A band formed by students from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have just released their first EP – and the musicians used skills from their Audio and Recording Technology degree course to produce and release the music themselves.
Fatmate, made up of Anthony Sotelo, Harry Mecklenburgh and Luke Jones, are busy making waves in Leicester with gigs at top live music venues such as The Cookie, The Musician, The Soundhouse and the 02 Academy.
Now they are hoping to take their Stoner Rock sound – which they describe as a “fat wall of fuzz with a spoonful of psyched-out mystical jam” – to a bigger European-wide audience with the release of the Fatmate EP which was also mixed by fellow student Rufus Fox.
You can download the EP for free by visiting Fatmate’s Bandcamp page and read more on their Facebook page
Guitarist and singer Ant said: “The fact me, Harry and Rufus study Audio and Recording Technology has been a huge help.
“Recording this ourselves has allowed us total creative control over how we sound and has also furthered us as sound engineers, as well as musicians.
“The unofficial title of the EP is “This is not an album...this is a learning curve” which is reference really to how much we learned while doing this. The course that we are studying at DMU gave us the ability to achieve the sound we were hoping for in order to represent us as a band.
“Of course, it’s not perfect – there are things in hindsight we know we should’ve done differently – but all of it is valuable experience and ultimately has helped us all grow.
“I would recommend the course to people that want to give themselves the tools to achieve the sound they desire in music, as well as learn to become an artist in the studio.
“It becomes clear what creative control you have when you are a sound engineer It’s the reason I am doing the course and I’m seeing it benefit my own passions already.”
Leicester has a thriving underground scene for Stoner and Psychedelic Rock with bands such as Cherry Choke and Prophets of Saturn releasing albums and touring nationally and internationally, while the city is also home to the annual Electric Cool Festival of Psychedelic Rock.
Ant said: “The Leicester scene has been really exciting for us as we’ve only just started out. Our biggest achievements have been playing the O2 Academy and getting our EP recorded and released.
“It’s actually central Europe that is paying more and more attention to this type of music and, while Leicester has been good to us, we want to tap into other places so we hope to get south to London and across the water and beyond.”
The Audio and Recording Technology course covers the science and technology of audio and recording systems and how these can be used effectively in recording, mixing, mastering and sound design.
Students develop skills in audio mixing and mastering, learn the principles of electronics and acoustics, study the measurement and design of recording and audio production environments and produce sound for digital media, including radio, video, multimedia and online.
Graduates pursue careers in areas such as studio recording, audio and post production, sound system installation, management and sound for film and TV.
This course is accredited by JAMES (Joint Audio Media Education Support) on behalf of the Association of Professional Recording Services (APRS), the Music Producers Guild (MPG) and the UK Screen Association.
Posted on Tuesday 18 August 2015