NASHVILLE — Joel and Luke Smallbone have been performing as a duo called for King & Country, scoring two Grammy wins in 2015. The alt pop-rockers have endorsed Audio-Technica microphones. They are pictured here performing with Audio-Technica 5000 Series Wireless and AEW-T5400a wireless mics.
More details from Audio-Technica (www.audio-technica.com):
Alternative pop-rock duo for KING & COUNTRY (fK&C) has been making waves, gaining praise from Billboard as a “New Artist to Watch” in 2012, and from American Songwriter as “Australia’s answer to Coldplay.” Although born in Australia, brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone moved to the Nashville area in 1991 and played music together growing up, finally signing with Warner Music Group in 2009. Their hard work and talent have paid off, with two critically acclaimed LP’s and two GRAMMY wins in 2015. As road warriors over the last few years, the duo and their technical team have grown very fond of certain gear, not the least of which has been microphones and wireless systems from Audio-Technica, a leading innovator in transducer technology for over 50 years. fK&C is one of the latest high-profile names to be added to Audio-Technica’s roster of artist endorsers.
The band’s front-of-house engineer Ralph Rivera notes, “Our relationship with Audio-Technica started when fK&C was on tour with [Audio-Technica endorsers] NewsBoys a few years ago, and they were using A-T’s 5000 Series Wireless with ATW-T5400a Artist Elite Cardioid Condenser Handheld wireless microphone transmitters. I fell in love with the quality and clarity of the sound I was hearing and needed to give it a try with Joel and Luke’s vocal, so I got in contact with Audio-Technica and a relationship was born.”
Currently, the band uses 5000 Series Wireless and AEW-T5400a wireless mics for Joel and Luke’s lead vocals; hard-wired AE5400’s for background vocals; AE2500 Dual-element Cardioid Instrument Microphone for kick drum; AE3000 Cardioid Condenser Instrument Microphones for snare, toms, guitar cabinets, tubular bells, timpani and harmonium; AE5100 Cardioid Condenser Instrument Microphones on snare, hi-hat, overhead and glockenspiel; and ATM250 Hypercardioid Dynamic Instrument Microphones on concert drum and marching bass drum.
“We have been using A-T products all over the country,” notes Rivera. “This year we performed on Today, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Fox and Friends Summer Festival Live, and a double sellout at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. We also did the Wisconsin State Fair on and the Iowa State Fair, and both were well attended, and we got many compliments on how good they sounded. Aside from that, we have been headlining or co-headlining several large Christian festivals around the U.S. and Canada, and we’ve been using A-T products on all of it!”
“For fK&C, strong relationships are very important,” adds Rivera. “So many people that were close to this organization had great things to say about A-T, and we trusted their word, and we’re very glad we did. A-T’s artist relations and tech support teams are second to none, and they are always there for us if we need anything. We’re proud to be associated with their brand.”
