New York City-based Interpol will remind most post-punk junkies ofJoy Division or The Chameleons. Touring under their first release,Turn on the Bright Lights, Interpol is garnering increasingattention. Mix caught up with front-of-house engineer Harleywhen they swung through Northern California.
“For this tour, we are not carrying production. I am rentinglocally for each show,” Harley says. “As a result, I’veused a wide selection of boxes from all the major manufacturers. I speca Midas Heritage 3000, but find myself splitting my time between thatand the Yamaha PM4000. Being on a different desk and boxes every nighthas been a double-edged sword. Being flexible and knowing how to adaptto a changing situation every night has made this job both a challengeand a pleasure. They each know what they want their instrument to soundlike. There is very little corrective EQ used on the desk. Generally,just the highpass filter and a small tweak here and there. Theygenerally give me what I need and let me run with it.”
Harley is carrying three compressors from FMR Audio, using two ofthem in stereo — one for the L/R keyboard channels and the otheron a subgroup with guitars — and the third on leadvocalist/guitarist Paul Banks’ vocal. Also in his rig are two BehringerAutoCom compressors used on bass DI, mic and two channels of backingvocals; a Yamaha SPX900; and a Roland SDE 1000. As for his microphoneselection, Harley employs a Shure SM58 for Daniel Kessler and SamFogarino’s backing vocals. Lead vocals are miked with an Audix OM5,while drums receive a Shure SM91 and Beyer M88 (kick), SM57 (snaretop/bottom), SM81 (hi-hat), Audix Micro-D (rack/floor). For guitars,each is miked with a CAD M37, while bass receives a Sennheiser 421 or aBeyer M88.
