About Mike
Mike’s interest in music ignited in the early sixties (i.e. last century) when he found himself on the kitchen table, playing a broom as a guitar to the sound of The Beatles blaring out of a transistor radio. He taught himself to play guitar (the first song he learnt was 'As Tears Go By', by the Rolling Stones), and started performing in Coffee Shops on the Northwest Coast of Tasmania, with a repertoire of songs from Dylan, Donovan, John Hammond, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and whatever else was easy to play. As a member of Brumida, he took part in organising the very early folk festivals in Tasmania in the late sixties.
Over the years he has played in many bands with music ranging from folk rock, cabaret, R&B to traditional (most recently Celtic and Cajun). Running alongside this interest in performing was an interest in sound. Again in the sixties, he bought an army surplus audio oscillator and started experimenting with electronic sounds on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder. While performing in bands, the role of setting up and running the PA usually fell to him.
As the century turned, so did Mike’s musical interests, which shifted from on stage to in front of the stage. He concentrated more on sound engineering and recording, and less on performing. In the eighties he had started developing and refining his recording techniques using a four-track cassette recorder, where he learnt, for example, the tricky art of multiple bounce-downs. In the nineties he made the switch from analog tape to PC-based digital, and from that point started operating a studio more deliberately. This allowed him to experiment with and explore the broader possibilities of sonic landscapes.
Based in Ranelagh, his studio (audio illusion) boasts an informality within a pleasant environment. He maintains an involvement in the folk music scene by providing live mixing for folk festivals and other folk music events. Mike frames his approach to recording on the philosophy of George Martin, who strove for technical excellence of the process, but not of the performers. However, the extra challenge is to achieve this excellence within the constraints of an effectively domestic recording environment.
About Philip
Philip has a theory that he has been interested in music since before he was born. This is a very difficult question to answer, and it would only raise more questions. He was born when the summer of love was in full swing, and the sounds of world music were all about, even before the term 'World Music' was invented. His parents were not all that interested in the mainstream commercial pop music, although eager ears soaked it up just the same. Tijuana brass and Neil young went in the same holes right to the bone and poke out from time to time.
Despite growing up in the culturally heathen environment of Sydney, he went into, over and through, an interest in Metal, hard Country and Bluegrass. Parallel to this, he started playing restaurant gigs for income, playing the more approachable Neil Young and other mushy stuff. After spending way too much on PA gear in an age when PA gear cost way too much, Philip set out to recoup the extravagant expense hiring out himself and the extravagant gear. After the first gig it became apparent that Philip was going to do much more of this. He just needed much more gear! It got to the point that he filled up a one tonne van to the maximum and had gig after gig till leaving Sydney on a permanent stress break in 1998.
Philip has worked for some brilliant musicians such as the Mighty Reapers, The Hippos, and The Shy Guys along with a host of memorable one off events. Despite the hard times that a lot of professional musicians experience, Phil still wants to get behind the microphone occasionally. Previously playing Violin for Arauco Libre at the Salamanca markets for four years, he now spends his time playing with the swing band Toulouse All Stars.
While still providing PA hire to Tasmanian musicians he has built up a small home recording studio called 'Cedar Studios'. Using high quality and affordable computer based equipment that is now available, Cedar Studios is suitable for two tracks at a time recording and there are big plans for the future.
