Bob Weston & Jason Ward: Chicago Mastering Service

BY LARRY CRANE

Dave Jerden (bonus): Really Wrong Productions

BY GONZO SANDOVAL, JONATHAN SAXON

Dave Jerden has engineered, produced and mixed some of the most cutting-edge, ground breaking records in studios all around the world. Just take a listen to his engineering and mixing of Brian Eno and David Byrne's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Talking Heads' Remain in Light and Herbie Hancock's Future Shock. As an engineer, he has worked with some of modern music's greatest producers such as Bill Laswell, Michael Beinhorn, Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite. Jerden is a technical master, unconstrained by conventional thinking and confident yet humble. As a producer he has helped artists like Public Image Limited, Jane's Addiction, Alice in Chains, Social Distortion and The Offspring make stunning records. Currently, he co-owns Tranzformer Studios in Burbank, California, with his long time engineer Bryan Carlstrom (Tape Op #28). The studio is managed by Annette Cisneros (who has also engineered alongside Jerden and Carlstrom for many years) with assistant engineer duties going to John Nuss. Dave Jerden and I sat in the patio lounge at Tranzformer Studios for a pleasant conversation covering a multitude of topics.

Doug Haire: A Life of Sounds & Places

BY CURTIS SETTINO

Doug Haire has been a staff engineer (a rarity these days) at Jack Straw Studios in Seattle since 1990. He's recorded just about every kind of music and engineered countless live radio performances. When he's not in the studio he heads outside, listening for interesting sounds and locations to record. These recordings then became the basis for audio compositions, musique concrète mash-ups, if you will. On top of all that he's a super nice guy who was a pleasure to interview.

Greg Calbi: Sterling Mastering Maestro

BY JON REGEN, JUAN PATINO

Queens, NY, native Greg Calbi has stood atop the musical food chain since the mid-1970s when he burst onto the scene mastering monumental albums like John Lennon's Walls and Bridges and Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. Nearly 40 years later Calbi, (along with his fabled company, Sterling Sound), still has his pick of the recorded litter. Recent projects include Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and countless others. Following a recent session with Calbi to master my new album, I sat down with him to talk about his storied sonic legacy.

Jack Miller (bonus)

BY LARRY CRANE

Ken McKim: Qualified By Experience

BY LARRY DEVIVO

Ken McKim is truly a member of the most endangered species in the world of professional audio recording, with a knowledge and database of audio electronics that transcends decades. Ken has been the head tech for some of the most influential studios of the recording era, having worked at RPM, Sigma Sound, Allaire and Bearsville Studios. I've known Ken for over a dozen years and until this interview never knew the depth and scope of the work he has done. For most of this time Ken also has had his own tech repair business going, known to many studios in NYC and beyond as Trouble Report. It's through Trouble Report that I first met Ken when I wanted to restore an old Flickinger console I owned. Inside his building Ken was busy with his new line of tube direct boxes and tube compressors, for yet another company he had started called Retrospec. In a recent trip to Trouble Report I brought down a rare Melcor AE-20 mic pre/EQ that I needed Ken to wire. I'd been searching the web the last six months trying to find a schematic to bring with me. No luck. Within two minutes of the modules being on the bench Ken turns around, opens a file cabinet and pulls out the exact spec sheet I'd been looking for. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Neil Brockbank (bonus): Neil & Goldtop Studio

BY PETE WEISS

Neil Brockbank is part of a dying breed of true pros. For the past several years he has been traveling with celebrated songsmith Nick Lowe on Lowe's solo tours, tirelessly wearing the hats of driver, guitar tech, soundman and tour manager. I had a chance to accompany Brockbank while he did live sound on a couple of Lowe's U.S. shows, and witnessed an artful engineering "performance," — equal parts choreography and improvisation. Neil knows Nick's songs back to front, and is able to deftly ride the vocals and instinctively add subtle flourishes of echo and reverb as needed. It always serves the song and enhances the audience's experience. The musical care offered every night was admirable to be sure. And though he has a great deal of live sound experience, the U.K.-born-and-bred Brockbank is certainly no stranger to the studio. He's done records with some of the greats from both sides of the Atlantic like Bryan Ferry, Tanita Tikaram, Alison Moyet, Tres Chicas, Geraint Watkins, Tift Merritt and Linda Thompson. And it's Brockbank's astonishing work with Lowe, starting with 1994's The Impossible Bird, up through 2011's The Old Magic and beyond, that have garnered high praise for his natural, timeless recorded sound. A couple of years ago I met up with Neil and his cohort Bobby Treherne (a producer in his own right and longtime drummer with Nick Lowe, Van Morrison and others) in the Camden Town neighborhood of London, where their cozy and beautifully set up studio, Goldtop, sat nestled behind sprawling wisteria in a former dairy mews. Sadly, Goldtop was recently forced to relocate, due to a lease complication. Nonetheless, Brockbank has been busy as ever under the name Goldtop@Gravity Shack at the South London studio run by Jessica Corcoran. (Please note that all references in this interview are to the original "open room" Goldtop Studio.) I enjoyed the easy-going nature of Neil and Bobby, as well as their brotherly, collaborative work spirit. Pints of bitter were quaffed down the street at the Princess of Wales pub, gear was discussed ("Ribbon mics are a godsend.") and stories were exchanged ("Of all of Van Morrison's drummers over the years, I've lasted the longest. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing." chuckled Bobby).

Sanford Parker: Heavy Engineering in Chicago

BY SCOTT EVANS

When I first heard Buried at Sea's epic, super-slow-motion Migration a few years ago, I remember thinking, "This is pretty goddamn heavy" and "This lacks any high end whatsoever." The ballsy production fit the source material perfectly. It was a fitting introduction to Sanford Parker's work as an engineer and musician. Since then, Sanford's been busy: He's engineered dozens of singular, heavy records for bands like Yob, Cough, Pelican, Rwake, Yakuza, Nachtmystium, Indian, Sweet Cobra, Batillus, Unearthly Trance and Zoroaster. He also plays in a number of his own bands including Minsk, The High Confessions and Circle of Animals. Sanford is based in Chicago, where he works out of Engine Music Studios. However, I was able to catch up with him when Nachtmystium toured through San Francisco this spring.

Sanford Parker (bonus): Doom Maker

BY SCOTT EVANS

When I first heard Buried at Sea's epic, super-slow-motion Migration a few years ago, I remember thinking, "This is pretty goddamn heavy" and "This lacks any high end whatsoever." The ballsy production fit the source material perfectly. It was a fitting introduction to Sanford Parker's work as an engineer and musician. Since then, Sanford's been busy: He's engineered dozens of singular, heavy records for bands like Yob, Cough, Pelican, Rwake, Yakuza, Nachtmystium, Indian, Sweet Cobra, Batillus, Unearthly Trance and Zoroaster. He also plays in a number of his own bands including Minsk, The High Confessions and Circle of Animals. Sanford is based in Chicago, where he works out of Engine Music Studios. However, I was able to catch up with him when Nachtmystium toured through San Francisco this spring.