K: How have your studio sessions evolved over the years? Back in the day it was a DIY grind – it was you on Fruity Loops with your Rode NT1-A just doing your thing. How does 2022 LGEE’s sessions compare to 2018 LGEE?

G: Now when I’m in the studio, it’s a process of making a song rather than recording a song. Being in the studio, we’ll be setting up, getting a sound, playing certain instruments; catching a vibe before we even start recording. Being in an actual studio environment brings a lot out, and when you‘re with a producer you can connect with on that type of musical level it brings so much out as well, because you’re bouncing off each other.

I record LGEE bouncing between a UAD-centred mobile setup and an SSL 4000G equipped studio. When in the studio, I tend to run an AKG C414 through a DBX160 compressor and tweak the 4000G’s EQ to taste.

K: It’s not like you record on just one setup. Recording on different mics, in different setups – I wanna know what that does for your sound as an artist/your perception of your sound. Whether you’re on a 58 and you’re drowned in Autotune or you’re going through a £100,000 SSL desk – there must be a difference?

G: Recording on different mics makes you appreciate mics more, for starters. Before, I was like ‘a mic’s a mic, fix it in the mix’, but when you hear the end result of your vocals with different tones, different energy, vibes, and putting them into the song as one: it’s like, ‘we’ve made something here’. Recording on a 58 is different to recording on an SSL with a 414. On a 58, I’m bringing that performance tone, performance vibe; if I’m on an SSL with a 414 or a K2, then I wanna perfect it. I want it to sound perfect, I want to get my lyrics perfect.

K: It’s not like your songs are done quickly, are they?

G: Not at all.

K: Is there an average time for how long a song takes, or are they that wildly different it is impossible to say?

G: I’d make a song, and then I’d be like ‘yeah, cool, let’s release it’. Then more ideas will come in, or K will bring ideas, maybe we’ll get live elements in there… OK cool, now we’ve got an actual good song that we can do something with – let’s put more time into it. So it depends on the vibe, I could have 10 studio sessions recording the same song but if it’s not there, it’s not there. I’ll leave it, then I’ll come back to it months later and it’s there. This tape I’ve been working on, I’ve been working on it for 2 years. So many times I’ll go to Leeds and I’ll be like ‘ahh, fuck this, this journey man!’ But I know it’s for a bigger reason and I know it’s all gonna pay off at the end of it. One thing that makes me keep going is the results that come out of it, and the music that comes out of it.

K: It speaks for itself.

G: It speaks for itself.

I often wonder what studio sessions are like from an artist’s point of view. LGEE likes to have his voice very quiet in his headphones when tracking, but loud and bold when in the mix.

K: How important is the headphone mix when recording?

G: Headphone mix makes such a big difference man, cos I’ve been in certain studios and worked with people where I can just about hear the beat, or my voice is louder than the beat, or it’s just too much. I feel like being fussy is good because you need to feel the beat, you can’t just have the beat there; you need to feel it in all ways, so I feel like headphone mix is a big thing.

K: You’ve got experience now with live musicians. How is it different in a recording session with a musician playing a musical instrument live, right there – how does that differ to just you and a beat you’ve got off of YouTube?

G: Recording with actual musicians, it brings a whole different emotion and whole vibe to the session and song. When you’ve got a beat its cool, but recording with actual musicians – it brings a lot out man, it can bring certain emotion out that you probably haven’t tapped into just listening to the beat. It’s natural, it’s real, it’s sound that’s being played with real music rather than just me going on the keyboard to play this melody, this drum thing – know what I mean?

The Roots Tape will be out eventually.

K: What do you want your music to do for your listener?
G: I want it to touch people’s souls. I want it to live longer than me.