Who We Are
DELICATE/AUTOMATIC is the culmination of a longtime musical relationship and collaboration that began when Rob Helsten and Matthew Hills, individually, moved to Montreal in 2005 and formed a band. Having both grown up in small towns in Ontario, neither had any meaningful contacts in Montreal, nor did they have a ton of money. Together, they learned how to tour, record, and market their band without label backing or, really, any help beyond that of their family and a few close friends. These experiences have strongly influenced their continuing musical careers, and their comfort working together helps create a focused but friendly atmosphere at the studio.
In short they’ve been through it, and they’ve been through it alone, just like you. They know how challenging making a record can be, and how important it is. They know all the steps you have to take to get there properly, and they are sympathetic to just how sensitive spending that money can be. In curating their gear list, they have focused on the analog aesthetic; with both vintage and modern gear that is capable of full-bandwidth and un-coloured sound while understanding that sometimes you just want to get dirty. Above all they have kept their rates affordable, because they understand that as the industry prices itself out of the budgets of small bands, they are only making it harder to do what, really, we all just want to do: make good records.