THE ORB
The Orb’s latest album, Abolition of the Royal Familia, was put together in two London studios. One of them is in Notting Hill Gate and was used for a lot of the live recording – strings, drums, some vocals. Initially, Orb-founder and creative linchpin, Alex Paterson, wanted to conduct our interview there.
“It’s actually just an empty room with a few patch bays,” he explains, eyes twinkling with impish glee. “I thought it would be interesting to see what you made of a setup that had no gear at all. I suppose I could have claimed we did it all wirelessly.”
In the end, he decided to come clean and invited us to the south London studio owned by multi-platinum producer, Martin Glover – aka Youth, bass player with goth/punk legends, Killing Joke.
“This is where we did most of the work. It also looks like a proper studio, which is probably going to work better in the pictures, isn’t it? And we’re allowed to smoke here! We had a couple of complaints at the other place. Sorry, but I have to smoke while working on an album.”
Just in case you’re wondering, Paterson is not talking about a pack of Marlboros purchased from the local 7-11.
“There have been a few times where people have said, ‘I can’t come in the studio if you’re smoking’. Looks like we won’t be working together then, eh?” Again, Paterson flashes a cheeky grin.
The main studio space is on the top floor of Glover’s impressive, five-storey home – bought with the proceeds of production/remix credits for the likes of U2, The Verve and Marilyn Manson – but the
