As well as playing with some of the biggest names in the field, Andy La Rocque has turned his Sonic Train Studios into a metal Mecca.
Across a music career spanning 40 years, King Diamond’s Andy La Rocque has become not only a metal guitar icon, but also one of the genre’s leading producers and engineers. The list of acts he’s worked with is near endless, and includes Shining, At The Gates, Tsjuder, HammerFall, King Of Asgard, Lord Belial, Evergrey, Falconer, Einherjer, Tulus and In Flames, as well as his historic instrumental contributions to Death’s groundbreaking 1993 album Individual Thought Patterns.
When embarking upon his career as a performer, La Rocque didn’t envision himself in the parallel role that he now occupies. “In the beginning, I thought it was really boring to listen to Mikkey Dee soundchecking the drums in the studio. When you’re like 22 years old, you just want to play, have a good time, and write songs. But at the same time, I picked up a lot of really good stuff from the engineers and producers that I later used. I didn’t realise that then. Later on, when I started up myself, it was like: ‘Wow, I understand now why the producer did this, and he did that, and he used that microphone for that thing, and all that.’ So, I learned quite a lot from being a musician and then transferring that to the other side of the studio window.”
Documentation
La Rocque’s journey to becoming a producer began by recording his own music out of necessity. “Back in the late ’80s, I didn’t really have anything to use to document my ideas, my riffs, songs and things, except for the microphone in my Walkman. And then, after living in the US for a couple of years, we moved back to Scandinavia. I thought: ‘I really need to do something about the situation with recording.’ So, I bought my first four‑track machine and a sequencer, so that I could start writing songs with a drum machine demo. And then I got an eight‑track machine and a little mixing console, because I wanted to do something more than just the simple four‑track things. I started to record my own stuff. People began saying: ‘Wow, that sounds pretty cool! Maybe you can record our band?’ It was like a basic demo thing, and that’s how it started in the early ’90s. I just got a lot of jobs because the results sounded good, and I did get paid for it, so I got some better recording machines, better and bigger mixing consoles, and some good microphones as well.”
Eventually, in 1995, La Rocque founded his first professional studio: Los Angered Recordings in, yes, Angered, Sweden. “At that time, there weren’t too many metal studios in Sweden, and instantly tons of bands just came to my place to record.”
Twelve years later, La Rocque relocated, opening Sonic Train Studios in the idyllic Varberg, which is just under an hour south of Gothenburg. The building contains two separate studios with control rooms. The first is bigger, while studio two is especially suitable for doing overdubs and editing, for musicians who want to continue working on their records while the main studio is occupied. It’s a residential studio, giving clients the option to spend as much or as little time as they like. “I have everything you need here to be able to stay for a week or two if you need that, and people seem to appreciate that.”
As a musician, La Rocque understands that the overall experience of visiting a studio is important: “It’s not only what paint you have on the walls or whatever. It’s also, of course, who runs the studio, whether the engineer or producer you work with is a cool guy. It’s not that I try to be someone else. I’m just the way that I am, and if people like that, that’s awesome. But I think people say mostly that the environment here is really laid‑back and cosy, and that I’m easy to work with. I have some assistants, younger guys, who are keen on working in this environment, and they help me out quite a lot with things when it’s too busy.”
Gear Train
Sonic Train Studios has an enviable collection of equipment, and La Rocque emphasises that it is particularly important to him to have a nice range of mic preamps. “I’ve got some SSLs, which I just love. And I have some old Neve and Siemens stuff, which is also great for certain things. I have some BAE stuff and also some CAPI [Classic Audio Products of Illinois] — they make API clones. They’re amazing for drums and a lot of other things. So, that’s the first thing, a range of really good mic pres. Some really good microphones are essential too.
“I know that some engineers and producers have like 20 microphones in front of the speaker cabinet and stuff like that, of course, to try out what sounds best. But once you’re done with that, I usually just end up with one mic and one really good mic preamp, and that’s kind of my motto through everything: ‘Just keep it simple.’ Choose good equipment, but keep it simple, because then, in the end, you don’t get any weird phase things that can mess things up.”
In place of a large‑format console, the Sonic Train control room now houses a control surface with extensive 500‑series racks on either side.
What isn’t present at Sonic Train any more is a large‑format console. Maintenance issues eventually made owning a mixer more trouble than it was worth, so La Rocque opted for an alternative arrangement. “I decided to optimise my studio with, again, really good mic preamps, some great equalisers in the 500 series, some good dynamics, and put everything in 500‑series racks. I’m totally happy with that now because if anything breaks down, it’s so easy to just take out the module and have it fixed and replaced. So, this is a really good way of simulating a console.” La Rocque’s current setup allows for simultaneously recording 32 channels. On the processing front, he says that his Teletronix LA‑3A compressors “work for everything”, and also speaks highly of the Fairchild 670 replica produced by Stam Audio.
Past & Present
Much has changed in music and studios since La Rocque started out. He’s generally positive about the changes, though he also acknowledges that there are challenges too. “I think bands back then had a tendency to rehearse and practise a little more than they do now, because now it’s like: ‘Oh, I’ll fix that in the studio.’ Yeah, you can fix a lot of things in the studio, but if there’s a band that’s well rehearsed, everything goes so much smoother. But there are a lot of things that, in my opinion, are better now because it’s possible to copy and paste and undo. I mean, try to do that on a tape machine! So, there’s a different way of thinking, I believe, nowadays, good and bad, actually. But, again, I still prefer this a thousand times over to going back to total analogue stuff.
“Another reason is the issues with making backup copies of a tape. You didn’t really do that back then. It’s so easy to do that now. I would also say that if there’s, for example, playing with a click track that isn’t 100 percent good, it’s easy to fix that. But, let’s say, 20 or 25 years ago, you recorded a new take or left it sloppy. Now, you can let the musician keep playing, let it roll, and you can fix the small things afterwards. It’s the same with vocalists. If there is a take that is really good, and you capture the right feel and everything, but it’s slightly out of tune, you say: ‘All right, don’t worry about that. The feel was really good and totally there.’ You can fix the tuning afterwards if necessary. So, yeah, there’s very different thinking working digitally compared to with analogue.”
Andy La Rocque: There are a lot of things that, in my opinion, are better now because it’s possible to copy and paste and undo. I mean, try to do that on a tape machine!
La Rocque further reminisces: “Analogue tape machines are good if you have the right one with the right calibration, but I don’t miss that at all, to be honest with you. The only thing I kind of miss is the sound — but there was a band called Astroqueen that I recorded in 2000. I was kind of sure when I picked up their album that it must have been one of the last analogue recordings I did, because it just sounded that way. And then, I checked. It was actually one of the first Pro Tools recordings I did. So, it’s like: ‘Wow, I just managed to get that analogue feel to it.’ Nowadays, if you record the right way with the right analogue gear, for example, an analogue console, the right mic preamps, compressors, and all kinds of analogue processing, I don’t think there’s a need for a tape machine because it’s a lot of hassle. There’s also so much mechanical stuff that can go wrong. If you do the right thing, it’s way better with a computer and the digital way, in my opinion. But I always use analogue equalisers and compressors on the mix bus while bouncing tracks down for the final mix. There are so many good plug‑ins you can use nowadays that simulate analogue feel.”
Be Individual
Another risk with modern metal production is falling into a ‘cookie‑cutter’ approach that makes everyone sound the same. Andy La Rocque is very aware of the pitfalls here. “I think it’s really important to keep the personality of every band, because every band has a unique way of performing their songs and a unique sound or way they write songs. I don’t have a template. It would be pretty boring to just rely on the same setup in the studio: ‘OK, use this amplifier, and this bass amplifier, and here’s the drum kit.’ Everything would sound the same.”
Over the years, La Rocque has worked with artists spanning a range of genres from the most extreme corners of music to pop. “I learn a lot from the different styles and stuff. I like all kinds of music. But for the last 30 years, it has mostly been heavy metal, black metal, death metal, and stuff like that.” Interestingly, the fact that La Rocque does not come from a black metal background makes the prospect of working with him more appealing to some black metal acts, seeking to avoid tired genre clichés.
In regard to pre‑production, La Rocque requests that bands begin recording themselves at home: “I usually ask for just a basic pre‑production, which consists of a click track, and if there are any tempo changes, put that in and program that too, maybe a rhythm guitar or two, and bass, that’s it. And then after that, we start setting up a good drum sound, and we build it up, all the drum sounds with real guitars, bass and vocals.” If artists are unable to begin the process in advance, La Rocque goes through the necessary steps with them at the studio. By contrast, ambitious bands may arrive with much more sophisticated material that almost seems to amount to a completed album in terms of number of tracks.
The nature of La Rocque’s involvement as a producer depends on the individual needs of his clients. For example, ‘shock rock’ ensemble DarkFlow requested La Rocque’s participation in the songwriting process. Thus, to kick off the second instalment in their partnership, La Rocque visited DarkFlow in Switzerland last Autumn: “I came up with some riffs that we blended into their style. When they came here to record, I thought it sounded great — the blend of some of my stuff on a few songs together with their unique style.” La Rocque says that being a musician aids him in discerning where compositions might need special attention, whether ideas are quality, how the final results will sound, if a musician needs help with his playing, and so forth.
Bands who book studio time with La Rocque also often do request that he makes guest appearances on guitar. However, La Rocque cautions that this doesn’t always work. “What I usually do first is check out if the part that they want me to play a solo on would fit my style, because I could pretty easily tell that. It could be really hard and heavy and everything, but I don’t want the music to be too progressive in the background to be able to play a solo on it. If it is, it would be like playing a solo on top of a solo, if you know what I mean. I need some air and something that kind of lets the solo be the solo. The background of a solo, in my opinion, should allow me to be creative and not just listen to every note so that it isn’t like: ‘Wow, that note doesn’t fit with what I’m playing.’ I usually need long cool chords to be able to create really good melodies. Of course, the song could be fast, or it could be slow. It doesn’t really matter as long as it has the right feel.”
Although he doesn’t miss recording to tape, Andy La Rocque still makes extensive use of analogue outboard.
Shining Out
La Rocque is currently assisting Swedish black metal powerhouse Shining with their next EP, and makes a storming guest appearance on the opening track. It follows last year’s self‑titled 11th album, featuring an all‑star cast that included Shining main man Niklas Kvarforth on vocals and piano, Mayhem’s Charles Hedger on guitars, former Cradle Of Filth drummer Nicholas Barker, Alex Friberg (ex Necrophobic) on bass, and Cold Prophet’s Tuomas Tahvanainen on synths. A particular highlight is the eerie, chanted fourth track, ‘Fidelis Ad Mortem’. Although the band had intended to fill the spot with a different composition, La Rocque overheard Kvarforth playing the main themes from the track, some of which date back to 2001, and insisted that they record this one instead. La Rocque also contributed lead guitar. “It’s always interesting to work on Shining stuff because they come up with some great, very emotional and atmospheric stuff, which I just love.”
La Rocque’s association with Shining goes back many years, and he works closely with Kvarforth’s label The Sinister Initiative. Among the other acts with whom La Rocque has recently collaborated are the Swedish outfits 7 SINS, MaryLane and Blodmarkt, as well as the American groups Kill Ritual, Voodoo Gods, Mixed Up Everything and Lacabra. Earlier this year, La Rocque also had the opportunity to resume his alliance with the aforementioned Astroqueen, mixing some compositions that he had recorded with them over two decades ago: “It was really cool to hear that what I recorded 20 years ago was still really, really good.”
Double Diamond
While Andy La Rocque has been working with everyone else under the sun, fans of King Diamond (the group named after their eponymous frontman, who also sings with Mercyful Fate) have been impatiently awaiting their 13th album, The Institute, which will be followed by a second part. La Rocque explains: “I sent King a demo more than two years ago — eight songs with a drum machine that was pretty worked out with the bass, rhythm guitars, no solos, but there were some keyboards on it too. That was just to give him an idea of my feel to it, and we just started working on the arrangements. And we started with a couple of songs, working for some time on them, taking out a few things, changing a few things around and stuff. But then Mercyful Fate went out on tour, and they’ve been really busy with things since then. Of course, King has a lot of ideas also for songs that he wants to document and record. So, the plan is that we’ll pick that up again as soon as possible.”
Four decades on, how does Andy La Rocque feel about dividing his career between playing and production? “I can say that I’ve never regretted it. I really love being a producer and a sound engineer, just as much as being a touring musician. It’s so much fun, and not only with the music, but also meeting people is great. The palette of different music styles, personalities and everything is so cool. Being a producer is really like being an artist.”