{"id":2849,"date":"2022-01-27T01:01:39","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T01:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/?post_type=methodtomymusic&p=2849"},"modified":"2022-04-27T06:22:24","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T06:22:24","slug":"sam-grant","status":"publish","type":"methodtomymusic","link":"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/methodtomymusic\/sam-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Grant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where are you based?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Newcastle-upon-Tyne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How, when and where did you start making music? Are you primarily a musician or a producer, or do something else?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a musician and producer. I play in the band Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs<\/a> and run Blank Studios<\/a>, a commercial studio in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the studio side of things, I started Blank back in 2008, alongside two other producers based in Newcastle. Originally a portable studio set up, going from location to location, in 2010 we opened our first studio space, and in 2018 we moved to our current home on Warwick Street. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the band, Pigs x7 was formed in 2012 as one of many projects we would play around with amongst our circle of friends. Matt, Johnny and I all went to school together in Richmond (North Yorkshire), and regularly started bands and projects together. Alongside Adam and Ewan [the first drummer Pigs drummer] we hit upon a good balance of influences, and the whole thing grew from there. A few years in though, work and family life meant Ewan had to take a step back and Chris, our current drummer, replaced him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who would you consider some of your biggest influences when it comes to your \u201csound\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Early on the likes of Sleep and Black Sabbath were obvious influences. The down-tuned, valve amp heavy sound of Sleep\u2019s guitars, along with the rolling drums and and bass lines of Sabbath are a compelling vibe. But ultimately we tended to just write, and ultimately create an aesthetic with the sound in whatever manner felt write in respects to what made us smile. Whether it was something fast and Kraut-ey or slow and doom-ey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the bands there\u2019s a very long list of influential musical persuasions, and they all get drawn upon at various points in search of bringing the music together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explain your creative process? Do you have a routine?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Writing with Pigs has evolved over the years. Originally we wrote like it was on a roll of toilet, just adding and adding riffs and sections that felt appropriate to where things had reached to that point. \u2018Feed the Rats\u2019 was built up in this nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With King of Cowards there was more writing done with a mind toward individual tracks. Often one of us would have the skeleton of a track, and in the practice room we would work on it\u2019s arrangement and look to see if it paired with any ideas or riffs anyone else had. Through that process we\u2019d get interesting movements and shifts within the music. We\u2019d often also write with solo\u2019s, vocals and additional features in mind, and then once the base of the track felt right, those elements would be added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your \u201cstudio\u201d setup?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We write and record these days pretty much exclusively in Blank Studios. It\u2019s got a big open live room, with high ceilings and lush acoustics, so it\u2019s great to play in. The studio also has all the equipment and ergonomics we need to record and produce music too; plenty of Neve pres, lots of nice outboard, a great mic collection, an isolation booth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sam<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gear wise there\u2019s mountains of awesome stuff at our finger tips. Amazing compressors like the LA2A, 1176 or the neve 33609. Big ATC main speakers that are a joy to work on. Then there\u2019s fun things like the plate reverb and spring reverbs, a massive guitar pedal collection, a handful of synths\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re super fortunate in the position we\u2019re in, and it makes for a lot of fun when it comes to the production of the records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sam<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is your process when working with other people? How is collaboration different in the studio vs working remotely? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the most part I take on the technical roles in the band, of engineer, producer and mixer. Though I\u2019ll often bring in John Martindale, one of the other Blank Studios engineers, to help in the tracking stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At what point(s) are you comfortable letting other people hear what you are working on?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fairly quickly in the process, to be honest. Amongst us we\u2019ve all been a part of, and worked on, numerous records and projects. We\u2019re beyond the point of being too precious about things, and generally we\u2019re all fairly at ease with our abilities (or lack of!). Ultimately it doesn\u2019t make much difference to us when other people hear something, as it\u2019s unlikely to change anything, so there\u2019s not much of a need to be concerned about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you share your work in progress (streams or downloads)? Any technical frustrations? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not really one for sharing work while it\u2019s in progress, unless it\u2019s with band mates or collaborators. Oftentimes as well it\u2019s some awful iPhone recording of a clean guitar or something similar, nothing you want to be any further out there than it absolutely needs to be! So technical frustrations are the least of my concerns. I have in the past used the various music hosting platforms (soundcloud, bandcamp et al) to create private links of unreleased stuff to share with people, but usually of prior-to-release finished material, and it\u2019s always fairly low key, so I don\u2019t give it too much thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Byta delivers fast and secure audio sharing<\/h3>

With Byta you are in control of your music. <\/p>\n Read More<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How do you know when a track\/album is finished?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll have the album mostly written and demoed before tracking in the studio, so the recording time is as much a process to making sure we all put our parts down to the best of our abilities. I\u2019ll then take it away, so to speak, and mix over over the subsequent weeks. In answer to the question of knowing when it\u2019s finished, though, it\u2019s pretty uninspiring in that there\u2019s no fanfare, it just reaches a point where doing more isn\u2019t adding much more, so it\u2019s time to stop!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you listen to the final mixes\/mastered work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll send mixes around to the band, and everyone has their preferred method of referencing. But generally, all the bands are fairly laid back, and happy to go with it if I\u2019m happy with where it\u2019s at. Any feedback gets looked at, and tweaks are done, and then it\u2019s off to mastering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll always listen to master on the main speakers at the studio at the earliest opportunity. I\u2019ll also listen on my headphones and then on various other systems – a laptop, the hi-fi, earbuds\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How important is pre-release security when sharing new work? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pigs is fortunate to of never had any issues with pre-release security, fortunately. Whether that\u2019s because everyones been careful with it, or that the wider world just doesn\u2019t care that much though is another question\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said though, it is important for all the projects I work on, not just with Pigs, but as a producer with all the albums I\u2019ve been a part of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a good album campaign that builds up to the fanfare it deserves on release day is super important on many levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who on your team gets to hear the final versions first and why, what formats do they each need?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our manager and our label are the first sets of ears on things. Brad [our manager] might come into the studio, or otherwise, they\u2019ll all get a bunch of WAVs FTPed to them. We\u2019ll then all talk about sequencing and, after that get things off to mastering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of your inner circle, who are the people that will need to hear the new tracks next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t really know! At this point, I\u2019m clocking off! I\u2019m probably ready to move on to the next project, or need a bit of time off, and all the ears that \u201cneed\u201d a listen are often the considerations of Brad and the label\u2026 I happily don\u2019t have to worry about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything you are working on, anyone you are working with and want to share? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve actually just recently started a new project called Rubber Oh<\/a>. It has a nearing horizon, of sorts\u2026 I\u2019m super excited about this project and looking forward to sharing it. It\u2019s a bit of a \u201cwatch this space\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3184,"template":"","categories":[14],"class_list":["post-2849","methodtomymusic","type-methodtomymusic","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-methodtomymusic"],"yoast_head":"\nSam Grant - Byta Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sam Grant, musician and producer (Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs \/ Rubber Oh \/ Blank Studios), talks to Byta about his creative process!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/methodtomymusic\/sam-grant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sam Grant - Byta Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sam Grant, musician and producer (Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs \/ Rubber Oh \/ Blank Studios), talks to Byta about his creative process!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/methodtomymusic\/sam-grant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Byta Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BytaLtd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-27T06:22:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/MTMM-sam-grant-hero.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"690\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/MTMM-sam-grant-hero.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bytaltd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/methodtomymusic\/sam-grant\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/blog\/methodtomymusic\/sam-grant\/\",\"name\":\"Sam Grant - 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