Fusing nu metal with traditional Indian folk music and socially-aware lyrics, New Delhi-based metal band Bloodywood recently took to the road on their 2025 Return of the Singh tour with FOH engineer Sukhjeet Singh at the helm of a Waves eMotion LV1 Classic mixing console.
‘The main reason we chose the Waves eMotion LV1 Classic is the incredible amount of power, packed into such a small footprint. More often than not, we need a quick load-in and load-out, so it’s just perfect for our shows,’ Also, the LV1 Classic has the cleanest and most transparent preamps I have ever heard to date, and its signal-to-noise ratio is pretty phenomenal as well.’ says Singh (Indian Ocean, Naalayak, Harrdy Sandhu).
Originally gaining attention through viral metal covers of pop and Bollywood songs, the band has acquired an international profile with original tracks that tackle issues such as mental health, bullying and political injustice. Their sound employs by traditional dhol double-headed drums alongside rap vocals and heavy guitar riffs, and has earned a place on Billboard and slots at international festivals including Wacken Open Air and Download.
‘The ability to add colour and saturation with the LV1 Classic has completely transformed my approach to live mixing – I’m no longer restricted to stock dynamics and EQs,’ Singh continues. ‘Since I work on different consoles regularly, adjusting to the Classic was simply about getting familiar with the interface, and that happened almost instantly. It’s incredibly intuitive and makes routing from point A to B effortless.’
Using the Waves Ultimate plug-in subscription, Singh shares his must-haves: ‘I use Vitamin for multiband saturation on my mix bus and drum mics. It lets me shape different frequency bands with ease and gives me more control over transient response,’ he says. ‘For my groups, I rely on the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor, especially on the drum buss and parallel drum buss, to get a punchy, aggressive sound. The classic 1ms attack and auto-release setting really brings the drums to life. I also rely on the NLS Non-Linear Summer for added saturation wherever I need it, particularly for clipping drums and percussion. The Spike channel, which emulates producer Spike Stent’s SSL 4000G console, is especially punchy and works wonders on my drum tracks.
‘The Infected Mushroom Pusher is perfect for achieving extra clipping and adding punch to my drums and dhol, which is widely used across the Indian subcontinent,’ he adds. ‘It makes the sound more intense and impactful, which is ideal for high-energy performances. I insert the CLA-76 Compressor/Limiter on both vocal channels to help them stand out in the mix, especially the Bluey version, which adds rich colour and pleasing saturation. The ability to use Waves Tune Real-Time on the flute mic is phenomenal, I don’t think we could do without it. I insert the Renaissance Compressor on almost every channel, and finally, the C6 Multiband Compressor on groups for sidechaining.’
‘I highly recommend other engneers try the eMotion LV1 Classic to elevate their sound,’ says. ‘The ability to run studio-grade plug-ins during live shows with minimal latency is seriously impressive. At our last show in India, just before heading out for Europe, fellow engineers were blown away by how good our mix sounded. I’ll definitely keep using it, not just for Bloodywood but also for other artists I mix in India. It has become a key part of my set-up, and I see it staying that way for future tours and projects.’
More: www.waves.com