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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, |