September 9, 2025 • 34 mins
Ever wondered how singers record vocals remotely and make them sound professional? In this episode of Inside The Mix, Marc Matthews is joined by New Zealand synthwave vocalist INDIGO to explore the art of remote vocal collaboration and the songwriting process behind her unique sound.
From her unexpected start in the synthwave scene to collaborations with artists like Wolf Club and Turbo Knight, INDIGO shares how she records vocals from home while working with producers across the world. We dive into her vocal recording techniques—including why she double-tracks every vocal and prefers recording in the evenings for her best takes.
You’ll also learn how Indigo adapts her lyrics to fit electronic music, moving between dreamy love songs and darker themes, and how she overcomes songwriter’s block with practical strategies like listening to instrumentals on long drives or stepping away from projects overnight.
For the tech-minded, Indigo reveals her setup, using the Aston Origin microphone, basic vocal processing, and clear communication with producers to make remote collaborations successful. She also opens up about the challenges of online music partnerships and why trust and reliability matter as much as technical skill.
Whether you’re a producer looking to collaborate with vocalists or a singer wanting to deliver better takes from home, this episode is packed with actionable tips for remote recording, lyric writing, and collaboration in the digital age.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Follow INDIGO
Listen to Darklight (feat. INDIGO)
Listen to Engraved Disillusion
Ways to connect with Marc:
Radio-ready mixes start here - get the FREE weekly tips
Book your FREE Music Breakthrough Strategy Call
Follow Marc's Socials:
Instagram | YouTube | Synth Music Mastering
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Marc Matthews (00:00):
Writing powerful lyrics and recording vocals that
connect with the listener istough enough when you're in the
same room, but what if yourcollaborator is on the other
side of the world?
Can you really capture thatsame magic from thousands of
miles away, and what tricks makeit sound like you were in the
same room all along?
Let's find out in this episode.
INDIGO (00:22):
You're listening to the Inside the Mix podcast with your
host, Mark.
Marc Matthews (00:25):
Matthews, welcome to Inside the Mix, your go-to
podcast for music creation andproduction.
Whether you're crafting yourfirst track or refining your
mixing skills, join me each weekfor expert interviews,
practical tutorials and insightsto help you level up your music
and smash it in the musicindustry.
Let's dive in.
(00:46):
Hey folks, welcome back, orwelcome to Inside the Mix, if
you are new.
I'm joined today by NewZealand's own global synthwave
voice, who has collaborated withartists like Wolf Club, turbo
Night 1086, dualarity and, yes,even me.
I think we've done three songsor today, and I think there's a
fourth that I'm working on atthe moment.
(01:06):
So please welcome, indigo.
How are you?
And welcome.
INDIGO (01:11):
Hi, I'm doing well.
How are you?
Marc Matthews (01:14):
I'm good.
I'm good For the audiencelistening.
We are at the opposite ends ofthe day recording this, so it's
8 am where Indigo is and it's 9pm here in the UK.
INDIGO (01:26):
Yeah, bright and and early.
I think I got about three hourssleep as well, so bear with me
if I say some crazy stuff todayyeah, yeah, I appreciate you
getting up if you got threehours sleep.
Marc Matthews (01:35):
This, I think, is the biggest time difference for
an interview on the podcast.
It was Australia previously.
I don't know if that's the sameactually.
Is that?
I suppose it depends where youare in Australia.
I do a disservice to Australia.
It was Australia previously.
I don't know if that's the sameactually, I suppose it depends
where you are in Australia.
I do a disservice to Australiathere because Australia is a
very, very big country.
INDIGO (01:52):
They're huge.
I think they're at least twohours difference from us,
depends where you are.
Marc Matthews (02:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But again I appreciate yougetting up super early to join
me on the podcast I appreciateyou staying up for me no, no,
it's, it's my pleasure.
It's uh, I've been lookingforward to this one.
We've uh, we've obviously beenback and forth working on tunes
for a while, so I've been eagerto get you on the podcast to
chat about all things sort ofvocals and also vocal recording
(02:21):
and songwriting today.
So in this episode it isinspired by listener Connor who
asks the question, I think well,rather statement, I guess you
could call it.
I think lyrics are one of mybiggest struggles, and second to
that would be recording vocals.
So if that sounds familiar toyou, you're going to enjoy this
(02:42):
conversation.
We're going to unpack thecreative and technical steps
that make the difference betweena rough demo and a song that's
ready for playlists.
Before we actually dive intothe discussion, though, maybe if
you could just give us sort oflike a whistle-stop tour to how
you got to where you are nowwith regards to sort of singing
and featuring and collaboratingwith other artists.
INDIGO (03:04):
Yeah, I guess music's been a part of my life since
forever, but I really startedtaking it seriously in around
2014, 2015, and I started abachelor's degree in popular
music performance and throughthere I was really trying to
find every avenue ofcollaboration I could to really
(03:24):
find my niche and what I wantedto do, and through that I signed
up for a website called StarNow and applied for a few what
is that called?
Applied for a few jobs to getmy music out there, and one of
them was Wolf Club, so Irecorded not knowing who they
(03:48):
were at all, recorded some songsfor them and they introduced me
to Synthwave and I've just beenin this genre ever since.
Marc Matthews (03:58):
Nice, nice.
That's a good way to start, agood place to start with Wolf
Club isn't?
INDIGO (04:02):
it.
I know it's not a bad place tostart.
Marc Matthews (04:04):
A good place to start with wolf glow, isn't it?
And in terms of like vocals,it's not.
INDIGO (04:08):
It's not a bad place to start star now.
Is that like a gigging platform?
Yeah, yeah, pretty much.
I've.
I've had some really great jobson star now and also some
really bad ones that have mademe hide from the world.
Marc Matthews (04:21):
So it's it's risky business working online
with people overseas yeah, Isuppose if with those ones that
aren't so good and then theyrelease it and then your name is
attached to it, it's you canget a bit tricky.
I can imagine it's kind of oneof those ones where, in
hindsight, you'd want to be like.
I wish I'd said like I want tobe a ghost sort of performer or
(04:45):
just use an alias, so to speakwhen I've definitely had some
learnings from my yeah yeah, I,I've done the same.
I have done the same and I'vebeen in a similar situation.
I've also worked with otherartists as well where they've
requested.
I don't know if that's a anindictment on me at the time,
but they requested to be to be aghost.
They hadn't the song yet, soI'm going to say it's because it
(05:07):
was part of their practicerather than me in particular,
but it could have been.
Now that I think about it.
But thanks for sharing that.
It's always interesting to getjust a quick how you got to
where you are now and, inparticular, synthwave, so slight
tangent here.
Had you been a listener, hadyou been involved in the sort of
(05:28):
synthwave community because itis a very big community prior to
sort of like working with wolfclub, or was that like your
first introduction to it?
INDIGO (05:36):
no.
Wolf club was my firstintroduction.
I was very pop and rock um yeah, no synthwave.
Marc Matthews (05:44):
Wolf club was definitely my first interaction,
which is incredible yeah, it'slike you say, it's a good place
to start and it kind of givesyou, I guess, like a step up
immediately to say, okay, well,I've worked with these artists
or this artist, and then you canuse that as a bit of sort of
like kudos.
INDIGO (06:02):
So yeah, exactly, although I didn't get other jobs
I don't think I had socialmedia at the time.
It took me until about threeyears ago to really uh four,
five, five years ago, 2020, um,to kick off uh social media.
So, yeah, I'm still stillgrowing my following that I
could have gotten 10 years ago.
Marc Matthews (06:21):
Yeah yeah, yeah, well, it's one of those ones,
isn't it?
Social media, you kind of, Iknow, I do it with a podcast and
with my own music production aswell, and it's I don't know I
call it like a necessary evil.
You kind of need to do it toget your music out there.
It's just part and parcel ofwhat we have to do now, you know
, um, but no, it's cool, cool toget a nice bit of background
(06:42):
there.
So I think we we start diving into the collaborative process of
recording vocals remotely.
So maybe we start a bit withregards to delivering of a
backing track, because this ishow we work, right.
So for the audience listeninggenerally, I'll have a tune and
then I'll send it over to Indigoand say what do you think?
(07:03):
And then within usually about48 hours, you come back with an
amazing idea, which isincredible.
But that's generally how wework.
So maybe, if you could talk abit about what makes a good sort
of backing track for you torecord a vocal to, what would
you expect to receive from theproducer, from the artist, to
(07:28):
record two?
Basically?
INDIGO (07:30):
Yeah, it really depends on the artist and who I'm
working with, but I appreciatewhen the backing track is fully
fledged out.
It has all of the parts andit's mixed ready to go.
That's always awesome becauseyou can just write, knowing what
it's going to sound like.
Um, and then there's otherartists who might have some
(07:53):
vocal ideas for me or somelyrics, and they'll um send a
vocal guide along with theinstrumental, which is awesome
yeah.
Marc Matthews (08:04):
So with regards to when they're submitting those
tracks, because I'm sorry, ifI'm looking to the right it's
because I'm making notes.
I should have told you that offair.
INDIGO (08:11):
You're good, you're good .
Marc Matthews (08:13):
Yeah, so when they're submitting those tracks
right, do you find because Iremember this when I was doing
my degree and whatnot that themajority of artists leave space
for the vocal?
Because I know where I'veworked with artists before, when
I've done production and stuff,where they aren't necessarily
working with the vocal at thetime of recording the track and
(08:33):
they just fill the space andthere's no room for you to sort
of breathe as a vocalist.
Does that happen often, or isthat not something you encounter
often?
INDIGO (08:41):
no, it really depends on the artist.
Sometimes there's obviousspaces for the vocals and it's
so easy you can just pop it inthere and away you go.
But other times it is reallyinstrumental heavy and you need
to figure out where.
Like where's the verse, where'sthe chorus?
Where should I put these vocals?
How much vocal should I put init?
Marc Matthews (09:02):
yeah, sometimes that can be a bit tricky yeah,
and with regards to that likebecause this is where, like, the
diplomacy and being diplomaticcomes in and that collaboration,
and if you've not sort ofworked with that artist before,
how do you approach that?
If you, when you talk to anartist and they send you a track
across and you say, actually Ithink you should move this, this
(09:23):
and this around, is that quitean easy thing to do?
Do you have any sort of tips onhow to approach that situation?
Because, again, I guess itdepends on the artist.
Some artists might be a bitmore precious when it comes to
their arrangement than others.
Have you got any tips on that?
INDIGO (09:38):
Yeah, I often try not to change people's instrumentals
and instead I'd make my vocalswork for their song.
But I will ask sometimes, hey,do you want a vocal heavy track
or a light track?
And sometimes I'm like, hey,I'm not quite sure where the
chorus is.
Could you point that out for me?
And then go from there.
Marc Matthews (10:00):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Another question I've got herewith regards to that, because
you mentioned about a vocalguide track, which makes perfect
sense, right?
Have you experienced anybodyusing or submitting a track
where they've used an AI vocalas a guide, because this is
something I was consideringusing.
INDIGO (10:24):
I don't think so.
There's been some vocals thathave been heavily FXed, but I'm
not sure on AI.
Marc Matthews (10:34):
Yeah, yeah, it's just because I cannot sing at
all.
Well, after a few beers I mightbe able to think I can sing,
but in general life I think Icannot sing, and I think for the
music I produce as well.
My voice is quite low, so Idon't know if it's suited.
Anyway, either way, I wasconsidering using something like
that just to convey the idea Ihad, and then getting someone
(10:58):
like yourself to say okay, well,that's AI.
I wonder if you could take thatforward and put like a human
spin on it.
But I was just wondering ifit's something that you might
have experienced, because Ithink it's going to happen more.
INDIGO (11:10):
Yeah, I think that's awesome that people are
utilizing AI for that kind ofstuff.
Yeah, I think that would begreat to do.
Marc Matthews (11:18):
Yeah, because I suppose you could think like,
okay, I'm working on this tuneand I want a vocalist in the
style of x, and then you'rethinking, okay, and then there
are platforms where you canmirror that particular style and
then submit it to someone Isuppose it makes it easier for
you as well as an artist, likeif they're, if they're giving
you context, okay, well, this is, this is the theme, lyrical
(11:38):
content, and this is the kind ofvocalist or vocal that I hear
over the top of it.
INDIGO (11:43):
That can only make your, your job easier, right oh,
totally, and sometimes the vocaltracks I get they may not
necessarily be the best singer,so using ai could could really
help that out yeah, that's whereI would be.
Marc Matthews (11:57):
To be fair, I might try it.
You know, I might try it.
I've never actually um, likesung and auto-tuned.
I tell a lot have I?
No, I haven't.
I did.
I did some spoken word on analbum when I was in the metal
band, uh, and I was incrediblyhung over so my voice was like
even lower than it usually is.
(12:17):
It's out there somewhere, it'son spotify somewhere oh, I'll
yeah.
I'll send you a link to it.
I'll put it in the link for the, a link in the show notes as
well, for the audience listening.
If you want to hear my spokenword on a track, I'll share that
with you.
But no, I had an idea for anepisode which was to compare
(12:39):
free auto-tune plugins and thendo a blind not a blind test, a
test whereby I've never usedthem before, and then just dive
in and see what they sound like.
And I thought you know what,maybe I'll use my own voice and
really stress, test theseplugins.
So I might do that.
So look out for that, or listenout for that one audience.
You might get to hear mysinging in that respect.
(13:00):
Cool.
So maybe we move on to workflow.
So maybe if you could talk abit about your step-by-step
process from receiving a demoand to that final take so let's
imagine you are, uh, recordingthe vocal and also lyrics as
well- really depends on the day.
INDIGO (13:21):
Everything depends on the day.
But I can't record vocals untilnight time because it just
takes a while for my voice towake up and get to that strength
that I need for vocal takes,especially when I'm doing those
high vocals.
So everything has to wait untilthe evening.
But sometimes if I'm going fora drive and I'm driving alone,
(13:42):
I'll throw the instrumentaltrack on in the car and just see
what kind of ideas I can comeup with while I'm driving.
But most of the time I willjust set aside maybe two hours
in the evening and just sit inthis room with the song playing
(14:03):
until I come up with an idea andthen start building on that
idea and then record it.
Add harmonies go crazy, yeahyeah, um, total tangent hip.
Marc Matthews (14:15):
Is that a in the background?
It is.
Yeah, well, you were talkingthere.
I was just like I'm sure that'sa keytar.
Um, no, I, I totally get whatyou mean there.
I suppose you've got to be inthe right frame of mind to
record and where every I I guesseverybody like works
differently.
People prefer different timesof day and are more productive,
(14:35):
I suppose with your voice aswell.
Like you need to properly warmup and I I fell foul of this.
I'm actually going throughvocal therapy right now because
the amount of talking that I dowith the podcast and just in
general, and I've got theseexercises that I now have to do
to strengthen and sort out myvocal folds basically I had like
(14:57):
granulomas on either side ofthem.
INDIGO (15:00):
Oh, my god yeah.
Marc Matthews (15:01):
I know, I know I make it sound quite.
I had to have the the ent put acamera down my nose and had a
look at the back of my throat.
Um, which is not pleasant, butit was quite interesting.
INDIGO (15:11):
Did you get to watch?
Marc Matthews (15:13):
I did well, not while he was not.
While he was doing it, heshowed me it afterwards okay
which was quite cool at the time.
Um, it's a very old sensation.
This doesn't hurt, but it'sjust unpleasant, like something
going through your nose and, um,but yeah, yeah, so I know, tell
you what you mean.
You've got to have your voicein the right place and it's
something that I albeit notbeing a singer, I still use my
(15:35):
voice a lot in terms of delivery, like talking now and having to
make sure I warm up, which Ididn't actually do before this
episode, which I should havedone.
Maybe I'll warm down afterwards, but yeah, I totally get that.
I totally get it.
What microphone do you use, bythe way, to record your vocals?
INDIGO (15:55):
I'm using an Eston Origin at the moment.
I've got it Hang on this onehere.
Marc Matthews (16:02):
Oh nice, you know what?
INDIGO (16:07):
I don't think I've ever used uh said microphone.
No, there's a um producer innew zealand who I used to work
with in my rock days and hesuggested that I use that.
I used to have a.
It's over there somewhere uh,80, 2020 something.
Marc Matthews (16:22):
Yeah, I don't know yeah, I know the one.
I think I used to record thepodcast with that, with that
okay yeah, the 80 2020 rightaudio yeah, I think so yeah so
it's a black microphone yeah, ifI remember looking yeah, I've
got one knocking around heresomewhere.
It's around here somewhere, uh.
But yeah, I used to do that toto record the podcast.
It's good, good littlemicrophone um lyrics.
(16:43):
So this is an interesting topicof conversation because, uh, if
I were writing metal lyrics, Ican write metal lyrics all day.
I'm a big horror fan and I cango down that avenue quite easily
.
But when it comes to writinglyrics for, let's say, synth pop
, synth wave and I've beenworking on the, the electronic
stuff with you of late as well Istruggle in that respect.
(17:04):
Can you talk a bit about howyou start writing lyrics?
What is the sort of catalyst toget you going to write lyrics?
INDIGO (17:13):
I like to know the vibe of the song.
Do we want something light,lovey-dovey or real heavy and
dark?
And also what's the genre ofthe song, because sometimes
we'll be working on EDM together, but then others we're doing
dream pop or dark wave.
There's there's all this, thesedifferent elements that you
need to consider.
(17:34):
Like, if I'm working with 1086,for example, he's much more
synth pop, dreamy, lovey, loveyon a beach, so doing a lot of
those soft love vocals.
But then maybe with you, withthe stuff that we've done in the
past, it's more electronic,sometimes a bit dark, like our
(17:57):
Darklight song.
Yeah, it really depends on thesong.
Marc Matthews (18:04):
And with regards to the song with lyrics, is it
quite a quick process for you?
Do you find it quite easy tosort of for want of a better way
of putting it knock out a songin terms of lyric, or is it
quite a lengthy process?
INDIGO (18:17):
I like to say I'm pretty quick with it.
I really love to send myartists back vocals within that
48 hour time frame.
Um, and maybe they're not thebest vocals the first round, but
we'll just try again.
But sometimes I am stuck andthat's just when I go for that
drive and play the song in thecar until something pops yeah,
(18:40):
yeah, and I agree with what yousaid that I think I mentioned it
earlier about the 48 hourturnaround.
Marc Matthews (18:45):
It really is audience listening.
It's a very quick turnaround,which is super impressive,
because I've gone on otherplatforms like uh, I've used
vocalizer in the past, which isa gigging platform, and I've
gone on there and and uh, workwith artists and you're paying
them and they still takeinfinitely longer to come back
(19:05):
with any lyrical ideas.
They probably got loads ofstuff.
I don't know what they're doing, but they take a lot longer to
get back to you.
So your turnaround isincredibly impressive.
I gotta say it really is aquick, uh sort of tangent,
because in my head I'm thinkinglike because you mentioned
earlier about recordingbackground vocals, harmon
harmonies, et cetera when itcomes to sort of creating those
(19:27):
vocal stacks, do you have like atemplate of, okay, I'm going to
record the main vocal, I'mgoing to record some backing
vocals, my ad-libs, ad-hocs orwhatever, or does it really
depend on the track?
I suppose what I'm asking istrack.
Do you always deliver what?
I suppose what I'm asking is doyou always deliver the same
deliverables when it comes to avocal?
INDIGO (19:49):
not necessarily.
I'll always do a double ofevery single track.
I think that's super importantand really strengthens the song
when you have a double of everyvocal.
Um, but sometimes a songdoesn't need harmonies or
doesn't need those ad libs, theyjust it just needs a simple one
track, or one track and adouble.
Yeah, so it really does depend.
(20:11):
But sometimes I just go crazyand send someone about 14, 16
tracks of vocals and just Ithink I did that with you
actually, yeah yeah, I was goingto say I think it's one of
those ones where, like, more isbetter because you can always
remove, right.
Marc Matthews (20:27):
But when it comes to adding, that's when it gets
tricky.
Specifically, if you've got onevocal which I've worked with
artists in the past and theysend something across it's just
one track you're thinking Icould really do with the double
of that.
And it is so much better tohave a human double versus a
sort of digital plug-in double,which it does work, but having
(20:49):
that human double just like Ithink I had this conversation
with Tim online in an episode ortwo ago where we were talking
about this and it's just so mucheasier if you just record
everything twice.
I think that's what we surmisedin the end Probably not drums,
that'd be a bit weird or bassguitar, but like everything else
, just record it twice, becausethat way at least you can just
(21:09):
take it away, at least you'vegot it there, you know.
Another quick question I oftengo on tangency.
I'm thinking about reverb,right, when it comes to your
vocal, do you have a specificreverb that you use when you are
, let's say, submitting a demoor just working on a project?
INDIGO (21:28):
So I'm not the best technically in terms of
producing, so I usually justthrow on whatever reverb I feel
sounds all right.
I think I usually go throw onwhatever reverb I feel sounds
all right.
I think I usually go for thethat silver reverb one in Logic
Pro um, I don't know yeah, Ithink I know the one you mean.
Marc Matthews (21:47):
You're a Logic user yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, it's
great, great platform.
I'm a Logic user myself.
It's it's what I use.
It's a fantastic piece of kit.
I'm always interested just toknow what uh artists are using,
because I had this conversationon the podcast again I think it
might have been with tim when wewere talking about uh recording
vocals and then reverb.
When recording an artist andusing reverb to put them in like
(22:12):
a more comfortable space, likewhen it when it comes to when it
comes to singing, becauseeverything sounds better with
reverb right.
INDIGO (22:19):
So it's always interesting to know what people
are using yeah, I usually whenI'm recording just at home, I
usually throw on a little bit ofthat reverb and then maybe some
compression.
Uh, there's also a free vocalpreset that I found that I'll
just throw on sometimes if Ineed some extra help.
Do you still do any of the rock?
Marc Matthews (22:39):
stuff.
INDIGO (22:40):
I didn't, until a few weeks ago my old bandmate
reached out to me and asked if Icould redo the vocals on an old
song.
So that was a throwback.
But yeah, not really.
I've been pretty synthwaveelectronic recently.
Marc Matthews (22:57):
Do you find it easy to jump, I suppose, if you
are specifically in synthwave,dreamwave and whatnot, do you
find it?
Did you find it quite easy toput that hat back on again for
rock?
INDIGO (23:09):
yeah, I did.
I don't know if I could likerecord a rock song and then
immediately go into a synthwavesong.
I think it might be tricky toget my voice back there.
But yeah, it's, it's all stillall still in here yeah, it's in
there somewhere.
Marc Matthews (23:27):
Yeah, muscle memory, I think they call it,
don't they?
I found out with guitar.
I've got like two guitars tothe left of me here on a bass
guitar, and I probably pickedthem up twice this year, but
it's one of those ones I pick itup and after a while it all
comes flooding, flooding back tome.
I don't think, though, I couldprobably play the stuff I was
playing when I was in the metalband.
That'll take me a while to getback up to that again.
(23:48):
A lot of fast stuff.
Um, let's talk about writer'sblock.
This is this is an interestingone.
I had this conversation atlength with with michael oakley,
um, a couple weeks ago.
Constraints do you findconstraints lead to creativity?
Is this something you use inyour practice?
Because, going back to what wesaid earlier, your turnaround is
(24:09):
very fast, so is this somethingthat you use to your advantage?
Do you sort of set a deadline,I think, okay, well, I'm going
to turn it around in 48 hours,regardless of sort of what.
I suppose you've got to have acertain criteria you've got to
hit, but do you set constraintsto yourself, and does that help
with creativity?
INDIGO (24:28):
yeah, I mean, as I said, I do kind of just sit in this
room for an hour or two and seewhat comes to me, but and
there's always, if you send anartist a demo and they don't
like it, you can always tryagain.
You don't have to go withversion one, but sometimes there
are times where I need a dayand I just need to sleep on it
(24:50):
and then come back to it thenext day, and that's when I'll
probably play it in the car tosee what ideas I can get, when
I'm probably play it in the carto see what ideas I can get when
I'm preoccupied, and yeah, justfind new ways to come up with
ideas.
Marc Matthews (25:09):
Do you have multiple projects on the go, so
do you have the ability to?
Okay, well, I'm not feelingthis one right now, so I'll move
on to this other one and comeback to it.
Or do you sort of do in alinear way Okay, well, I'm move
on to this other one and comeback to it.
Or do you sort of do it in alinear way?
Okay, well, I'm working on thisone, I'll do that, and then
I'll do the next one and do thenext one.
INDIGO (25:22):
Yeah, I have had a time in the past.
I think I had three on the goand there was one that just was
not clicking.
I could not figure it out, so Ifocused on the other two first
and then came back to it oncethose were done.
Yeah, came back to it oncethose were done.
Marc Matthews (25:36):
Yeah, so with regards to that one, that wasn't
quite right.
How did you sort of overcomethat?
I might be taxing your memoryhere, but how did you overcome
that sort of obstacle that wasstopping your progress?
INDIGO (25:51):
I think I was just really determined and I just
kept listening to it untilsomething came from my brain and
then I just kept building andbuilding, also just
communicating with the artist,asking a little bit more about
what they're after for the song,kind of helps.
Marc Matthews (26:09):
Have you ever been in a situation where you
have, because I've done thismyself where I've worked with an
artist as a producer and thenwe agreed that it wasn't a good
fit and we amicably said, OK,it's not a good fit, but I'll
try and find you someone who isa good fit.
Have you ever been in thatsituation?
INDIGO (26:29):
I've been in a situation where someone has asked me to
sing on a track and then they've, without telling me, gone with
someone else and released it.
Um yeah, so that that was fun.
I won't name names, but but no,not really.
But if I did whatever, that'stotally fine.
Marc Matthews (26:53):
We can work on a different track yeah yeah, if
it's not for me, it's not for meyeah, that's mad that you're
working with someone and they gowith someone else and release
the track that's incredibly rude.
I couldn't imagine doing that.
It's like it's so weird I'veexperienced this, having been in
music for so long now that youjust have these weird situations
(27:14):
where communication either thean individual drops off the
radar or they like what happened, what you mentioned there they
just go with someone else andyou're thinking you're on the
project and they just they tvaand go with someone else.
It's just like where's thecommunication, man?
Like it doesn't take.
At the very least you couldjust do a faceless email or like
(27:36):
a dm and just let the otherperson know like hey, this isn't
working out.
I'm gonna go with x, y, zrather than um, rather than just
leave you hanging and do itthat way.
But hey, not everybody thinksthe same.
I guess you know that's uh yeah, you know, there's life
sometimes yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is true.
Um, we are approaching the 30minute mark now, so I think this
(27:57):
would be quite a goodopportunity to maybe go through
some projects that you'reworking on at the moment.
Anything you've got coming up,any releases?
Have you got any self-titled orspecifically your releases
coming up, because I know youreleased some music a while back
.
INDIGO (28:13):
Yeah, I hope so.
We've had an album ready forquite a while, but we're just
waiting on the label to be readyto release.
So I've been told this year,but I don't know when this year.
Marc Matthews (28:27):
And we're working on another tune as well.
So Narcissist, it's aninteresting one.
I was inspired by a CalvinHarris tune, in particular for
the chorus of that one there.
It's an interesting one.
I was inspired by a CalvinHarris tune, in particular for
the chorus of that one there.
It's like 130 BPM, which Ithink might be the fastest track
that I've done to date.
And yeah, I was inspired bythat.
(28:48):
So I'm looking forward toreleasing that one and the
audience listening to that aswell.
INDIGO (28:52):
Yeah, Narcissus was super fun to record.
Marc Matthews (28:55):
Yeah, you know what?
It didn't take me long to putit together as a tune either,
which is which is really nice.
And it's one of those oneswhere I've decided, okay, I'm
not going to throw anything elseinto it, I'm just going to
leave it quite open and thenjust have a really hard hitting,
kicking bass and then the vocaland then all the other like ear
candy around it as well.
Um, and did you I say this toeverybody I send the demo to did
(29:18):
you hear the crow that I put inthere?
Did?
you, yeah, I did, yeah, yeah,you did somebody heard it, like
I send it to other people and belike did you hear the crow?
And they're like what?
And I was like yeah, there's acrow in, like the breakdown.
Uh, yeah, I was just wonderingif anybody else heard it.
INDIGO (29:34):
Uh, but no, it's good, somebody did yeah, well, you
should hear some of the songswith like turbo knight, he's got
a a hawk screaming and horsesand ah, so good I love that
stuff.
Marc Matthews (29:45):
You know what that is the blessing like.
When I was in the band therewas five of us it was, so it was
a lot harder to put an ideaacross like that, like, oh,
should we just throw a crow inthere?
Or like a a hawk, and you'vegot to get it past that
committee of other band members.
But when you're doing it onyour own I'm just like, yeah,
I'll throw that in there.
It sounds good.
(30:05):
You know, I think I did onetrack on the ep and there's some
like is it rainfall?
I know I think it was.
I think it was jungle bird songI put in there which had no
relation to the song whatsoever,but the view beauty of it was.
I thought you know what.
I quite like that, so I'm goingto put it in the beauty of
being a solo artist, I guess Ilove it.
INDIGO (30:22):
I used to live near a tram and sometimes it would go
off as I'm recording.
So one time I was just like ah,I'll just record it.
And so there's a tram in one ofmy songs Nice.
Marc Matthews (30:34):
I love found sounds.
It's something I want to domore of.
When I was living in, uh, incardiff in in south wales, I
it's this really nerdy thing.
I still, I think I've still gotit.
Yeah, I do.
I still have the field recorderhere with me and I would just
be like out and about and justlike start recording random
sounds.
And I built this whole bank andthere was there's the website
(30:55):
what is it called where you canupload them, and every now again
, I'll get a random comment onsomebody who's downloaded one of
these random sounds I recordedabout 10 years ago and the idea
was I was going to use all thesein songs.
Maybe I'll go back and do it,but there's like waterfalls and
all sorts of like snow crunchingand all those sorts of sounds.
It's quite, it's quite fun atthe time.
It might time it might be quiteweird for anybody watching
(31:15):
seeing this guy with just a afail recorder like like
recording some sounds, but itwas good.
Um, another thing to talk aboutbefore we go uh, where can the
audience find you online?
Where's?
INDIGO (31:27):
the best place to go find me.
I'm mainly on instagram, butyou can search me anywhere
indigo, synth wave and you'llfind me.
I'm sorry, I was just gonna sayI've got a few more
collaborations coming out soon.
We've got a remix with rogue fxon it on um 1086.
Is can't stop thinking of youalso starting a duo duo with
(31:47):
1086, called spring break of1983, and then just so, so many
collaborations coming out atsome point would be awesome.
Marc Matthews (31:55):
That's the way to do it.
The way way to do it Before wego.
Actually, I think a quick tip.
Here is what would be your toptip for collaborations, for
striking up a collaboration withanother artist.
INDIGO (32:08):
I think just don't be afraid to reach out to everyone.
The worst they can do is ignoreyou or say no.
You may as well try you or sayno you.
You may as well try um, yeah,and just find.
Find how you're comfortablecommunicating with these artists
and figure out how you feelsafe with them, because it can
(32:28):
be tricky online sometimesfiguring out who's who's
actually good to work with.
Marc Matthews (32:33):
Um, yeah and I think, uh, the only way you're
going to learn that is throughexperience exactly it goes back
to what you said earlier.
Wasn't it about experience andyou learn as you go along?
And audience listening thepodcast is kind of testament to
that.
Like when I've had artists onthe podcast, uh, like tyler lar
from the midnight, for example,it was just a case of I'll just
(32:54):
ask.
Like, if you don't ask you, younever know.
Like you say, the worst theycan do is just ignore you, which
thankfully Tyler didn't, and wehad him on the podcast and it
was a great episode.
So, audience listening, yeah,just get out there and start
talking to people.
Um, folks, if you've found thisuh useful, uh, before you go,
do click the link in the episodedescription and grab my free
(33:16):
weekly production and mixingtips so you can level up your
tracks.
No spam or fluff or anythinglike that.
You just get an email once aweek from me with tips and
tricks on how to progress yourmusic.
And until next time, stayinspired, keep creating and
don't be afraid to experimentinside the mix.
Writing powerful lyrics and recording vocals that
connect with the listener istough enough when you're in the
same room, but what if yourcollaborator is on the other
side of the world?
Can you really capture thatsame magic from thousands of
miles away, and what tricks makeit sound like you were in the
same room all along?
Let's find out in this episode.
INDIGO (00:22):
You're listening to the Inside the Mix podcast with your
host, Mark.
Marc Matthews (00:25):
Matthews, welcome to Inside the Mix, your go-to
podcast for music creation andproduction.
Whether you're crafting yourfirst track or refining your
mixing skills, join me each weekfor expert interviews,
practical tutorials and insightsto help you level up your music
and smash it in the musicindustry.
Let's dive in.
(00:46):
Hey folks, welcome back, orwelcome to Inside the Mix, if
you are new.
I'm joined today by NewZealand's own global synthwave
voice, who has collaborated withartists like Wolf Club, turbo
Night 1086, dualarity and, yes,even me.
I think we've done three songsor today, and I think there's a
fourth that I'm working on atthe moment.
(01:06):
So please welcome, indigo.
How are you?
And welcome.
INDIGO (01:11):
Hi, I'm doing well.
How are you?
Marc Matthews (01:14):
I'm good.
I'm good For the audiencelistening.
We are at the opposite ends ofthe day recording this, so it's
8 am where Indigo is and it's 9pm here in the UK.
INDIGO (01:26):
Yeah, bright and and early.
I think I got about three hourssleep as well, so bear with me
if I say some crazy stuff todayyeah, yeah, I appreciate you
getting up if you got threehours sleep.
Marc Matthews (01:35):
This, I think, is the biggest time difference for
an interview on the podcast.
It was Australia previously.
I don't know if that's the sameactually.
Is that?
I suppose it depends where youare in Australia.
I do a disservice to Australia.
It was Australia previously.
I don't know if that's the sameactually, I suppose it depends
where you are in Australia.
I do a disservice to Australiathere because Australia is a
very, very big country.
INDIGO (01:52):
They're huge.
I think they're at least twohours difference from us,
depends where you are.
Marc Matthews (02:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But again I appreciate yougetting up super early to join
me on the podcast I appreciateyou staying up for me no, no,
it's, it's my pleasure.
It's uh, I've been lookingforward to this one.
We've uh, we've obviously beenback and forth working on tunes
for a while, so I've been eagerto get you on the podcast to
chat about all things sort ofvocals and also vocal recording
(02:21):
and songwriting today.
So in this episode it isinspired by listener Connor who
asks the question, I think well,rather statement, I guess you
could call it.
I think lyrics are one of mybiggest struggles, and second to
that would be recording vocals.
So if that sounds familiar toyou, you're going to enjoy this
(02:42):
conversation.
We're going to unpack thecreative and technical steps
that make the difference betweena rough demo and a song that's
ready for playlists.
Before we actually dive intothe discussion, though, maybe if
you could just give us sort oflike a whistle-stop tour to how
you got to where you are nowwith regards to sort of singing
and featuring and collaboratingwith other artists.
INDIGO (03:04):
Yeah, I guess music's been a part of my life since
forever, but I really startedtaking it seriously in around
2014, 2015, and I started abachelor's degree in popular
music performance and throughthere I was really trying to
find every avenue ofcollaboration I could to really
(03:24):
find my niche and what I wantedto do, and through that I signed
up for a website called StarNow and applied for a few what
is that called?
Applied for a few jobs to getmy music out there, and one of
them was Wolf Club, so Irecorded not knowing who they
(03:48):
were at all, recorded some songsfor them and they introduced me
to Synthwave and I've just beenin this genre ever since.
Marc Matthews (03:58):
Nice, nice.
That's a good way to start, agood place to start with Wolf
Club isn't?
INDIGO (04:02):
it.
I know it's not a bad place tostart.
Marc Matthews (04:04):
A good place to start with wolf glow, isn't it?
And in terms of like vocals,it's not.
INDIGO (04:08):
It's not a bad place to start star now.
Is that like a gigging platform?
Yeah, yeah, pretty much.
I've.
I've had some really great jobson star now and also some
really bad ones that have mademe hide from the world.
Marc Matthews (04:21):
So it's it's risky business working online
with people overseas yeah, Isuppose if with those ones that
aren't so good and then theyrelease it and then your name is
attached to it, it's you canget a bit tricky.
I can imagine it's kind of oneof those ones where, in
hindsight, you'd want to be like.
I wish I'd said like I want tobe a ghost sort of performer or
(04:45):
just use an alias, so to speakwhen I've definitely had some
learnings from my yeah yeah, I,I've done the same.
I have done the same and I'vebeen in a similar situation.
I've also worked with otherartists as well where they've
requested.
I don't know if that's a anindictment on me at the time,
but they requested to be to be aghost.
They hadn't the song yet, soI'm going to say it's because it
(05:07):
was part of their practicerather than me in particular,
but it could have been.
Now that I think about it.
But thanks for sharing that.
It's always interesting to getjust a quick how you got to
where you are now and, inparticular, synthwave, so slight
tangent here.
Had you been a listener, hadyou been involved in the sort of
(05:28):
synthwave community because itis a very big community prior to
sort of like working with wolfclub, or was that like your
first introduction to it?
INDIGO (05:36):
no.
Wolf club was my firstintroduction.
I was very pop and rock um yeah, no synthwave.
Marc Matthews (05:44):
Wolf club was definitely my first interaction,
which is incredible yeah, it'slike you say, it's a good place
to start and it kind of givesyou, I guess, like a step up
immediately to say, okay, well,I've worked with these artists
or this artist, and then you canuse that as a bit of sort of
like kudos.
INDIGO (06:02):
So yeah, exactly, although I didn't get other jobs
I don't think I had socialmedia at the time.
It took me until about threeyears ago to really uh four,
five, five years ago, 2020, um,to kick off uh social media.
So, yeah, I'm still stillgrowing my following that I
could have gotten 10 years ago.
Marc Matthews (06:21):
Yeah yeah, yeah, well, it's one of those ones,
isn't it?
Social media, you kind of, Iknow, I do it with a podcast and
with my own music production aswell, and it's I don't know I
call it like a necessary evil.
You kind of need to do it toget your music out there.
It's just part and parcel ofwhat we have to do now, you know
, um, but no, it's cool, cool toget a nice bit of background
(06:42):
there.
So I think we we start diving into the collaborative process of
recording vocals remotely.
So maybe we start a bit withregards to delivering of a
backing track, because this ishow we work, right.
So for the audience listeninggenerally, I'll have a tune and
then I'll send it over to Indigoand say what do you think?
(07:03):
And then within usually about48 hours, you come back with an
amazing idea, which isincredible.
But that's generally how wework.
So maybe, if you could talk abit about what makes a good sort
of backing track for you torecord a vocal to, what would
you expect to receive from theproducer, from the artist, to
(07:28):
record two?
Basically?
INDIGO (07:30):
Yeah, it really depends on the artist and who I'm
working with, but I appreciatewhen the backing track is fully
fledged out.
It has all of the parts andit's mixed ready to go.
That's always awesome becauseyou can just write, knowing what
it's going to sound like.
Um, and then there's otherartists who might have some
(07:53):
vocal ideas for me or somelyrics, and they'll um send a
vocal guide along with theinstrumental, which is awesome
yeah.
Marc Matthews (08:04):
So with regards to when they're submitting those
tracks, because I'm sorry, ifI'm looking to the right it's
because I'm making notes.
I should have told you that offair.
INDIGO (08:11):
You're good, you're good .
Marc Matthews (08:13):
Yeah, so when they're submitting those tracks
right, do you find because Iremember this when I was doing
my degree and whatnot that themajority of artists leave space
for the vocal?
Because I know where I'veworked with artists before, when
I've done production and stuff,where they aren't necessarily
working with the vocal at thetime of recording the track and
(08:33):
they just fill the space andthere's no room for you to sort
of breathe as a vocalist.
Does that happen often, or isthat not something you encounter
often?
INDIGO (08:41):
no, it really depends on the artist.
Sometimes there's obviousspaces for the vocals and it's
so easy you can just pop it inthere and away you go.
But other times it is reallyinstrumental heavy and you need
to figure out where.
Like where's the verse, where'sthe chorus?
Where should I put these vocals?
How much vocal should I put init?
Marc Matthews (09:02):
yeah, sometimes that can be a bit tricky yeah,
and with regards to that likebecause this is where, like, the
diplomacy and being diplomaticcomes in and that collaboration,
and if you've not sort ofworked with that artist before,
how do you approach that?
If you, when you talk to anartist and they send you a track
across and you say, actually Ithink you should move this, this
(09:23):
and this around, is that quitean easy thing to do?
Do you have any sort of tips onhow to approach that situation?
Because, again, I guess itdepends on the artist.
Some artists might be a bitmore precious when it comes to
their arrangement than others.
Have you got any tips on that?
INDIGO (09:38):
Yeah, I often try not to change people's instrumentals
and instead I'd make my vocalswork for their song.
But I will ask sometimes, hey,do you want a vocal heavy track
or a light track?
And sometimes I'm like, hey,I'm not quite sure where the
chorus is.
Could you point that out for me?
And then go from there.
Marc Matthews (10:00):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Another question I've got herewith regards to that, because
you mentioned about a vocalguide track, which makes perfect
sense, right?
Have you experienced anybodyusing or submitting a track
where they've used an AI vocalas a guide, because this is
something I was consideringusing.
INDIGO (10:24):
I don't think so.
There's been some vocals thathave been heavily FXed, but I'm
not sure on AI.
Marc Matthews (10:34):
Yeah, yeah, it's just because I cannot sing at
all.
Well, after a few beers I mightbe able to think I can sing,
but in general life I think Icannot sing, and I think for the
music I produce as well.
My voice is quite low, so Idon't know if it's suited.
Anyway, either way, I wasconsidering using something like
that just to convey the idea Ihad, and then getting someone
(10:58):
like yourself to say okay, well,that's AI.
I wonder if you could take thatforward and put like a human
spin on it.
But I was just wondering ifit's something that you might
have experienced, because Ithink it's going to happen more.
INDIGO (11:10):
Yeah, I think that's awesome that people are
utilizing AI for that kind ofstuff.
Yeah, I think that would begreat to do.
Marc Matthews (11:18):
Yeah, because I suppose you could think like,
okay, I'm working on this tuneand I want a vocalist in the
style of x, and then you'rethinking, okay, and then there
are platforms where you canmirror that particular style and
then submit it to someone Isuppose it makes it easier for
you as well as an artist, likeif they're, if they're giving
you context, okay, well, this is, this is the theme, lyrical
(11:38):
content, and this is the kind ofvocalist or vocal that I hear
over the top of it.
INDIGO (11:43):
That can only make your, your job easier, right oh,
totally, and sometimes the vocaltracks I get they may not
necessarily be the best singer,so using ai could could really
help that out yeah, that's whereI would be.
Marc Matthews (11:57):
To be fair, I might try it.
You know, I might try it.
I've never actually um, likesung and auto-tuned.
I tell a lot have I?
No, I haven't.
I did.
I did some spoken word on analbum when I was in the metal
band, uh, and I was incrediblyhung over so my voice was like
even lower than it usually is.
(12:17):
It's out there somewhere, it'son spotify somewhere oh, I'll
yeah.
I'll send you a link to it.
I'll put it in the link for the, a link in the show notes as
well, for the audience listening.
If you want to hear my spokenword on a track, I'll share that
with you.
But no, I had an idea for anepisode which was to compare
(12:39):
free auto-tune plugins and thendo a blind not a blind test, a
test whereby I've never usedthem before, and then just dive
in and see what they sound like.
And I thought you know what,maybe I'll use my own voice and
really stress, test theseplugins.
So I might do that.
So look out for that, or listenout for that one audience.
You might get to hear mysinging in that respect.
(13:00):
Cool.
So maybe we move on to workflow.
So maybe if you could talk abit about your step-by-step
process from receiving a demoand to that final take so let's
imagine you are, uh, recordingthe vocal and also lyrics as
well- really depends on the day.
INDIGO (13:21):
Everything depends on the day.
But I can't record vocals untilnight time because it just
takes a while for my voice towake up and get to that strength
that I need for vocal takes,especially when I'm doing those
high vocals.
So everything has to wait untilthe evening.
But sometimes if I'm going fora drive and I'm driving alone,
(13:42):
I'll throw the instrumentaltrack on in the car and just see
what kind of ideas I can comeup with while I'm driving.
But most of the time I willjust set aside maybe two hours
in the evening and just sit inthis room with the song playing
(14:03):
until I come up with an idea andthen start building on that
idea and then record it.
Add harmonies go crazy, yeahyeah, um, total tangent hip.
Marc Matthews (14:15):
Is that a in the background?
It is.
Yeah, well, you were talkingthere.
I was just like I'm sure that'sa keytar.
Um, no, I, I totally get whatyou mean there.
I suppose you've got to be inthe right frame of mind to
record and where every I I guesseverybody like works
differently.
People prefer different timesof day and are more productive,
(14:35):
I suppose with your voice aswell.
Like you need to properly warmup and I I fell foul of this.
I'm actually going throughvocal therapy right now because
the amount of talking that I dowith the podcast and just in
general, and I've got theseexercises that I now have to do
to strengthen and sort out myvocal folds basically I had like
(14:57):
granulomas on either side ofthem.
INDIGO (15:00):
Oh, my god yeah.
Marc Matthews (15:01):
I know, I know I make it sound quite.
I had to have the the ent put acamera down my nose and had a
look at the back of my throat.
Um, which is not pleasant, butit was quite interesting.
INDIGO (15:11):
Did you get to watch?
Marc Matthews (15:13):
I did well, not while he was not.
While he was doing it, heshowed me it afterwards okay
which was quite cool at the time.
Um, it's a very old sensation.
This doesn't hurt, but it'sjust unpleasant, like something
going through your nose and, um,but yeah, yeah, so I know, tell
you what you mean.
You've got to have your voicein the right place and it's
something that I albeit notbeing a singer, I still use my
(15:35):
voice a lot in terms of delivery, like talking now and having to
make sure I warm up, which Ididn't actually do before this
episode, which I should havedone.
Maybe I'll warm down afterwards, but yeah, I totally get that.
I totally get it.
What microphone do you use, bythe way, to record your vocals?
INDIGO (15:55):
I'm using an Eston Origin at the moment.
I've got it Hang on this onehere.
Marc Matthews (16:02):
Oh nice, you know what?
INDIGO (16:07):
I don't think I've ever used uh said microphone.
No, there's a um producer innew zealand who I used to work
with in my rock days and hesuggested that I use that.
I used to have a.
It's over there somewhere uh,80, 2020 something.
Marc Matthews (16:22):
Yeah, I don't know yeah, I know the one.
I think I used to record thepodcast with that, with that
okay yeah, the 80 2020 rightaudio yeah, I think so yeah so
it's a black microphone yeah, ifI remember looking yeah, I've
got one knocking around heresomewhere.
It's around here somewhere, uh.
But yeah, I used to do that toto record the podcast.
It's good, good littlemicrophone um lyrics.
(16:43):
So this is an interesting topicof conversation because, uh, if
I were writing metal lyrics, Ican write metal lyrics all day.
I'm a big horror fan and I cango down that avenue quite easily
.
But when it comes to writinglyrics for, let's say, synth pop
, synth wave and I've beenworking on the, the electronic
stuff with you of late as well Istruggle in that respect.
(17:04):
Can you talk a bit about howyou start writing lyrics?
What is the sort of catalyst toget you going to write lyrics?
INDIGO (17:13):
I like to know the vibe of the song.
Do we want something light,lovey-dovey or real heavy and
dark?
And also what's the genre ofthe song, because sometimes
we'll be working on EDM together, but then others we're doing
dream pop or dark wave.
There's there's all this, thesedifferent elements that you
need to consider.
(17:34):
Like, if I'm working with 1086,for example, he's much more
synth pop, dreamy, lovey, loveyon a beach, so doing a lot of
those soft love vocals.
But then maybe with you, withthe stuff that we've done in the
past, it's more electronic,sometimes a bit dark, like our
(17:57):
Darklight song.
Yeah, it really depends on thesong.
Marc Matthews (18:04):
And with regards to the song with lyrics, is it
quite a quick process for you?
Do you find it quite easy tosort of for want of a better way
of putting it knock out a songin terms of lyric, or is it
quite a lengthy process?
INDIGO (18:17):
I like to say I'm pretty quick with it.
I really love to send myartists back vocals within that
48 hour time frame.
Um, and maybe they're not thebest vocals the first round, but
we'll just try again.
But sometimes I am stuck andthat's just when I go for that
drive and play the song in thecar until something pops yeah,
(18:40):
yeah, and I agree with what yousaid that I think I mentioned it
earlier about the 48 hourturnaround.
Marc Matthews (18:45):
It really is audience listening.
It's a very quick turnaround,which is super impressive,
because I've gone on otherplatforms like uh, I've used
vocalizer in the past, which isa gigging platform, and I've
gone on there and and uh, workwith artists and you're paying
them and they still takeinfinitely longer to come back
(19:05):
with any lyrical ideas.
They probably got loads ofstuff.
I don't know what they're doing, but they take a lot longer to
get back to you.
So your turnaround isincredibly impressive.
I gotta say it really is aquick, uh sort of tangent,
because in my head I'm thinkinglike because you mentioned
earlier about recordingbackground vocals, harmon
harmonies, et cetera when itcomes to sort of creating those
(19:27):
vocal stacks, do you have like atemplate of, okay, I'm going to
record the main vocal, I'mgoing to record some backing
vocals, my ad-libs, ad-hocs orwhatever, or does it really
depend on the track?
I suppose what I'm asking istrack.
Do you always deliver what?
I suppose what I'm asking is doyou always deliver the same
deliverables when it comes to avocal?
INDIGO (19:49):
not necessarily.
I'll always do a double ofevery single track.
I think that's super importantand really strengthens the song
when you have a double of everyvocal.
Um, but sometimes a songdoesn't need harmonies or
doesn't need those ad libs, theyjust it just needs a simple one
track, or one track and adouble.
Yeah, so it really does depend.
(20:11):
But sometimes I just go crazyand send someone about 14, 16
tracks of vocals and just Ithink I did that with you
actually, yeah yeah, I was goingto say I think it's one of
those ones where, like, more isbetter because you can always
remove, right.
Marc Matthews (20:27):
But when it comes to adding, that's when it gets
tricky.
Specifically, if you've got onevocal which I've worked with
artists in the past and theysend something across it's just
one track you're thinking Icould really do with the double
of that.
And it is so much better tohave a human double versus a
sort of digital plug-in double,which it does work, but having
(20:49):
that human double just like Ithink I had this conversation
with Tim online in an episode ortwo ago where we were talking
about this and it's just so mucheasier if you just record
everything twice.
I think that's what we surmisedin the end Probably not drums,
that'd be a bit weird or bassguitar, but like everything else
, just record it twice, becausethat way at least you can just
(21:09):
take it away, at least you'vegot it there, you know.
Another quick question I oftengo on tangency.
I'm thinking about reverb,right, when it comes to your
vocal, do you have a specificreverb that you use when you are
, let's say, submitting a demoor just working on a project?
INDIGO (21:28):
So I'm not the best technically in terms of
producing, so I usually justthrow on whatever reverb I feel
sounds all right.
I think I usually go throw onwhatever reverb I feel sounds
all right.
I think I usually go for thethat silver reverb one in Logic
Pro um, I don't know yeah, Ithink I know the one you mean.
Marc Matthews (21:47):
You're a Logic user yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, it's
great, great platform.
I'm a Logic user myself.
It's it's what I use.
It's a fantastic piece of kit.
I'm always interested just toknow what uh artists are using,
because I had this conversationon the podcast again I think it
might have been with tim when wewere talking about uh recording
vocals and then reverb.
When recording an artist andusing reverb to put them in like
(22:12):
a more comfortable space, likewhen it when it comes to when it
comes to singing, becauseeverything sounds better with
reverb right.
INDIGO (22:19):
So it's always interesting to know what people
are using yeah, I usually whenI'm recording just at home, I
usually throw on a little bit ofthat reverb and then maybe some
compression.
Uh, there's also a free vocalpreset that I found that I'll
just throw on sometimes if Ineed some extra help.
Do you still do any of the rock?
Marc Matthews (22:39):
stuff.
INDIGO (22:40):
I didn't, until a few weeks ago my old bandmate
reached out to me and asked if Icould redo the vocals on an old
song.
So that was a throwback.
But yeah, not really.
I've been pretty synthwaveelectronic recently.
Marc Matthews (22:57):
Do you find it easy to jump, I suppose, if you
are specifically in synthwave,dreamwave and whatnot, do you
find it?
Did you find it quite easy toput that hat back on again for
rock?
INDIGO (23:09):
yeah, I did.
I don't know if I could likerecord a rock song and then
immediately go into a synthwavesong.
I think it might be tricky toget my voice back there.
But yeah, it's, it's all stillall still in here yeah, it's in
there somewhere.
Marc Matthews (23:27):
Yeah, muscle memory, I think they call it,
don't they?
I found out with guitar.
I've got like two guitars tothe left of me here on a bass
guitar, and I probably pickedthem up twice this year, but
it's one of those ones I pick itup and after a while it all
comes flooding, flooding back tome.
I don't think, though, I couldprobably play the stuff I was
playing when I was in the metalband.
That'll take me a while to getback up to that again.
(23:48):
A lot of fast stuff.
Um, let's talk about writer'sblock.
This is this is an interestingone.
I had this conversation atlength with with michael oakley,
um, a couple weeks ago.
Constraints do you findconstraints lead to creativity?
Is this something you use inyour practice?
Because, going back to what wesaid earlier, your turnaround is
(24:09):
very fast, so is this somethingthat you use to your advantage?
Do you sort of set a deadline,I think, okay, well, I'm going
to turn it around in 48 hours,regardless of sort of what.
I suppose you've got to have acertain criteria you've got to
hit, but do you set constraintsto yourself, and does that help
with creativity?
INDIGO (24:28):
yeah, I mean, as I said, I do kind of just sit in this
room for an hour or two and seewhat comes to me, but and
there's always, if you send anartist a demo and they don't
like it, you can always tryagain.
You don't have to go withversion one, but sometimes there
are times where I need a dayand I just need to sleep on it
(24:50):
and then come back to it thenext day, and that's when I'll
probably play it in the car tosee what ideas I can get, when
I'm probably play it in the carto see what ideas I can get when
I'm preoccupied, and yeah, justfind new ways to come up with
ideas.
Marc Matthews (25:09):
Do you have multiple projects on the go, so
do you have the ability to?
Okay, well, I'm not feelingthis one right now, so I'll move
on to this other one and comeback to it.
Or do you sort of do in alinear way Okay, well, I'm move
on to this other one and comeback to it.
Or do you sort of do it in alinear way?
Okay, well, I'm working on thisone, I'll do that, and then
I'll do the next one and do thenext one.
INDIGO (25:22):
Yeah, I have had a time in the past.
I think I had three on the goand there was one that just was
not clicking.
I could not figure it out, so Ifocused on the other two first
and then came back to it oncethose were done.
Yeah, came back to it oncethose were done.
Marc Matthews (25:36):
Yeah, so with regards to that one, that wasn't
quite right.
How did you sort of overcomethat?
I might be taxing your memoryhere, but how did you overcome
that sort of obstacle that wasstopping your progress?
INDIGO (25:51):
I think I was just really determined and I just
kept listening to it untilsomething came from my brain and
then I just kept building andbuilding, also just
communicating with the artist,asking a little bit more about
what they're after for the song,kind of helps.
Marc Matthews (26:09):
Have you ever been in a situation where you
have, because I've done thismyself where I've worked with an
artist as a producer and thenwe agreed that it wasn't a good
fit and we amicably said, OK,it's not a good fit, but I'll
try and find you someone who isa good fit.
Have you ever been in thatsituation?
INDIGO (26:29):
I've been in a situation where someone has asked me to
sing on a track and then they've, without telling me, gone with
someone else and released it.
Um yeah, so that that was fun.
I won't name names, but but no,not really.
But if I did whatever, that'stotally fine.
Marc Matthews (26:53):
We can work on a different track yeah yeah, if
it's not for me, it's not for meyeah, that's mad that you're
working with someone and they gowith someone else and release
the track that's incredibly rude.
I couldn't imagine doing that.
It's like it's so weird I'veexperienced this, having been in
music for so long now that youjust have these weird situations
(27:14):
where communication either thean individual drops off the
radar or they like what happened, what you mentioned there they
just go with someone else andyou're thinking you're on the
project and they just they tvaand go with someone else.
It's just like where's thecommunication, man?
Like it doesn't take.
At the very least you couldjust do a faceless email or like
(27:36):
a dm and just let the otherperson know like hey, this isn't
working out.
I'm gonna go with x, y, zrather than um, rather than just
leave you hanging and do itthat way.
But hey, not everybody thinksthe same.
I guess you know that's uh yeah, you know, there's life
sometimes yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is true.
Um, we are approaching the 30minute mark now, so I think this
(27:57):
would be quite a goodopportunity to maybe go through
some projects that you'reworking on at the moment.
Anything you've got coming up,any releases?
Have you got any self-titled orspecifically your releases
coming up, because I know youreleased some music a while back
.
INDIGO (28:13):
Yeah, I hope so.
We've had an album ready forquite a while, but we're just
waiting on the label to be readyto release.
So I've been told this year,but I don't know when this year.
Marc Matthews (28:27):
And we're working on another tune as well.
So Narcissist, it's aninteresting one.
I was inspired by a CalvinHarris tune, in particular for
the chorus of that one there.
It's an interesting one.
I was inspired by a CalvinHarris tune, in particular for
the chorus of that one there.
It's like 130 BPM, which Ithink might be the fastest track
that I've done to date.
And yeah, I was inspired bythat.
(28:48):
So I'm looking forward toreleasing that one and the
audience listening to that aswell.
INDIGO (28:52):
Yeah, Narcissus was super fun to record.
Marc Matthews (28:55):
Yeah, you know what?
It didn't take me long to putit together as a tune either,
which is which is really nice.
And it's one of those oneswhere I've decided, okay, I'm
not going to throw anything elseinto it, I'm just going to
leave it quite open and thenjust have a really hard hitting,
kicking bass and then the vocaland then all the other like ear
candy around it as well.
Um, and did you I say this toeverybody I send the demo to did
(29:18):
you hear the crow that I put inthere?
Did?
you, yeah, I did, yeah, yeah,you did somebody heard it, like
I send it to other people and belike did you hear the crow?
And they're like what?
And I was like yeah, there's acrow in, like the breakdown.
Uh, yeah, I was just wonderingif anybody else heard it.
INDIGO (29:34):
Uh, but no, it's good, somebody did yeah, well, you
should hear some of the songswith like turbo knight, he's got
a a hawk screaming and horsesand ah, so good I love that
stuff.
Marc Matthews (29:45):
You know what that is the blessing like.
When I was in the band therewas five of us it was, so it was
a lot harder to put an ideaacross like that, like, oh,
should we just throw a crow inthere?
Or like a a hawk, and you'vegot to get it past that
committee of other band members.
But when you're doing it onyour own I'm just like, yeah,
I'll throw that in there.
It sounds good.
(30:05):
You know, I think I did onetrack on the ep and there's some
like is it rainfall?
I know I think it was.
I think it was jungle bird songI put in there which had no
relation to the song whatsoever,but the view beauty of it was.
I thought you know what.
I quite like that, so I'm goingto put it in the beauty of
being a solo artist, I guess Ilove it.
INDIGO (30:22):
I used to live near a tram and sometimes it would go
off as I'm recording.
So one time I was just like ah,I'll just record it.
And so there's a tram in one ofmy songs Nice.
Marc Matthews (30:34):
I love found sounds.
It's something I want to domore of.
When I was living in, uh, incardiff in in south wales, I
it's this really nerdy thing.
I still, I think I've still gotit.
Yeah, I do.
I still have the field recorderhere with me and I would just
be like out and about and justlike start recording random
sounds.
And I built this whole bank andthere was there's the website
(30:55):
what is it called where you canupload them, and every now again
, I'll get a random comment onsomebody who's downloaded one of
these random sounds I recordedabout 10 years ago and the idea
was I was going to use all thesein songs.
Maybe I'll go back and do it,but there's like waterfalls and
all sorts of like snow crunchingand all those sorts of sounds.
It's quite, it's quite fun atthe time.
It might time it might be quiteweird for anybody watching
(31:15):
seeing this guy with just a afail recorder like like
recording some sounds, but itwas good.
Um, another thing to talk aboutbefore we go uh, where can the
audience find you online?
Where's?
INDIGO (31:27):
the best place to go find me.
I'm mainly on instagram, butyou can search me anywhere
indigo, synth wave and you'llfind me.
I'm sorry, I was just gonna sayI've got a few more
collaborations coming out soon.
We've got a remix with rogue fxon it on um 1086.
Is can't stop thinking of youalso starting a duo duo with
(31:47):
1086, called spring break of1983, and then just so, so many
collaborations coming out atsome point would be awesome.
Marc Matthews (31:55):
That's the way to do it.
The way way to do it Before wego.
Actually, I think a quick tip.
Here is what would be your toptip for collaborations, for
striking up a collaboration withanother artist.
INDIGO (32:08):
I think just don't be afraid to reach out to everyone.
The worst they can do is ignoreyou or say no.
You may as well try you or sayno you.
You may as well try um, yeah,and just find.
Find how you're comfortablecommunicating with these artists
and figure out how you feelsafe with them, because it can
(32:28):
be tricky online sometimesfiguring out who's who's
actually good to work with.
Marc Matthews (32:33):
Um, yeah and I think, uh, the only way you're
going to learn that is throughexperience exactly it goes back
to what you said earlier.
Wasn't it about experience andyou learn as you go along?
And audience listening thepodcast is kind of testament to
that.
Like when I've had artists onthe podcast, uh, like tyler lar
from the midnight, for example,it was just a case of I'll just
(32:54):
ask.
Like, if you don't ask you, younever know.
Like you say, the worst theycan do is just ignore you, which
thankfully Tyler didn't, and wehad him on the podcast and it
was a great episode.
So, audience listening, yeah,just get out there and start
talking to people.
Um, folks, if you've found thisuh useful, uh, before you go,
do click the link in the episodedescription and grab my free
(33:16):
weekly production and mixingtips so you can level up your
tracks.
No spam or fluff or anythinglike that.
You just get an email once aweek from me with tips and
tricks on how to progress yourmusic.
And until next time, stayinspired, keep creating and
don't be afraid to experimentinside the mix.
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