In the past few years, we’ve seen several female pop acts step up to arena and stadium touring. From Tate McRae to Zara Larsson, Olivia Rodrigo to Chappell Roan, many of these names were not part of mainstream consciousness five years ago. Among this new crop of up-and-coming stars now gaining huge popularity, Olivia Dean stands in a league of her own.
By any classification, Dean’s music falls within the pop sphere, the unmistakable nods to a more old-school aesthetic and jazz/lounge sensibilities set her apart from many of her contemporaries. After walking away with Best New Artist at The BRIT Awards and selling out six nights at The O2, Dean’s music has clearly struck a chord with audiences.
Rolling the clock back a mere two years, it was only a bare-bones production team working with the singer. One of the first recruits when the production family began to grow was FOH Engineer Callum Lloyd-Williams. “I’ve just passed my two-year anniversary working with Olivia Dean, having been brought in for her 2024 Coachella performance,” he began. “She had just brought on a new production manager that I’d worked with previously, and he brought my name into the mix.”
Alongside her long-serving Monitor Engineer, Kevin Jianoran, Lloyd-Williams jumped onto the singer’s rocket ship ascent. “Since coming on board, I’ve not done another show due to the schedule,” said the engineer, describing how her shows have increased from a one-bus to a 14-truck five-bus arena sized production.
Working with the Touring Director Sarah-Anne Grill, Tour Manager Sophia Eras, and new Production Manager Rick Berger the team has grown significantly, although, when it comes to the mix, Lloyd-Williams has kept to the core of what the singer was looking for back in 2024.
“I already knew her music before joining the camp,” stated the engineer, adding that the singer’s music takes on a somewhat different form when played live. “Especially with the new album, the arrangements and the energy of the live performance are slightly different from the record. Because of this, I knew I had to approach the music differently, ensuring I worked with what came through my channels rather than trying to recreate the album’s sound,” he explained. “In some of my previous tours, recreating the album was the goal, and I’d spend hours agonising over a snare hit to ensure it was identical. That is not required in this show, and there is an old-school feel to everything.”
Lloyd-Williams is a huge admirer of Olivia Dean’s voice. “The consistency of her vocal performances is amazing,” he enthused. “I never have to bury her vocals into the rest of the mix because she is having an off night. I just stick the vocals upfront.”
He reflected that many industry peers have often been keen to know what he was doing with the vocals because of the unique quality they hear in the mix. “I’m really not processing her voice,” he explained. “And most people have not heard a vocal that hasn’t been messed with for a while – especially in pop.”
Given the need to elevate the ‘live’ feel of the singer’s show, Lloyd-Williams put his faith in the Yamaha RIVAGE PM5. Despite having worked with several Yamaha desks over the years, this was his first time on the surface, having decided to give it a try after noticing it being used on several major tours, from Oasis [see TPi #290] to Radiohead [see TPi #291]. For tours where capturing the live sound is the goal, Lloyd-Williams believes that Yamaha is the ideal choice. “Nothing compares to the pre-amp and low end that you get on them. The first time I got my hands on one, we loaded a virtual soundcheck, and when I pulled up the kick and the bass, I started to hear new things in the mix.”
After nailing the Yamaha colours to the mast, the engineer went into research mode to learn as much as he could about the desk and its workflow. “The resources that Yamaha has online could not be any better, even though there was not too much of a learning curve as it feels like an analogue console.”
Lloyd-Williams was keen to push the desk and threw himself into the console’s IO and the Genius.lab – Yamaha’s macro programming environment. “During the song A Couple of Minutes, we have this massive sweep on the EQ,” stated the engineer, providing a use case of how he’d been able to program specific moments of the show via Genius.lab. “At one point, my whole band sweeps from 200Hz, and you see people’s reaction to it. That is all done with one button, and then it sweeps back up, all of which is timed to the song.”
He was also impressed by the level of workflow customisation. Throughout the tour, he’d added elements, including having the whole desk dim when he switched to virtual sound check, so as not to confuse it with the live setup. “I’ve also fixed it so when Kevin, our Monitor Engineer, speaks via a certain channel, it sits way above the usual talkback mix, and the channel has a flashing LED so I know something needs my immediate attention,” stated the engineer.
On the note of fixing issues on the fly, his ability to move around the entire mix was another part of the desk that Lloyd-Williams particularly enjoyed. “I was nervous about how I’d be able to navigate with a high input count, especially in line check. But the way I have the desk set up – the whole show is one custom layer, but I can access it on the screen at any point. I can see all my inputs one-to-one. If something was clipping, I can point to it and sort the issue. Essentially, there are two ways to get to everything on the desk.”
He also enjoyed the power and ability of the desk’s effects unit. “If I were to replicate some of the stuff I’ve done with traditional outboard gear, I’d be rocking up to shows with a rack of 12 Bricastis and people would think I’d gone mad,” he chuckled. “But you can do that at the desk, and I still have loads of processing left.”
With most effects handled on board, the engineer was able to select specific outboard elements for very specific moments. “I’ve got the Fourier transform.engine when I’m using specific reverb and filters, which I find easier to punch in rather than automating a snapshot. I also have Soothe on her vocals and her acoustic guitar. I can’t do a pop show without Soothe anymore.” He also utilised Waves for some effects he specifically brought in for the bass mix. Lastly, regarding the hardware out at FOH, he also had the Rupert Neve Shelford Channel on Dean’s vocals. “It adds a bit more ‘analogue’ front end to the vocals along with a soft bit of compression. I also have the Neve Master Buss Processor bus on the left and right, which really transforms your show.”
Back on the stage, the production opted for a Shure SM58 vocal microphone. “She’s a big fan of the 58 and is aware of the history and likes the idea of using the classic mic. The 58 just works on her, and it gives me the headroom that I need on that vocal. She is right in front of the PA for three songs, and if I had her on a big open condenser, I don’t think it would work. Not to mention that the stage volume is loud.”
To ensure a clean, unprocessed sound, the audio team have often opted for a wired option, although for the B-stage element of the show and during festival performances, they have stated they will use a wireless option with the Shure Axient System. Clair Global was the audio supplier, providing a d&b audiotechnik GSL for the main hang and a KSL for the side hang. “Richard Gough is my System Engineer, and he’s been great, helping me create the show I’ve always wanted. We didn’t want it to be super loud, and we’re interested in going for the coverage over volume and making sure every seat sounds the same.”
The engineer enthused about the B-stage moment at the show, specifically the PA setup to not create separation between the singer and the artists. “I didn’t want it to feel like the mix was coming from behind the audience during that part of the show, and I didn’t want there to be a separation from the acoustic mix picked up by the phones and then what was coming through the system.” To remedy this, the team deployed d&b E8s. “When we got to rehearsals, I saw the B-stage used a soft cloth material that was very thin. So, we just put them inside and out of sight, which made our head creative very happy.”
The engineer concluded by sharing his enthusiasm about working with an artist who is bringing back some old-school sensibilities. “It’s exciting,” he said. “Even if you had never heard her songs, you’d be excited by her and intrigued to know what was coming next, as musically it’s different from what they’ve heard on the album. It’s the reason we used to go to shows when we were younger. That energy is there, and you wouldn’t know what is coming next.”
Words: Stew Hume
Photos: Richie Gough
