminology is front men, front persons.
Speaker 3:We're just all holding hands at the front.
Speaker 4:I tend to do a lot of the talking at live shows because it's hard once. I mean I'm I'm generally weirdly quite quiet in situations, but when I feel like I'm kind of in my element, then it's winding me up and watching me go in. So I think on stage I tend to blab on quite a bit, with some inane chatter between the tracks, but part of that is being quite open and building our relationship with other audiences. I think, like we are fun and we are silly and we do take what we do seriously, but we don't stand on the stage and pretend that we are anything other than we are, and for better or worse. You know, sometimes we talk about, we talk about mental health at shows as well, in a way that doesn't seem to flatten the party. It's about just kind of acknowledging that. You know, certainly post COVID, some people struggle, being anxious in gig environments, and so we try and make it quite open and tell people where they might want to go, if they need to break, or how, what the running order is, and we send set lists to people if they want to know that information.
Speaker 4:And I was diagnosed with ADHD last year and on the tour I made a point of talking about that a little bit before. We went into a song that I felt quite connected with me and my struggles with that, and it's so lovely to look out in the crowd and see these kind of connections and people smiling at us between the tracks and we all pick up. Melissa and I did some pretty bad improv comedy on the tour as well. By the last show we were just the back and forward between us was really odd. I don't know what was in us, but it was really fun and you know, that's just discovering again our roles. So, yeah, i would say that there are three front people and I think we try and put that message across when we're on our socials and things as well. But we all know that we couldn't do. I think we need all three of us now. I know Oliver and I did it before, but all three of us are Pensacola-miston an absolutely cool measure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i would say, from what I've seen, i would totally agree.
Speaker 3:Yeah, everyone is swindled, like if people ever say to me like, oh, um, sorry, i like because, like said, on some of the tracks, like I take lead, but sometimes Oliver will take the lead. But if you know, maybe friends of mine have maybe only heard one or two songs that, like, i've like posted and they're like, oh so you're like the lead singer and I'm like, no, no, no, i'll stop you. There. We are like, everyone is so vital that, um, you know, even on the there, like, there is no track that would be complete without like any of us anymore. Which is why, even when we're doing collaborations or anything like that, um, you know it's, it's all of us all together, all the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there's a nice little segue here.
Speaker 2:Actually, i did have another question, which I'll come back to, but you mentioned collaborations then and it brings up because I'm going to hark now to episode 90, which goes live at the point of this recording on Tuesday with the Martin Brothers. You did a collaboration with the Martin Brothers and I remember having that conversation with the, with the gentlemen on the podcast, and they were talking about how they've been back and forth with your self-militia and then it just transpired that all three of you got involved. So that kind of like echoes exactly what you said there then, which is amazing and from what I can see from the mute, the song itself and the video, it I don't know, it wouldn't. Obviously it wouldn't have been the same song anyway because it wouldn't been all three of you. But I think having all three of you there just makes it just yeah, it just as soon as I saw it I was like I've got to listen to this and how I hadn't heard it before, i'm not entirely sure. Um, but no, that kind of echoes exactly what you said there and audience listening.
Speaker 2:Do go check out episode 90 as well. I'm doing another episode drop.
Speaker 4:This is probably the only time I've ever done two in one podcast episode which is amazing, and Martin Brothers are such amazing, kind, funny, brilliant people, awesome, everything they do as well.
Speaker 4:They kind of share a vision, much like again we talked about last time, where I think that music can be more than the music and that part of something, part of part of the music culture for a lot of people is that it is this other other worldly thing and and you know, that's where celeb comes in and people love seeing a celeb and we are not ever going to be celebs and we say as much we're you know, we're just silly, normal people, but the the full package is is, i feel, really important and how the story is told visually as well as through music.
Speaker 4:And they've got that, you know, obviously absolutely to a T and their visuals are stunning and their look is incredible and when we met them they were just so, so, so kind and funny and like again, we just like fitted together so well. So you know, that's, that's just like. That shows you the amazing things of the internet when you can pull together from you know other countries and then come together on one really cold February morning and go up a go up the side of a mountain in the Isle of Skye for 13 or 14 hours. Freeze your fingers off together and and become friends from it.
Speaker 3:Yeah whilst getting sunburned at the same time, and did you really?
Speaker 2:I did ask them the question of where was filmed. I immediately went with the states and I realized like getting every bifang everyone over to the states would be. And then they quickly corrected me and said it was the Isle of Skye, right? yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a great video. It's the audience. Do go, go check that out. In fact, i'll put it in the episode notes in our live album launch video, which the full thing.
Speaker 4:Last year we launched our album Lost in Love and then we put a live gig up on YouTube the week after and we had little commercials in between it, you know, to break up the flow a bit and show a little bit of some of the other archive stuff we had. There's a real short two minutes video in there about like behind the scenes, of us shooting that music video, which is which is quite fun, and so either check that out on the Aztec YouTube channel if anyone's interested. Lost in Love Pensacola Mist live album launch it's in there, but actually I think I might pull it out of there too and put that up on our channel too soon, because it's real fun to see us trying to do that behind the scenes.
Speaker 3:The first time I watched it I was just like we, like we couldn't be any more different, i guess, from what we perceive when we're on stage or in the sequence and we've got the lights and it's just, you know this big production. And then when you see us, like, behind the scenes, messing around in the car and you know, looking up directions and buying meal deals on the morning of a music video, it's, it's quite, it's quite a break, but I think it's nice, i think it's like relatable.
Speaker 4:They're the two worlds we're trying to bring together now, i think and that's something that's changed over the last year, i think, since we even did that video last February is that we are trying to put those two together. We want to present as professional, but we also absolutely want you to know who we are, and so it's trying to. How do you bring those two really silly parts together with the, with the kind of like shiny, oh, you've got to see these band? they're really polished like how do those two worlds exist together?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we always want to be approachable.
Speaker 2:It's, it's, it's. It can sometimes be a tricky line or boundary. I know where the boundary is because I do the same with the podcast in terms of like how much? because you want to give a sense of like, being personable and approachable and showing, like, who you are, but in the same, at the same time, you still have to have that level, don't you, whereby you don't want to go too far and then, i don't know, become a, not a caricature, but like you don't want to take it too far. It's nowhere that line is, and I know exactly what you mean and it was exactly what you made. I remember, when I was in a band as well, we would do behind the video, behind the not behind the music behind like, behind the scenes, shoots for videos, but there would always be these inside of jokes and no one ever got, i'd find, and then, like, we did the same on stage and go back to what you said earlier about how are you having that back and forth on stage?
Speaker 2:I remember doing that and it would always be inside of jokes and then no one would really get them every like oh we'll just move on to the next song, lads but yeah, i, i technically know what you mean. It's. You've got to find that, that boundary, haven't you? and like with social media as well. It's, and I find, the different platforms as well. You've got to like a tailor yourself to what platform you're on, which can be a pain and in its own right as well yeah, yeah promoting something on tiktok.
Speaker 2:It's got to be done a certain way to get an audience, and then Instagram and all these other platforms and then YouTube. It's it's racking your brains around. That can be quite tricky, yeah, yeah, one question, because I realized we're at 37 minutes already, that I've got here, which I think would be a really pivotal question for the audience listening, for those who wanted to sort of go and take their music live are there any tools or resources that really do help sort of propel and take the Pensacola Miss live show to the next level, what would be like something you've maybe found recently or something that you could not do without, apart from, obviously, the instruments that you play? But are there any tools or resources that really do help you, yeah, sort of have that A1 sort of life.
Speaker 4:So technology has gotten so much more affordable over the last decade 15 years. Certainly, you know from going from my first early band days of recording practices and gigs on a dictophone I bought from Argos and it was really really terrible sound quality And I would insist on listening back to it And I still have those files And if they come up on shuffle they just like break your ears. But I was doing it with that. And then through the years you know Max and GarageBand and Free Software and upgrading from GarageBand to Logic as we figure out what we're doing with our recording studio and upgrading from the Focusrite Scarlet as an interface on the studio live desk that we've got. And you know these things can happen incrementally. But even at the very base level the technology is there at, you know, at something that you can afford to kind of pull together Or if you're in a band you can band together. Oliver and I put some cash injection into the band at the very start to kind of help. But on the big scheme the money was not anywhere near as much as I would have thought for the impact that it had. So for us it's with the lights and the way that we sample and approach our live shows. A long story I've told a million times So I'll keep it super brief but that we didn't have a drummer. So we thought, well, we can't do live shows. We really wanted someone who would actually connect in gel in the way that the three of us do now. We couldn't find someone that was kind of as committed to that idea or that we felt was the right fit. So we thought, well, i guess we'll not do shows.
Speaker 4:Found out churches did drum machines for 10 years and thought, well, let's do that. Then We've already written some 80s style songs. Let's see if we can embrace that a little bit more. Use more of the synths, keep the guitars but use more of a synth element. Bought Ableton and a launch pad, record all the samples and logic, export them into stems for basses and drums and leads and bells and even backing vocals, sometimes just to pad out some of the some of the bigger choral parts. Put that into Ableton and then we can do that live with our live instrumentation and live singing on top of it.
Speaker 4:But that missing element was some sense of movement. That's when we discovered I could get some lights, get a DMX box and program our own lights using MIDI automation in Ableton. And I mean, i don't have a background in any of this, but I am through ADHD or whatever. I'm very inquisitive and I'm very stubborn about. If there's something I want to do, i'll find a way to do it. So we bought all the lighting kit. We sat down, i sat down and looked at it and tried to make it work. I couldn't get the lights to do anything And I thought, oh, i've wasted a lot of money here and I've gone way too, you know, way too deep with it. But again, stubborn, many more, you know, through the nights to kind of program the lights. And there that was the last piece that meant that we could do the show. So from our first show, all of a remind, we had the lights from the very first. The diamond that's behind us has been with us since day one And again, incrementally that's gotten bigger and we have more and more and more lights now at our shows.
Speaker 4:But it's the technology there to fill in the missing blanks for us that made such a difference And actually has helped us in so many ways that I couldn't have predicted in terms of how I guess our our unique approach to live stuff, and it's a little bit harder to sell someone on come to see a live band that doesn't have a drummer, but you know in in synth and you know the sample pads and things And it's not.
Speaker 4:It's not very, very unusual, but I still feel like we try and take that and say, well, let's try and do something that you haven't seen. Then It's not a lesser than version, it's something different And it's in other ways, it's elevated. And so, to answer the question, there's tech now pretty much to do anything that you feel that you need it to do. So if you, if you, think that there's a reason you can't do something, it's more about finding what the answer is and what, what the solution is to make it possible. So not just saying, oh well, i guess we can't and we're a bedroom producer band and we're going to just release stuff for streaming and never play a show. It was looking out there, seeing what's out there, and most of the times there's an app or there's a plugin or there's a bit of kit and and it's, it's all there. So like, don't just shy away from doing something because you don't have the instant answer or the or the more conventional answer.
Speaker 2:It does. Yeah, and I find it with mixing and music production in general as well. If there's something I need, invariably I'll scour the internet and I'll find it. No, no, it's a great answer. So, off the back of that you mentioned there, like, if you, if you, if you come to a situation whereby you identified a problem that you need to solve, is there something that doesn't or you haven't found yet that you feel you would need to take and propel the, the live show, forward again?
Speaker 4:Well, our when it came to the to the lights, we, we actually there's no, there's no one. Still I can't find anyone online doing the lights in the way that we do it with MIDI automation. If there are, which I'm presumed there will be somewhere, there's no document of that online. We had to find a different way around doing it. So I mean, i put so much into that and making that kind of work, it's like what's the next, what is the next evolution of that? What does it look like? Is it more light? So, is it different? Is it pixel strips? And do we kind of rechange it and do everything again? But but yeah, melissa, did you have something on that one that you think we need to take to the next step?
Speaker 3:Well, we we've been speaking.
Speaker 3:So for the last couple of shows and the shows that we did for the tour and at the Clooney we've had, we've always had a sound engineer at the venue, which has been great because, like I said, the rehearsal time we have is usually the day of the show, and so we just do a very extended sound check.
Speaker 3:But that also gives us time to find any technical faults, or actually find out what the technical fault for that day is going to be, because there's always one and it's always usually something new, and it's usually always my microphone and the constant feedback that we get, because I guess my voice isn't all that powerful And so, in order to put across the tracks in the way that they are on the album, it's very hard to sing them in the same way and have the same impact, so I usually just have to be turned up as loud as possible. So for tracks like The Dying Light, it's very low key and very quiet, but I can't kind of just stand there and belt it out because it would just totally take away from the whole vibe of the track. But we did speak about looking into in ear monitors and things like that in the hope of trying to resolve that issue.
Speaker 4:I think some of that issue comes from being over trying to do a lot with the tech And actually when it works it works really well. But what Melissa is saying there, if we don't have a techie which sometimes we don't have, because generally all the sound comes through our Ableton for our live show, i've included trying to be probably too clever with it I've included patches for vocal effects, so when Oliver is singing lead, his mic is automated to be louder And if there's a big background part, then there's. We know we can turn up all the reverb through patches, so every part of every song has a patch And that way we can make it really sound exactly like the recording. So if there's a very specific delay that comes in at one part of the song, that's triggered automatically when we're playing through the tracks And that you know, we can add that in. The downside to that is that if any of those bigger reverbs or echoes want to cause any feedback, then they do, and so when when it is just us, we have to spend a lot of the day just trying to find the sweet spot and EQ and out any of those, those peaks that are coming through and causing those loops.
Speaker 4:So it's been nice to take away from some of those issues because that's maybe maybe we don't need to sound exactly like the album in that respect And maybe maybe you know, you just put on the track itself if you needed to do that.
Speaker 4:So we've got a general list that we give to techies in venues that say it's like a techies techie set list. With this track is all of us on leads, mid reverb, so just like a general guide that they can look at or if they want to, or they can ignore if they want to kind of do their own thing by ear to. But that's been brilliant for us because it's just stopped so many of those troubleshooting. You know, trying to soundcheck, i'm jumping down on the floor to hear the sound and getting back on the stage and it's just DIY. I've got a lot of time for DIY musicians and people that want to kind of just take on as much as they can. But I also think that there comes a point where you actually there are people that really know what they're doing and you should just pay them to come there and be there and, you know, save 100 quid doing our own sound or pay someone 100 quid to do the sound, and that is absolutely the better option to go with.
Speaker 2:I did have a question written here which was do you have a sound engineer, a live sound engineer that sort of travels around with you, or a lamp, as they call it in the industry, with the lights and stuff, but by the sounds of things what you've done is you've sort of combined you've got the automation side of things with Ableton and the MIDI triggering and then you've got the sort of checklist that you give to the in-house engineer. So you've sort of solved that problem by using those two options there. but I know what you mean with a sound engineer, and if they know your music because I've worked with one in the past they know what the subtle nuances are and they can do it on the fly because you're going to have that human element. Yeah, of course, but in saying that, ai is only becoming more sort of prevalent in music, in content creation, in just everything. So I think I don't know. this is the first time I've actually thought about it now in terms of AI, live sound.
Speaker 4:I'm trying to not talk about it because I think that's one that could turn into a massive thing. So if there's not been a producer's pub about that, then there's another opportunity to get everyone's thoughts. And all that because AI, in terms of art, is something we've put a stance on, saying that we won't use, and it was controversial more than I expected, actually but we had said that we won't use AI generated artwork. For any of our artwork that we do, we'll either create ourselves or we'll commission an artist to do something, but the tools are there and they're just going to become more prevalent, as you say. So where do we draw the line? Because we feel quite strongly about that now, but the whole world will be totally different, and at what point do we kind of inevitably have to kind of bow to some of it? But I'm going to be quiet on that because there's a again, you could talk about that with a bunch of people for eight hours straight, i think.
Speaker 2:Yeah 100% and Yeah, it's interesting And I regularly have conversations with people with regards to AI because I can see the benefits in some respects of where you can use it Chat, gpt, for example But on the flip side, yeah, there's I don't know.
Speaker 3:It's very scary.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and it's gonna get to the point whereby you're like who is the best, like who's the best prompter?
Speaker 2:So no longer are you sort of like the best artist or singer, songwriter, it's like who can prompt the best AI the best. That might be a very sort of watered down way of putting it, but yeah, it's yeah interesting. But, like you said, you could have a conversation about all the different facets of AI for eight hours or so. Folks, i'm really like yeah, yeah, yeah, we're pretty much at the end now, so I thought it'd be a great opportunity for you guys just to sort of drop where audience can find you online, if they, if this is the first time they're sort of discovering you, and if you've got any key dates or live shows or anything coming up in the near future or further future.
Speaker 3:So, in terms of where you can find us, we're probably most active on our Instagram, which is at pentacola underscore mist, but we also, we have so much content on our YouTube channel, which, again, it's just pentacola mist, and you'll be able to find, you know, lots of music videos And I'm, yeah, all the live shows And I imagine we'll probably do more like behind the scenes bits because they're so funny, and we are on Facebook too, and we're we're dipping our toe into the TikTok scene now, although that's a whole other ballgame, but that's just the same at pentacola mist.
Speaker 2:Fantastic. I'll put links to all of that in the in the in the show notes as well. Sorry, don't go ahead.
Speaker 4:We have in terms of in terms of release dates or anything like that. We don't have any any big shows coming up at the moment. We will be getting into our Halloween shows, which every year we do a big Halloween party and the audience are absolutely incredible. This is in the home, in our hometown here, and they and they always go the extra mile with their costumes and the atmosphere is incredible. And this is our fifth year of doing that. So we'll be getting into into planning for that And I think that we're going to try and take that on the road because that would be really fun too.
Speaker 4:We've got five years worth of Halloween style covers and instrumentals. We've done synth versions of all sorts of horror themes that we do at these nights. So it might be a real nice time with the fifth year to take that to a couple of cities, just a weekend's worth. So it might be Newcastle and Edinburgh, but keep an eye out for that And I think that would be really fun. But before that comes, our single that we collabed with Sunglasses Kid on that comes out on the 14th of July. That track's called Dead, dead or Night And it's one that we worked on quite a long time ago now, but you know these things can take some time And it's a really lovely track. We really, we really really like it And so we're excited to get that out there. Sunglasses Kid actually put it on a little bit of that on one of his reels on Instagram And it was great to hear such positive comments about that track there And we've been getting lots of questions since then about when's it coming out.
Speaker 4:Oh well, there we go. So that's another step, That's another step. So yeah that comes out on July 14th, there's seven touch points.
Speaker 3:This also stemmed from a very cheeky DM with Sunglasses Kid, So you know it works sometimes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's how I got them on the podcast. I just sort of I just reached out and I can't remember if I did an audio. I use audio messages all the time, though, but this might have been pre that And it was the same. I was just like just fancy, jumping on and managed to get him on. It was a great chat. He's a funny, funny guy. funny guy. I'm fairly certain he's got a history in comedy, if I remember rightly. I can't remember, but I did see his reel with you guys, which looked really, really cool. So I'll put that in the show notes because this episode will be live before them, but I'll do it retrospectively. Thank you, no fantastic Daniel Ollie and Mel. big thank you for today.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining me again.
Speaker 2:It's been a pleasure to have all three of you on and catching up with yourself, dan, and I'll keep an eye on what's happening in the future And obviously that song with sunglasses, kid, and at some point I will venture up to Scotland.
Speaker 4:Yes, we will invite you, we will book a gig, we will get you there for a weekend and we can have a big gathering. Maybe it's not all great, since That'd be brilliant.
Speaker 2:That'd be great. I'm sure I could drag some others along with me as well.
Speaker 3:So that'd be great fun. N64. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I've been to one of those in Manchester.
Speaker 3:There's one in there too.
Speaker 2:But no, a live podcast. I've been talking with that idea for a while.
Speaker 4:We're going to, we'll get on it, i'll get my notepad out and we'll figure out this this all day since day, and we'll get that tour in. But thank you so much again for asking us back.
Speaker 2:No, no, it's my pleasure. It's like you've got me thinking. Now I can have like a little booth and just have people in and interview them, if they're performing Absolutely, but we'll get on the stage. But, no no, I'll. yeah, that's a conversation for off air, But no, once again, a huge thank you and I will catch up with you all.
Speaker 3:Thank you, thank you.
