Highly respected Australian Goth/Darkwave trio Ikon are synonymous with Toyland Recording Studio – over twenty years every one of their full albums has been engineered and mixed here, and as the studio has evolved, so has the sound we’ve co-created for Ikon.

Chris McCarter of Ikon laying down some acoustic guitar in Tracking Room One at Toyland Recording Studio.

Songwriter Chris McCarter is a true electro songwriter – he programs basic beats as his composition process, and then brings those into the studio, and we arrange the songs. Toyland has a wonderful collection of vintage analogue synths, and you can hear the beautiful dynamic Oberheim Xpander (1984), Oberheim OB-Xa (1980), and the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 (1978) all used to great effect on this album. There is nothing like the punch, presence and groove provided by these classic instruments; the second single, ‘Stolen’, with vocals by Clifford Ennis, particularly showcases analogue synths. ‘Everyone, Everything, Everywhere Ends’ is also notable for featuring acoustic drums, and real bass and guitar amps, instead of simulators for the first time in many albums; this showcased the new Marshall and Ampeg Toyland backline, and imbibed the recordings with a warm and organic energy.

Ikon’s Chris McCarter having a field day on the awesome vintage synths available for artist use at Toyland Recording Studio.

In addition to delivering the final mix for release, the band also took away a live version of the songs, to integrate into their electro/acoustic performances. ‘Everyone, Everything, Everywhere Ends’ was launched on April 5th at The Liberty Social, to a wonderful response from the Gothic punters. The album includes 2 CDs beautifully packaged in a recycled board softpack with black foil blocking. The first single ‘I Burn for You’ is available in purple, white and clear 7″ vinyl and has a wonderful music video directed by Nicholas Murphy, shot at Old Geelong Gaol. ‘Blood of Love’, a track from the album, was named as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition out of more than 19,000 entries worldwide; judges for the competition include Robert Smith of The Cure, and members of Garbage.

There are some fabulous music videos of songs from this album, available for streaming via the artist’s channel on YouTube.

‘Stolen’ is the second single from the Ikon album ‘Everyone, Everything, Everywhere Ends’, recorded at Toyland Recording Studio by Adam Calaitzis.

The clip is directed by Nicholas Murphy, and this songs features Clifford Ennis (Subterfuge) on vocals.