SL MkII: "Everything Works So Well"
SL61 MkII on stage with Labrynth, Dot Rotten, 2020 Soundsystem & Imagined Village.
Of the many touring keyboard players using Novation SL MkIIs as their stage controllers, Simon Richmond is one of the most prolific. We've lost count of the number of times he's popped up on TV or on YouTube videos, straight maintaining behind his SL 61 MkII. As part of The Imagined Village, Simon has used it extensively in the studio and on stage in that context, while his other ventures has seen the SL MkII live on stage with Ralph Lawson's 2020 Soundsystem; grime artist Dot Rotten; Ski Oakenfull's Ayota project; live electronic combo The Bays, and Lick Luscombe's Musicity project that fuses architecture and music.
"I love using the SL Mkll", Simon says, "simply because everything works so well. I use a hell of a lot of automation in my live set-up and it works brilliantly for me with Mainstage.
" Simon controls all his effects sends, delay feedback faders and filters with the SL MkII, and even uses it to scroll through the various sets in the gig. "Basically, using the SLMkll means I never have to look at my laptop on stage, and that means so much to me in terms of projecting a vibe of performance, as opposed to peering in at a screen — I never think about it while I'm using it. For me that is all you need, but so rarely get from a controller. It never gives me cause to worry about responsiveness or latency, or reliability.
" As the cherry on the icing of the cake, there's one more redeeming factor, "It's beautifully portable, which means I can often rock up to a gig with my laptop on my back, and the SL Mkll in a case; even Ryannair don't charge me over the odds for it. Result!"