Took another couple trips down to Jackpot! Studios down in Portland, OR to mix this wonderful record with Peter from Forest Ray. This album hit me in a different way than a lot of his older material that we’ve collaborated on. It’s more sentimental, more heartfelt, and more reflective than his older albums and I think it goes a long way in showcasing his growing maturity as a songwriter and as a musician. This is a delightful album for lovers of classic rock, country, psych rock, and music theory. All mixing was done from 2” 24-track tape down to 1/4” 2-track through Jackpot’s Neve summing console with me and Peter riding the faders all the way. Pure analog spontaneity.
fine - don't talk, just be hot
Had a wonderful time tracking and mixing this record for Seattle band, fine. Keith and I have known each other for a long time and I’ve always really liked fine’s brand of noisy art-rock so I was very excited when they reached out to me about tracking an album. We were able to get into Earwig in Seattle for one of my last sessions there before they closed up in December and I just love the way the organic room sound made a nice imprint on the vibe of the record.
Laamb - Bam Bam/FJ
Recorded, mixed, and mastered this single/b-side for Seattle rockers, Laamb. Had a great time tracking this down at The Unknown in Anacortes over a weekend. Mixing for this was fun, as I wanted to create a huge drum sound without relying on sample reinforcement. These songs will also be featured on a forthcoming album by the band.
Stillvettas - Greatest Hits So Far
Mixed this album for Bellingham rockers the Stillvettas. Great fun and collaborative process to work with them again. They recorded all the tracks at their practice space themselves and brought me in to mix.
Cat Positive - Same Space
Recorded, mixed, and mastered this single for my band, Cat Positive, that I play guitar in. Recorded with the assistance of my students in the Audio Technology, Music, and Society program at Fairhaven College. Whitney Flinn of Cat Valley sang guest vocals on this one too!
Cat Valley - Bingo Queen
Recorded and mixed this album for Bellingham band Cat Valley. Recorded drums and most of the bass at Champion Street Sound Studios in Bellingham, all guitars and vocals done in my home studio. Loved to see the band push itself with this one!
No-Fi Soul Rebellion
Had the pleasure of mastering this single/b-side for Bellingham legends No-Fi Soul Rebellion. Fun to work with a band that I’ve been seeing live since probably middle school.
Forest Ray - Wait Any Longer
I mixed and mastered this Single off an upcoming album for Seattle psych-rock band Forest Ray. As with nearly all of their music, this song was tracked and mixed completely analog from 2” 24-track tape down to 1/4” 2-track. We mixed this album at Jackpot! Recording Studio in Portland, OR over the course of 6 long days.
Hockey Teeth - Dialtone
Recorded and mixed this song off of the new EP by Seattle indie-pop rockers Hockey Teeth. This song was tracked entirely in one day at Earwig down in Seattle and then mixed up in my home studio up in Bellingham.
Spine Readers - Fixing My Remains
Brought Bellingham band Spine Readers down to Seattle to record this track at Earwig Studios in Wallingford. We were able to get everything needed tracked for this song before the band had load in for a gig in Bellingham that night! They then took the tracks home and mixed it on their own. Check out the rest of the album too!
Slag Hive - S/T EP
Recorded drums, some guitar and vocals, mixed, and mastered this track by new Bellingham experimental death metal band Slag Hive featuring members of Rooftops, Dog Shredder/Wild Throne, and Ritual Killing. Additional tracking by Bobby Yost and the band members. Super fun to work on another heavy project after a long stretch of other genres. Very happy with how this one turned out.
Myonia - The Kingdom is Empty
Produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered this album for Bellingham heavy rockers Myonia (formerly Akrasia). Had a great time working on the ripper of an album with these fun lads. Tracking was all done at Champion Street Sound Studios in Bellingham, WA and all the mixing/mastering was done in my home studio.
Forest Ray - Hard to Quit (Banjira)
Partially engineered, mixed, and mastered this song for Seattle-based psych-pop-rock band Forest Ray. Had a real fun time on this one tracking in their basement studio and mixing at Jackpot! in Portland; all completely analog. Had to figure out how to use varispeed on the tape machine to tune the banjira from 432Hz to standard 440Hz tuning!
Tyson Ballew - Book of Poetry
Helped produce and record this song by Tyson Ballew for my friend’s (Tyson’s partner) birthday with my partner Whitney Flinn (Hooves and Beak, Cat Valley). Great fun all around working in my little home studio on this.
Adam Greenberg - Red Green Blue
Mastered this track for Bellingham songwriter/producer Adam Greenberg.
Plash - Market
Tracked this song for Seattle math rockers, Plash, live to 4-track 1/2” tape. All processing/mixing for the instrumentals were done on the fly as we tracked, with minimal overdubbing for vocals and guitar. Big thanks to my students Maxwell Lemke and Gabe Whisman for their assistance in the studio. Buy the song on their bandcamp!
The Sheen - Holocene Rolodex
Recorded, mixed, and mastered this album for Bellingham psych noise band The Sheen. Tracked live at Champion Street Sound Studios with the assistance of some of my students. Mixed and mastered back here at the home studio.
Sinflower - Mostly Resentments
Mastered this album for Bellingham Singer/Songwriter Sinflower.
Adam Greenberg - Rain In the River
Mastered this single for Bellingham-based producer/artist Adam Greenberg. Had some fun using the Fostex tape machine to add some tasty analog vibes to this track.
Hello, World!
Mount Saturn - O' Great Moon
Mount Saturn is a band I worked with back in 2017 and 2018 recording a little demo for them and then the Kiss the Ring EP. We had stayed in touch over the years (even jammed with me on drums a few times!) and I was absolutely thrilled when they asked me to work on an upcoming record with them in 2019. Then the pandemic hit and everything got put on pause. In 2021 when vaccines started to allow us to get out and start playing music again they hit me up again about finally recording the songs they’d been working on. So we set to work tracking the band mostly live playing all together using Pro Tools at the Anacortes Unknown Recording Studio in the Fall of 2021. Unfortunately due to poor intonation (get your guitars setup before recording folks!) we had to scrap a lot of guitar tracks, but a lot of what you hear here is the result of the band playing together in a big ass old church in a sleepy Washington seaside town. Everything we weren’t able to finish at the Unknown that weekend we recorded either at Champion Street Sound Studios or at my home studio in Bellingham. Lots of reamping loud ass guitar tracks through various Sunn, ENGL, Fender, and Orange amps here too for those big doomy guitar tones. Everything was mixed at my home studio here in Bellingham too, then we sent off the tracks to James Plotkin for mastering and final touches.
Overall, I think this album showcases some huge growth for both myself and the band. We all pulled out all the stops here and created something that we’re all very proud of and happy with. Mount Saturn rules live too, so go see them if you get a chance.