sound dust: Happy Spring!

Hi there.

As the weather changes from cold to less cold, many of the projects I was busy with over the fall and winter are done and mastered and awaiting a release, or they're in the home stretch of mixing.

It was an amazing end of 2012. I feel fortunate to have worked on some of the projects that I did, but am also looking forward to what the rest of 2013 has in store. Let's go down the list, shall we?

Chelsea Light Moving's debut full length saw it's release. There have been countless reviews of this record. Read them all you want.. they're fine.. but I'd definitely recommend going out and grabbing the LP. It's heavy, brooding, and loud. There's beauty to it, as well. It was recorded and mixed at Sonelab by yours truly. Tracked mostly live, mixed OTB, mastered by Carl Saff.

To coincide with the release of their new record, they played our friend Trevor's birthday party at a house in Haydenville, MA. I was hired to come and record the show. I packed up some mics, stands, my mobile Pro Tools rig, and trekked over the river and through the woods to the house where the show was happening. Setup was abridged and the show rocked. My audio was sync'd to the video that was taken and the results are here. It's totally worth a watch/listen!

Central Vermont's Carton came into Sonelab for a series of short sessions to complete their EP. We set up for basics and banged out 8 songs. All live (aside from two guitar overdubs and vocal tracks). Two of the songs were mixed for a split 7" released by Negative Fun Records. Their EP is on their bandcamp. Check it out!

Guillermo Sexo's new record, which will be proudly released by Boston's Midriff Records, is mixed! I've worked with the band for years, and I think I say this every time: this record is their best! It covers a lot of ground and has a lot of layers. At the core is really brilliantly written and preformed music. We had some seriously-high track counts going on here. I broke my record with a count of 80 tracks on one of the songs, only to pull up the next song and hit 84! Since the mix session was largely unattended, I mixed it ITB. It was great to have the convenience of Pro Tools for this one, because with upwards of 84 tracks, I needed the automation! I also got to have a lot of fun with an old Tascam Spring reverb unit I got as a gift years ago. It's a beautiful-sounding two-channel piece, however it's not stereo. The two channels sound completely different and both very useful!

Northampton's Orange Television came in for two days of tracking for their forthcoming full length. The three piece came in with Mitch and Alex Chakour producing. The team-work was great! We had a lot of fun with guitar and bass sounds, switching amps and guitars around often. There was still a great cohesiveness to the tracks, though. Amps used: Vox AC30, Laney Supergroup 60, Fender Bassman, Traynor YBA-1, Epiphone Valve Jr, and even an acoustic guitar with an open tuning set to resonate at certain chords, set off by the guitar cab.. and I think that's it! Once again, badass drummer in our drum room = killer drum sounds!

In November/December 2012, I recorded an excellent band called Aye Nako from Brooklyn, NY. Apparently Pitchfork just posted an mp3 of one of the songs! I really had a blast working with this trio and look forward to making another record with them in the future. The word on the street is that their test pressing has come in, checks out, and is off to the presses... home stretch for that record to be released! Can't wait.

Body/Head came into Sonelab to finish mixing their forthcoming LP. This record is absolutely beautiful! We did a few overdubs but mostly mixed. Kim played some French Horn and Bill slept for a bit. Pictures to prove it all below.. Their forthcoming record is very close to being done. Having worked on their first EP/LP, I can tell you that the progressions they've made, as a duo, are outstanding.

NYC's 1-800-BAND came up for two days to rock Bisquiteen. It was a freakin blast! Four songs in two days, tracked and mixed. I hadn't been to Bisquiteen in a long time so it was nice to use all of J's great gear! The band brought a black and blue Matchless that sounded simply amazing. Apparently it was the guitar amp used on a famous "blue" album recorded in the 90s! Some of my all time favorite guitar tones!!

Dig the photos. Keep in touch. Reach out if you're interested in studio time, or just chatting.