While the music is of course the main focus, Pellie takes pride in expanding the studio’s capabilities and maintaining the equipment in use. “I think the best results come from being inspired. You don’t need the best gear to record great music. Many staples of rock history were recorded using elementary facilities”, he quipped. “I like to use oldschool methods to get the sound I want. Plugging into an old fashioned valve amp and turning it up inspires me while I’m well aware that technology has progressed and there is effectively little need for the old stuff.”. He retains a very hybrid approach to the matter, using whatever is required to get the job done, regardless of its vintage. This in turn provides for a fairly unique environment with its own set of caveats and struggles.

“When I started my first ‘home studio’ – and we’ll use that term loosely – I was picking old bits of gear from the rubbish and hand-me-downs. I didn’t have much of a budget at that age, but I learned to make things work. Strangely enough I was both at the forefront of tech back then using MiniDisc, but also relying heavily on audio casettes. The magic of making all the components work together was a lot of fun. I, uh [chuckles], still do that today, I guess.“.

“You see, there are those who can’t appreciate the whole spectrum; either it’s an entirely analog circuit, maybe even valve driven, or it’s just not worth having. Others refuse to work with anything that’s past its warranty period pretty much. I see improvements and embrace them provided they permit operation and a workflow that appeals to me.” he said, “Programming a TR-505 is a horrible thing to do, I’m very happy I can sequence a drumloop in seconds on a computer and send the lot via MIDI with a steady clock instead of an analog pot that will invariably shift while rolling off the track!“.