1 June 2004
Macworld
Page 28
Volume 21; Issue 6; ISSN: 07418647

ROCK BAND TAKES ITS MACS ON THE ROAD

When Sune Wagner hits the road with his band, The Raveonettes, one piece of equipment needs to accompany him everywhere-and it's not necessarily his guitar. Instead, Wagner's 15-inch PowerBook G4 is the most important thing he takes on the road.

"The best thing is that I have it at all times," the Raveonettes lead guitarist and singer says.

Wagner's attitude is shared by the rest of The Raveonettes, a Danish rock band that's developing a following stateside. (The band's 2003 album, Chain Gang of Love, made Rolling Stone's year-end Top 50 list.) Bass player Sharin Foo owns a 12-inch 1GHz PowerBook G4 and a 40GB iPod, while drummer Jacob Hoyer jams on his 15-inch 867MHz PowerBook G4 and his 2OGB iPod.

To The Raveonettes, these Macs are as crucial to making music as any instrument. Wagner not only uses his PowerBook to create beats before performances, but also keeps it powered up on stage as the band plays, running a long Apple Pro Tools session with some backup beats, additional percussion, and harmony. The band records all its music via the Mac. Sometimes, Wagner even moonlights as a DJ when he's on tour, hooking up his iPod to a set of speakers to share a good mix of music.

"I'll run Pro Tools, and I'll put in songs [the day before], and I'll edit a really good set with a nice flowing set and will import it as one long DJ set into the iPod," he says. While he loses the spontaneity of live mixing, Wagner says it saves him from transporting boxes of records and CDs to parties.

And for Wagner, that's reason enough to keep his Mac gadgetry within arm's reach. "I can't really live without it," he says.

-CYRUS FARIVAR