[12/1/07] Former An April March singer, Danella Hocevar, has been flying back and forth between her home in Toronto and our home here at Tremolo Lounge, working on her first project in ten years. Roger has known Danella for years, as his band, The Curtain Society and An April March were once labelmates, and often toured together. It's been great fun working on her new material.
The Howl's frontman, Troy Gonyea, brought in a mixing session in with blues pianist, David Maxwell who had tracks of himself jamming with the Giant of the Blues, Louisiana Red. It was a treat sifting through the takes to find some fantastic outakes and conversations between songs. David also brought in some of his own live tracks from a gig at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor MI, for a little bit of clean-up.
Mixing their new CD is the colorful multi-instrument band, Jubilee Gardens. This band includes electric and acoustic guitars, upright bass, cello, violin, horns, oud, keyboards, drums and various percussion, all surrounding the brilliant songs of David Jubilee Connolly. Stylistically, it's hard to describe the sound — it's a smorgasbord of textures and styles — but at the core, Jubilee's songs are deep and heartfelt, sometimes reminding of Doves, Wilco or Red House Painters, but with totally different musical ornamentation.
Southbridge noise-rockers The Demisers were recently in to track their new CD. The concept was to capture as much as we could in a live environment, sort of like a John Peel radio session, keeping as much of the spirit of their live shows as possible.
Also tracking a new CD is Worcester's Uncle Billy's Smokehouse. Their sound can be described as having deep roots in the best in Beatley pop songs, with some pretty heavy groove. We got some great basic tracks down and are now about to wrap up some guitar overdubs and start the vocals. Look for this one early 2008.
A new rock band out of Worcester is Switchblade Suicide. They recently brought in the tracks of their 3-song demo in for mixing. Look for that for early 2008 as well.
Old friends The Pandas came in to track some guitar overdubs for a new CD project that they've been working on at their own space. We used some interesting techniques for these tracks, trying to capture Sean Carroll's unique super-processed guitar sounds, including mic'ing up an entire PA system including subwoofer, with a stereo mic setup. It was a fun challenge.
[8/1/07] Summer is here and it's time to sit back with a nice tall glass of lemonade and enjoy the fruits of our Spring. We've been hearing great feedback from the recent releases from Carry the Zero and Craig. Craig's singer, Sam James, has been back to the Lounge doing some acoustic tracks for new songs. Denis Coughlin's CD, Nocturnal Pop Journal not only has one of the coolest titles in recent memory, but should be hitting the streets before you can hit "refresh" on this page. We wish him lots of success.
Seana Carmody has finished her CD and as of early July is awaiting pressing. Look for it in early Fall '07.
We've been cutting basic tracks for an upcoming solo CD from pianist Taz DiGregorio. You may know Taz from his gig as the only original member (besides Charlie, of course) in the Charlie Daniels Band. This project has reunited Roger with his childhood hometown guitar hero, John Presutti.
Singer/songwriter Zack Borer wrapped up his new CD, Home. We wish him luck as he makes NYC his new home... once again. Edgy indie rockers, Castine have just wrapped up a 3-song CD entitled Mr. Henry's Walk, a loving reference to the Tremolo Lounge mascot. Gutta has finished mixing 6 songs for their next CD. Moonlighting Gutta guitarist Brooks Milgate (who also plays with Boston's The Luxury) has a great piano/drums pop duo with Alex Sacco, and they're cryptically called Hey Now... Morris Fader. They were recently in the Lounge to have Roger mix their new CD, which they recorded themselves.
This seems to be a trend, as bluesy/psychedelic rockers, The Howl and atmospheric/dreamy electropop duo, Colorblind had Roger mix their tracks as well. The Howl recorded new arrangements of classic Howlin' Wolf songs on an 8-track machine at their rehearsal space. Colorblind are longtime friends of the Lounge, being one of the earliest projects mixed here when the studio got back into business as Tremolo Lounge. They brought their project in to be mixed and it sounds fantastic. Really incredible songs and arrangements.
Boston indie rockers The Broken River Prophet finished up their project over the spring. Some very cool noisy guitar stuff from this band which seems to have a constantly rotating stable of bandmembers.
Mike O'Connell came back into the studio, after many years since his last CD (done here in 2002). We listened to some unfinished gems from long ago and did some quick mixes. He also started laying down basics for a few new tunes. We're looking forward to working on a new CD project with Mike.
[1/9/07] 2007 is beginning with wrapping up some loose ends with Craig, Gutta and the Bee’s Knees, as well as new projects with Carry the Zero and Denis Coughlin.
Carry the Zero were last seen here when they recorded their debut CD in 2001. Now they've returned and sound better than ever, tracking four new tunes plus a great Grass Roots cover (they always choose great covers!)
Denis Coughlin is nearing completion of his third CD. This project has been a lot of fun, with a parade of great musicians and singers lending their talents. Many of the vocal tracks had lead and backup vocals (courtesy of Dawn Sweet and Jessica Rawding) recorded like it used to be... one mic in one take! (Okay, so we double tracked some of it, but still....)
The coming weeks will bring in Little Big Wheel's Jim Weeks for some pre-production (that will probably end up as a master...) as well as the final mixes for Gutta and Craig.
We've also been busy with upgrading and renovating. Those who haven't been out here in a while will be quite surprised with the changes. The whole studio space pretty much tripled over the last year, with room to grow even more! We love the addition of the wood stove (even though this winter has been more like spring.) Lots of equipment upgrades and new toys. From major software/hardware/ computer improvements to quirky and unique yard sale finds. The studio had a major growth spurt over the last year (even expanding beyond its walls to include a separate racked-up Pro Tools system for remote recording) and Charlie and Roger have even more exciting plans for 2007!
[4/1/06] The walls of Tremolo Lounge have been echoing with the sounds of Jediah, as we have been preparing the mixes for their project. This is going to be one gorgeous sounding CD. We spent a few nights with the reunited Furies, which were a veteran rock and roll band in the Worcester scene several years ago. We tracked basics of some of their tunes and will be doing vocals and mixing soon. Wayno Winslow from Standard Deviation has been in working on his new project, and we cut some great vocal tracks for it this week. Preacher Roe did a song called "Roadside Crosses" which featured friends, Michael Thibodeau (Bee's Knees) on mandolin and Scott Riciutti (Huck) on acoustic guitar and backing vocals. Rodger Ekstrom (31 North) and his mother Becky (Bread and Wine) were in working on a very sweet song this week as well. We send our well wishes to them and their family. "We’ll always be thinking of you"!
Those who missed the Guitar Show in Auburn last weekend missed a great one! We set up a table to clear out a few pieces of gear which needed to find a new home. It was a great success! We still have that lovely red-tolex Marshall 4 x 10 cab if anyone has the matching head.
Looking forward to April, we’re excited to be starting a major album project with Skulltoboggan, as well as doing more work on the OSB and Bee’s Knees projects.
[3/8/06] This week has brought Jonathan Hall and his Goblin’s Pipe psychedelic pop album in to the Lounge for a little mastering. Michael Thibodeau is doing some overdubs on the new Bee’s Knees album during the day and the Furies have been in tracking an EP at night. Things are really sounding fantastic. It’s possibly due to the newly opened-up space in the tracking area. Drums are really breathing and sounding killer. Come to think of it, everything is sounding killer!
[3/2/06] Here it is March and it’s cold as can be outside, but it’s nice and warm by the fire in the studio! Jediah is still here working on the final touches for their new album. Standard Deviation guitarist, Wayno Winslow, just left for the night after working on another of his new tunes. In the next few days, in between more Jediah work, Steve Cummings of Bottlefight will have his project mastered (recorded at Toad Hall with Steve Blake), and Roger will be mixing a blues project recorded in January with Al Arsenault. Jim Douglass has also finished his project; the final mastering was done last week. OSB will be back this weekend, and Huck will be coming back in soon to do a track for a Worcester Magazine compilation CD.
[2/16/06] We’ve got a few major projects going on in February, starting with a new full-length CD project with the great pop band, OSB – they’ll be here more often than not this month. When they’re not in, the Bee’s Knees will be starting a new album of well-crafted Americana pop. If that wasn’t enough, we'll be starting mixes later this month on a mammoth project for another great pop band, Jediah.
Looking ahead to March, we’ve got the Furies booked, as well as a new project for local wunderkind, Zac Galen (when he comes back from Berlin).
