ELY Collective EP1 Launch at Dalston Victoria
ELY Collective is a fluctuating collective of musicians with a penchant for the musically atmospheric, encapsulating "uplifting brass and electronic glitches dancing around stuttered beats". We spent the evening with them for the launch of their debut EP, "EP1".
Started by London producer, ELY, the collective chose a suitably quirky, moody venue for the launch. The Victoria in Dalston spends less effort on looking chic than it does on oozing underground atmosphere. We entered through the pub’s bookcase, into what felt like a dimly-lit basement of a club, longer than it is wide, only to spot the two full drumkits on stage.
We’d come to see the cellist who was using the DPA d:vote™ 4099C instrument mic, and the first thought was, “this must’ve been fun to mix…”
Their FOH engineer Dan Trachtenberg made short work of the acoustics, however, taking into account two drummers, e-guitar, bass, cello, synth (perfectly acceptable – this is Hackney after all) 3 tightly-spaced monitor wedges, and a trumpet player all on a very modestly sized stage. The supercardioid pattern and flat off-axis response of the 4099 helped, and the mix sounded great. Listen to ELY’s EP1 here.
Photography ~ Caleb Hill