Young, talented EDM band Join The Riot are recording their debut album for all to
see in a glass box in the middle of Stockholm this month, using an Audient ASP4816
analogue mixing console.

The five-piece band have commandeered the display window of a hotel situated on
the corner of one of Stockholm’s busiest streets, built a studio in it, and are
spending the whole of July working on the album, in what they have aptly named “A
Glass Cage Of Emotions’. Throughout the month passers-by can watch what’s going
on through the many windows and even listen to their sessions via headphones on
the street.

“We’ve been working on the album for a little over a year, and figured that when it
came to recording it, collaborating with the Scandic Malmen hotel to promote its
music profile at the same time as our new album, would be much better than
renting an expensive studio,’ says vocalist Henrik Ljungqvist. It’s certainly getting
them noticed.

The temporary studio is centred around British company Audient’s ASP4816 desk,
kindly supplied by Sweden’s largest music store, Deluxe Music. “It’s brilliant. It’s
really cool to have such a professional desk in our studio,’ adds Henrik, indicating
the Audient ASP4816. “We’ve never worked with this kind of stuff before,’ he
admits. “Our sound engineer came in for a couple of days and gave us a few
lessons on the mixing desk (it was new for him too), but when he’s not here we’ve
been learning new things about it every day.’

“The cool thing is we’re not only using it for recording,’ continues Henrik, explaining
about their forthcoming gig showcasing some of their new tracks, including their
latest single Us against the wall. “We already have a mixer that we use for gigging,
but we realised that the Audient has way more channels than ours, so we decided to
use it for the live mix as well as recording.’ Loaded with the key features of a large
format recording console, the compact, cost-effective ASP4816 features Audient’s
legendary analogue circuitry, and fits neatly into the Join The Riot temporary studio
set up.

So the people of Stockholm are being treated to free entertainment, but it turns out
they are contributing to the vibe of the album too. “We get to feel the pulse of the
city here. We’re usually sitting in a dark room making music, and this is totally
different: it’s light and you can hear sounds outside when people are passing, so
you get inspiration that way as well.’

Without a label behind them, the band have had to do everything themselves.
“That’s something we’re very proud of,’ says Henrik passionately, despite the
learning curve having been steep on occasion. “Sometimes the things you want
have to take a bit longer. At least then you’ve created something exactly the way
you wanted it.’

The new album is due out in September after their impressive stint in the Glass
Cage, with a good chance that it’ll be named after this month’s experience!