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 across Southern California and beyond in search of the ultimate in slam-ready sonics. Inside the blood red live room, a dizzying selection of modded out Marshall amps and punishing Mesa Boogie heads stand at attention in custom wooden carpentry. In the corner sits a well-loved, carefully micâd SJC drum kit, outfitted with sinister splash cymbals. Lording over The Pit from his control room throne, Taylor Young has spent over a decade creating a space where heavy hardcore, death metal, and â90s âhard alternativeâ melt into a mutant stew of impossibly hard music. Perhaps best known as the former drummer for grindcore darlings NAILS, Taylor and his brother, Colin, have also led their own band, Twitching Tongues, through four albums of aggressively melodic and romantic metalcore. In a sure sign of global moshification, the recent Pit-produced Godâs Hate album (self-titled) snuck up to #13 on the Billboard Hard Music chart, with steady airplay on SiriusXM Radioâs Liquid Metal show. Plus, heâs been producing records for iconic labels like Southern Lord, Metal Blade, and Revelation Records. Step now with me into The Pit, and if you see
anyone going down⌠help them up!
Feature Image: Taylor and Duke (818) Style Kyla Barsell
What sparked your interest in recording when you were growing up?
My dad, Dan Young, is a tech manager for television here in L.A. He gets hired by live events, like the Academy Awards, and has a bunch of Emmys for his tech work. He shows up at the live event and makes sure everything is working properly, from an audio standpoint. When I first started it was because of his gear laying around. He didnât use it to make much music, but he liked being surrounded by it and making doodles here and there. He later built out Tower Station Studio in Lexington, Kentucky, with his best friend, Jeff Myers, whoâs worked with Melissa Etheridge. When our family moved to California we first stayed at Jeffâs house and dad built a studio there, and then we built this studio here. Wherever he goes, tech and studios follow. It was bound to happen.
Andrew Wheeler
Your early recordings were done on what Iâve heard you describe as a âshitty 8-track.â
Yes, it was a Roland digital 8-track, but it did the job. When I moved here from Connecticut, I didnât have friends, so I was making music alone and getting into that. I would mix down on a little Mackie board and then submix as I was tracking. Learning by doing everything wrong first. This was around 2004.
No computer or [Digidesign] Mbox?
I didnât even have that. My first interface was a MOTU 828 that I got around 2006. I used that for a few years at peopleâs practice spaces and ended up getting an RME Fireface around 2009.
Top 5 Heaviest Breakdowns from The Pit
In certain music styles, a breakdown functions like a bridge in pop music: a climactic release breaking free from the verse/chorus structure. Unlike a typical pop bridge, these lethal breakdowns may cause whiplash and uncontrollable spin kicking.
Godâs Hate - âThe Valley Beyond (818)â (2:05-2:59) - âWe tried to write the dumbest part that we could think of. It is a breakdown that is broken down, and then broken down again. Ridiculous for ridiculous sake.â
 Song on Spotify
Twitching Tongues - âPreacher Manâ (3:44-4:04) - âOur first album had a song called âInsane and Inhumaneâ with a similar breakdown and structure, and we wanted to write a âmatureâ follow up. Other than Pantera, itâs rare to hear a ballad that soft with a mosh part so hard.â
 Song on Spotify
Godâs Hate - âAdmission of Guiltâ (2:20-2:56) - âThatâs all my brother, Colin. He got serious on guitar just to write that album. Cayle Sain on drums.â
 Song on Spotify
Twitching Tongues - âSacrifice Meâ (2:20-2:56) - âThatâs one of my favorites on the album. I was listening to so much Cannibal Corpse at the time, trying to match one of their mixes, and inadvertently darkened the entire record!â
 Song on Spotify
Ruckus - âHuman Pollutionâ (2:45-2:57) - âWow, I still have pride for it, because I put a lot of work into it, but I havenât thought about playing one of those songs in a long time.â
 Song on Spotify
That was also the year you recorded with Kurt Ballou [Tape Op #76] at God City when you were drumming for NAILS. Did that make an impact on you as a budding heavy music producer?
Before going to God City, I had already been recording a bunch. I wasnât particularly great at it, but I was cheap or free. God City was definitely where I learned to do a lot of things correctly. Kurt would probably be upset if I said this, but heâs my unintentional mentor. I was standing over his shoulder looking at exactly what he was doing and probably annoying the hell out of him! [laughter]
But donât we need Kurt Ballou proteges?
Well, he has a real one; Zach Weeks, who is awesome. Very, very talented dude, and also basically a mini-Kurt âcause he builds pedals as well [Electronic Audio Experiments].
Youâve also mentioned Steve Evetts [Tape Op #56] as an inspiration. Have you worked together?
Definitely a sonic inspiration. Iâve talked his ear off a few times and learned a couple of tips and tricks from him. I actually had him mix the first Eyes of the Lord EP [Call it War] that I played on. Heâs the man, and I definitely liked his work before Kurtâs, because thatâs what I grew up on. Some of his earliest productions are the first Incantation record [Onward to Golgotha] and the third Demolition Hammer [Time Bomb].
Soon after came the debut album
for your band, Twitching Tongues [Sleep Therapy] and you hit your stride asa producer with The Pit, your own studio.
We put out the first Twitching Tongues album right after Rotting Outâs Street Prowl, which was my first full-length producer credit. I wasnât credited properly until maybe the third pressing. I recorded and mixed the record, and credit was given to someone who wasnât in the studio for one day.
Welcome to the music business! What setup were you using at this point?
I had probably 16 inputs. I was doing four inputs on the Fireface and then I was running another eight with the True Systems Precision 8 channel, but I had decent microphones.
Twitching Tongues Danielle Parsons
âWorld War Vâ from the following album [In Love There is No Law] captured
the Andy Wallace-era [Tape Op #25] Sepultura to a tee.
I had a new goal. For Sleep Therapy, the studio wasnât even done. We did the drums in my living room. Then for In Love There Is No Law I was trying to do a Scott Burns thing. [See Morrisound Recording: the birthplace of Florida death metal.] I donât think I nailed it, but we made a unique-sounding record. I love the guitar tone which is a pushed Marshall JMP [amp] sound.
Do you feel that thereâs a community of engineers in L.A. connected to the heavy hardcore/metal scene that you operate in?
There arenât a ton of local heavy music engineers, but I would say that Kyle Black is someone I have good mojo with. His style is more ultra-polished pop punk and Iâm the opposite. Iâm trying to make it as gnarly and dirty as possible while still being audible. Kyle has a studio down the street called West Alley Recordings with a larger drum room that I use all the time. Next week Iâll be tracking drums for a new Drain song there.
When the pandemic shut down the world in 2020, you were one of the first people I saw putting out new music, releasing the Pandemicon EP with your death metal project ZOUS.
There was a solid three months where absolutely nothing was going on. So, I said, âHey, Iâm going to do an experiment. Iâm going to write and record something in one shot, get some other quarantined producer friends involved remotely, and put out a Finnish-style death metal demo.â Arthur Rizk [producer for Code Orange and Power Trip] did the solo on the Autopsy cover [âTorn From the Wombâ], because I donât have the ability to learn that solo. Then I had my friend Cody Davidson rip a solo; he plays drums in Sanguisugabogg, and also records bands in his studio. Kyle Rasmussen, from the band Vitriol ?â that I also work with, ripped another one. It worked out really fast. I had a two-week turnaround mixing, mastering, and recording everything.
What about reopening the studio once it loosened up in California?
Around July, when you could do groups of five and some stores were opening, we figured out some guidelines to follow and I was having one or two people at a time. Everybodyâs wearing masks and it was mostly friends. I wasnât getting in new people that I didnât know. For Godâs Hate, most of it was already recorded but we sat on the music for a long time while we were writing lyrics. Brody King, the singer, is a professional wrestler with Ring of Honor and he was busy. When the pandemic hit, we finally had the time. We doubled down on everything and made a goal to finish it.
Was there a time after touring with multiple bands while operating The Pit that you stepped back to assess the path you were on? Did you feel a pull towards the studio?
Iâve had a few ânormal jobsâ that were in this realm. I used to build cables for late night TV shows. I did some graphic design for scoreboards at sports events. When I finally got offered a full-time audio position at a TV studio, it was either that, or go on tour with Deicide when I was 18. I stayed on tour from 20 to 28. When I came home, I was living with my parents; I recorded bands and then I would go back on tour. It was definitely a great balance.
In The Pit of 2021, how are these massive recordings created?
The hub is an iMac with a Universal Audio Apollo interface, and I sequence in MOTU Digital Performer. For a long time, I only used analog gear on the front end, because I found it so annoying as an insert. I recently got a Burl [Audio Vancouver] B32 summing mixer with a Burl B2 Bomber ADC, and I can have everything meet together there. Between the two Burls, itâs passing through four sets of those transformers. Iâve been loving it.
You also have an impressive collection of analog outboard gear. Do you have a method for deploying these tools?
It depends on the record, but Iâll use the Empirical Labs Distressors on drums occasionally for a big punchy sound. Or parallel the kick and snare to the center into the summing mixer, so I have more control outside of the drums getting smashed. I may add an Empirical Labs Fatso, TK Audio TK-lizer EQ, or Neve 33609C compressor. Itâs just about where the mix is sitting and how much oomph it needs at the end. My favorite piece of outboard gear is the Highland Dynamics BG1 Compressor, which I use on bass a lot. Sometimes Iâll put it on guitars and get a nice indie sound. Itâs an awesome local company, and Iâve been working directly with the owner, Bryce Gonzales.
Andrew Wheeler
What else is the key to your crushing guitar sound?
First off is a playerâs picking hand. If someone is a soft picker, itâs going to be hard to get a good chugging sound. Iâve gotten a few flat pickers who say, âWhy doesnât this sound right?â when theyâre not picking hard enough. That first bit of the signal is super important. Secondly, the amp and whatâs between you and it. You can have a ton of distortion and not get a tight sound. You could end up with a fuzzy woofy thing, which I also love in certain instances. If you donât have a lot of palm muting, Iâm going to put you through extra distortion and itâs going to sound massive the whole time, rather than only when itâs got the chug going on. So, depending on the style, you may not want anything between you and the amp. Itâs all circumstantial, and dependent on what the band is going for. For instance, when I mixed the Collapstomy project, you mentioned Colin Richardson-era Carcass, and I went straight for that tone.
And nailed it⌠So, letâs say you have Xibalba coming to the studio followed by Drain. Are those setups pretty different?
Definitely. For Xibalba I would go big and loud, not relying on tightness because it needs to sound huge the whole time. They tune low and I want you to feel that. I donât like when bands tune low and itâs mixed tight and high. That doesnât make sense to me. For Drain or Dead Heat, Iâm going to go Marshall-y thrash metal. Tight picking hand where everything is audible, but itâs still pushing in the top end.
You have a wide range of guitars and pickups in your collection.
I love passive pickups, because you can coil them so hot and still get the output you need. Kurt Ballou makes these Slug Jammer pickups that I plug straight into my dry Marshall JMP; they sound insane, massive, just because theyâre so hot. Itâs like running a pedal inside your guitar.
STL Tones also recently released a tone [plug-in] package you designed. Do you work with amp modeling plug-ins?
I was approached by my friend, Will Putney, who also makes crushing records. He knows I donât usually go this route but he thought I could get to mold it until I liked it. They did a really good job and I use it all the time, especially when recording scratch tracks. Itâs super easy to use. Theyâre in a different world than the super aggressive death metal style, so I helped bring them into that zone. Iâm a medium fish in a big pond and there are no other fish like me in that pond.
Youâre a purist of tones that many people wouldnât recognize.
One of the YouTube comments was, âWho the hell is this guy?â which I think is super funny.
How was the experience of recording at Sound City in 2017 for Twitching Tonguesâ Gaining Purpose Through Passionate Hatred?
Dave Anderson assisted me in the studio, and they had a Helios 69 console at the time. Cayle Sain, who drums for Ghostemane now, finished early so we recorded piano and more overdubs. It was definitely eye-opening for me, because I have a tiny drum room. I now use a Bricasti Design Model 7 reverb with my drum room mic, and it puts me wherever I want it to be. I usually marry it on the front end before we start tracking so thereâs no way to change it later. Itâs not organic to me if you have too many options.
Does living a straight edge lifestyle factor into the studio experience for you?
Itâs not something I think about until I have a problem or a situation where I have to. I definitely donât keep the studio a party zone. Itâs a work environment, and Iâm working. If somebody asks if they can crack open a beer, Iâll say, âWell, Iâm working, and I hope you guys feel like you are too.â I donât want them to feel like theyâre at a job, but letâs do the thing theyâre paying me to do. Iâve also had bands where the singer has to have whiskey to sing, but everything stays productive. I did have a very well-known guitarist show up to do a guest part and spill beer one time. I try to keep that to a minimum, but Iâll record any band as long as theyâre there to play music.
Even Cannabis CorpseâŚ
I did, in fact, mix Cannabis Corpseâs Left Hand Pass album.
Whatâs next at The Pit?
Iâm about to do Drain, and I also started managing a band from DC called No/MĂĄs, who are tracking their album with me right after. I want to keep doing what Iâm doing at the biggest scale that I can. I recently did a record [All Roads Lead to the Gun] for a band called Militarie Gun, which is more of an indie hardcore band, similar to Fugazi. I have a great time with music like that as well. If I can make it big and loud, Iâm happy!
Kylla Barsell
thepitstudio.com
Sam Retzer is a composer and breakdown enthusiast in Brooklyn, NY.
