Recording studio, audio training, bands and DJs - Aurora, Illinois

The Guild Reconvenes

While a fresh coat of snow kept some of us away last night, it didn't stop the Guild from slipping into some great conversation. Our chat focused around the idea of the "great gig" and what that means - though we made some liberal tangents. We talked photo and video intellectual property rights, networking online and off, and rattled off some of our own favorite area venues. It was great to meet some new faces, including area show promoter Louis Vasseur and fusion guitarist Dave Ziffer. 

We also got to talking about doing a joint show sometime, probably with an eye towards raising money for a good cause. What do you think?

New Year, New Bands, Same great Studio

It's a new year and we're off to a great start here in the studio! Last weekend we had local band Cauz N Effx in the studio all day to start recording their first full production album. It was an energy packed productive day laying down tracks for the first 5 songs. 

 

Cauz N Effx is a kick you in the face, punch you in the gut rock band that reminds me a lot of RATM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime and a host of other great bands from recent years. I'm pumped to be working on their album and can't wait for them to be back in the studio next week. Keep your ears peeled and your eyes open for more on these guys.

 
 

Tiny Candle is coming together....

 Last night's rehearsal for Tiny Candle was the first one where I experienced genuine excitement. I've been getting together with Zach, Andrea, Mandy, Ben and David since October - but when you start pulling together something of this magnitude, it never feels like it's actually going to happen until the weeks before.

It's going to happen.

In fact, we've upped the ante a little bit this year in terms of ambition. I don't want to give any surprises away, so I'll just put it this way: scores have been written.

That, and the fact that if you look closely at this photo from last night you'll see that we've been setting up glasses in the background again. Add the right amount of water and they almost sound in tune...

If you don't have tickets yet for next weekend, get them here.

Holiday wrapping (up)

 I'm wrapping up mixes this week with sisters in song Shawn Christopher and Shuree Rivera, who took advantage of our holiday specials to lay down a quick - but fully rendered - holiday EP. What a blast it's been tracking with these two talented, upbeat and uplifting women! The pair brought in a killer band a couple weeks ago to track contemporary takes on songs like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "What Child is This." I think we'll all be proud of the results.

And the longest-running artist award goes to...

 Kyle spent the morning with one of our oldest - and youngest - clients. Steve Strong's done a Christmas recording every year with us for the last four years - starting when he was 8 years old. Now 12, Steve's still one of our youngest clients. I love seeing him and his family; it means it's holiday time again.

This year I had the treat of singing with Steve on the Chris Rice tune "Welcome to Our World" - which is how I made the photo although Kyle did the engineering this time 'round.