Interviews

Universal Audio

When Bill Putnam, Jr. mentioned to me that his brother Jim was in the Radar Brothers, it didn't really sink in 'till a few minutes later. When it finally did, I rudely interrupted him and Eric with a loud, "Oh, that Radar Brothers!!" and screwed up the interview for a few minutes over my enthusiasm for the band. Their last CD, The Singing Hatchet, was one of my favorite discs the year it was released. When I heard it was done in a home studio, I was impressed yet not surprised, as it made perfect sense that the laid-back vibe of the CD could only come from a home studio or a humungous recording budget, which didn't seem likely. Think of the best, more melodic moments of early Pink Floyd and you're not too far from the Radar Bros. sound. Later, I had a chance to talk to Jim about his band, studio and Universal Audio.

What is your role in Universal Audio?

I suppose as a founder, although my dad is really the founder, but as a rekindler maybe. My brother and I came up with concept a few years ago when we were going through a lot of my dad's stuff, and it dawned on us that it would be nice to make these things again. Bill just kind of took it from there and built the company. Pretty quickly actually — I was amazed.

So you're the primary singer/ songwriter in the Radar Bros?

Yeah, pretty much. I write the lyrics and play the guitar, piano and whatever else. Senon Williams plays bass, Steve Goodfriend is the drummer, and then lately we've added Eddie Ruchet who plays keyboards and lap steel, and Sean Fallon plays keyboards.

Where's your studio?

It's in the garage; a one-car garage from the '20s — pretty small. I doubt you could put a Cadillac or anything in it, and that was the original control room. The guy who lived here before me built another room onto it and that was the studio. We did our first EP and first record that way. Then last summer, I built a new control room onto the existing two rooms. Now it's like a submarine, you go from one narrow room to another. It's called Phase Three now.

Do you record other bands besides the Radar Bros?

It's mostly the Radar Bros, but I record other bands too. I did a record a couple of years ago for a band called Half Film. Mostly just friends' bands 'cause it's better when you like the people your record.

What are you recording to?

I just got a 2" machine. All of our previous records were done on an [Otari] MX-70 1" [16-track].

I would assume that you've got some UA gear in your studio?

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