Wow!

What an awesome week. Over 15 tracks recorded, 10 artists and bands, and 80 solid hours of hands on experience for our interns and engineers. I think we all learned a ton about recording, producing and coordinating. Everyone did an exceptional job! Mixes are now in progress and should be ready to review by the end of this month.

We are currently playing with the idea of showcasing the work from the week through an event sometime around October or November. Depending on funding, location availability, and potential partners this could be a big promo opportunity to connect with other artists, engineers, and labels plus a chance to field questions about everyone’s experience and creative process. In the meantime, check out the pics, learn more about the participating artists, and keep on blogging!

Project Renovate
Wisecrack
60 Watt Kid
Christopher Willits
Gabriel Coan
The Blank Slates
Sean Niesen
League 510
The Dervish
Max Paz
Midori/Audioclique

- Adam Shaening-Pokrasso

An incredibly young band, called Midori and Audioclique, were taking session. The singer, Midori, is a very beautiful girl who is only 15. Her band mates, Conor and Kevin are 20 and 19, respectively. They were working on a song called “Bangkok,” about a girl who just may be too hot to trot.

Adam cued up the machines and they were rolling. As Midori started her vocal overdubs, Conor and I chatted on the sofa. He told me that they were currently in the restructuring phase, that soon they were be focusing on the real star (he forked a finger at himself and smiled.)

Both Conor and Kevin were very playful. They play keys and bass respectively. While watching Midori enunciate the ‘kok’ in ‘Bangkok’ and joking that it’s their song too, they told me a sliver of their story. They all grew up in Santa Rosa, and are currently in the running for “Best Indie Pop Song” in the Hollywood Music Awards. Midori has been singing since she was 13, in fact the song up for the award, called “Go,” was recorded when she was only 13.

Midori’s father Ron and her mother have been very influential in helping her get this far. Her father actually plays guitar in the band and helps with management and audio production. Her mother fills in as the resident PR and booking agent. The awards take place at the Kodak theater, November 20.

You can listen to Midori and the Audioclique at:

http://www.myspace.com/midorilongo
http://www.audioclique.net

- Jean Yaste

Sean Niesen was the featured artist in the studio today. Accompanying Sean were a couple of his friends on drums/percussion and on bass. Jonathon Wong was the lead engineer, while I was the assistant engineer. The group combines an eclectic mix of sounds/timbre, ranging from the ordinary to the more abstract. They are able to combine traditional styles of music with more experimental sounds. I really enjoyed watching the group work through various sections of their track. They were able to incorporate a decent amount of layers to a section of their track without it sounding cluttered. Sean’s timbre and arrangement on guitar was definitely something I’ve never heard before.

What I really enjoyed most was watching more of the creative process as the group worked through this track. They started with a 5-6 minute jam to work on various ideas. Then, decided to focus on shorter phrases to possibly loop. Overall, it was a great experience for myself, and hopefully the other guys working on it. In my opinion, if you’re a fan of groups like Grizzly Bear and earlier M83, you’ll enjoy whatever Sean Niesen puts down. Check out some of his other music here.

- Scott McCoid

Today we are recording two tracks with local, up-and-coming Indy rock group, “The Blank Slates.” (Troy Lawton is lead engineering, with Jonathon Wong as assistant engineer.  All of the interns have been helping out this week and rotating responsibilities.) Featuring Andrea Iacopini on guitar and vocals, they produce a high-intensity, earthy nuance with a forward drive. According to Andrea, “The Blank Slates” is a “concept of ever-changing sound, where each song has space to develop into its own without allowing the band itself to be easily categorized.”

Andrea was joined by drummer Cochrane McMillan in January of this year, with bassist Martin Fowler adding to the mix later that month. Not only are they solid musicians, but their tracks are chock full of well-blended harmonies and tight fills.

In “My Only Regret,” Cochrane takes the lead on drums and has been playing solid all day, with Turkish hand-hammered cymbals adding nice texture and shimmer.  Martin has a solid ear in this tune with dead-on rhythm and innovative fills. Andrea is a natural songwriter, and struck gold with his addictive opening guitar and bass lines.

www.myspace.com/theblankslates

The goal of today’s session is to create the majority of a demo for distribution to local radio stations.

Good energy, good times, good clean fun.

-Emily Hendricks

Christopher Willits was the featured artist in the studio today, and was accompanied on the Drums by Gabriel Coan, a very experienced and versatile drummer. Chris has released several albums through his labels 12K, and Ghostly International. After observing him in the studio and hearing his music I would categorize his style as Experimental Pop. Although Chris is mainly a guitarist, he incorporates other instruments and noise to create the perfect sound. He uses unique computer processing to disguise and color the sound of the guitar but still keeps the rhythmic structure. Some say Chris has truly redefined the sound a guitar can make!

Today Chris created 2 new tracks, on the 1st track, he played a single note for 7 minutes straight, and layered it at least 4 times to create a variety of harmonic tones. Gabriel Coan joined us for the afternoon to contribute to Chris’s second piece. Chris and Gabriel have collaborated several times in the past and today, continue share their musical ideas. When Gabriel arrived, he had no idea what the track sounded like, and basically free-styled his performance. It totally blew me away!

Until recently, Gabriel was part of a San Francisco based band by the name of Continental, that’s been around since 1998. According to U-Dot Music, “Continental has a reputation for making smart, cinematic music.” I look forward to some of the new projects that Gabriel is working on.

For more information about Christopher Willits and Gabriel Coan, checkout:

www.christopherwillits.com
www.myspace.com/christopherwillits

www.myspace.com/goodadvices

If you would like to hear some of the stuff we’ve created today, the 1st track – THE TONE MONSTER! will be added to our compilation CD of all the artists who recorded at Sound Arts during Sponsorship week and the 2nd track will be featured in his upcoming album through 12K and Ghostly international.

- Priscilla Fallas

Today, a local group called 60 Watt Kid came to the studio and layed down 2 tracks, complete with ill synthesizers, vocals, drums, and an eerie, futuristic echo. During the process of recording, I observed how 60 Watt Kid mixed together different sounds to create original music in the psychedelic pop field. This group is popular for their unique sound and, as an intern here at Sound Arts, I enjoyed watching the engineers and artists work together using ProTools, and adding the different layers to complete the first track. They are about to begin tracking their second song, which will be recorded live. These tracks will be included in the Sound Arts compilation and, if they are happy with the outcome, they will be included in their upcoming album through Absolutely Kosher Records.

- Roberto Flores

We will be hosting a “recording boot-camp” where seasoned Sound Arts interns assisted by new students from youth outreach and media literacy programs, will record, mix and deliver songs produced by selected sponsored artists. The first three days will highlight recording setup and techniques, followed by a full week of music production and collaboration. Artists are invited to apply for this unique opportunity to record their songs and take part in a music compilation, totally for free!

We’ll work together to produce two to four artists/bands, start to finish. All the participants receive credit in the compilation and are encouraged to network, collaborate, and take part in future programs and opportunities in the filed of music production. Intern hours will also be logged to satisfy portions of required intern hours for other youth training programs.

This is a very fresh idea still undergoing some incubation, but we are looking to use this model and pilot project in a future grant proposal. Our goals are to provide free/discounted studio time to up and coming artists in the Bay Area, establish a crash course program to educate young engineers and producers, and to create a creative venue that releases routine compilations from a variety of genres and communities.

To apply for a recording sponsorship email:
education@soundarts.org

or for more information, email:
info@soundarts.org

Create, Engineer, Produce, Network, & Collaborate!