April 18th, 2012

springtime in south pas

As improbable as it seems, Shannon and I are actually at home for a couple of months! I cannot underscore strongly enough how THRILLED I am about this.

Since we’ve been home, Shannon has booked most of a 50-stop summer tour comprised entirely of house concerts. How mind-blowing is that?

Meanwhile, I’m just doing my thing.

- I finished up the Hana Malhas record, which is stunning. There are a couple tracks from that up on my studio page.

- I’m in the middle of mixing an EP for an earnest indie-rock band from Jacksonville called Northe. It’s coming along well.

- I just mixed a single for a band from Sacramento called The Generals; you can hear that on the studio page.

- I mixed what may be the cheeriest song in the entire world for a lovely guy from Portland named Justin Klump … I think we’ll be doing more stuff together later this year. That song is also up on my studio page if you want to check it out.

- I’m in the middle of pre-production demos with dot punto. They’re fun, and this little EP we’ll be making is going to be quirky and great.

So if you need me, I’ll be around! We could go get a cup of coffee and hang around; the weather’s lovely. More soon — Jamie

 

March 22nd, 2012

sxsw: i won!

South by Southwest was awesome per usual! I ended up mixing a bunch of shows for Cloud Nothings and Zola Jesus. Both great live acts, in very different ways. Tons of fun. Plus we saw Bob Mould playing Copper Blue straight through in its entirety, which was fantastic. He still sounds so good.

We’re finally back home, and I’m just waiting to get data for the Hana Malhas and Northe records I’m mixing this month. Excited to share some of this new stuff, hopefully soon!

 

February 27th, 2012

in-between / hana malhas / northe

I hadn’t written in a minute, so I just wanted to post a little update. This has been a cool in-between month for me. I’m between a couple of projects at the moment, laying a lot of groundwork for the coming months, and touring around with Shannon a lot. I’ve done a couple of test mixes over the last week for projects that I’m hoping materialize; fingers crossed for more good news on that front soon.

In the meantime, I’ve committed to mixing a couple of EPs when we get back from SXSW; one for a Jordanian singer from Ann Arbor named Hana Malhas, and one for an indie-rock band from Jacksonville, Florida called Northe. Both should be a lot of fun to work on.

And, we’ve recorded a new song for Shannon’s upcoming full-length. It’s called “Anti-Gravity,” and it’s heavy. It’s kind of a head-banger, which is weird for a downtempo electro-dream-pop song, but there you have it. It gets into a deep dark groove. Love it.

We’re off in the morning for more touring; check http://shannoncurtis.net/tour for dates!

 

January 25th, 2012

LOFTS update: I did a couple mixes too

So I ended up actually getting the Pro Tools sessions and redoing the mixes for the first couple songs on the LOFTS record. Holy shit. These songs are seriously amazing. I’ve put one up on my studio page, called “It’s True.”

I’m *so excited* for this record to come out. We need to find these guys a label. Have a listen to the track … anyone have any ideas what indie label would put this out?

 

January 19th, 2012

LOFTS LP mastering project

I’m mastering a record today and tomorrow for an excellent band out of New York called LOFTS. Epic MBV-inspired noisy post-rock. Excellent record. I’m excited to share it with you all!

 

January 12th, 2012

dot punto!

Cool news … I’m finally able to announce that I’ve been hired to make some recordings with an excellent band from San Francisco called dot punto! (Yes, with no capital letters. And I believe a period at the end.) I would call what they do … indie latin pop, perhaps? At any rate it’s going to be a super fun project. I actually signed on to do it in December, but it was a surprise Christmas gift to the band from the drummer’s boyfriend, and I had to keep quiet about it until the band found out. What a cool gift. It looks like we’ll be tracking maybe in April. Watch this space!

 

January 4th, 2012

bryson brooks: new EP!

I’m just finishing up mastering a new EP for an “art rap” artist from San Antonio named Bryson Brooks. That’s his real name! You don’t see a lot of that in rap. It’s probably because he’s primarily a visual artist. How refreshing.

The EP is far out. It’s produced by my friend Gordon Raphael (Strokes/Regina Spektor). Lots of glitchy synths and sub-bass. As far as I can tell, all the songs are about women’s rear ends, and some are also about drugs. Perfect!

Seriously though, it’s good; check it when it comes out. I believe the first video is coming out at the end of the month; I’ll post the single on my studio page when it’s out!

 

December 5th, 2011

ampersands record: done??

I just sent off a revised master for The Ampersands record, and I’m feeling like this might be the one! I cannot WAIT for you guys to hear this. It’s a really excellent record all the way through.

This record was a total labor of love, both on the part of the main Ampersand, Aaron McQuade, and then on my end. We took our time with this, went back and forth and tweaked it a lot, and really focused in on both the individual songs and then the sequencing and pacing. Christ, we easily spent 8 hours just working on the transitions. I’m telling you, it’s *detailed*.

I feel like I brought a lot to this record and I’m going to be very proud to have it come out (it’s looking like an early spring release). Stay tuned; I’ll update this space as I learn more, and I’ll hopefully be posting a couple “sneak preview” songs very soon!

 

November 17th, 2011

Chris Bathgate: amazing record!

I did the first couple of rounds of mixes on the new Chris Bathgate record this week. Wow! This is going to be such a cool record. Sorry I haven’t posted in a minute; between touring with Shannon and mixing stuff here it’s been non-stop lately.

I also did a test mix this week for a really cool, dark goth/shoegaze project out of LA … fingers crossed I get picked to do the record, it promises to be super cool.

I’m heading out again in the morning with Shannon, up to the Northwest — we’re stopping en route tomorrow night in Oakland, where I’m mixing a live set for our friends Tremor Low. If you’re in that area you should consider coming to the show; the whole bill is good and it should be a great night.

 

October 18th, 2011

mastering for Gordon Raphael

I’m mastering some tracks today & tomorrow for my new friend Gordon Raphael! You might know him from producing records for The Strokes and Regina Spektor, among others. Fun fun.