We managed to get a quick interview in with the winners of our I AM INDIE competition, Phantastic Ferniture, after a weekend recording in Studio 2 with Tim Carr and working on their forthcoming EP. Speaking to Holly our Studios Coordinator, here’s what they had to say.
Studios 301: How was it recording at 301?
Ryan: It was nice not having to record ourselves. Everything we’ve done before has been me or the band having to do it. It was quite relaxing for me not to be yelling at everyone telling them to do things.
Liz: And it was also nice for us not getting yelled at by Ryan.
Julia: It was cool just being at a studio space like Studios 301. We haven’t really done that before.
Liz: It felt a lot easier than usual. It’s hard to make things go smoothly when you’re recording yourself. And also having that external opinion (from Tim Carr) being able to bounce your ideas off, instead of just us.
Ryan: We don’t get to use spaces like that everyday, with nice gear and big rooms.
Julia: Or have that much time.
Liz: It was nice doing things in normal daytime hours. Normally we’re still going at 1am. It was also good to have so much space to set everything up and easily go back to instruments, instead of having to do say guitars, then pack it up, then do drums. You can easily go back to things.
Studios 301: Do you feel like you played better because of it?
Collectively: yeah, I reckon.
Studios 301: How did you find working with Tim?
Ryan: Tim’s great because the just lets us figure out what we want to do, and then he’ll put one little idea out there and it take it from good to really good.
Liz: He’s also such a fast worker. I was quite astounded how quickly he mixed things between takes.
Julia: He’s obviously so experienced and he’s knows exactly what he needs and he just does that while we’re recording.
Studios 301: I guess that’s the skill as a producer, being quick and making one suggestion that takes the music somewhere else.
Ryan: Normally the four of us have such strong opinions so it nice to have someone listening to our opinions and taking it on.
Julia: I think the great thing about working with Tim was because we all do have strong opinions, if we were working someone also with strong opinions as well it might have been difficult.
Ryan: We would literally be throwing stuff across the room.
Julia: He was super accommodating and really listened to what we wanted.
Studios 301: So what’s the future hold for Phantastic Ferniture?
Julia: Just mainly finishing the EP, releasing it and seeing if people like it and going from there.
Ryan: We’ve only got two songs released so far. We’ve also already thought about video clips. That’s half of what we do in the studio. Just spending time figuring out what we’re going to wear and what clip’s going to look like.
Studios 301: What are the plans for the video clip? Can you give anything away?
Liz: It’s going to involve dancing.
Julia: And people that are playing us, but not us
Studios 301: Any cameo’s?
Julia: We’re definitely trying to get celebrity cameos
Ryan: Hopefully over 50’s
Liz: Or under 50’s
Julia: So basically anyone (laugh’s)
Keep an eye out for Phantastic Ferniture’s movements at
For more information on INDIE Single and EP packages check out https://studios301.com/recording-packages/