Things have been crazy since I got back from Austin last month. The day after getting back to NYC I started work on the new Cymbals Eat Guitars (CEG) record, which the amazing John Agnello produced, engineered, and mixed. John and I have known each other for a few years now and have lots of mutual friends, but this was the first time I had the pleasure of being part of one of his records. The guy is an inspiration. He did 10 songs in 15 days! Recorded and mixed! Over a three weeks and dozens of lunch specials from John’s favorite Thai restaurant (blanking on the name?) I helped out with additional engineering and anything else that helped make things rock harder and run smoother. The first week we tracked basics and a started overdubs in the A room at Headgear. The band tracked all the drums, bass, and most guitars live. Here are a couple photos of the guitar selection for the guitar geeks out there (yup, 5 Jazzmasters and even my ’64 SG made it on the record):
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CEG spent a lot of time working on pre-production in the weeks leading up to the session and it showed. They were ready to go the day they walked in. We’d track a take or two of a song and then move on. That’s all they needed. We finished basics sooner then expected so started Then we moved to my studio (the B Room) to finish overdubs and track vocals. By the end of the second week everything was tracked and it was time to move back to the A Room at Headgear to mix the record. Mix master John pulled up the faders the first day, rolled up his sleeves and went on to mix and put the final touches on what turned out to be an amazing record.
During the third week while John was mixing, things got really busy because I got a call to do another version of a Nokia commercial I worked on before SXSW. The music for the commercial is a cover of the Cole Porter song “Don’t Fence Me In”. I had originally created an entirely new version of the song with the existing lyrics that had a very Americana/folk vibe to it, but the client ended up changing directions. This time around I teamed up with a few other composers/producers to put together a different version. I even got my main man Damon Daunno to sing the vocal on the track. Here is what we ended up with that is going to be on air:
The following week I got a call to do some post-production sound design and composing for a video artist Steve Powers is working on. It’s a promo video for Style Wars The Musical. Steve teamed up with fellow artist Todd James to work on this hilarious project, which you can read more about on his blog. Both Steve and Todd came by the studio to hang for the session. We all immediately bonded based on our mutual geekdom and it turned out to be a super fun and productive session. A lot of laughs. Keep an eye out for Style Wars The Musical and be sure to sign up for their e-mail list on the website www.stylewarsthemusical.com/
Last, but not least were The Toothaches who came into the studio with my good friend David Pollock. David and I go way back and he had been telling me about this band The Toothaches he was in love with for a few months. An opportunity recently came up for David to move back to his hometown of Portland, OR and be the chief engineer/studio manager at Super Natural Sound and he called me and said before he leaves he MUST make a record with The Toothaches who are based in Brooklyn, NY. David booked 5 days in the B Room. He tracked an entire record in 3 days and then mixed it in 2! Huh? The craziest part is how awesome it sounds for how little time they spent on it!!!!!
It was a busy month over at Headgear. Lots of exciting stuff happening and lots more on deck. I almost forgot, yesterday was my birthday! Happy birthday to me. Thanks to everyone for making April 2011 such a fun month! Until we meet again…
-Theo
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