Interviews
Interviews
Interviews
Interviews
Esteemed songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Gary Kemp was the force behind Spandau Ballet for many years, and currently plays in Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, performing older Pink Floyd selections. Gary's recent solo album, INSOLO, is a beautiful reflection on life, love, and music, and I jumped at the chance to ask him about his past and present.
When I first sat down with Jerry Kee of Duck-Kee Studios in Mebane, North Carolina, I didn't even realize we were coming up on the 30th anniversary of the recording of Superchunk's self-titled debut album, helmed by Kee. Many would point to that album as the one that led the indie music world to first take notice of Chapel Hill, NC, the small college town in which Superchunk were formed. Duck-Kee has tracked the likes of Polvo, Sorry About Dresden, Tift Merritt, The Strugglers, The Kingsbury Manx, and many others. Having known Jerry for nearly 20 years now, I know he's far too modest to take any credit for even having a small part of the creation of a Chapel Hill "scene," but his history speaks for itself. I spoke with Jerry about that history, the fire that nearly destroyed his home (in which Duck-Kee is located), and what he's been up to recently. While we had this conversation pre-COVID, it's interesting that we got into a few things that resonate even more today: The power of communities, working from home, doing more with less, making do with what you have, and, ultimately, being grateful for whatever that might be.
Making his splash with his debut solo album, Big Inner, in 2012, Matthew E. White soon became in demand as a producer. As a co-owner and founder of Spacebomb, a label/studio/aesthetic concept out of Richmond, Virginia, he's gathered people around him, like the brilliant arranger Trey Pollard and the fine-tuned Spacebomb House Band players, in order to bring the music to life. With his new album K Bay just released, Matthew and I caught up on Zoom for a little history and philosophy of recording.
Sarah Tudzin loves solving sonic puzzles, in a quest to bring unexpected depth to her clients' albums as well as her own. With Illuminati Hotties, Tudzin's main songwriting outlet in which she is guitarist, singer, and producer, she's mined veins of punk, from tender power pop to SoCal-indebted prog. This year's release, Let Me Do One More, sees the band dialing in spacy sounds and crunched guitars to level up its heartfelt whip-smarts. As an engineer, Tudzin soaks up tricks from each of her collaborators. Considering her client list – !!!, Macklemore, and Weyes Blood are a few of the many – she's developed a multi-textured palette of sounds. I was lucky to work with her on mixing my recent Sad13 album, Haunted Painting, staying up all night to get the most out of Sonic Ranch's SSL console [Tape Op #94], and she's my go-to friend when I need production advice. Tudzin talked to me about how working from home compares to Sunset Sound, finding time for Illuminati Hotties when she's engineering others, and the emotional intuition that's become one of her most essential production skills.
When DrAlienSmith started teasing a new transformer-balanced microphone design (loosely based on the fabled beyerdynamic M380 and AKG D30) with two headphone drivers used as mic capsules shoved in it, I practically threw my money at him! I’ve connected headphones to a DI box a few times and had a...
I was already stoked with my Focal Alpha 65 powered monitors [Tape Op #104] before their updated replacement model, the Alpha 65 Evos arrived at my door. In my review of the original Alpha 65s (which I ended up buying), I raved about the quality of Focal’s aluminum inverted dome tweeters that...
Our community lost a titan when Al Schmitt passed recently. I suppose if there is any consolation, it comes from knowing that Al shared his experience through tools such as his Pro-Channel for Oram Pro Audio, Ultimate Ears in-ear monitors, and some of his best signal chains in the form of Leapwing...
When I recently reviewed the Fredenstein Bento 8 500 series chassis [Tape Op #144], the company kindly included a clutch of their own 500 Series units to demo as well. I had fun tracking and mixing through all of them, but the Artistic EQ emerged as the most useful and cost-effective of the lot....
The HG-2MS from Brainworx is self-described as “your mix bus’ best friend.” Designed to impart rich tube harmonics and analog coloration in mixing and mastering, this plug-in offers unprecedented control over its unique style of tone shaping. This is an upgraded mid/side version of the original...
It’s been a long time since a microphone has given me the thrill of being a kid playing with my first 4-track, but when a pair of Cortado MkIII contact mics showed up for review from Chicago-based Zeppelin Design Labs, I quickly became giddy with excitement. I have used contact mics before, mostly...
I love vintage gear. Actually, I love using vintage gear. Owning it, on the other hand, is often a full-time job in itself. Throughout my 25 years of recording I’ve owned a myriad of vintage gems – from keyboards to mics to outboard gear – and each has given me its fair share of repair headaches....
I know a thing or two about sampled keyboard libraries. After more than a decade as Editor of Keyboard Magazine, I've sampled (no pun intended) just about every virtual instrument out there; from stately concert grands to gritty tonewheel organs, and all points in between. So when I heard about the...
I like to bounce around the room quite a bit when mixing records. I obviously sit centered when I launch into the proceedings, but once the mix is in a good place, I tend to move around my studio. How does the energy of the track feel throughout the room? Does it translate close to my desk as it...
My expectations were high going into reviewing the Avedis Audio MA5 – several engineers I trust had been talking them up for years. This preamp blew my expectations out of the water. Within minutes of using the MA5, it was clear that Avedis Audio pulled out all the stops with the design and build...
No, the N22H reference-grade headphone amplifier from U.K.-Based Cranborne Audio doesn’t come with a bonus set of steak knives, nor do you get another one free if you order now. This device is a fantastic and super affordable, excellent-sounding, stand-alone solution for home studio users with...
Love at first sight – make that love at first listen. Nadine, where’ve you been all my life?! Seriously, I play, record, and mix upright bass a lot. It is my Achilles heel. Especially since I have an affinity for my ‘70s Kay plywood dog house, which I consider the “Fender P Bass of uprights.” I...
Simply put, the OVER-KILLER is Prism Sound’s soft clip limiter circuit from their vaunted line of converters, made into a passive, standalone device. It is housed in a Switchcraft XLR barrel, has no controls whatsoever, and is one of the easiest ways I’ve found to increase maximum RMS without...
Avantone Pro has dropped a new pair of headphones that use planar magnetic technology. Unlike the standard cone technology used in dynamic headphones, a planar is a thin electrically charged membrane-like driver that is sandwiched between two magnetic arrays. This design creates a diaphragm where...
This past year I’ve been on a low-key “Pultec quest.” I’ve always loved the sound of the famous blue passive EQ – the big curves, simple design, and ease of use has always appealed to me. So, in my research for a new studio tool, I found myself on IGS Audio’s website staring longingly at the Rubber...
Long considered the “titans of audio mods,” Black Lion Audio has finally created its own interface. Behold, the Revolution 2x2! Touted as not simply “…another run-of-the-mill interface…” I owned a Black Lion Audio-modified Digidesign 003 years ago, and was happy with it, so when offered the...
The first time I went into a “real” studio, the engineer had me sing into a Neumann U 87 and then quickly got inside my head about mic technique, making for a less than stellar performance. It was an unfortunate moment to try and learn while paying $50 an hour (a princely sum in the ‘90s), and as a...
I’m a total sucker for distortion. I love crunchy, spitty, and fucked up sounds. When I’m tracking or mixing, I typically try to see how much I can get away with before I get my hands slapped by the artist. So, with a couple of extra slots empty in my 500 Series rack, I figured what the hell –...
Universal Audio recently entered the stompbox pedal market with their UAFX line of DSP-based analog-modeling pedals. Overall, this new trio of pedals is an exciting application of UA’s DSP and development – affordable and high-quality stompboxes that maintain the same vintage essence and...
The ULTRAVIOLET EQ from SSL is a 500 Series format expansion of the Fusion processor’s [Tape Op #131] Violet EQ. It retains the high-pass filter and four-position stepped high and low bands and builds upon it with two parametric midrange bands. The ULTRAVIOLET goes one step further with the...
The newest iteration of VocAlign, a timing and pitch control plug-in from the award-winning UK-based software developer Synchro Arts, comes in the form of VocAlign Ultra. This new version elevates its previous iteration, VocAlign Pro 4, from something you’d highly recommend to a friend into...