Ireland’s Long Island Sound has been finetuning their rapturous take on techno for over a decade. A journey that started in Dublin over a shared passion for electronic music and live hardware has seen the pair go on to launch the wonderfully forward-thinking Signs of Space imprint, perform throughout Dublin, the UK, and Berlin, whilst unleashing a wave of EPs, LPs, and remixes culminating in the release of their incredibly well-received full-length album, Hydra, in 2024.
This year has seen Long Island Sound perform headline shows across Europe, including live shows in Dublin, Prague, and London’s iconic Fabric. The pair have also hosted Signs of Space label takeovers at key UK dance festivals and continued their remarkable run at popular Dublin spot Tengu, a venue that has been instrumental to their promising career.
The next entry in Rob Roche and Tim Nolan’s absorbing label saga sees them dive into sharper sonic territory, channelling their emotive production sensibilities to curate something raw, restless, and alive.
After a decade honing their expansive sound, Long Island Sound’s next single captures the duo at their most electrified. ‘Stung’ strikes fast, opening with a hypnotic tangle of spidery synths, rumbling bass notes, and razor-sharp breaks. The track’s dense, ethereal ambience is punctuated by a singular, uncanny vocal – another example of the vibrant, cross-pollinated sound that has come to define their label.
It’s been one year since our debut live performance. Over the past twelve months, we’ve taken the show on the road – from London’s fabric to Prague’s Bike Jesus to Dublin’s own Centre Point. Along the way, we’ve learned a lot about how to survive and thrive playing live. Here’s a non-exhaustive guide to the gear, tips, and tricks that have kept us going through our first run of shows.
GEAR
Custom Flight Cases
These flight cases are our pride and joy. Designing them was like working on a complex jigsaw puzzle – every piece had to fit perfectly. We needed everything to be secure and safe, arranged for performance efficiency, and still compliant with airline baggage size and weight restrictions.
Having these cases has been a game-changer. They’ve made performing outside Dublin not only possible, but actually enjoyable. Because the gear is fully integrated into the cases, we can play without having to remove a single piece of equipment. Set-up and pack-down take minutes, which means less stress and more focus on the show itself.
Massive thanks to Rory at Winston Cases in Dublin for helping us bring this design to life – he’s the GOAT.
MS-1 Cheat Sheets
We use the Behringer MS-1 for lead sounds across many tracks in our live set. The synth can’t receive patch changes from Ableton, which means every time we switch songs, we need to manually dial in the parameters.
To make that smoother, we put together “cheat sheets” – simple printouts showing the exact knob positions for each track. The one pictured here is for our tune CV / Gate. If we ever forget how to set up the MS-1 for a track, a quick glance brings us right back.
We have a cheat sheet for every song the MS-1 features in, and we keep photos on our phones as a backup. It’s a small thing, but it keeps pre-show panic to a minimum.
Redundancy & Backups
When you’re playing live, things can go wrong – so we try to prepare for every eventuality. If the laptop running our live set were to crash, we’ve got a second one running in tandem, ready to take over instantly. And if that one failed… well, there are always USBs for DJing.
Thankfully, we’ve never had to resort to the backup laptop (or the USBs), but knowing they’re there keeps us relaxed on stage. We also carry spares of almost everything – instrument cables, USBs, adapters – because anything that can break eventually will. Our playback and lighting engineer has a great saying: “Better looking at it than looking for it.” It’s become our unofficial live show motto.
Earplugs
Ask any musician about their biggest regrets, and chances are earplugs will come up. We’re no different – some damage was definitely done in our early years. But over the last decade, we’ve become almost obsessive about them. You’ll rarely find us at a club or festival without a pair.
During a live set, we are constantly making micro-adjustments to the sound. Ear fatigue dulls that sensitivity fast, so earplugs help us stay precise from start to finish.
One of us went the custom-moulded route, while the other sticks with disposables – easier to replace when lost. Either way, protecting our hearing is non-negotiable.
QUICK-FIRE TIPS
Check drum machine latency/sync at every soundcheck. Nothing is worse than a slightly out-of-time drum machine – unless you’re into that sort of thing.
Make a signal flow chart. What’s obvious in the studio can become a maze of cables on the road. A chart keeps everything mapped and helps troubleshoot signal issues.
Label. Your. Cables. A chart won’t help if you can’t tell your instrument, power, or USB cables apart.
Keep gear on and ready. Between soundcheck and performance, leave everything powered and untouched if possible. Nothing’s worse than finding your laptop off and parameters reset right before a set.
Use right-angled cables where you can. They save space, especially in smaller cases or on tight risers.
