Tag: Nuthouse Studio

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I spent three days last week at the studio mixing the record now that all the recording has been done. It’s a long, slow but interesting process (of which the producer does 99.99% of the work – credit where it.s due). During the mixing of ‘Riot’ I felt it needed a guitar solo and was able to record it on what is now my latest obsession, a Gibson Memphis ES-330. We removed some backing vocals on ‘Free From Harm’ (also known as the yacht rock song) and made some minor adjustments here and there but it was mostly re-amping previous recordings. It sounded great and I’m sitting with them for a week or so to let them sink in. Tomorrow I return to Moon Lab Studios to finish the vocals on ‘Take The Day Off’ and then they’ll all be sent to get mastered and viola! We have our next record/first album. Much respect to Tom our producer, he’s an infinite supply of patience and energy. After touring the country opening for Neko Case, his first gig back was mixing our indie rock record. Daniela couldn’t make the sessions herself but hey, that’s what WhatsApp is for 😉

Below are some random pics of the days spent mixing.

Gibson Memphis ES-330
Sunset On Way To Sparrows Tavern.
The Ampinater
Tom Busy Mixing.
Post Mixing Beer @ Sparrows Tavern.
1959 Fender Jazzmaster.
Progress Board (Tom Drew The Mermaid)
Control Booth.
Indie Rock Hair Not Working Out.

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Three studio recordings in one week, that’s a good week in music! It’s almost like i’m a pro. I admit, only two were for Supersmall though. Saturday I spent the day working on the single ‘Take The Day Off’ at Moon Labs which is a song in the genre of ‘Swing’ to further annoy those folk who comment that we have not yet found our ‘sound’. Yes, you’re right and we’re totally fine with it. When they find themselves clicking their fingers to it and singing along Sinatra style i’m sure they’ll understand. Shoo-bee-doobie-doo!

‘Take The Day Off’ Single @ Moon Lab Studios

 

Today I spent all day in New Jersey laying down vocals for the new record at Nuthouse. The studio is huge, but the one next door is even bigger. It’s the studio Jeff Buckley was recording his second album in before he died. I just recently finished the book ‘Touched By Grace’ by Gary Lucas and enjoy taking a peak inside whenever they leave the door open. So far they’ve had everything from the hairiest folk band i’ve ever seen to a mellow drugged out heavy metal band who got their tour bus stuck in the car park because they were too high to drive it out. Spinal Tap is a documentary.

I also recorded two additional demos which Tom (producer) agrees should be added to the record – Hello tracks #6 & #7! ‘Riot’, one of the two new folk tunes has been bumped up to #1 single. A vote of confidence I admit. I’ll go over the demo and see what we can add, most likely just some violin. The adventure continues.

Silent Moon Album @ Nuthouse Studios

 

 

 

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I got to spend some time with our Producer Tom at the studio this week and go through the songs we plan on recording in September. It felt good to sit down with another songwriter and go through the material. Tom is an excellent guitarist and songwriter and has played in some awesome bands over the years. He can also be seen playing guitar in the fictional band Sideboob in Orange Is The New Black. Except for a few minor changes in how I strummed some of my “made-up” chords we were good to go. We chose the five songs we plan to focus on and two other possible songs. We will then return at a later date to finish the album with the remaining songs.  Here are the solid five:

1) Home

2) Free From Harm

3) Silent Moon

4) A Better Life

5) Between The Sun & Candlelight

Only ‘A Better Life’ has not been played live and is still being ‘tweaked’.

After hashing out the songs we grabbed a beer at Hoboken’s only true dive bar DC’s Tavern which is a block away. It’s an awesome bar and I’m looking forward to having a cold one after each long day of recording.

I was a little anxious about switching studios, the quality of the material and dealing with bouts of writer’s block but as we approach the recording date I’m feeling damn good about it all. Everything has worked out fine and I’m looking forward to the new adventures opening up for Supersmall.