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July 2010
In the forthcoming Issue 75 of AT, Brett Moses continues to till the fertile soil of Pleasant Valley Studio. Overdub sessions have just been completed on Bryan Estepa’s album – tracked at Linear Recordings, singer/songwriter, Andrew J Kluchareff, has started sessions for his debut EP release, and Brett is working with legendary guitarist Steve Fataar (Flames/Beach Boys), as well as South Africa’s renowned upright jazz bassist, Basil Moses (yes, they’re related). Plans for Brett’s ‘studio proper’ have been modified too many times to count, but thanks to help from Rick O’Neil, a final layout has been decided on, and construction is underway. Brett’s also been playing assistant engineer for Michael Carpenter and Matt Fell at Love Hz.
Matthew Gray Mastering is now offering CD replication and duplication alongside the usual Matt Grey mastering service. International work at the facility has included a six-track EP for Philadelphian band, Hong Kong Stingray, a compilation CD featuring artists from Singapore, and two tracks for US electro artist, Richard Ellington. Local mastering work includes an album for Sydney metalcore band, Daysend – mixed by jENK. Other endeavours include an EP for Sydney outfit, Modern Joy, mixed at The Grove by Josh Telford, and an album for Melbourne based artist, Isaac de Heer, produced and mixed by Ian Batten in the UK.
The eternally dubious Bob Scott has been location recording for a show about boxing star, Billy the Kid. Bob’s recording boxing training sessions and fights, telling us he’s getting some great dynamic, multi-channel audio using a Sound Devices 788 and Sennheiser mics. Other missions include location recordings at the Canberra International Music Festival, and further mixing and editing of Bliss, the opera – mixing 80 channels with an eight-fader Digidesign ProControl. Eeek!
At Rancom St Studio in Botany, singer/songwriter Travis Collins has finished tracks for his next album – produced by Travis and engineered by Ted Howard. David Musumeci and Anthony Egizii from DNA Songs dragged Paul McKercher down to Rancom St to record drums for Kate Dearaugo’s upcoming release – they’re back for a return bout towards the end of June.
BJB Studios hosted Art vs Science, monster drummer Chris Cester from Jet, and Little Red throughout the first half of May. The remainder of the month saw Canyons, Holly Throsby and The Basement Birds (Bob Evans, Josh Pyke, and Kav from Eskimo Joe) in the Quad Eight room, with Little Red and CODA rounding out the month in the Neve Room. Clients for June include Die! Die! Die!, Tom Ugly, The Bakery, NEDA, The Heroins, as well as the commencement of BJB’s Creative Music Production Workshops with Scott Horscroft.
At The Grove Studios, producer and mix engineer, Darren ‘jENK’ Jenkins, has completed recording and mixing two singles for Brisbane pop/punk band, Flicks. Darren is currently in pre-production with Aussie heavy-metal proponents, Mortal Sin. Tracking for the band’s forthcoming album will be underway late June – engineered at The Grove, and mixed by Darren at L.A. Studios in Sydney’s west. July sees the jENK-meister back at The Grove to conjure an EP for Newcastle rock outfit, Truth Ruby.
The Grove is also ecstatic to relay news of senior engineer, Josh Telford, being selected as one of 12 engineers worldwide to take part in a one-week, European training program with mixing megalith, Michael Brauer.
Mark ‘Sparky’ Paltridge of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, was overwhelmed to have his shipping container, Spark 1 Studios, featured on Better Homes and Gardens last month. His studio caught the eye of the Channel Seven lifestyle program while compiling an episode covering ‘instant extensions’, and other obscure ways to add to an existing house.
Ex Sony Music mastering-man, Michael Lynch, has his very own mastering facility underway in Leichhardt, Sydney – dubbed Shoehorse Sound. However, he’s still sneaking up to the Blue Mountains for the occasional moonlight job at Sound Heaven Studios. Recent work includes mastering for oud [you know, the instrument] virtuoso, Joseph Tawadros, featuring the talents of John Abercrombie, John Patitucci, James Tawadros, and Jack DeJohnette, along with projects for Pugsley Buzzard, Ray Beadle, Jimmi Carr, Mark Lucas, and Kate Rowe.
Meanwhile, Megaphon Studios has seen troubadour, Paul McKercher, tracking with Canberra band, The Humanimals, while Megaphon’s chief engineer, Shane Fahey, has been working on Scattered Order’s latest, and tracking with Royal Chant. Cat Colman has been working on a debut EP for Sydney act, ex Trendy, as well as recording and mixing the Kool Skools high-school projects for 2010. The studio’s newest recruit, Chris Hancock, has been getting his hands dirty mixing the latest batch of live recordings from The Nest studio gig series. Those recordings and videos can be experienced at Megaphon’s YouTube site.
Alchemix Recording Studios has recently added an eight-track tape machine to the formula, as well as a two-track mastering tape machine. Marly and the gang are busy recording a number of EPs and albums at the moment, utilising the diversity of tastes presented by the studio’s cavalcade of five in-house engineers.
Hospital Hill Recordings joins What’s On this issue – the studio being founded by Matt McGuigan and recently abetted by Jacob Craig. Matt was the guitarist for Brett Dean’s opera, Bliss, so he was thrilled to tick ‘playing the Sydney Opera House’ off his ‘life’s ambitions list’. Upcoming project include production for Melbourne band, Earl Grey Policy, when they record their third album in July, and recording the Sydney University Big Band. Recent gear additions include a Neumann U67, a pair of Schoeps omni mics, a Prism Orpheus, Matchless HC-30 amp head, and a Manley Massive Passive. Needless to say, Matt’s in gear lust heaven.
Halfway across the continent, Mick Wordley of Mixmasters is mastering the new Shane Howard record, as well as mixing the Amanda Palmer Radiohead cover album, then finishing a Jude Elliot album. Mick’s spending most of June in Melbourne at Sing Sing South, working with Kerryn Tolhurst on a Lee Morgan record. He’ll also be flitting to and fro’ Adelaide for a Brewster Brothers (Angels) record. Mixmasters has added a Neumann U48 to its embarrassingly humungus gear list, and this will make you sick, Mixmasters now has a pair of U48s. Mixmasters has almost run out of the celebrated first vintage of Mixmasters Chilli Sauce too. Anyone experiencing withdrawal should contact Mr Wordley for a top up.
Paul Gomersall is snuggling into his recently completed Byron Bay mastering studio, House of Gom, with work being completed for Marshall & the Fro, Kolonel Bizarre, Shoebox, B Movie, Snez, Kim Churchill, Very Unique Existence, mixing and mastering for Deeem, and a quick sojourn at Sydney’s 301 recording The Sunpilots. Phew!
Glen Santry from HeartBeat Studio has been working on an educational tool for scripture in schools, entitled Godspace, and mixing Karl Broadie’s fifth full-length album, with Karl producing. On both projects, Glen re-amped D.I.’d bass through a Peavey Tour 700 head and a Musicman 4×10 cabinet with satisfying results – he reckons it’s not much more effort than loading a plug-in.
Studios 301 has been a hive of activity, with The Sunpilots recording demos with Andy Bull, Slow Down Honey, and Cameras venturing into the studio to record. The 301 gang had news that Muse’s new single Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever), written at 301 in January, is the first single from the soundtrack of the next installment of Twilight Saga: Eclipse. On the mastering front,
the 301 audio masseurs have been tzujzing up tracks for Brian McFadden, Crowded House, Rogue Traders, Tame Impala, Bluejuice, The McClymonts, Clare Bowditch, Basement Birds, and Chasing Amy.
The Brain Studios put its production schedule on hold to host a drummer’s workshop with Billy Rymer of The Dillinger Escape Plan. 15 drummers travelled from as far afield as New Zealand to participate, and witness some utterly explosive playing from Billy. Red Bee dropped by to record and mix a single with Clayton Segelov, as did Sydney band, Alps. Singer/songwriter Julian Scott recorded an EP – engineered by Michael Taverner, while Breaking Orbit did some late nights on their debut album with Evan McHugh. Legendary photographer, Cat O’Nine Tails of shotwithdesire.com, recently graced The Brain – the latest location for one of her infamous erotic shoots. Sydney mathcore kings, Nobody Knew They Were Robots, tracking guest vocals with Skarlett Saramore (ex Chaingang), managed to work around the naked girls draped over the console without objection.
The lads at Benchmark Mastering have been busy mastering tracks for Israel Cannan, Dos Hell, Paul Kelly, Unified Gecko, and Dan Kelly’s latest. Don Bartley had his hands full mastering a live DVD for Gin Wigmore, while Reece Tunbridge utilised Benchmark’s Class-A ATR ½-inch recorder to achieve the sound Sydney hardcore rockers, The Corps, were after for their EP.
Down the hallway, Level 7 Studios continued recording for Galarrwuy Yunupingu. The session included a string section arranged by CODA’s Nick Wales. Also ensconced in Level 7 was American producer/engineer, Eric J Dubowsky, tweaking mixes for Slow Down Honey.
In the deep south, the Crystal Mastering couch comforted Good Violence, Nick Charles, Denham Reagh, Young Mavericks, State of Flux, Special Patrol, The Happy Endings, Box Rockets, Alex Anonymous, Lost Burros, Coby Grant and My Fiction (produced by Magoo). Old-school metal band, Pegazus, were back mastering with Joe Carra after an eight-year hiatus. The lads promise not to take so long with the next album. Other metal projects include a live album for Antiskeptic, a single for Jerricho, as well as vinyl mastering for Blkout. Knowledge Bones, Skryptcha, and Bliss N Eso were also given final tweaks.
The Base is perpetually busy, with Phil Threlfall recording and mixing EPs for July Days and Kingbayler, tracking sessions with Alexis Nicole and the Missing Pieces, and mixing sessions with electro group, The Stripperz. Paris Wells and Ryan Ritchie from Rhyno Music returned for piano tracking on the C7 grand, while Phil Threlfall and Tammy Ari continue mixing what could amount to a double album’s worth of material.
At SJS Music, Steven Hearne is pleased to report that Melbourne-based Pony Girl and the Outsiders are deep into the business end of their debut album. Steven tracked drums at Sing Sing South, before the band moved overdub proceedings to producer, Lachlan Wooden’s, studio Planet of the Tapes Drum tech extraordinaire, Travis Dempsey (ex The Living End), was brought in at tracking stage to tune the kit. After hearing his kit, PGATO drummer, David ‘Ninja’ Godfrey was heard to say, “Holy crap. That’s amazing!”
At Deluxe Mastering Tony ‘Jack the Bear’ Mantz has been mastering for Luke Dickens, Bay of Nails, Doghair Jacket and The Madness Method, amongst many others including several overseas electronica projects. Adam Dempsey’s been finishing releases for Lloyd Spiegel, The Orbweavers, Ben Riddle, Heidi Elva, Charles Baby, Adam Toms, a double disc Vol.30 of the spoken word anthology institution Going Down Swinging, as well as a track for a Townes Van Zandt compilation from Melbourne expats Luluc, who’ve been getting rave reviews in Canada and the US with a couple of their album tracks featured in Grey’s Anatomy. Nice!
Send Brad a sticky-note via brad@audiotechnology.com.au
