- WASHINGTON, DC--A defining element of Thievery Corporation’s sound has always been the broad stylistic and cultural musical blend as evidenced on its recordings, including 2008’s “Radio Retaliation.” Blending elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern, and Brazilian elements with a lounge aesthetic, the Washington, D.C.-based duo—comprising core members, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton—are joined by a host of supporting artists on stage and in the studio. Particularly known for their dazzling live shows, playing sold out venues and festivals worldwide, the band is as meticulous with their sound as they are with their productions—which is why monitor engineer Gavin Pearce began seeking out a new audio solution when he signed on last year. Previous experience working with DiGiCo consoles—while on staff at the acclaimed Wolf Trap venue, on tour with 3 Mo' Tenors, and mixing FOH on D5s and D1s with James Brown until his untimely death—led him to a DiGiCo SD8.
- “My friend Philippe Arseneault works for DiGiCo’s Canadian distributor, Gerr Audio, covering the Montreal area, and we met up while we were playing at the Metropolis concert hall last year,” Pearce explained. “We talked for a while about the SD8 and he left me with a brochure, but as we only had three dates before heading back to the U.S., it wasn’t practical at that point to even consider switching to anything new. When we got back, he helped me get in touch with the U.S. rep to arrange an SD8 for monitors, which I’ve been using ever since. Also, when we came through Metropolis this year, Philippe brought us out an additional SD8 at a moment’s notice for our FOH guy, Chris Garrett, who had spec'd another digital console (that will remain nameless), but that we had issues with. Within an hour, we had unpacked our 100-meter BNC digital snake runs and patched another control surface in at FOH. I loaded my file from monitors and we were up and running pretty quickly after that. Philippe and our FOH guy Chris Garrett tweaked and turned until my monitor file was a proper FOH mix. We were really happy with how that day turned out, and needless to say, we have a new console at the top of our rider now!”
- 
