Heavy Music

Recordists who made a name for themselves taking on the loudest, scariest, and heaviest of sounds.

Finding Their Way

Heavy Music

Finding Their Way

NO. 148

BY JACK SHIRLEY

Longtime Tape Op contributor Scott Evans has played in a band called Kowloon Walled City for many years. In October of 2021, KWC released their fourth LP, Piecework. Recorded by Scott at Oakland’s Sharkbite Studios, and mixed at his own Antisleep Audio, Piecework has been described as, “Intricate, room-mic'd, and mean,” by the Chicago Reader. We asked Jack Shirley [Tape Op #115] and Scott to sit down to discuss the making of this record.

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More in this Collection

Taylor Young
Heavy Music | NO. 147

Taylor Young

BY SAM RETZER

There is a portal inside of a garage in Van Nuys, California, that leads to another world. A world of crushing heaviness, monstrous sounds, and violently compelling breakdowns. Despite its modest size, The Pit Studio has drawn decibel disciples from ...

Caught in a Mosh with Alex Perialas
Heavy Music | NO. 128

Caught in a Mosh with Alex Perialas

BY SCOTT EVANS

Anthrax, Testament, Overkill, Stormtroopers of Death, Nuclear Assault, Vio-lence... Alex Perialas is responsible for dozens of classic metal records from the '80s and '90s, mostly made in his studio, Pyramid Sound, in his hometown of Ithaca, New York...

Terry Date
Heavy Music | NO. 123

Terry Date

BY JAKE BROWN

Over the past four decades, producer/engineer Terry Date has racked up a gallery of multi-platinum monuments to his golden ears. Unforgettable moments from his catalog include the important role he had in shaping the sonic direction of rock through h...

Chino Moreno of Deftones and Team Sleep
Heavy Music | NO. 123

Chino Moreno of Deftones and Team Sleep

BY JOHN BACCIGALUPPI

We did three and a half records with Terry. When we first got signed in the mid ‘90s, our label [Maverick] asked us who we wanted to produce our debut album. We didn’t know at first; we were just kids from Sacto. I think I was 20 at the time. Stephen...

Randall Dunn
Heavy Music | NO. 114

Randall Dunn

BY ALEX KOSTELNIK

Randall Dunn is creating what might be Seattle's next chapter in the dark and loud tradition of Northwest music. From the Sonics and Jimi Hendrix, to the U-Men and grunge, the Pacific Northwest has a reputation for spawning loud, raw blues. A tireles...

No Image
Heavy Music | NO. 101

Colin Marston

BY JUSTIN FOLEY

New York City's independent metal scene has recently burst into mainstream view. At least two venues are primarily putting on heavy music shows nearly every night of the week. Several of the best metal blogs are based out of the city, and there's an ...

No Image
Heavy Music | NO. 90

Garris Shipon

BY SCOTT EVANS

Everyone needs an audio guru. Magazines and the Internet are great, but nothing compares to a veteran who knows you and your work. My guru is Greg Thompson. Greg is an accomplished pro engineer in New York City, and we've been friends since we were k...

Armored Saint
Heavy Music | NO. 83

Armored Saint

BY JONATHAN SAXON

Recording involves several processes — preproduction, tracking, mixing, and mastering. The methods involved in each step have changed greatly over time. Musicians, engineers, mixers, and producers have more choices than every before with regard to ho...

Ross Robinson
Heavy Music | NO. 79

Ross Robinson

BY STEVE KROLIKOWSKI

Ross Robinson has over 20 years of album production experience spanning genres of intense alternative, metal and experimental rock, and is known for his evocative psychological manipulation as well as for his very detailed, aggressive recordings. Thi...

No Image
Heavy Music | NO. 71

Death & Black Metal

BY RON VENTO

You've seen the spikes and corpse paint, Satanic or ancient themes, or maybe even the blood and guts album covers. Maybe you assumed death and black metal was something not to be taken seriously, but tons of work goes into recording some of these rec...

Chris Tsangarides
Heavy Music | NO. 70

Chris Tsangarides

BY JONATHAN SAXON

Legendary producer/engineer Chris Tsangarides [pronounced tang-uh- reed-ez] opened his studio, The Ecology Rooms, a few years ago. Located on the southeast coast of England and perched atop the famous White Cliffs of Dover, this extremely well equipp...

Sylvia Massy
Heavy Music | NO. 63

Sylvia Massy

BY LARRY CRANE

Located near Mount Shasta in Northern California is a thriving complex known as RadioStar Studios. In four different rooms people are making music — mixing, tracking and overdubbing constantly. How did this come to pass? Sylvia Massy made a good name...

Joey Vera
Heavy Music | NO. 62

Joey Vera

BY JONATHAN SAXON

I first learned about Joey Vera in the mid-1980s, when he emerged on the L.A. rock scene as the bass player for the band Armored Saint. Signed to Chrysalis and then Metal Blade/Warner Brothers, Armored Saint took an eight-year hiatus starting in 1992...

Mike Patton
Heavy Music | NO. 53

Mike Patton

BY BREN DAVIES

Mike Patton keeps busy — that’s for sure. Since his early days with rock band Faith No More (pioneering the rap-rock genre with their seminal hit “Epic”), through the schizophrenic compleit⁄ies of Mr. Bungle’s three albums, to his more recent work wi...

Ross Hogarth
Heavy Music | NO. 50

Ross Hogarth

BY DAVE FISHER

Ross Hogarth is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. His career spans multiple genres, years, and artists, and his discography reads like a Who's Who of the music industry. Having worked on everything from legendary hair metal of the '80s to Gr...

Billy Anderson
Heavy Music | NO. 33

Billy Anderson

BY ROMAN SOKAL

Billy Anderson recorded one of hard rock's most intriguing and fucking coolest albums in history — Jerusalem, by the now-defunct legendary stoner-rock band Sleep. It was a lengthy one-track sonic low-end frequency voyage into unknown that was almost ...