Phebe Starr Performs Carole King’s ‘So Far Away’ Live from Happy
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Phebe Starr has been lighting up the Australian electro-pop scene since emerging in the early 2010s. The self-taught artist has also taken a didactic approach to her career, setting up her working bases between Sydney and L.A. Alongside her critically acclaimed catalogue, Starr’s creative energy is a force to be reckoned with, in live shows and on record.
That energy was poured into her performance at the Live from Happy set. In an electrifying version of the classic, So Far Away, she paid tribute to another staunchly independent artist, Carole King.
The delicate original was filled with folk flourishes that were a hallmark of the early ’70s. With the help of Jack Colwell’s string arrangement, Starr transformed So Far Away into a powerful, emotionally charged ballad.
So Far Away was Mixed and Recorded by Radi Safi, Dan Shaw and Owen Penglis
In the hands of Starr, Colwell, and a crack trio of sublime string players, So Far Away was reborn as a lavish, baroque-pop siren song. Phebe Starr’s extraordinary interpretation effortlessly reflected the lyrical mastery of one of the 20th century’s most-loved songwriters.
“This song has really been speaking to me lately, because of Covid and being stuck so far away from people,” said Starr. “That feeling of not being able to see the people that you love.”
Check out the performance below:
Live from Happy is made possible with the help of our tech partner Sennheiser. Here’s a list of the microphones, in-ear monitors and headphones that were used to capture this incredible performance:
Live from Happy Gear List
Usually a microphone you’d find on movie sets or outdoors, the MKH 8060 was perfect for capturing the lead vocal from a distance while maintaining maximum clarity.
A detailed and versatile small-diaphragm condenser, the Sennheiser MKH 40-P48 is ideal for reproducing the vitality of acoustic string instruments. In this case, two were used to capture the violin and viola.
In the same family of microphones as the MKH 40-P48, the MKH 50-P48 has the same richness, while rejecting off-axis sound with precision. Perfect for capturing the tone of the cello.
The tiny, yet powerful Sennheiser MKH 8050 was used to record the stereo spread of the piano. Detailed, yet capable of reproducing all the piano’s bottom-end power.
The quiet achiever of the session, the IE 100 PRO was used for Phebe Starr’s monitoring. A discreet, yet powerful foldback solution for vocalists.
A session is only as good as its monitoring, but the HD 300 PRO made it easy. With an exceptionally flat frequency response and superb isolation, the Live from Happy engineers could be completely confident in their recording and mixing decisions.
