As an internationally touring band and part of the Jägermusic program, The Defiled are used to spending long stretches on the road together, which helped prepare them for the unusual nature of this tour. Flying from the UK to Iceland, the group then transferred to the island town of Kulusuk, Greenland, before trekking over-land and sea to their base on the neighbouring island Tasiilaq which has a population of just over 2000 inhabitants.
Prior to taking to the icy-stage, Frontman Stitch D, along with keyboard player The AvD, bassist Vincent Hyde and drummer Needles spent time getting to meet local musicians and watching them perform their own traditional music, before inviting them and other residents to come and witness their unique one-off performance. Renowned for their distinctively dark and imposing on-stage dress – which provided a stunning visual contrast to the bright white ice cold surroundings – The Defiled played a 30 minute set featuring tracks from their latest album Daggers.
Jägermeister approached the brand Studiomaster (part of the Soundking Group Company Limited) to supply a PA tough enough to perform in Arctic conditions following Carlsbro / Studiomaster’s sponsorship of this year’s Bloodstock festival, during which the company supplied emergency kit to The Jägermeister Stage. “It was a brief we could confidently commit to, given the robust build quality of Studiomaster product,” says Assistant General Manager Patrick Almond. “In fact it presented a perfect opportunity to prove the near-military grade construction of the new Horizon powered mixer. The very look of the all-British design says how tough it is – and then there’s 1000 watts a side of class-D power amplification; more than enough to provide sound coverage on an iceberg!”
The Studiomaster 2012 powered mixer was partnered with a pair of XPX 12 moulded cabinets on stands, providing the best possible power to weight ratio; weight being a critical consideration in not tipping the band and all their equipment into the freezing sea. Studiomaster KM92 dynamic mics were also used, being tough enough for The Defiled’s full on vocal style as well as the icy conditions. The entire rig performed flawlessly, undoubtedly providing the best quality and loudest PA sound ever on a floating iceberg.
Commenting on the value of the promotion for the company Almond says, “This was a great opportunity to create some amazing brand exposure and we are going to be following that through with related promotional campaigns at retail level, to provide some of that benefit to our dealers. Watch out for our forthcoming Iceberg Horizon bundles and some in-store Jägermeister co-sponsorship promotions.”
Jägermeister music manager Tom Carson said, “As far as stage backdrops go, I don’t think you’ll find anything more impressive than this. We’re used to staging events at music venues and summer festivals, so it made for an interesting change to be checking ‘berg suitability’ as part of the pre event checks as opposed to the typical band riders and sound systems. The Studiomaster gear more than met the environmental challenges of this unique ‘venue’.”
The Defiled have been involved with the Jägermusic programme for a number of years and readily accepted the challenge to be the first band ever to play a gig on an iceberg. Production manager and Operations Director for the event was Tom McShane, who’s company, Secret Compass, was formed by ex-Parachute Regiment officers to conduct exploratory expeditions to remote post-conflict areas and endangered ecosystems in places like Afghanistan, South Sudan, Madagascar and Panama. “The trip went fantastically and the Studiomaster gear performed superbly,” he says. “I was massively impressed with the set-up and it sounded great. The little generator we had actually put out enough power to run all of the gear. It was also a really light set-up too.”
“I had to set-up all the backline and the PA and soundcheck it. But I managed to get it all up and running within five minutes; it was really simple.”
The Soundking Group Company Limited is among the largest musical equipment and professional audio manufacturers in China, established for more than 20 years and with a major manufacturing, research, engineering, and administrative HQ in Ningbo, south of Shanghai. In recent years The Soundking Group Company Limited has acquired three major UK 'heritage' audio brands: CADAC, the high end mixing console manufacturer known internationally for its premium custom engineered mixing desks that made modern sound design for large scale West End and Broadway musicals possible; Studiomaster, one of the most famous names in UK pro audio – making the first affordable PA amps and mixing desks – and the first 'home studio' mixing desks – in the 1980’s, and effectively 'inventing' the powered mixer; and Carlsbro, the famous British guitar amplifier marque that pre-dates even Marshall.
All three companies remain independent entities within Soundking Europe group, retaining R&D development and product engineering, strategic management and international distribution – and certain key manufacturing capabilities in the UK. Soundking’s ownership provides the three companies with ‘in-house’ mass automated production capabilities and considerable inward investment from the parent company.
youtube.com/JagerUK | www.secretcompass.com | www.soundking.com
