saxophone set up out of anyone around!! Josh explains – its a Selmer Reference 54 alto sax with a fake unbranded Meyer New York Mouthpiece going into a DPA 4099 clip on microphone with OPR grill ribbon mic u-mod into an Eventide mixing link pre amp, Roland SP303, Electro Harmonix Small Stone phaser pedal and then into a Boss RE20 Space Echo – running both wet and dry signals out for the mix! It’s wild! JK is a master and this new record we’re tracking is covered in baritone, alto and the zesty flavours of soprano sax! Josh Kelly (JK Group) probably has the most tech. The cymbal stack, or clap stack is definitely also a product of sample culture, emulating a produced snare or 808 like clap in a live setting. Ziggy Zeitgeist (Z.F.E.X) has constructed one of the most incredible live drum sounds out of anyone we know! Landing on what feels to be a fully produced dance floor sound! He uses a Roland trigger module set up, with all his own samples and quirky sounds mixed with his carefully selected cymbals and snares wrapped in gaffa and bent just perfect. I love using my SP in the studio too, for processing and for my solo sets, playing beats and running the Rhodes through it! Finn actually plays my Fender Rhodes Mark II on the live thing, running it through a Boss RE20 and a few other pedals – but if we’re on the road it’s the Nord Stage III and a Moog Sub 37 for Finn Rees (Close Counters) Ziggy Zeitgeist (ZFEX) But now I mostly use the phaser, chorus and pitch shift and big looped delays for songs like ‘Tempted’ and moody moments! Allysha JoyĪt the moment I’m rocking an SP404 and a Collider Delay+Reverb pedal with a WHOLE heap of percussion and samples that I play live! I initially loved the SP for all its gritty dirty sounds, the distortion and bit-crush when I would do spoken word/rap style vocals.
The gear and the way we use the gear has to continue to evolve with it and I think helps to challenge us sonically beyond the songwriting. Our sound now is deeply inspired by a lot of the older UK scene, house and broken beat and always connected through jazz. you know the vibe.īut as the stages got bigger and the beats got cleaner and more orientated towards the dance floor our gear had to get tighter. The band started out making music in the intersection of boom bap and jazz, heavily inspired by Madlib, Dilla, Badu. In fact at one stage I think every member of the band was running a 303 – for bass, Rhodes, guitar, vocals and then Ziggy (Z.F.E.X) on kit with the classic Roland trigger pad and it just continued to evolve from there. Yeah 30/70 definitely goes deep on the live sound and just as the band and the line up has continued to develop over time, so has the gear ! I think it all started with our love for SP303’s and sample based music. Read all the latest features, columns and more here. To celebrate this new release, Allysha Joy takes us through the band’s gear setup for ‘Tastes Like Freedom’ and also for when they’re on the road.
To be perfectly myself, to feel held and safe, yet limitless in body and mind, and to feel even more in love when I am accepting and accepted, that tastes like freedom. On the new single Allysha says “‘Tastes Like Freedom’ is about openly, freely and proudly expressing your desire and your sexuality. Returning to the label with a new single, 30/70’s ‘Taste Like Freedom’ evolves over nine enticing minutes, with Allysha’s voice floating effortlessly over the jazz-funk arrangement touching on topics of love and openness.
Their last record Fluid Motion was released via Rhythm Section International, a UK based label run by Bradley Zero with worldwide dance floor appeal. Over the past few years, 30/70 have been a force in the Neo-Soul/Funk/Jazz/Dance music scene not only here at home in Melbourne, but all across Europe too. Getting into the nitty gritty of their touring and studio rig.