Posts Tagged: miles horn

2022 Summary

December 12 cait davies, danny o'callaghan, live, miles horn, remote sessions, studio, trip shivers, vineyard worship

It felt like normality resumed throughout our industry for the most part in 2022; I had a busy year of gigs and recording and was grateful to be able to work on some great music with great people.

Live

Miles Horn had his first full-band headline show in March at The Bedford, playing songs from his Forest Fire EP that I tracked remote drums on at the end of 2020. I helped Miles put together the band for this, and got two good pals involved who both smashed it (Harry Phillips on guitar and Sam Weston on bass). The gig went really well, and it was great to see our work rehearsing and arranging Miles’ tunes come to fruition. Charlie Thornton took some lovely photos on the night:

In April I had the privilege of being part of the VLG, Vineyard UK‘s national conference held at Trent Vineyard in Nottingham. This was a really fun week playing with old and new friends from across the Vineyard movement in the UK and Ireland, with plenty of coffee and hangs along the way. I also finally got to play ‘Prayer Of Consecration’ live with Olu Meduoye after both working on it remotely last year, which sounded like this:

Studio

I had a few sessions at my usual haunt The Bookhouse this year, including tracking an EP for singer-songwriter Cait Davies in August. Tom Hill was engineering and Harry Phillips was producing and playing on this one – I’ve worked with these guys tons over the past few years and it’s always a blast, they’re both super creative and talented and we’ve become a great team. Cait’s songs are killer, and allowed for some fun tone-hunting and experimentation to find the perfect parts.

This year also finally saw the release of the Trip Shivers EP, which I worked on with Chaz Bush as well as Harry and Tom over various sessions dating back to 2018. This is a special one for us; we all put a lot of work into it and I think it showcases our musical sensibilities perfectly. Chaz’s songs are beautiful, and I’m really happy with how my playing and tones were captured on them.

In October I had the opportunity to try something new: recording a sample pack for Synth Jam Samples. The concept for the pack was to record 10 classic breaks with a variety of kits, so the end user will be able to customise their own version of each break and then use it as they wish. We recorded this over a week at Up Top Studios, a great little studio near me in Hertfordshire run by my friend Dan Wheeldon, with Jon Mann-Smith assisting on the engineering front. We tracked one-shots and grooves with 10 snares, 5 kick drums, 2 sets of toms and loads of cymbals and percussion, all through Jon’s lovely vintage outboard gear. This was a tricky project at times, with long and repetitive days (sampling the cymbals was particularly arduous), but ultimately rewarding.

Remote

The remote session train kept rolling in 2022, and I got to play on some amazing songs for artists and producers across the globe including Vic Allen, Samuel Nicholson, Barn Shaw and Doug Schadt. I also upgraded my recording rig significantly and acquired some fun new pieces of gear – check out this page for an up-to-date list: https://simontreasure.com/gearlist

One of my favourites I got to work on remotely last year was released in March; ‘Runaway’ by Danny O’Callaghan, produced by Jonny Bird. Jonny’s mix on this one is insane, with perhaps the biggest drum sound I’ve ever had on record!

As always I’m available for live, studio and remote work in 2023 – email me at simontreasure@hotmail.co.uk with any enquiries. Thanks to everyone who trusted me with their music this year!

Remote Session Testimonials

March 3 jacob hilton, lydia evangeline, miles horn, remote sessions, studio

Here are a few testimonials from some of the lovely clients I’ve tracked drums for remotely.

Samuel Nicholson | Artist

“Having worked with Simon in the studio and on stage previously, his talent and work ethic have been abundantly clear to me for a long time. Recently under tight time pressure, I reached out to see if he’d have any capacity to work on drums and percussion remotely for a track that needed to come together very quickly. Simon was prompt, diligent, and above all completely sympathetic to my vision for the song. Impeccable feel, thorough musicianship, great communication. Would recommend again and again!”

Jacob Hilton | Artist

“The drum recordings that Simon has done for my songs have been outstanding. Each time I’ve worked with him I’ve found it to be an absolute breeze due to his speedy communication and understanding of what sound and style I’m looking for. He’s an incredibly professional musician, as well as being really friendly and passionate about each song you’ve written for him to play on. I honestly couldn’t recommend Simon highly enough.”

Miles Horn | Artist

“I was so happy with Simon’s remote drum recordings for my EP. Simon is an absolute pleasure to work with – he is attentive to the brief, meticulous in his preparation and patient when recording. I was really impressed with the overall sound quality and appreciated the chance to make revisions where necessary. What’s more, Simon delivered all the files in a really clear and organised way. I cannot recommend more highly.”

Lydia Evangeline | Artist

“Simon went above and beyond when I approached him to help me with one of my single releases last year. He was quick to communicate and deliver not only the original drum idea we’d had in mind but also various other suggestions for us to choose from, all within our tight time frame. I definitely hope to work with him again in the future!”

Barnabas Shaw | Producer

“Simon makes remotely recording high quality and great sounding drums very easy. Look no further for a top UK session drummer with great recording facilities and a serious pocket.”

James Bentall | Artist

“Simon was a pleasure to work with. Super fast and professional, and had some great suggestions on how to improve my song all while being respectful to my own vision. I also chose to have Simon mix the drums and percussion he recorded which improved the song even further. Would totally recommend this if you want a professional sounding mix!”

2020 Summary

December 12 drums, lydia evangeline, miles horn, music, recording, remote sessions, samuel lane, samuel nicholson, session, the factory

2020 was a difficult year for everyone, particularly musicians and creatives. My last live gig before the pandemic hit was on 12th March, and like everyone else I struggled to stay afloat for the rest of the year. Fortunately I was able to continue teaching online via Zoom, and I did more recording than ever, both remotely and in studios when restrictions were briefly eased. Here are a few highlights from the projects I was able to get involved with in 2020.

Lydia Evangeline

When lockdown began I was unable to access my usual studio and rehearsal spaces, and eventually resorted to setting up my drums and recording gear at home in my tiny flat. As well as working on a series of Corona Collab videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLF-CthqlVBKVVs9VUlByko_mV_4X0T2dX&v=VLkQQRk3hhw), I got called to track for a few different artists. One of these was Lydia Evangeline, whose producer Matt Fury asked me to play on the song ‘Strange’. I was really happy to be involved with this one – Lydia’s songwriting is great, and musically it was right up my alley: the reference was even Phoebe Bridgers, one of my favourites. The song was released in July, receiving international radio play and almost 100K streams – not bad for drums recorded in a living room!

Samuel Nicholson

In September I was fortunate enough to play on an album for Samuel Nicholson, another great singer/songwriter whose previous work I love. We recorded it at 123 Studios in Peckham, a lovely spot with some amazing gear, and tracked nine songs live as a band over two days. This was pretty intense, but fun, and I’m really happy with how they all turned out. I used the studio’s 1966 Ludwig Super Classic with my 1954 Leedy & Ludwig snare for the entire record, just tweaking tuning, dampening and changing cymbals on each song. Here are a few clips from the sessions:

Vineyard St Albans

I’ve been part of the worship team at Vineyard for several years now, usually playing on Sundays to a congregation of hundreds, but during lockdown we were forced to start recording acoustic sets remotely. I produced several of these at home with my wife, but in the summer we moved to doing socially-distanced full-band sets at The Factory studios in Harpenden. These were all recorded and filmed by Eduardo and Leidy Vieira, both of whom are super talented and generous with their time and gifts. It’s been a pleasure not only to serve our local church but to play regularly with great musicians and friends in the absence of gigs. Below is a recent set with Samuel Lane.

Miles Horn

Towards the end of the year I also started working out of The Factory for my remote sessions. It’s a killer room and I think I’m getting my best sounds yet – I’m really grateful to Eduardo and the rest of the team for letting me use the space. My first project there was an EP for Miles Horn, who I originally played with back in 2013. It was great to catch up with Miles and work with him again on some new tunes, and I’m really looking forward to hearing the finished record.

Here’s a quick video showcasing some of the sounds from The Factory, going from completely raw to mixed then adding some overdubs. Get in touch if you need drums or percussion on your music!

I’m so grateful to everyone who hired me or made music with me in 2020; it’s always appreciated but now so more than ever. Hopefully 2021 will bring better and brighter times all round.