Describing himself as a jack-of-all-trades musician, Jesse Quin plays down his talent as bassist in the band Keane. For the last seven years he’s also run Old Jet, his own recording studio in a Suffolk arts centre and recently got himself an iD44, calling his new Audient audio interface “a lifesaver”.
“It’s like I’d written a list of what I needed it to do, and then Audient made it. Absolutely perfect.”
He explains: “The iD44 was the solution I was looking for to be able to incorporate people’s laptops into my setup. So I have it on my patch bay and can use fancy outboard EQs and effects, but also just plug a mic straight into the back of it if I want to. It’s like I’d written a list of what I needed it to do, and then Audient made it. Absolutely perfect.”
“Obviously it sounds really good too.”
The most powerful of all of Audient’s audio interfaces, iD44 is 20in / 24out, offering ultimate flexibility in the studio and plenty of options for expansion. The two JFET instrument inputs are ideal for Jesse to record his bass guitar directly. “I love that it’s tactile and there’s no menu diving or using the same encoder for different jobs. The thing you want to adjust is right there. Obviously it sounds really good too.”
Never far from a musical instrument (modular synths are a current favourite) more recently he’s been working on a Mt. Desolation record, as well as finishing one of his own. “I’m also getting into film scoring at the moment; another thing that the iD44 has been useful for. I can jump between working on ideas on my laptop and the studio main computer really easily.”
His recording studio is located in Old Jet Arts Centre in Suffolk which he set up himself seven years ago. Based out of an old US Air Force base, the ‘art community’ concept came as a response to his move to Suffolk. “I was meeting loads of interesting artists, many of whom worked in isolation rather than as part of a group. I also needed somewhere to set up my own stuff. I looked around the first building and just knew I had to do it. I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t have any money to do it or anything, I just picked up the keys and got on with it. Thankfully it worked out.”
It certainly has. Today it is home to photographers, painters, writers and clothing designers as well as musicians. As time progressed, Jesse’s studio would migrate between buildings “depending on what state of being fixed up they were”. He has now built himself an isolated live room, so he reckons he will stay put. “It feels a lot more professional, now!”
All the more reason for him to be fiercely protective of his space. When he’s not working on his own projects there, he favours hiring it to friends, and friends of friends. “My manager keeps saying I should rent it out, but I think I’d worry too much about it getting wrecked.”
“I have it on my patch bay and can use fancy outboard EQs and effects, but also just plug a mic straight into the back of it if I want to”
Staying inspired is very important to Jesse. “I need to prioritise finding time to consume more art in its various guises or I stagnate and get frustrated,” he says, having discovered over the last few months’ of enforced lockdown, that “spending time outdoors generally means I feel more creative.”
Audient reckons that Old Jet’s rural setting and eclectic art community suit Jesse down to the ground.
