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Engineer/producer David Irish divides his time between running the show at his Orange, CA studio, Pot Of Gold Recording, and being on the road as front of house (FOH) engineer for iconic Southern California band Social Distortion.
To their fanbase (built over the past four decades), they’re fondly known as ’Social D,’ and when they’re on tour, it’s up to David to present their distinct blend of punk rock, country, and blues-infused rock ‘n’ roll to the audience in the most authentic way possible. To do this, David selected mic preamps and DIs from the Rupert Neve Designs (RND) range to be a key part of his live sound rig.
Read on to find out how David uses RND DI boxes and Dante-enabled mic preamps to streamline his workflow and shape the distinctive Social Distortion sound on tour, night after night.
What have you been working on recently?
For the past year and a half, I've been doing live sound with Social Distortion as well as working at my recording studio, Pot Of Gold Recording in Orange, CA. In the studio, I primarily work with local and regional bands. I’ve been working on a few really cool projects:
Take us back to when you started working as a live sound engineer for Social Distortion—how did that begin, and what is key to shaping their live sound?
About two years ago, Kevin Lemoine—who is Green Day's FOH engineer and was also working with Social Distortion at the time—hit me up to ask if I would ever be willing to fill in for him with Social Distortion whenever he had Green Day commitments. I had first met Kevin when I was doing FOH for a band called The Interrupters, who supported Green Day on a number of tours. Kevin thought enough of my work to ask me to fill in for him, so in April of 2024, I came out to do some shows with Social Distortion, and that’s how it all began.
With a Social Distortion live show, it's all about capturing their distinct tones. I was stepping into what Kevin was doing, and since he is such a phenomenal FOH engineer, I didn't really need to drastically change anything; I just wanted to continue the awesome work that he does.
Social Distortion has these rad rock ‘n’ roll tones, and they've worked really hard on their distinct sounds. Mike plays ‘60s Les Paul Goldtops, and he's got his mid-’60s Fender Bassman Heads and vintage Marshall cabs; Jonny Two Bags plays ‘50s Les Paul Juniors into Satellite amp heads and vintage Marshall cabs, Brent Harding (bass) plays ‘70s P Basses, and Dave Hidalgo Jr (drums) plays killer Ludwig kits. The band just has these amazing, big, warm, round tones, and my goal every night is to try and capture what they produce on stage and present it to the audience.
What drew you to the Rupert Neve Designs DIs and preamps that you use on tour?
I can't pinpoint the impetus of exactly why I first chose them—that, unfortunately, is lost to time—but I remember that I initially got the RNDI boxes for the studio around 2012. I started using them on bass and was amazed because they really captured what I wanted out of any bass sound, be it an electric bass or an upright bass that had a piezo pickup on it. I've used them as acoustic guitar DIs as well, and they sound great.
What I like most is that you don't have to do much EQing with them. It’s the same thing with the RND 511 mic pres. I started with two of those around 2012, and by 2016, I had six of the RND 511s. Then, around 2021, I bought the RND R10 500 Series rack and then bought four more 511s pres. So now, I have 10 of the 511s.
Since I started using the 511 mic pres, they have been on every recording project I work on. I really love them on drums; they sound great on acoustic guitars as well, and I'll run keyboards through the RNDIs into the 511s because that sounds great. I have other mic pres that I like using for certain things, but I love using the Rupert Neve Designs mic pres and DIs.
In 2021, when The Interrupters were on tour with Green Day, I saw Kevin Lemoine using his large-format Rupert Neve console, and I was like, “Man, it would be so great to have something like that someday!”
My first idea was that I would just get a bunch of the 511s, put them in a rack, and run everything from the stage into them, because I know they're durable, they're quiet, and can handle the stress of touring.
That’s when Kevin mentioned the RND RMP-D8s, so I checked those out and thought they were absolutely amazing, especially with the Dante connectivity. I thought it would be great to try and figure out how to use them for live music.
How did the RND RMP-D8 8-Channel Dante Mic Preamps finally make it to your live sound rig?
When Social Distortion did a holiday run last December, we had rented five RMP-D8s. Halfway through the tour, Mike realized he really liked the warm sound of the mic pres. He’s great about investing in things that will make the show better, and he got the tone of the RMP-D8s right away, and that’s what led the band to purchase five of them.
We bought them from Vintage King in January. I picked them up when you guys were having an Open House right before NAMM. Greg Addington, Jonathan Pines, and Tim Hurrell from Rupert Neve Designs were there, as well as Don Spacht from Vintage King, and we had a cool 45-minute conversation, talking about all sorts of things Rupert Neve-related.
My one concern was: “What happens if one of the units goes bad on the road?” And both VK and the Rupert Neve engineers said that if that happened, we could send the unit back, they would send us a new one, and fix everything, so that was a big relief. That’s great customer service!
What instruments are you running through the RMP-D8, and what is your signal flow?
Every input on stage goes through the RMP-D8—all the drums, bass, guitars, and vocals. I remember, during the first soundcheck we did on this system, the band could immediately tell the difference in tones. They were blown away and could tell it was warmer; the fidelity was great... everything just sounded better.
I could tell the difference right away too, because I started backing off on some of the corrective EQ I was doing. I’m working with the Avid S6L, and it’s a fine-sounding board, but you put something like the RMP-D8s in front of it, and it just sounds amazing. This past May, Social Distortion was playing the same festival as Green Day, and Clark Thomas, their systems tech, said, “Man, I've never heard an S6L sound like that!” [Laughs]
Tom Rizzo, our monitor engineer at the time, was the one who figured out that the RMP-D8s could also be our splitter because of Dante. So now, everything hits the RMP-D8, and then it splits and goes to monitors and FOH via Dante. I'm running an Avid S6L at FOH, MON is running a DiGiCo SD12 in monitor world, and the RMP-D8s are our split.
At FOH, I have the RMP-D8 remote control app in case I want to change any of the gains, but I'll be honest, I don't change the input gains from show to show because we’ve got them pretty well set.
At FOH, there is a Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel on Mike’s vocal. Before we started using the RMP-D8s, Kevin was driving the input gain on the Shelford Channel pretty hard, and I had kind of kept it the same way. Since we started using the RMP-D8s last December, I've been slowly backing off the input gain. I'm not utilizing the input gain stage of the Shelford Channel because I'm getting the input gain from the RMP-D8s.
I do use the EQ and compressor on the Shelford Channel, as well as Red Silk; I'd say about 60% of the EQ on Mike’s vocal is the Shelford EQ. For the rest of it, I'm just using the onboard S6L EQ and Soothe Live. The only compressor I've got going on Mike's vocal is the Shelford Compressor.
What’s so great is that since everything is coming through the RMP-D8, the audio quality of both the live sound as well as any recordings from the feed will also go up.
100%! It's funny you say that, because I just started recording out of FOH—the S6L and Pro Tools make it so easy. We had a little recording rig set up in monitor world as well, and I've taken a couple of those shows and messed around with mixing them, and I could definitely tell the difference from before we got the RMP-D8s to after. There’s an increase in fidelity, for sure.
Tell us about the RNDI and RNDI-S DIs and how you use them on tour.
When I was doing FOH for The Interrupters, I was using up to six RNDIs. Aimee and Kevin's vocals would come out of the wireless, go into the Boss RE-20 Space Echo pedal, then I would run it back to the DI and then hit the split for both monitor and FOH, and it sounded amazing. They’re both killer singers, so it was great having the RNDIs and having the transformers in line with their vocals. I also used the RNDI on bass as well as keys.
The last year I was with The Interrupters, they put the Space Echo on trombone as well, and even when the Space Echo wasn’t engaged, we were still getting just that awesomeness of the RNDI boxes.
For Social Distortion, I use the RNDI for bass guitar and the digital piano. For bass, that's my only input source—I don't have a mic on the bass cab or anything. I like to be as simple and direct as possible, with very few input sources.
In terms of signal flow, it’s bass guitar going into the DI box, then THRU to the bass amp, so the band has monitor volume on stage. For me, at FOH, I'm just taking the DI signal, so it goes from the DI box to the RMP-D8.
I love the character that the RNDIs impart on both the bass and the digital piano. On bass, you've got a killer round, warm tone, and on piano, it helps impart a cool honky tonk sound that works perfectly for Social Distortion.
Everyone who uses the RNDIs raves about their low-end performance.
Yeah, I don't know what the heck is going on! [Laughs] A lot of it could be that it's adding some cool harmonic distortion in the upper midrange, which really helps make the low end sound much fuller. It’s amazing!
People also say that the RNDIs provide an accurate and honest representation of both the instrument and the performance. Has that been your experience as well?
For sure! You put the RNDIs on anything, be it a bass, keyboards, or in a vocal chain if they're using pedals, and it just sounds like what it's supposed to sound like, no matter what the source.
Tell us about the performance of the RNDI in Instrument Mode and Speaker Mode.
I've only used it in Instrument Mode; I haven't put it between an amp head or the cabinet or anything like that. Usually, I have the Ground Lift on, and I leave it on because you never know what the power source is like from venue to venue. With Ground Lift on, you don't have to worry; everything sounds super clean, and there’s no ground hum or anything like that. That’s been my experience with the RNDIs here in the US and around the world, too.
Having consistency every night is essential for live sound, and it appears that the RNDIs contribute towards that.
Yeah, for sure. When I started using the RNDIs, before the RMP-D8s, it was a consistent tone anyway, but now with the RMP-D8s, I'm getting this really consistent, awesome tone every day. It allows me to keep everything really straightforward and simple out of FOH. And, like I said, it’s keeping any corrective or additive EQ to a minimum.
I've gone back to some of the venues that I had worked in before having the RMP-D8s, and I remember, at the time, thinking, “This room is really harsh” or “This room's really messy”. But now, with the RMP-D8s, the room might still be harsh and messy, but I don't have to correct or EQ as much.
I try to keep things really simple and direct, and that stems from when I didn't have the luxury of carrying the same console every day. I was on different house consoles and was able to get around faster on some than others, so if I could keep my workflow super simple and super direct, I wouldn't get lost in the console so much. It allowed me to just mix and use my ears instead of hunting around, going, “Wait, where's the EQ on this console today?”
Now, with the luxury of carrying an S6L, I know the console, but having the RMP-D8s has made it simpler and more direct to try and achieve the sound I hear in my head each day.
Tell us how you use the RND R10 500 Series Rack and RND 511 preamps.
I don't take the 500 Series gear out on the road, actually. I use the 511s in the studio, and I really like the way they sound on drums, so that’s what I use them on most, and sometimes I also use them on acoustic guitar.
What I like about the 511s is that when you put a microphone into those mic pres—doesn't matter the microphone—it just sounds like the source sounds in the room. I run kicks, snares, hi-hats, and overheads through them, then I'll have the Silk on and the Texture knob fully engaged, and it just sounds so cool!
With an artist in the room, if you engage and disengage the Texture feature... my gosh! They can hear that Silk Red circuit—that extra harmonic distortion—kicking in, and they’re always like, “Wow, that sounds great!” They always react to it.
Is there any other gear you love that you want to give a shoutout to?
In the studio, I really like to use Manley microphones a lot—the Manley Gold, especially, is killer on vocals. On tour, I love the DPA microphones, especially on the toms; the Telefunken M80s are great on snares and vocals. What’s great about the Rupert Neve Designs gear is that you can use pretty much any microphone with it and it'll sound good, but it's also nice to use some really good-sounding mics.
I have the Shelford Compressor in the studio as well, and the BAE 1073s. I also love the sound of the Shure SM57 into the Vintech Dual 72s for guitars. The Shadow Hills Mono GAMA mic pre is also great.
For conversion, I have the Apogee Symphony I/O, which is amazing. I had the Mk I forever, and it sounded great, but then I got the Mk II, and my gosh, it sounded so much better!
The coolest thing about the RMP-D8s is that I feel like I have my recording studio out on the road with me. It’s great!
What has changed most about your live music workflow over the years?
As I said, I've always tried to keep my workflow pretty straightforward. Right from when I was a kid going to shows, all the way up to now, I've always gravitated towards clean, powerful, well-defined mixes, where you're able to hear everything coming from the stage and you can understand the vocals. To me, that’s the biggest thing—to have a powerful mix but where you can also understand the vocals.
What's a typical day on tour like for you?
I like to stay pretty active in the morning. I participate in the load-in, and I like to be in the truck or the trailer, just helping load the gear. With Social Distortion, I'm also setting up the drums, so I'll go in and do that and then go out to FOH, set up the console, and then go back to the stage, set the mics, and help pin the stage.
I've got a playlist that I play to tune the room to what I'm trying to do for the day. It's the same playlist every day—just a mixture of songs that work. One of them is Billy Idol’s “Prodigal Blues,” which is an homage to my mentor, Tom Ames. I used to stage tech for Reel Big Fish, and Tom was their longtime FOH engineer and taught me almost everything that I know about live sound. I’ll then play “Rockaway Beach” by the Ramones, because of the cool guitar tones. I'm working for an awesome rock ‘n’ roll band that’s pretty guitar-forward, so it helps just to hear that sound.
I just added “One Headlight” by The Wallflowers as an homage to our tour manager, Casey Cress, because it’s always one of his go-to songs. The first time, I didn't even tell him I was going to do it, and I could see it made him happy. Also, it has a Hammond B3, and Social Distortion also uses a Hammond B3, so I listen and go, “Okay, that's how it’s going to sit today”. So with each song, there are personal reasons as to why I use them, but also lots of practical reasons for why I'll play those songs.
Then the rest of the day is linecheck, soundcheck, getting the support band up on stage, and making sure house music is ready for doors, after which I try to make some time to leave the venue and just go for a small walkabout.
Then I'll come back in, listen to the support band to get a feel for the room with people in it, then do a changeover, mix the show, pack it up, and do it all again the next day.
The days are long, but it’s all short bursts. Load in to soundcheck—that's a short burst; then the short burst of the show; and then the short bursts of packing up. So it's a 12-hour day, but if you look at it, it's like extended, intense working for six or so of those hours.
What are some of the biggest challenges for you while working on live music?
Just the room; that’s the trickiest each day. Some of these gorgeous old theaters are beautiful, but they were built a hundred or more years ago and designed to naturally amplify the human speaking voice.
Now, you’re going in there with a loud, powerful rock ‘n’ roll band, and sometimes the sound is just bouncing off those gorgeous old wall,s so it's hard to get clarity, and that's my main goal every day—to get clarity without ripping people's heads off, because I don't like to be really loud. So I’d say the hardest thing is listening to the room acoustics and then trying to tailor what I hear in my head to what the room is giving me.
One of the things Tom Ames always said was, “Don’t fight the room.” So it's like, this is what the room has given you today, don't try and fight it... just tailor what you're doing to what the room is automatically going to do.
What would aspiring sound engineers be surprised to learn about life on the road?
It's about working as part of a team. I'm there working for the band, and it’s my job to take what they're doing on stage and present it to the audience. So I work for the band, but in a way, we're all working for the audience. We're all there to serve them, and if they go home having had a great time, then it was great. It doesn’t matter if I'm like, “Man, I kind of missed that one little start of the solo,” or I think it wasn't my best work today”. Was the audience happy? If they had a great time, that's all that matters.
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