The foundation of the group's live rig is an Akai MPC2000XL sampling drum machine and an Akai Z4 sampler, and Infusion's songs are broken down into 8- and 16-bar samples that are triggered live from the various samplers. “All of the MIDI parts and audio tracks are bounced down to WAV files,” Xavier explains. “The tracks are then resequenced within the MPC2000XL as an 8-bar or 16-bar loop, depending on melodic changes or fills. This gives the songs more of a live feel. The live rig sits better in the MIDI world instead of just playing chunks of audio from your laptop, which will no doubt crash in the middle of your set.”
During the conversion process from the studio to stage, the group opts to remove any unnecessary effects from the tracks that they trigger live. “With studio-recorded songs that are put into the live set, we keep any effects that give the sound its character,” he continues. “If it's just a simple reverb or delay, we can usually do without it; they always take up a lot of memory on the samplers, anyway, for what they're worth.”
Onstage, each band member has a distinctly defined role. Sharrad does double duty handling vocals and live keys from a Clavia Nord Lead 1 and a Roland SVC-350 vocoder. Xavier triggers the foundations of each track from the two Akai sampler rigs. Finally, Stevens mixes all of the various sources onstage from an Allen & Heath PA28 mixing desk and introduces various effects and additional percussion elements.
The band's live rig has gone through several major changes throughout the years, moving from a restrictive sequencer-based setup to what the trio uses now. “When we first started, we were just hitting Play on the sequencer; all of the tracks were preprogrammed, and there was no real scope for creativity,” Xavier says. “You'd look like a real ass onstage doing nothing but loading files in between tracks. It was getting quite boring after a while, so something had to change. Now, we're able to get more involved with creating a set on the spot, catered for the environment that we've been placed in, which, for us, is a necessity when you're playing in club situations. Everyone has their particular role to play.
“We've also been forced to scale down the rig because of weight restrictions on international flights,” he continues. “We do about four to five trips across the world each year now and have minimized our rig to avoid excess baggage. All of our cables have even been cut down to size, and our choice in modules depends on quality, weight and size. Even our road cases come under scrutiny.”
Infusion's decision to mix live from the stage allows Stevens, Sharrad and Xavier to have the greatest possible control of their sound. Every now and again, however, less-than-ideal stage monitors have caused performances to suffer. “I can't tell you how many times we've gotten to the venue, and the DJs have been supplied with great monitoring, and then there are two tiny little monitors held together with gaff for us,” Xavier says. “We couldn't stress enough how important monitoring is. Many clubs simply aren't used to catering to live acts, and, often, the extra gear that we ask for on the rider — basically a table, a microphone and a keyboard stand — hasn't been supplied, and we have to hunt around the club for a suitable replacement. It's by no means the end of the world, but promoters should realize that it's in their interest to follow the rider so we can put on a good show.
“As we do play live and unrehearsed, we determine a successful show by how we play together as a band,” he concludes. “If the flow is good among the three of us, then we usually walk away quite happy. It can happen in any situation — some of our favorite recent gigs have been in front of over 15,000 people in Argentina or to just 500.”
Infusion's Stage
Akai MPC2000XL, Z4 samplers
Allen & Heath PA28 mixing console
Behringer Ultrafex Pro EX3200 multiband enhancer
Clavia Nord Lead 1 synth
Lexicon MPX 100 dual-channel effects processors (2)
Roland SVC-350 vocoder
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