The first Neve 8424 console to arrive in Sweden is now up and running in the private studio of artist and producer Pontus Hagberg. Hagberg is none other than the man behind the popular YouTube channel Mr Firechild, devoted to synthesizer reviews.
Pontus chose a Neve 8424 console for his own studio, excited by the quality of Neve's analog mixing and processing, integrated into a simple, manageable and cost-effective solution.
Designed to merge the best of the analog and digital worlds, the Neve 8424 is a small-format console that brings together the best of Neve's 80 Series consoles. Thanks to its excellent routing flexibility and modularity, it gives artists and producers endless opportunities to produce dream hybrid mixes.
Pontus's new 8424 has become the core of his studio in Sweden. This small production center, created by and for himself, is also where he records the videos for his YouTube channel, Mr Firechild, where he uploads demos of different songs using instrumental synthesizers
Mr Firechild was born of Pontus's passion for synthesizers. After his brief stint as an artist (when everyone knew him as Evan and he finished last in the Swedish contest for the Eurovision Song Contest), Pontus focused on production and founded the duo Soundfactory. During this period, he created new mixes of almost every major song in the country in the early 2000s, including all the singles from the solo album My Colouring Book by ABBA singer Agnetha Fältskog.
His next project was creating instrumental synthesizer music, and so Mr Firechild was born. After nine albums and a small YouTube community, he began composing using a single vintage synthesizer with Pro Tools. These early demos formed the most solid foundation of his YouTube channel, which now has more than 12,000 subscribers.
Although Mr Firechild is a core activity for Pontus, the investment in the 8424 will also be important for the development of another of his activities, Symphony of Sweden. Together with rock singer Linus "Lee" Wester as lead vocalist, Erik 'Drumerik' Günther on drums and Jim Wallenborg on guitar, Pontus is creating his own pop/metal fusion music, combining orchestral soundtrack sounds with electronic music. Symphony of Sweden has already released its first album and is now working on its second, which Pontus describes as "colossal and epic."
"As a sound engineer, I'm always looking for the best possible sound, and many say that's something the Neve 8424 can achieve. It will be an adventure to mix on this console. I'd already had a taste of Neve before, since I had two Neve 8801 channels and two 8803 Dual EQs in my inventory. I fully trusted what people said, and now I'm convinced my new 8424 will become the holy grail of my production studio for many years."
Since the console was installed, one of its uses has been mixing a previously recorded drum session
"It sounded wonderful, just as I expected. The console has a simple interface that makes it very easy to find your way around; not to mention its sound, which is exceptional. I love having 48 analog channels in such a small format, and I hardly ever leave this setup. Before the 8424, I mixed in Pro Tools, but now I do everything on the console, and my workflow is completely different. Outboard gear with the 8424 is also something new for me, so I've made sure to complement the console with total-recall gear, to keep speed and sound quality at the highest level."
AMS Neve's local distributor, Soundware Sweden, was also responsible for supplying and installing the console, and since the 8424 hit the market in June 2020, it hasn't stopped receiving inquiries about it.
Besides being the first person in the whole country to own an 8424, Pontus will also be able to boast of being the first to get the new automation software that AMS Neve will announce soon.
