Metal Producer, Lasse Lammert

Hi Lasse, welcome to Review Zoo

Please can you tell us a bit about your studio?

I opened LSD Studios in Lübeck Germany in September 2007 and am still constantly trying to improve everything.

I’ve designed every room with perfect distribution of room modes in mind, all floors and walls are decoupled from each other, clean electricity and grounding etc...  my goal has always been to get the best possible source tones onto “tape” from the beginning, and that was the mindset I approached the design with (I have a background in physics, so I was able to do a lot of the calculations and design of the rooms myself, which saved me a ton of money of course).

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What’s your favourite part of being a producer?

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That’s a really tough question, I think it’s working with the bands in a way that we’re all part of the same thing and we all have the same goal, then at some point there’s a moment when things just fall into place and a song starts to sound like a song. Building something from the raw materials and shaping it into music that other people enjoy listening to can be a very rewarding experience.

Another one of my favourite parts for sure is going to one of those big festivals and seeing one of “my” bands perform with thousands and thousands of people in the crowd singing along every single word…always gives me chills.

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What got you into Music Production?

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I’ve always been interested in music, I started playing guitar when I was 8 years old and  used to play in bands in my teens, but I’ve always had a very “technical” approach to things, I always wanted to dissect and understand everything.

I’m a perfectionist by nature and was never satisfied with my gear, my tones, anything, so I’ve always been tinkering with guitars, amps, trying to improve and trying to learn. So I seem to have naturally gravitated towards the more “technical” side of making music.

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Some bands you’ve worked with as a producer?

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Phew, my memory is so terrible, every now and then I have a look at Allmusic or Discogs and am reminded how many bands there actually are (and how old I apparently am ;) ).

Alestorm

Gloryhammer

Sigh

Warrel Dane

Wind Rose

Raven

A Night In Texas

Communic

Malignancy

…would be some of them.

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Favourite plugin?

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STL Tones Tonality Lasse Lammert of course ;P

But if I could use just ONE plugin for all mixing, it’d probably be a good SSL style channel strip, out of those my current favourite is the Waves SSL EV2, it’s got that sweet top end that never gets harsh even with massive boosts, just like the original 4k desk.

But in the end it’s all just tools, I’d be fine with the stock pro tools plugins to be honest.

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Favourite piece of studio gear?

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Probably my Icon D-Control, cause it enables me to mix MUCH faster and more intuitively, using the desk helps me mix more with my ears rather than my eyes.

Another very strong contender would be the Smart Research C2 stereo compressor….best SSL style bus comp I’ve ever tried.

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What are you currently listening to?

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Podcasts, audio books…mainly about quantum physics or astro physics.

Unfortunately I rarely listen to music outside of work, it’s too easy to get burnt out on it if it’s all you do all day anyway.

If I do listen to music, it’s usually 2010 US pop country…my guilty pleasure ;)

Sounds silly, but it’s always very well produced and it reminds me of good times recording Alestorm in Florida 2017, where we used to listen to country radio on our way to the studio every day, haha.

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You’re stuck on an island and can have only one album, which album are you taking?

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Since I assume there won’t be electricity or a record player, I’d probably go with one of those Alestorm limited wooden box sets, cause the box might come in handy when I need to trap some small animals for food... also there’s a rubber duck in there to keep me company, the shiny CD I could probably use to make fire or signal to some passing boat or plane.

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Your biggest inspiration?

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My kids ;)

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Are you in any bands or projects at the moment that you’d like to share with us?

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No, I stopped making music a few years back, at some point I just got burnt out on rehearsing, cause it started feeling like my day job.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but when being in a band and rehearsing started feeling like a chore, I decided to quit…I thought I’d miss it more, cause playing in bands has always been a very important part of my life in my teens and twenties.

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What hobbies do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

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Kickboxing, Muay Thai and fishing.

I used to be fanatic about Muay Thai and trained my ass off, fought full contact and pretty much lived it 24/7 (whenever I wasn’t working or spending time with the family anyway ;) ), then when covid and the lockdown hit, I wasn’t able to train anymore, so I gained a lot of weight and became a lazy fuck…I really should get my shit together and get back into it though, I think difficult physical challenges can be quite rewarding and also help with mental well-being.

I’m also crazy about fishing, specifically lure fishing with big Japanese swimbaits…

everything I do, I always overdo, there’s no middle ground for me, so all of a sudden I found myself fishing competitions, working in lure development/design and having what probably is one of the biggest collections of Japanese swimbaits and rare limited rods and reels, haha.

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Which instruments do you play?

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I used to play guitar a lot but honestly haven’t touched a guitar more than twice in the past 5-6 years (for the aforementioned reasons), but things come and go in phases, I’m sure I’ll be able to rekindle my love for it eventually

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Please can you tell us about your Guitar collection?

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There are a lot, haha.

I really love ESP custom shop guitars, especially the mid to late 90ies models, so I have a shit ton of those.

There are also a bunch of old les Pauls, some Jackson USA, some Ibanez RGs, a few Strats, a Parker, some PRS….

A few years back Siggi Braun, a well respected German luthier, approached me with the idea of my very own signature model so that happened and it’s hella sick ;)

It’s like a cross between an explorer and a Jackson Kelly, neck through, progressively scalloped fretboard, Fishman pickups etc, it’s absolutely amazing and I’m rather proud of it ;)

There are a lot, haha.

I really love ESP custom shop guitars, especially the mid to late 90ies models, so I have a shit ton of those.

There are also a bunch of old les Pauls, some Jackson USA, some Ibanez RGs, a few Strats, a Parker, some PRS….

A few years back Siggi Braun, a well respected German luthier, approached me with the idea of my very own signature model so that happened and it’s hella sick ;)

It’s like a cross between an explorer and a Jackson Kelly, neck through, progressively scalloped fretboard, Fishman pickups etc, it’s absolutely amazing and I’m rather proud of it ;)

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Please can you tell us about your amp collection?

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Phew, I have about as many amps as guitars…so maybe 40ish or so?

Most of them are geared more towards the modern high gain range of sounds though, but I also have a handful of old Marshalls which I really love, super leads, JMPs, old JCM800 etc, I think those old classics still sound great today.

The ones I use most in the studio are probably my Driftwood Purple Nightmare, a Recto RevF, the 5150 line and the Soldano SLO100….but all my amps are actually been used regularly for different bands and projects.

I hate working with presets, I always try to approach every session from scratch and I definitely don’t wanna repeat myself, I always try to capture the unique sound of a band. So I usually try a lot of stuff with the band when it comes to amps, cabs and mics, cause I wanna work with tones that they’re in love with rather than just use what I know has worked before.

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Any funny studio stories you can share with us?

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Soooo many funny situations, but none that I could share publicly I guess, haha (also, my memory is really bad ;) )

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Thanks for taking part  Lasse, you're a legend!