RACC, Sasquatch, Swahili, Møtrik, Depeche Mode and more.

May and June are turning out to be a whirlwind of projects…all great things…

Scout Niblett

The Scout Niblett record I worked on last year came out May 21st. It’s called “Its Up To Emma” and is out on Drag City. You can catch her touring all over the U.S. and Europe this summer.

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RACC Panel

Also on May 21st I was honored to be included in a panel called Your Career in Music. It was organized by RACC, the Regional Arts and Culture Council. The panel consisted of mostly musicians, and was geared mostly toward musicians trying to make their way forward in this strange and confusing time for the music industry, but I think I added a good perspective to the mix.

Other participants included:
Mic Crenshaw: world-class MC, poet, hip hop artist
Rebecca Gates: US based musician, curator, artist and audio editor
Miriam German: late 60’s/early 70’s rock, singer, songwriter, touring artist
Toni Hill: Hip Hop, Jazz and R/B singer, songwriter, touring artist

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Sasquatch Festival/Matthew Dear Tour

Immediately following that was a short Matthew Dear tour. We had a one-off in San Francisco at the Mezzanine, and a set at the Sasquatch music festival. We were even able to get some Twin Peaks tourism in on the way back from Eastern Washington, stopping in North Bend, WA to visit the diner from the series, and Snoqualmie Falls.

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Swahili

Portland-based electronic/psych band Swahili came to over to Type Foundry in early June to start mixing their new record with me. We mixed three songs in two days from tracks they have recorded over the last couple of years in their basement lair. Hopefully we’ll finish it up towards the end of the summer for a fall release.

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Møtrik

I also did a record’s worth of basic tracking over two days for Portland kraut rock/psych band Møtrik. It was a fun session with a lot of synths, drones and Neu-type motorik drum beats. Here’s a panorama of the setup at Type Foundry taken by the band. Click on the image for a better view:

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French American International School

For a few years now I’ve been working with the music program at the  French American International School (FAIS) here in Portland. A couple times a year a bunch of bands made up of  middle schoolers from FAIS descend upon Type Foundry and spend a couple of days recording cover songs and experiencing what its like to be in the studio. This June we added a more extensive four-hour recording time for the winners of their Battle of the Bands, as well as a live sound seminar for two groups of 34 kids, taught by myself and Jim Brunberg over at Mississippi Studios! Hopefully there will be more of this organized  in the future, possibly for other schools and adults who want to learn more about live sound.

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Depeche Mode/Matthew Dear Tour

I’m also thrilled and honored to be leaving for a few weeks in Europe at the end of June to mix Matthew Dear opening five shows for Depeche Mode in Ukraine, Germany, Switzerland and Italy! This will be my first time mixing stadiums. Wish me luck!

These are the dates we’re doing: