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******************************** Hello friends, Well, I've been super-busy with a lot of stuff, so let's dig in... RECENT GOINGS ON AT VERDANT STUDIO (and elsewhere too.....) The ever-productive swamp-noir collective WILLARD GRANT CONSPIRACY converged on Verdant recently to cut a new album for a fall release on Loose Records (I believe). Robert Fisher flew in from L.A., Steve Wynn drove up from NYC, and Dave Curry & Sean O'Brien came up from Boston to (very efficiently, and mostly live-in-the-studio) record 18 songs from the WGC catalog in "stripped down to the bare bones" fashion. On the rise singer-songwriter SARAH GREENE, with L.A.-based producer SIN QUIRIN (Ministry, RevCo) brought a 9-foot grand piano into Verdant for some major tracking on what will be her debut album. Wish we could always have such a beautiful instrument on hand at Verdant, but it's good to know it is quite do-able to rent it. Brilliant midwestern-folkie-with-guts JEFFREY FOUCAULT recorded and mixed his latest album for Signature Sounds (I believe) at Verdant with engineer Justin Pizzoferrato. The album's concept? Songs written around Lisa Olstein's poetic lyrics, recorded and mixed spontaneously and without fuss. The results will not dissappoint. Guitarist/co-producer Dave "Goody" Goodrich, bassist Jeremy "Moses" Curtis, drummer Billy Conway, and up-from-Nashville pedal steel player Alex McCollough all put in stellar performances. Western Massachusetts combo WORLD'S GREATEST DAD worked with engineer extraordinaire Matt Jugenheimer on some new material with happy results. More on this as I learn it. In the meantime, visit WGD at: www.myspace.com/dadgreatestworlds The ORIGINAL COWARDS, based in Northampton, recorded a few powerful songs in short order. Great, post-new-wave rootsy soul. Looking forward to working with them on more stuff in the future. Boston's KINGSLEY FLOOD astonished me with their material, musicianship, exuberance, fortitude and downright stamina in the studio. Not to mention the fact that they tracked an album's worth of gems ranging from southern twang to Stonesy swagger. Attention, fans of eclectic, clever, semi-twee boy-girl pop! ONE HAPPY ISLAND returned to Verdant to cut a few more songs (they already had a pair of gems in the can). The plan is to finish a full length album by the end of the summer. Stay tuned. RELEASE THE HOUNDS, featuring My Own Worst Enemy drummer A.J. Aubrey, came to Verdant and may have set some sort of efficiency record by recording, mixing, and mastering five complete songs in two days. Ostensibly a demo for live gigs, I think the recordings came out really well and stand on their own. Boston-via-Japan roots-pop trio TOKYO TRAMPS began work on their third (??) full-length album. Their talent, soulfulness, and efficiency in the studio is amazing. I look forward to continuing work with them soon. BRIAN WEBB began work on his debut album, with Austin Nevins producing (and guitar'ing) and yours truly engineering. Great songs and a very cool live-in-the-studio vibe (most of Brian's lead vocals were cut live with the band). Other players included Jeff Berlin on drums, Jeremy Curtis on bass, Sean Staples on mandolin and harmonies, and the two Roses, Polenzani & Cousins on lovely harmonies. The project is a bit on hold as Brian delves into parenthood, but should be finished one of these months. Will keep you posted. HUSH ARBORS recorded an album at Verdant with engineer Justin Pizzoferrato. Mixing was handled by J MASCIS and Justin at J's Amherst, Massachusetts studio. Look for an imminent release on Ecstatic Peace Records & Tapes. I mastered ex-Velvet Undergrounder DOUG YULE's newest string band project, RED DOG. With Doug on fiddle and sharing vocal duties, the trio blends old-time string sensibility with good-time singing sensitivity. True! Find out by visiting: http://www.reddogseattle.com Also mastered the debut album for the New York experimental combo URKAS. Very cool ambient noise pieces. Visit: http://www.myspace.com/urkas Got a nice shout out on NEKO CASE's latest, brilliant CD "Middle Cyclone," for loaning some vintage keyboards for the sessions. Garth Hudson even played my old Farfisa VIP 345! Got to witness the "piano orchestra" in action in Neko's Vermont barn late last summer. Curious? Check the short documentary on this amazing album here: OTHER STUFF I'VE BEEN DOING.... READING: A great account of Gram Parsons' talent, mystery, and insufferability (a lovely word, by the way)...The Gilded Palace of Sin by Bob Proehl, one of the absolute best of the 33 1/3 RPM book series (thanks George Hall...) WRITING: After a bit of a non-writerly period, I've contributed a few pieces to TapeOp Magazine. Watch for a review of a cool Latvian microphone and a boffo interview with the legendary Al Kooper. WATCHING: The Office (finally checking out the U.S. version on Hulu.com), LISTENING TO: Neko Case's afore-mentioned new one; Prince Buster (yes!); Bobbie Gentry; The Jam; Petula Clark; Devo. Until next time, ********************************
******************************** Hello friends, I've been nominated for a Boston Music Award for "Producer of the Year: Rock/Pop," with the winner to be announced at the Roxy on December 7. If you want to cast a vote, I certainly won't stop you. You can do it here: The Weisstronauts are hosting our TENTH annual (wow, time flies...) Holiday Jubilee at Church (formerly the Linwood Grill) in Boston on Saturday December 13. This year's special guest performers are: Mercy James Gang, My Own Worst Enemy, Sool, and Logan 5 & the Runners. This is always a fun event, full of good spirits, cheer, and loosey-goosey holiday tunes. All the performers have prepared a healthy portion of seasonal songs to perform, with the occasional surprise guest vocalist etc. A little history: The first Holiday Jubilee took place in late 1999 at the Green Street Grill. We've tried our best to stage it at a different venue, with different guest performers each year. Past guests have included: Paula Kelley, The Farewells, Charlie Chesterman, Tanya Donelly, Ramona Silver, Temper, the Blackstone Valley Sinners, Frank Morey, Orange Nichole, Clayton Scoble, Baby Ray, John Haydon, Seks Bomba, and many others. Help us keep this jingle jangle tradition going and plan on stopping by Church. Music starts at 9pm sharp. Speaking of The Weisstronauts, we recently contributed a cover of Miss Mary's pop gem "That's How I Feel" to the Stereoriffic 10th Anniversary CD, on which Stereoriffic-affiliated artists cover other Stereoriffic-affiliated artists. In fact, England's own MJ Hibbett (of Validators fame) paid us a huge honor by covering our theme song "Saddle Up." Great fun and good times. RECENT GOINGS ON AT VERDANT STUDIO (and elsewhere too.....) DRIVE BY WIRE: I had the privilege and pleasure of mixing the new album "Between Oceans" by these Dutch stoner-rock masters. Tracking was done at Studio Metro by the great Maz Morsink, who got some amazing sounds on "tape" and contributed some sizzling guitar as well. The band was in the Netherlands, so let's just say that tons of data was uploaded and downloaded during the mixing sessions. I found myself getting up unusually early (by rock standards) to make the most of our 7-hour time difference, communication-wise. Email and Skype came in way handy. The result is beautiful, heavy, sludgy rock. Dramatic as hell, really. These guys are very big in Europe (especially Greece) and we look forward to the time when they can do a U.S. tour. BELL X1: I helped coordinate and record a brief, but very gratifying overdub session on this Irish pop group's in-progress new album. Their producer, Roger Bechirian (Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Lene Lovich...) contacted me, saying the band didn't have the budget to fly over to the States, but really wanted a New Orleans-style brass section on a song of theirs called, "Curtains." So I broke out my phone book and called everyone I knew in New Orleans. Long story short: thanks to Jon Kardon and Chris George & Daniel Majorie at the Living Room studio, we were able to assemble a horn section and record it in short order in the cradle of American music, New Orleans. On Election Day, no less... HARRIS: On-the-rise Boston pop-rock band recently tracked their new album with producers Alex McKenzie and Andy Marinkowski. The tracks I heard sound stellar, huge. Keep an ear out. THE FLYING ANTS: Mysterious clan of old friends converged for frenzied tracking of its long-awaited sophomore album. Head Ant Kevin Shortsleeve DROVE IN from Winnipeg (!!), while bassist Jeb Ensslen flew in from Atlanta (!!) Drummer John Clarke got off easy and merely drove from Salem, Mass. Whew! Anyway, a full length album was nearly completely tracked in a period of five days. And this includes some amazing keyboard overdubs by Jamie Edwards (Aimee Mann, Grant Lee Phillips...) Mixing to follow early next year; will keep you posted. ORB MELLON: Just finished engineering/co-producing Orb's sophomore album, "Moan." Expanded sonic spectrum includes Jeff Berlin on drums and yours truly on bass. Jeff Lipton handled mastering deftly. Great, raw delta string- and vocal cord-wrangling stuff. CD available soon. WHO SHOT HOLLYWOOD: Western Massachusetts youth rockers came up with "Dad-ager" Skeg Kendall to cut their second EP, "Springtime in Greenland" in as many years. Great, skewed, quirky stuff and these guys are barely in their teens! HOPE ROTH: I'm very proud to have recently wrapped up producing Hope's great new album. Hope's songwriting is clear, concise and clever, and her voice is pure, yet soulful. Hope does not currently have a band; the studio band that was assembled at Verdant and Zippah Studios included Robert Holmes (Til Tuesday), Jeff Berlin (Bow Thayer, Catie Curtis), Roger Miller (Mission of Burma), Kevin Quinn (Weisstronauts, Sool, Mercy James Gang), Steve Mayone (see below), Jeremy Lyons, and myself. Jeff Lipton did a great job mastering at Peerless. You can pre-order the CD on Hope's website; it's due out in January. STEVE MAYONE: In-demand Boston pop craftsman/guitarist brought some tracks to Verdant for mixing and sweetening. This will be his second album and I feel safe in saying that every song should be a hit. Recommended if you like: George Harrison, Beach Boys, Flying Burrito Brothers. OTHER STUFF I'VE BEEN DOING.... READING: More stuff on photography. Between magazines, books, and talented friends who are generous with their advice, I am actually getting better at photography. True! Still a long way to go, but I started a little website for my efforts at: WATCHING: Hot Fuzz, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Reno 911, The Dark Knight, Fanny & Alexander. LISTENING TO: Mostly music I'm currently working on, to be honest. But I have had time to enjoy late-period Elvis Presley (an unjustly maligned era) on the Elvis channel (13) on Sirius. And I also had a "classic rock moment" last week, when I found myself JOYFULLY BLASTING "Who Are You" in the car. Until next time,
******************************** Pete Weiss / Verdant Studio newsletter Hello friends, Back in June, I participated in the first annual Potluck Audio Conference (formerly TapeOpCon) in New Orleans. Moderated a panel on "Mixing Tips and Tricks" and served on two other panels, "Open Room Recording" and (my fave) "Recordings That Made Me Want To Record." (Which recording did I choose to discuss? Well... Andre Williams "The Car With The Star" of course.) These really are great conferences if you're interested in recording music. They're affordable too, and a great opportunity to socialize with new friends and colleagues in a cool location that you may or may not have ever visited before. I've attended all of them dating back to 2002, and I always return home with newfound zest, zeal, vim, vigor, and other assorted states of enthusiasm, for real. From the Potluck Conference I went on a short-ish tour with the Weisstronauts that took us from New Orleans, where we played the closing party for the conference at the famous Rock and Bowl club, up through Tennessee, where we recorded some new songs at historic Ardent Studios in Memphis with our friend Jeff Powell engineering, on to North Carolina, where we caught up with some old friends and played an afternoon set at a summer camp for girls (!), and up through Washington DC and NYC, where we, well, wrapped up the tour in a rockin' fashion. Our new album "Instro-tainment!" is in the midst of a "semi-soft release" and has thus far been wildly received. Had a chance to do some overseas travelling too; my wife and I spent a week in western Ireland. Saw some amazing topography in Connemara, hung out with TapeOp-related compadre Mark O'Connor in Limerick (even got to jump onstage with Mark and play some loud loud loud guest guitar), had a brief but lovely stay in Cork, sampled Guinness and local whiskys as a matter of course (of course), made some new pals, and took some nifty photos. Had never been to Ireland before; found the people very friendly and somehow "familiar." Hope to get back there soon and check out Dublin next time. RECENT GOINGS ON AT VERDANT STUDIO (and elsewhere too.....) LOGAN 5 & THE RUNNERS: Astonishing new Boston art/glam/new wave/synthy rock outfit has been tracking and mixing with myself in the co-production chair. These fellas are amazing live and we hope the record (which is sounding quite rockin'...) knocks the listener on his/her posterior. Cool mixture of looping percolation, real drums, dramatic vocals with the occasional trumpet and rock god guitar moment thrown in for good measure. STARBOARD SILENT SIDE: Awesome acoustic rock/folk with gorgeous fiddle darting around swooping vocals. This band hails from Paris, France and stayed at Verdant almost two weeks tracking their debut album with noted Canadian-by-way-of-France producer/mastering guru Bruno Green. I feel privilieged to have gotten a chance to know these guys and hang out with them during their American visit. Watch for the album this fall on YY Records. ORB MELLON: AKA Mike Malone (ex-Dirt Merchants & Ultraswiss) returned to Verdant to work on his sophomore album. His viceral, blues-based songs are getting a more fleshed out production on this album (his first album was very spare, and very cool too), featuring Orb's slinky delta-style slide guitar work along with bass and pared-down drum kit. HOPE ROTH: Emerging Boston-based singer-songwriter has been holed up at Verdant for several pleasant stretches working on her long-awaited second album. (I had the privilege of recording Hope's first album back in the late 90's!) Some overdubs have been taking place at my old stomping grounds, Zippah Studio in Boston which is really fun; nice to get back there. The list of talented folks helping Hope out reads like a who's-who of Boston rock royalty: Robert Holmes (ex-Til Tuesday), Roger Miller (Mission of Burma), Jeff Berlin (Bow Thayer, Catie Curtis, Weisstronauts), Kevin Quinn (Mercy James Gang, Sool, Weisstronauts), Jeremy Lyons, Rich Gilbert (Frank Black, Tanya Donnelly), and my humble self. Hope's voice and songwriting have risen to the next level since her debut release; great stuff; planning to have it finished this fall. ALEX McKENZIE: Guitar-wrangler and artist extraordinaire. And recent proud owner of an Otari 2-inch 24 track recorder that resides at Verdant. Alex brought his friend Andy (I'm spacing on Andy's last name right now, which sucks because Andy is a nice and extremely talented guy, sorry!) who works at Chung King in NYC, along to engineer the sessions. Tracks sound incredible; mixing to take place at Studio G in Brooklyn, New York. NEKO CASE: At her northern Vermont retreat, Neko collected eight upright pianos (in varying states of repair), set them up in a row in her barn, and conducted a piano symphony of sorts, with her compatriots playing all the pianos simultaneously, overdubbing to tracks previously recorded with Craig Schumacher at Wavelab in Tucson, Arizona. I travelled up north to witness these remarkable proceedings and to provide some of my vintage keyboards (Farfisa organ, Yamaha SK15 synth, and Moog Rogue) for Garth Hudson (ex-The Band) to play. What I heard sounded really cool, dramatic, and spooky; keep an ear out for Neko's next release. SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN: Perennial New England experimental psychedelic outfit recently (like, as I type this) converged at Verdant with noted UK producer/remixer Four Tet and engineer extraordinaire Justin Pizzoferrato. Amazing, spacey sounds emanated from the barn during misty, hazy days... OTHER STUFF I'VE BEEN DOING.... READING: A bunch of photography magazines; I've lately become interested in stepping up my photo skills; bought a second-hand DSLR and a couple of lenses and am making headway (and having fun). Some of my photos can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/nerker2000 WATCHING: The Darjeeling Limited, The Science of Sleep, Helvetica, Six Feet Under (finally close to the end of the series; don't tell me what happens!) LISTENING TO: Led Zeppelin's "Presence" album. Strangely, I never owned it before and was completely unfamiliar with it. It's way cool, and for me it's like hearing a "new" Zep album! How often does that happen? Also, The Contrast and Jan Berry's unreleased "Carnival of Sound" album (uh, wow... nutty...) Until next time,
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******************************** Hello friends, What have I been up to? Well, randomly... I travelled around the UK last fall. Hung out with and interviewed --for TapeOp Magazine-- Adam Fuest (Big Audio Dynamite, Babyshambles) in rural Wales and Neil Brockbank (Nick Lowe, Bryan Ferry) in hip Camden Town, London. Got a chance to finally meet John Clarkson of Pennyblack Music journalistic fame in Scotland. Was able to hold (clutch?) a Sting Grammy® (no foolin'!) at Hugh Paghdam's studio in London, while hanging with TapeOp UK main man Al Lawson. Even played an acoustic gig with musical compadre MJ Hibbett in a London pub. Bloody fun trip, as they say. And very musical! Back stateside... I finally located and installed a plate reverb unit at Verdant Studio. Lovin' it! Sounds SO much smoother than any digital reverb I've ever encountered. Thanks to the fine folks at Sonic Circus. Sound samples of it are at: http://myspace.com/verdantstudio With the help of talented volunteers, the Weisstronauts have been attempting to make short music videos for every one of our songs. We've got a ways to go, but you can contribute if you're inspired to create a video for us. Just drop me an email and I'll give you the details. In the meantime, check out our latest, a video to the brand new song "Ring Mod"... RECENT GOINGS ON AT VERDANT STUDIO (and elsewhere too.....) TEMPER: Boston rock mainstay (and occasional Weisstronaut bassist) Pete Sutton's excellent pop-noir group recently cut a few tracks at Verdant. Cool sessions; very pleased with the results. And of course, lovely folks to hang out with. Check them out live; their multi-gendered harmonies will slay you! Recommended if you like Air, the Beatles, Lucinda Williams. http://bostontemper.com PRINCETON: Lately there's been a buzz about this Los Angeles collective built around twin brothers Jesse and Matt Kivel. And rightly so. Soaring, literate, sophisticated chamber pop with lush orchestrations. And these guys are only 21 to boot. I mixed their upcoming EP at Verdant, transferring track files and mixes via the interweb. Mastering was deftly handled by Jeff Lipton at Peerless. Recommended if you like Nick Drake, The Kinks, Belle & Sebastian, Simon & Garfunkel. http://princeton-band.com HAYSEED CHROME: Tracked a slew of songs for this southern Vermont outfit which features no fewer than three singers/songwriters of the highest caliber. Members are alumni of Ware River Club, Klaus Flouride, The Johnson Boys, and many others. Recommended if you like Radiohead, Rolling Stones, The La's. http://myspace.com/hayseedchrome EDDIE JAPAN: A pleasure to be working with this relatively new Boston pop band. Lead singer David Santos gets my vote for vocalist of the year... and many vocal tracks are being recorded live, with the band. Other band members also play with the Buckners, Scatterfield, Seks Bomba, The Weisstronauts, Logan 5 & the Runners. Recommended if you like Scott Walker, David Bowie, Dusty Springfield, Morrissey. http://myspace.com/eddiejapan BOW THAYER & THE PERFECT TRAINWRECK: Mixing has been completed on the prolific Bow's newest full-band album (tracked last fall at Levon Helm's barn studio in Woodstock New York.) Recommended if you like The Band, Led Zeppelin, Langhorne Slim. http://bowthayer.com JOHN HAYDON: Mixed John's new solo album "Phantom Heart" at Verdant. His best yet, with a cast of players that reads like a who's who of Boston roots royalty. Recommended if you like John Cale, Daniel Johnston, Neil Young. http://johnhaydon.com The WEISSTRONAUTS: A skeletal lineup of the Weisstronauts did a nifty cover of a MISS MARY song for Stereoriffic Recording's 10th anniversary compilation. Jeff Norcross played drums AND guitar, Kenny Lafler played tack piano, while I played bass and some guitar. Also... our slightly delayed new album is done and, pending artwork completion, will be out in early spring. We have tried our darndest to shake the "surf" label! Stay tuned and judge for yourself... Recommended if you like Southern Culture On The Skids, early Moog exploitation albums, Chet Atkins, Red Sovine, the Velvet Underground. http://weisstronauts.com Also... did mastering on: OTHER STUFF I'VE BEEN DOING.... GETTING GEARED UP FOR: the first annual Potluck Audio Conference (formerly the TapeOp Conference) in New Orleans. Will be serving on a panel or two PLUS the Weisstronauts will be travelling down to play the post-conference party and kick off our summer mini-tour. The conference organizers have negotiated an amazing discount rate at a luxury hotel in the French Quarter and have procured a slew of impressive speakers and sponsers. The TapeOp Conference had a run of 6 years and, having participating in each one, I can say it played a big part in keeping me interested in the art and science of recording music. Plus it's been nice to make a pile of new like-minded friends over the years. Thankfully, this new Potluck Conference promises to pick up where TapeOp left off. If you're interested in recording, and interested in spending some time in New Orleans, definitely consider attending. LISTENING TO: SOMA FM. Not familiar? Check out http://somafm.com Also, Little Steven's Underground Garage on Sirius. What else? Bruno Green, Lene Lovich, Squeeze, Radiohead, Talking Heads, Andy Williams. READING: My wife's blog. She's known as Melzeppelin, and she's got a talent for expounding on everything from cupcakes to feminism... with a decent amount of art, food, politics, dog, booze, wig, horticulture, and music stuff thrown in too. Check out her brain at: http://melzeppelin.blogspot.com WATCHING: The new Tom Petty documentary "Running Down A Dream." Amazing... I'm not even a big Tom Petty fan, but I've been transfixed by this 4-hour film. The guy's got a will of steel, frightening ambition, and a heck of a story to tell. And Peter Bogdanovich's directorial skills make this marathon DVD set fly by. Until next time,
******************************** Pete Weiss newsletter ******************************** Hi friends, Things have been somewhat hectic, but a bit of that's good, right? I attended the final TapeOp Conference in Tucson back in June, moderating a panel on "Open Room Recording". Panelists were Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, Adam Fuest, and Allen Farmelo and I'm happy to report I've made three new friends. These guys all rule, and not just because they are fellow embracers of working without a control room! I'm actually going to visit Adam at his studio in Wales later this fall to do some experimental song "construction" and recording. Check out his way cool studio at twinpeaksstudio.com Oh, back to the use of the word "final" when mentioning the TapeOp Conference... Have no fear, there will still be an annual conference for TapeOp-minded folks. It is now called the Potluck Audio Conference and will take place in New Orleans in June 2008. More info here: potluckcon.com RECENT GOINGS ON AT VERDANT STUDIO (and elsewhere too.....) WHO SHOT HOLLYWOOD: Old friend Greg "Skeggie" Kendall (Lifeboat, Brothers Kendall, Tackle Box) transplanted his family from Boston to Amherst MA (right down the road from Verdant) a few years ago and his sons Lucas and Dana promptly started a very cool band. This band is called Who Shot Hollywood, and they've been enjoying some pretty nifty success of late, opening for big names such as Throwing Muses and being invited to play CMJ. Sounds fairly straightforward, right? Well hang on... the oldest member of Who Shot Hollywood is all of 13 years old! These kids not only rock, but write very sophisticated, catchy, and clever songs. I had the pleasure of recording several songs with them, and also mixing a few more that were recorded at their house by uncle Bob Kendall. Please check out: myspace.com/whoshothollywood ANDY MENUDO: That's the nom-de-side-project of Andy Brooks of the seminal Boston pop group Mittens. He tracked a quirky album at home using Apple's Garageband software and (after figuring out how to extract the individual tracks, which Apple does not make particularly easy) we mixed the tracks at Verdant. Jeff Lipton recently mastered the album at Peerless. Check it out at: myspace.com/andymenudo BOW THAYER & THE PERFECT TRAINWRECK: I travelled with Bow and the boys to Woodstock, New York to co-produce a brand new album at Levon Helm Studios (yep, it's attached to Levon's house, and yep, we hung out with the man himself a bit...) Engineer/co-producer Justin Guip set the band up in such a great, organic way, we were able to record lead vocals LIVE, as part of what would normally be called "basic tracking." Great sounds, great performances; we're set to mix the album at Verdant next month. In the meantime, please do Bow (and the world) a favor and vote for him at: starbucksmusicmakerscompetition.com THE UNDERGRADUATES: Sludgy, sleazy, dangerous-sounding garage rock from Nantucket (of all places!) These guys are killer. Iggy vibe for sure. I had a blast recording their upcoming 8-song album almost completely live (lead vocals were all live) in the studio. www.myspace.com/theackundergraduates THE WEISSTRONAUTS: We just finished the last mixes in a batch of 17 new songs recorded over the past few months. Will likely whittle it down to 12-14 "primo" tracks and put out our 4th instrumental album by the end of the year. Tentatively entitled "Weisstronauts 4." (Clever, eh?) Please visit weisstronauts.com And see some newly posted videos at myspace.com/weisstronauts HOUSE BLEND: This twenty-piece (yes, as in "two, oh") vocal ensemble based in southern Vermont visited Verdant and recorded a slew of numbers, ranging from Georgian folk to American spiritual, with a few originals thrown in for good measure. Never having recorded such a large group, I read up on appropriate recording techniques and enjoyed great results by mic'ing each section (bass, tenor, alto, soprano) individually, and mixing in a spaced pair of omni-directional room mics, about twenty feet away. Cool, beautiful stuff; keep your ears out for these folks. KIRK MACINTOSH: This southern Californian pop-rocker was travelling the country over the summer and brought some tracks that he had started in Nashville up to Verdant for some overdubs. Kirk made great use of Verdant's vintage RCA 44 mic for lead vocals. I was honored to be asked to contribute a bit of electric guitar. Mixing awaits. Small world department: old pal (and part time Weisstronaut) from Boston (transplanted to Nashville) Rich Gilbert was hired by Kirk to play guitar on the Nashville sessions. Twas cool to put up the faders and hear Rich's familar tones and stinging lead lines. MY OWN WORST ENEMY: Their new album "Total Action," recorded/mixed at Verdant by yours truly just came out and is getting some sweet reviews. Also, my plaid back somehow wound up on the front page of their website! myownworstenemy.net Recently mastered/edited at Verdant, album projects by MIKE PRESS (San Diego), TIM COOPER (Des Moines), JIMMY FOX, and POVERTY LINE (both Boston). OTHER STUFF I'VE BEEN DOING.... LOOKING FOR: An affordable plate reverb unit. Seriously. EMT, Ecoplate, etc. Anyone have one kicking around? Let me know... I'll be there with a cargo van to pick it up whenever it's convenient for you! LISTENING TO: The mono version of Sgt. Pepper (finally got my hands on a clean copy, supposedly a 24-bit transfer from the master reel!) Quite a thing; what really hits me is how "band-like" they sound, compared to the stereo version, which always struck me as lacking a definitive "played by people in a room" sound. The rhythm tracks really gell, and the unbelievable bass lines jump out of the speakers. I can't believe how much I'm enjoying this... it's not my fave Beatle album by a long shot, really. WATCHING, and enjoying: Extras, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, French & Saunders, Doctor Who (the new version; not bad, really), The Night of the Iguana, Larry Sanders... Until next time,
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Pete Weiss music/production/engineering "e-newsletter" ******************************* Hi friends, This'll be a short 'n sweet newsletter. Been busy in the studio with a bunch of cool projects. Been busy staying flabbergasted at the crazy weather. (That rainy nor'easter in Boston a few days ago? Well, that was a foot of snow, then rain, then slush for us in Vermont. Messy for sure.) John Clarkson, of the fine U.K. music webzine Pennyblackmusic, chatted with me recently. The interview is in the latest issue of Pennyblackmusic and can be viewed here: RECENTLY AT VERDANT STUDIO..... SPANISH PRISONERS: Last month I had the pleasure of mixing some stuff for this Ohio-based collective. Check out their music on Myspace; beautiful and nicely eclectic. www.myspace.com/spanishprisoners THE WEISSTRONAUTS: It had been a while since my instrumental band had written, let alone recorded, any new material. So we've taken some time off from playing live and have been writing and recording at a furious clip. Highlights so far include a couple of songs that feature two drummers, Jeff Norcross and Nathan Logus. Our other drummer, Jeff Berlin (yes, we apparently now have a tag-team of three different drummers) is cutting some tracks with us at Verdant in the coming weeks. Touring bassist Doug Yule will be along for the ride as well, playing a bit of guest 4-string and contributing fiddle (also a 4-stringed instrument, coincidentally) as well. We're hoping to get an album's worth of material ready sooner than later for what will be our fourth full-length CD. By the way, we will be playing some live shows in the near future; please come out to the Middle East Downstairs and see us open for the incredible Southern Culture On The Skids on Tuesday May 15. We go on early, like 8pm. www.weisstronauts.com SOOL: Neal, Kevin, and I continue to chip away at what we hope will be Sool album #3. We've already got some material in the can from our soundtrack to the indy film "Bad Gravity" and we plan to flesh it out for a full-length return to the world of three minute pop songs. Also, Neal has come up with a collaborative songwriting matrix system that promises some delightful twists and turns. Oh, and we wrote and recorded our first sea shanty. www.soolmusic.com is where Sool is at. Oh! One more thing... talks are underway that could see Sool musically collaborate with Inverse Room. Who's Inverse Room? Visit www.inverseroom.com and find out. BOG: Rock-funk-soul collective Bog returned to Verdant recently to record six songs for an upcoming project. Lots of looping of live drum & bass is giving it a completely fun, infectious slant. JACQUES THIBODEAU: The Boston-based garage-pop whiz cut some tracks with me (and the wonderful Nathan Logus on drums) at my old Boston stomping ground Zippah Studio. Great to work with Jacques again, and great to return for a session at Zippah. Check out Jacques' stuff on Myspace: www.myspace.com/jacquesthibodeau Couple of updates from the last newsletter.... My neighbor Mark Grieco's vocal trio has settled on a name! Keep an eye and ear out for TRIPTYCH in the southern Vermont area. Also, Steven Schlang's cool and bizarre meta-electronica project is officially known as HIS LEFT HAND, not Left of Eden as I had written earlier (sorry Steven!) The official HLH website is up; check it out at www.hislefthand.com OTHER STUFF I'VE BEEN DOING.... PHILOSOPHICALLY GRAPPLING WITH: The ongoing "loudness wars" with contemporary CD's. Ever notice that some CD's seem to jump out of the speakers, but then quickly become fatiguing to listen to? This is not a new topic for record producers, audio engineers and mastering technicians, but it is something that the general public is just beginning to become aware of. Basically, in a quest to seem louder (and more noticeable) than competing bands/artists, many bands/artists are having their CD's mastered at as high a level as possible. Ironically, doing this negates the main advantage of digital recording over analog recording, namely access to an extremely broad dynamic range that can potentially yield incredibly detailed, realistic recorded sound. In general, CD's mastered at a very high level have impact, but rapidly become wearying on the listener's ear. On the other hand, CD's mastered at a lower level have the potential to sound very open and detailed IF the listener turns their volume knob up. In my book, we should be working toward some sort of standardized "happy medium" so that music listeners don't have to keep adjusting their volume knob, for instance when a multi-CD player is in shuffle mode. As you can imagine in the cutthroat record industry, it's often difficult to convince recording artists to prioritize fidelity over competitiveness. If you're interested in learning more, there's some eloquently-worded thoughts on the matter here: www.chicagomasteringservice.com/loudness.html READING: Mostly magazines lately... The New Yorker, TapeOp, EQ, Dwell, The Atlantic... I've got several half-finished books that I've really got to get back to! WRITING: Gear reviews for TapeOp Magazine. Most recently the Malekko B:Assmaster (the ultimate bass overdrive device), the Nady RSM-3 (an absurdly affordable ribbon microphone that actually sounds pretty darned good on most things), two newish pedals by Effector 13 (great stuff; check out www.effector13.com), lovely Moogerfooger pedals by Moog of course, as well as a very clever and addictive children's musical toy called Zoundz. LISTENING TO: Burt Bacharach's "Reach Out" and "Plays His Hits" LP's. Paddy Saul's "One Town Tasted" (I also co-produced and played on a bunch of it, but hadn't heard it in a long time...) R.E.M.'s "Dead Letter Office." Gerry Rafferty "Baker Street." WATCHING, and enjoying: Mulholland Drive (though it gave me disturbing dreams), Borat, Secretary, Swimming Pool, more Six Feet Under, more Little Britain, Unfaithfully Yours (not the remake.) Until next time,
******************************** Pete Weiss music/production/engineering "e-newsletter" ******************************** Hi friends, Brrr cold, as I type this. Not much snow on the ground, which is weird; hope the plants survive this crazy winter. Last fall's Weisstronauts mini-tour was a gas. Having ex-Velvet Undergrounder Doug Yule along as fill-in bassist worked out great... Of course, he's now an official "auxilliary Weisstronaut" and we plan to do some recording with him this spring. See below... I've been keeping busy with sessions at Verdant Studio. Word's been getting out; artists are coming to Verdant from near and far to capture that elusive "Vermont sound." Gear-wise, the studio boasts a few new trinkets including a Heil PR-40 microphone (I recently reviewed this mic in TapeOp Magazine and liked it so much I bought one -- great on vocals and kick drum), an old Yamaha SK-15 string synth, and an Ampeg Gemini II guitar amp. And I'm happy to report that Andy Hong (co-designer of Verdant, along with his brother John, Jinhee Park, and Erik Carlson) needed to clear out some space in his Cambridge-based Kimchee Studios and sold me his Moog Voyager synthesizer. Man oh man... ridiculously great sounds and tweakability. Feels like I'll have a happy, lifelong project in learning how to master this sonic beast. Incidentally, I'm still working on a bunch of new "solo" music; a lot of it is synth- and loop-laden instrumental stuff (with the Moog looming large), but some of it is garage rock too. Never can make up my mind; it seems a sort of musical identity crisis has grabbed me (or should I say "continues to hold me"?) Will keep you posted... SOME ARTISTS I'VE RECENTLY BEEN WORKING WITH AT VERDANT STUDIO..... JEFF MELLIN: With his brother Joel, Philadelphian Jeff Mellin operates the nonprofit arts collective Waxfruit Media, as well as Stereorrific Recordings. He also is the design genius behind the Weisstronauts' idiosyncratic CD artwork (you know, the ones with the monkey on 'em...) But perhaps Jeff's biggest strength is his crisp, clever pop songwriting and distinctive, cutting voice. I hadn't worked on a studio project with Jeff in a few years, so I was psyched that he brought a handful of new tunes up to Verdant for some tracking. A nice reunion for sure. Musically pitiching in were Joel, as well as "Orange" Nichole Clarke on backup vocals, John Clarke on drums, and the afore-mentioned (and recently ubiquitous) Doug Yule on bass and harmonies. Joel will be finishing and prepping the tracks at his home studio for future release. Some of Jeff's earlier music, along with some photos of the Verdant sessions are at: www.myspace.com/jeffmellin ORB MELLON: Mike Malone, former guitarist-songwriter for Epic recording artists (and Boston Rumble winners) Dirt Merchants, has emerged as alter ego Orb Mellon. After taking a bit of time away from music, Mike woodshedded with a few acoustic guitars and has become an incredible country-blues singer/songwriter/guitarist/stomper. He recently made the trek from Connecticut up to Verdant to record and mix an astonishingly fresh-sounding album of raw, original solo blues entitled "Love Above." Musical guests included Maria Christopher (formerly of Dirt Merchants, currently of 27) and Mike's brother John (former drummer of Dirt Merchants). Head over to www.orbmellon.com MARK GRIECO VOCAL TRIO: Athens, Vermont is a small but musical town -- most of our neighbors are musicians. So it only seemed like a matter of time before I found myself recording neighbor/friend Mark Grieco and his vocal trio. Very cool stuff, and tricky too. It took a few sessions to capture the group's repertoire -- a mix of old and new American hymns and folk songs as well as several traditional Georgian (as in "former USSR") folk songs -- to their satisfaction. The results are startling and dramatic. The group does not yet have an official name or website, but I'll keep you posted -- it's very worth checking out. LEFT OF EDEN: Experimental one-man electronica project by Steven Schlang. Pieces range from jagged chunks of manipulated sound layered over near-industrial beats, to gentle synth soundscapes. Recently mastered Steven's latest 12-song album at Verdant. JUSTIN PIZZOFERRATO: The Northampton-based freelance engineer extraordinaire brought in several recording projects... BAKER (I've become a big Baker fan...), MAMMOTH HUNTER, SEAN AYLWARD (travelling in from California), and PISTOL RESISTANCE. These projects are in various stages of completion. Keep an eye/ear out for these bands. NEW RELEASES of albums I've worked on: WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING OUTSIDE OF THE RECORDING STUDIO.... TOURING: The east coast and parts of the midwest with The Weisstronauts and guest bassist Doug Yule (ex-Velvet Underground) sitting in for the unavailable Kevin Quinn. Much mirth was had, musical and otherwise. We had a nifty time catching up with old friends, making new ones, and of course coming up with witty and profound catchphrases during those 13-hour van rides. Deep thanks to all our pals who welcomed us into their homes; you know who you are; you rule. READING: The Moog Voyager manual, Wired magazine, Beauty in the B (book on the history of Hammond organs.) SEEING: Bob Dylan with The Raconteurs, The Who with The Pretenders, Thomas Dolby, Aimee Mann. LISTENING TO: Beatles "Love" (fun and interesting for sure, but it seems to me if they're going to do all this mashing-up, they should go a bit more crazy. A related thought: when the heck are they going to properly remaster the actual Beatles catalog? It's going on 20 years now; sheesh!) Um, also... Radiohead, The Who's new one, Saturday Looks Good To Me, 27, Black Eyed Peas. WATCHING, and enjoying: Wild Strawberries, Classic Albums: the making of Queen's Night at the Opera, Absolutely Fabulous, The Palm Beach Story, 49 Up, For Your Consideration, Strangers With Candy (the movie.) SOLD: My old Subaru (had it since '95; this is the one where my suitcase flew off the roof during the Rock Band's '97 "World Tour".) Enjoy, Caleb and Teri! Until next time, Feel free to send me a demo (or just a hello) at:
******************************** Pete Weiss music/production/engineering "e-newsletter" ******************************** Hi friends, Well, I've been busy as usual with recording, playing, and travelling. All worthy endeavors, of course. Summer's highlight was a trip to Tucson, Arizona for the fifth annual TapeOp Conference. Holy cow, was it hot there in June! Like 114, man. But, uh, it was a dry heat, as everyone constantly reminded themselves... Super-nifty times, though. As in years past, I had a great time dispensing recording tips as part of the Potluck Studio series (this year covering the use of ribbon microphones on guitar amps) and taking part in a panel. Actually, this year I got to moderate a panel that covered a subject dear to my heart: "One Room Recording," otherwise known as "Recording Without A Control Room," a method I've fully embraced over the last few years. Also, saw some great live music -- Stan Ridgway playing his heart out in a tiny room to about 20 patrons was my personal fave. Been playing a LOT with the Weisstronauts, Sool, and Orange Nichole this summer. Watch for a Weisstronauts mini-tour down the east coast and as far west as Nashville this November; will keep y'all posted. In any case, it's wonderful to re-develop callouses and musical "chops" again. Enjoying playing live more than ever these days. In the midst of re-configuring my various websites. Soon there will be separate sites for The Weisstronauts, Verdant Studio, and myself. Always seems to take forever, though... hang with me, folks... SOME ARTISTS I'VE RECENTLY BEEN WORKING WITH AT VERDANT STUDIO..... BOW THAYER: Bow's latest project is very, very interesting, and equally ambitious. Basically... he travelled to Belize, stayed in an electricity-less hut, and recorded a bunch of new songs with a battery-operated recording device. He sang and played various stringed instruments. Then he brought these embryonic tracks up to Verdant where we have been sweetening, adding to, editing, and basically shaping what is going to be a very cool and unique album. The last CD we worked on together, "Spend it All," is finally getting released in the next few weeks. Check www.bowthayer.com for news. JEREMY "Moses" CURTIS: Moses plays bass etc. with Twinemen, Howie Day, Bow Thayer, and many others. We forged on with work on his debut solo album. Added some synth and other goodies. Billy Conway (Morphine, Twinemen, Hi N Dry) came up for mixing. Album is pretty much done except possibly for some tweaks on the song order... www.myspace.com/mosescurtis THE QUAHAUGS: High-energy guitar-driven pop/rock with thought-provoking lyrics delivered by a remarkable singing voice from Keene, New Hampshire. The album, tltled "Venus Mercenaria" was just released and some of the sales proceeds go to Katrina recovery efforts... Check out www.thequahaugs.com SOOL: A side project I'm involved in (you've probably heard about our new CD "Sooltime" that contains 52 one-minute songs...) We were comissioned to write and record original songs and musical score material for a soon-to-be-released indy film called "Bad Gravity". Music ranges from "fake modern rock" to spooky synth soundscapes to groovy foot-tappin' good times. Film premier is set for Oct. 7 at the Coolidge Corner Cinema in Brookline MA as part of the New England Film Festival. Check out the trailer etc. here: www.whathefilm.com and more Sool info here: www.soolmusic.com MY OWN WORST ENEMY: Boston punk-pop-trio returned to Verdant Studio to begin work on their third album. New drummer A.J. "All About" Aubrey not only locks the band's energy into overdrive as needed, he also contributes backup vocals and harmonica. Co-frontpeople Sue and Steve continue to write vital, timeless tunes that toe the line of trashiness very appealingly. These guys are playing more and more around Boston and I continue to recommend checking them out. www.myownworstenemy.net USED ALIEN MIND: Edited, sequenced, and mastered the Des Moines, Iowa collective's second full length offering of experimental noise-pastiche-blues-art-rock. Very cool and very hard to describe. www.myspace.com/usedalienmind ORANGE NICHOLE just released her spooky, goth-pop sophomore album "Things We've Got and Things We're Winning" (PW-produced and recorded at Verdant). This is amazing stuff; nothing like it out there... Visit www.myspace.com/orangenichole for a sample. WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING OUTSIDE OF THE RECORDING STUDIO.... READING: Happyland by fellow TapeOp contributor J. Robert Lennon... a gripping, hilarious satire on, seemingly, contemporary American values. It's not out in book form yet; it's being serialized in Harper's Magazine until next month. The Atlantic Monthly. Various gear manuals. WRITING: Gear reviews for TapeOp Magazine; the latest include the Nice Pair Mic Pre by No Toasters and the Cool Springs Passive Spring Reverb unit. FIGHTING: A September cold. Various unusual property-management challenges; the latest and strangest: a healthy, sturdy sapling growing out of our chimney (!) LISTENING TO: Bob Dylan's latest album, as well as his satellite radio show "Theme Time Radio"... highly recommended, The Eddies, Sun Studios compilations, Bo Diddley, Zero 7, Stan Ridgway, various stuff from www.optigan.com and www.ubu.com/outsiders/365 WATCHING: Pi, Little Britain (season one and two; please rent it or buy it now!), Bergman's The Seventh Seal, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, The Office (British). Until next time,
******************************** Pete Weiss music/production/engineering "e-newsletter" ******************************** Hi friends, Well, things sometimes move slower than you hope, and I apologize for all the false starts. But The Weisstronauts' third instrumental album and Sool's bizarre 52-song masterwork have officially been released. Yes, I know they've been available on weissy.com for a while, but by "officially" I mean the promo mailing to press and radio just recently went out, and a triple CD release party (yes, I said "triple"... it consists of Sool, The Weisstronauts, and Baby Ray, all releasing new CD's) has been booked for May 27 at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. Mark your calendars... In other news, the Vermont recording studio, now known as "Verdant Studio" has offically been open for over a year now (!) and has recently seen some upgrades. There are now more monitoring options, including three separate sets of monitors, as well as a separate subwoofer, and additional acoustic treatments have been installed. But more importantly, there are Verdant Studio T-shirts available! True! Two different designs, both by the multi-talented Jeff Mellin (www.bigblueox.net) Hmmm, what else? Many will be glad to know that wiith the help of Justin Pizzoferrato the ever-finicky Optigan is now back up and running. A few new mics and amps have been added, as well as a b!tchin' house drum kit, a vintage Juno-60 synth, and of course some crazy stompboxes. Please email me if you want to know any particulars or would like to book a studio tour or session. SOME ARTISTS RECENTLY AT VERDANT STUDIO..... JEREMY CURTIS: bassist extraordinaire for the Twinemen, Bow Thayer and others. Began tracking for Jeremy's solo debut. Cool, heartfelt songs; cool, ragged-but-right voice. Jeremy played guitar and bass with Jeff Berlin on drums, Bow Thayer on guitar, and I contributed some keyboards. Keep an eye out for this. BOG: 80's Boston punk/funk/rock band recently re-grouped to record a slew of songs for an upcoming film. Plenty of footage was collected in the studio, including staged and unstaged arguments! Nice guys and excellent musicians. BLUEGRASS BOYS: travelling troubadours Obi & Matt stopped in Vermont long enough to lay down an album's worth of hot pickin'. The duo had been touring and busking down south for most of the fall in a "General Lee-esque" camper. Keep an eye out for it if you're in the Carolinas; they may just come to your town... WOBBLIES: New York City noise-pop-politco collective came north to record and mix their new album. We got some pretty huge (and sometimes scary) sounds; in addition to the guitar/bass/drum lineup, the band made copious creative use of synth, loops, and effects to create a frenzied sonic ebb 'n flow. www.wobblies.com Found time to start work on some new solo material. Ranges from loopy, ambient synth stuff to rock to satire to spoken word. Might be a while before a cohesive picture emerges, but I'm hoping to eventually (finally!) follow up my 1996 solo album "Pete Weiss Presents the Astounding Sound of Tomorrow's Modern Hi-Fi Music." Freelance engineer Justin Pizzoferrato remains busy as ever and has been loving the Verdant vibe. Between Dinosaur Jr. reunion sessions (J. Mascis' studio, not at Verdant...) Justin recently brought in GUILLERMO SEXO, SELF RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS, ROADHEAD, and BAKER for basics and overdubs with great results. Hopefully Justin will get some sleep at some point... The MITTENS just released "Fools On Holiday," their much-anticipated second album, to rave reviews. This marks the first album fully recorded/mixed from start to finish at Verdant Studio. I had an awesome time producing/engineering and hanging out with the Mittens. They are solid humans and solid popsters. Do them a favor and purchase a copy of this CD at www.mittensmusic.com WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING OUTSIDE OF THE RECORDING STUDIO.... LISTENING TO: The Kinks, Pink Floyd, Bjork, Winterpills, Twink, Trojan Dub Rarities, Bert Jansch, Reigning Sound. WATCHING: Some Kind of Monster (Metallica documentary; whoa...), The Electric Company on DVD (in the past I have been described as "Easy Reader meets Where's Waldo"... groovy!), Tom Dowd documentary, Mat Hot Ballroom, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (what's with Danny Elfman's flat, over-ProTool'd score? Ouch.) Oh, and the touring version of Eric Idle's Spamalot (musical version of the Holy Grail) in Boston: pretty dang funny and as hyperly-clever as you would expect from the ex-Python. SKIING: Well, by the time you read this, I will have gone skiing thrice, yes, thrice this winter. TURNING: Forty. Whoa. Until next time,
******************************** Hi friends, The Weisstronauts' third instrumental album exists. It's called "Featuring Perky." (It joins two other instrumental albums of ours, "Feauring Jaunty" and "Featuring Spritely.") You can buy it at www.weissy.com. Haven't sent it out for review/radio yet, but this WILL happen in November. Promise. No plans yet for a CD release party, but there will be one. Promise. The band is, however, embarking on a rare mini-tour. Please, if you're in any of the areas we're playing in, come out to see us; we'd love to see you. And if you know of folks who dig twangy/surfy/psychedelic instrumental guitar rock in the following regions, please let them know. We WILL have T-shirts and CD's available; repeat, "T-shirts and CD's." The tour: Thurs. Nov. 3, P.A.'s Lounge, Somerville MA Also, you all probably know that the new Sool album exists too (we're gonna send it out to press/radio with the new Weisstronauts' one; saves time and postage, dig?) It's a crazy 52-track bonanza of pop, rock, noise, country, prank phone calls, folk, spoken word, found sound, and baroque music. Visit http://www.soolmusic.com In other news, the Vermont studio may very well have a name. Not official yet (really, what's the rush?), but I'm thinking... "Verdant Studio." What are you thinkin'? SOME ARTISTS I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH (at "Verdant Studio") SINCE THE LAST NEWSLETTER..... ORANGE NICHOLE: winding up work on Nichole's ridiculously cool (and weird!) second album. Also been playing a few gigs (on bass) with her, Jamie Edwards, and John Clarke. Great fun and great stuff. WHISTLE JACKET: mastering full length CD for this Boston quirk-rock combo. DAVEY DAVIS: mixing and mastering two full length albums by the legendary "Brown Trout" of Vermont. One is a batch of instrumentals, the other, fully realized songs, ditties, anthems, and more. PSYCHO X: tracking and mixing an album's worth of garage-y tunes. Think Flamin' Groovies meet Velvet Underground. SELF RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS: eclectic rootsy band tracked with engineer extraordinaire Justin Pizzoferrato. DOOM BUGGIES: continuing tracking and mixing for what should be the first proper album by these Boston rock/pop veterans. MITTENS: recently wrapped up their anticipated sophomore album. WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING OUTSIDE OF THE RECORDING STUDIO.... LISTENING TO: McCartney's latest, Spoon, Gomez, Jimmy Bryant, Air, Chris Stamey, Bonzo Dog Band. WATCHING: more Dark Shadows, Six Feet Under, the Ramones documentary (wow), The Mouse That Roared (w/ Peter Sellers). Until next time,
******************************** Pete Weiss production/engineering "e-newsletter" ******************************** Hi friends, The new (still-unnamed) studio in Vermont is going great guns. I've been busy for sure. Word's getting out and folks are clamoring to get out to the mountains to record their next project. Minor kinks are still being ironed out (where's that confounded third headphone-amp? ...and who hid my glue-gun?), so low rates including lodging are still in effect. SOME ARTISTS I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH SINCE THE LAST NEWSLETTER..... CAR CRASH SHOW: Moody, groovy pop with nifty synth textures; engineering their first full-length. www.carcrashshow.com DOOM BUGGIES: Les Paul/Marshall-driven power trio; Monkees meet The Who; tracking 14 songs for future release. DENNIS CROMMETT: Frontman for Northampton-based Spanish For Hitchhiking; mixing his amazing sophomore solo album. www.denniscrommett.com www.spanhike.com JACQUES THIBODEAU: Garage-surf guitar-slinger; recording several songs at both Zippah and in Vermont with Nathan Logus (Rudds, Barnies, Baby Ray) on drums, no less! True! SPLENDID NOBODIES: Boston roots-pop wizards; tracked their second CD at Zippah, mixed in Vermont. Look for an imminent release this summer. www.splendidnobodies.com LUCKY 57: Boston-to-Providence roots-rock transplants; mixing their excellent-ly home-recorded sophomore CD (with Malcolm Travis on drums, no less! True!) www.lucky57.com BRIAN BILLINGS: Singer-songwriter new to the Boston scene; Belle & Sebastian-y, but with a twist; tracking a few appealingly spare tunes at a time at Zippah. RAMONA SILVER: Purveyor of the catchiest of the catchy pop; mixing some songs from her new album in Vermont. www.ramonasilver.com USED ALIEN MIND: Des Moines, Iowa-based experimental collective; tracked and mixed (and played drums on, no less! True!) a three-song project in Vermont. WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING OUTSIDE OF THE RECORDING STUDIO.... WRITING/DOING: Gear reviews for TapeOp Magazine. Most recently: Audio-Technica's sleeper, the Pro-37 microphone as well as the classic EV 635 mic. Also, in June I'll be participating in a mock basic track session ("Potluck Studio") with heavy hitters such as Mike Caffrey, Mitch Easter, Steve Wynn, Steve Albini, and Don Zientara at the 4th annual TapeOp Conference in New Orleans. Tickets still available at http://www.tapeop.com PLAYING: Guitar with the Weisstronauts, guitar/keyboards with Spanish For Hitchhiking, and guitar as part of a nifty reunion with the Ghost Shirts (at our pal Mike's wedding, per his request; I was last a member of the band back in '88. Time, uh, flies.) LISTENING TO: Late Elvis Presley, The dB's, NRBQ's "Workshop", an amazing mixed CD of Clarence White's finest fretwork with various artists (courtesy of Prof. George Hall). WATCHING: The long-overdue SCTV DVD's, Dark Shadows (the late 60's vampire-oriented soap opera that will seemingly never end), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (not everyone's loving it, but I sure did; see it on the big screen), bootleg videos of the musical guests on the old Johnny Cash Show (wowie!), Bob Dylan at the Orpheum in April (his back must hurt from that wacky piano-playing posture...) Until next time, ********************************
Pete Weiss production/engineering "e-newsletter" ******************************** Hey, happy new year, everyone! Well, the big news on my end is that after over two years of planning, fretting, construction, delays, etc my new recording studio in Vermont is complete, functioning, and hoppin'. But it does not yet have a name; will keep you posted on that; and feel free to suggest name ideas. I'm listening. The venerable 36-channel vintage Neve console that was custom ordered by the BBC in London in 1975, and moved to Zippah Studio in Boston in 1994, has now found a home in the Green Mountain State. Last year it was taken out of Zippah and has now been re-capped and re-commissioned. It's working like a dream and sounds amazing. The new recording space was designed by award-winning architectural firm Single Speed Design (operated by the Hong brothers, John and Andy.) And I have to say I'm just thrilled with the job they did designing the space; it sounds great and co-exists with its surroundings beautifully. It's an incredibly pleasant place in which to make music. The new studio's main room is an open-concept space which combines the control room "area" with the live room "area" and is roughly 40 x 25 feet with pitched ceilings up to 17 feet high It's especially conducive to tracking with a "natural" feel. The engineer and artist are in the same room; there's no talkback mic, no glass, no confusion. Of course when separation is needed, there are auxilliary recording spaces, including a classic vocal/amp booth, a 22 x 20 foot lounge which can double as a tracking room, and some remarkably heavy-duty wheeled gobos with double-pane windows (you definitely don't want one of these to fall on you...) I'm offering discounted rates to past clients for the next few months; email me if you'd like to book some time. Want more info? Pictures? There's a website for this still-unnamed studio at: http://www.weissy.com/vermont_studio SOME ARTISTS I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH SINCE THE LAST NEWSLETTER..... Mixing and mastering the new CD by REVEREND GLASSEYE at Zippah... Tracking the sophomore album by critical faves MITTENS at the new Vermont studio... Beginning work on STEVE MAYONE's 2nd solo album (tracking in the new Vermont studio)... Recording/mixing Seth Goodman's excellent new outfit THE DIAMOND PLATINUM RINGS at Zippah... Mastering/restoriing early-80's Des Moines, Iowa punk band THE LAW (which eventually transmogrified into Scruffy The Cat and Young Fresh Fellows)... Recording/mixing new Boston band CAR CRASH SHOW... Recording Richie Parson's 90's-band TOMATO MONKEY live in the studio at Zippah... Recording/mixing/mastering THE HAYSEED PROPHETS; tracked live at their house, mixed at Zippah; great stuff... Engineering/mixing/mastering the new CD by Denver cult-faves SLIM CESSNA'S AUTO CLUB... Mixing a few songs by rootsy Maine band RURAL ELECTRIC... Mastering some excellent live-on-the-radio tapes by CHARLIE CHESTERMAN for future release... Continuing work with ORANGE NICHOLE on her new album... And of course, the project that seemingly will never end, the new, long-delayed, third instrumental album by my own band THE WEISSTRONAUTS. Yeah. WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING OUTSIDE OF THE RECORDING STUDIO.... WRITING: Gear reviews for TapeOp Magazine. Most recently: Smart People Factory "Green Line" overdrive pedal (really nice), SE Gemini & ICIS Tube Microphones, Taylor Expression acoustic guitar amplification system. http://www.tapeop.com LISTENING TO: Air, New Pornographers, Son House, Raymond Scott, Lovin' Spoonful, Belle & Sebastian... WATCHING: Sealab 2021, Talking Heads music videos (Crosseyed & Painless = amazing), Dark Shadows on DVD (surprisingly addictive), I (Heart) Huckabees, those re-dubbed GI Joe PSA's (unfortunately recently yanked from fenslerfilm.com), The Grey Video (yanked too, but findable; worth the search). Until next time,
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******************************** Pete Weiss production/engineering "e-newsletter" Hi everyone, It's been a while since I've sent out a newsletter. Well, as usual, I've been busy. Here are some things that've been occupying my time and mental capacity: a. Work continues on building the new recording studio in Vermont. Guest rooms/kitchen are about done, and a plan exists for the addition of a live room. It's gonna be nice! The Neve board was taken out of Zippah and trucked up to Vermont, where it's awaiting a thorough re-capping (that's tech-talk for replacing aging capacitors) before being re-commissioned in the Vermont studio sometime this spring or summer. b. The holidays. We drove down to Florida to visit my recently-retired folks. c. Recording bands both in Vermont and at Zippah in Boston (see below). d. Playing with The Weisstronauts and working on our next instrumental CD. e. A handful of weddings and a funeral. f. Dealing with frozen pipes. g. Selling a bunch of random recording gear. Anyone out there who might be interested, just drop me a line and I can send you the list. It includes a Tascam 1" 16 track machine, some mics, mic preamps, and other stuff. WHAT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON IN THE RECORDING STUDIO(S)..... SLIM CESSNA'S AUTO CLUB: The only vaguely "country-ish" band on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label. Formerly based in Denver, now all over the map. Spooky tent-revival-type of ensemble featuring banjos, organs, baritone guitars, bass, drums, fronted by the towering yodeler known as Slim Cessna. I've been engineering and co-producing the band's third album at Zippah. As I type this, it's pretty much all recorded, but mixing won't begin till March. Can't wait. Great stuff; it's already given me a nice mixture of pleasant, sunny dreams, as well as terrible, surreal nightmares. A winning combo! www.slimcessnasautoclub.com WEISSTRONAUTS: My own twangy, difficult-to-categorize, band. We've been simultaneously working on our 3rd and 4th CD's. One will be all-instrumental and will be the third in our instrumental trilogy. The other is tentatively called "The Weisstronauts Sing!!!" and, yes, we finally get around to singing some songs. Various song titles include "Heimlich Maneuver," "Fajity," "Audio Janitor," "Johnny Drama (Uncle Turtle)," and "Covered." We're hoping to get the instrumental one done sometime this spring and hopefully released by summer. All Weisstronauts CD's as well as older Pete Weiss & the Rock Band CD's are available here THE HOTEL ALEXIS: Fronted by erstwhile member of critical darlings Torrez. Writer of catchy melancholia. I engineered an album's worth of songs for Sid and a revolving cast of musicians. Vocals were cut live with drums. Vibes, pedal steel, and other spooky instruments were added to the stew. Not sure of release plans. Keep an ear out; it's good. www.sidneyalexis.com MITTENS: Great, perky pop trio. Unafraid of melody. Fans of skiffle. Nice guys too. In between Halloween costume changes and pumpkin carving sprees, we tracked a slew of songs on the RADAR system in Vermont and mixed it at Zippah. These were combined with a few songs that had previously been recorded at Zippah on 2" analog. The result is a great full-length debut album that leaves the listener wanting more, or wanting to simply play it again and again. www.onehalfpint.com/mittens/news.htm PADDY SAUL: Emerging singer-songwriter in Boston by way of Ireland. One of the best voices I've ever had the pleasure of committing to tape. We've been logging hours at Zippah working on Paddy's debut CD. Jeff Berlin (Hybrasil, Boris McCutcheon) offered up some amazing drumming. Steve Mayone, Joe Kessler, Jeremy Dryden, and myself round out the instrumental contribution team. Look for a release (I'm guessing here...) perhaps this spring or summer. In the mean time, check out Paddy's live show... www.paddysaul.com BAMBOO STEAMERS: These guys originally hail from my old stomping grounds, Western Massachusetts. And, believe it or not, my high school band, The Elations, played a gig with them in Easthampton MA back in 1983. Yeah, 1983. Now, if I can just remember where I put my bifocals, I'll find my dentures and continue telling you about these fellers... Anyway, their 20-plus years of playing together has resulted in a band with amazing intuition, dynamic twang interaction, rumbly instrumental prowess, and just plain rock 'n roll fun. We're in the midst of recording their 2nd full-length CD, tracking on the RADAR in Vermont, and plan to mix it at Zippah as soon as we can get our schedules in order. In the meantime, check out their first CD, "The Many Lovemaking Sounds of the Bamboo Steamers." (Available by emailing fasswampy@aol.com) JAMIE EDWARDS: Multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire. Owner of a Moog Voyager analog synthesizer. Member and sideman of too many bands to list here. In Vermont, we began a collaborative project in which Jamie plays keyboards and operates loop-manipulation software, and I play unconventional guitar and vocalize. The lyrics are Haiku-formed memories of books I read in grade school. Sounds pretentious? You'd think so, but in reality it's more funny (and slightly hard to listen to!) than pretentious. Work shall continue... ORANGE NICHOLE: Recently began work on Nichole's long-awaited sophomore CD. We recorded three songs in the Vermont barn with Nichole on guitar and vocals, John Clarke on drums, Jamie Edwards on guitar and keyboards, and myself on bass and a bit of guitar. Because of crazy schedules, this could take awhile to come to full fruition, but it's gonna be so worth it! Nichole's new songs are among her best ever and her singing voice has a pureness that is sometimes warm, sometimes chilling... www.orangenichole.com THE MERCY JAMES GANG: Just finished mastering the latest by The Mercy James Gang. Cool cool stuff indeed! Swooping keyboards, ebows, mysterious things abound. Great, diverse pop songs delivered in Jim Gerdeman's inimitable glam-frosting voice. www.mercyjames.com WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING OUTSIDE OF THE RECORDING STUDIO.... READING: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman. Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories. WRITING: Gear reviews for TapeOp Magazine. Most recently: Electro Harmonix's Holier Grail reverb pedal, Planet Waves' cables etc., and Radial's JD7 Injector Guitar Signal Distribution System. www.tapeop.com WATCHING: Simpsons 3rd Season DVD. Lost In Translation. Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (though I still haven't seen the latest...it was sold out when we tried to go...) The Ben Stiller Show on DVD. A bit of football. Until next time, |