archer avenue studio

One of my favorite things about my job is that I not only get to constantly make music, but I also get to make new friends .  This past week I had the privilege of working with the Columbia Metal band Interpreter.   Not only did we make a great record, but we had so much fun doing it.  I really love these dudes and am excited to see what the future has in store for them.  

If we want to get picky, I think I would put them in the post-rock, progressive metal genre (if there is such a thing...).  Interpreter is really working to creative innovative and fresh music.  Not willing to be bound by a set formula for their sound, they are creating something fresh.   I can honestly say their songs are the longest I've ever recorded :)  We recorded a full record worth of material that will be artfully broken into 6 tracks.  While much of the music is "in your face" metal, they have embedded within their songs some beautiful moments of peaceful ambience.

We had fun creating the textures for this record.  Starting with large, "rock and roll" sounding drums and building from there.  Much to my delight, Ryan (the drummer) wasn't content to use the typical Metal drum sounds (mostly triggered and artificial sounding).  So we went for large and natural sounding drum tracks.  We built Stephen's bass tone by using his amp and simultaneously tracking his bass through our 1969 Marshall head.  He uses a bunch of effects to create his tone and we had fun experimenting.  In the end we used the Caroline Guitar Company Wave Cannon as the foundation for his overdriven tone, adding reverb and delay for the ambient sections.  For Timmy's guitar tracks we recorded pretty much every take through both his Egnater Renegade  head and our Marshall head.  The two together were enormous sounding.  We had fun with my new Wet Stereo Reverb pedal during the ambient parts.  Paul's vocal sound was really pretty straight forward.  This guy has an amazing voice for screaming/yelling.  He literally did most of the vocals for the record in one take.  I added a touch of  saturation with my Devil Loc plugin and a bit of reverb and he did the rest!

Each of the four of these guys are incredibly talented and committed to their craft.  Ryan, Stephen, Timmy and Paul... I'll miss you guys!  

Earlier this month I had the privilege of recording the Columbia band, Pan.  These guys have created their own breed of post-rock instrumental rock and roll, and I couldn't have been happier to get the chance to work with them.  I can honestly say Pan is made up of 5  amazing guys, who are not only talented musicians,  but are very committed to the music they are creating.  I feel like I gained 5 friends during the six days we worked together.  The shear fact that we recorded a full length record in six days speaks to their work ethic and focus.  I can't say that I have EVER recorded drums and bass for 9 songs in one day...  That is, until Brandon and Ryan laid it down on day one of recording.  Ian, Nate, and Eric followed suit and each did their part to ensure that we not only finished on time, but had a product we are all proud of.  

Pan is fortunate enough to be backed by Post Echo.  These hard working guys (and girl) are doing everything in their power to guarantee that the music scene in SC is heading in the right direction.  

Check out the first promo Post Echo released for Pan's record.  And check out an exclusive interview here.

Pan will be releasing, "These Are The Things I Love And I Want To Share Them With You" on March 7th.  Below is a short video I made of our time together.

Well maybe thats a bad title for this blog post since many of you already know Brandon.  But the truth of the matter is, if you know him, you probably know him as a bass player, or just as a nice guy...  But this marks the official beginning of Brandon Kean the singer/song-writer.

Brandon is a close friend of mine (we actually play in a band called Rejectioneers together), so when he approached me about recording his new song of course I was excited.  Little did I know just how good the song was.  He sat down in my studio and played it for me and immediately I had a smile on my face.  This was a great song and would be a blast to record.  

We enlisted the help of our good friend Will Grubbs (of the band Foley) on the drums and Brandon and I took care of the rest of the instruments.  We had a lot of fun and ended up with a product we're all very proud of.  

Here is a short video showing a bit of the recording process.  Unfortunately I totally forgot to break the camera out the second day that we recorded.  I should also note that our friend Megan Lannigan stopped by and added her amazing vocals to the song.  Too bad I didn't capture that on camera. 

Brandon will be recording a few more songs in the coming weeks and releasing an EP shortly.  Until then he graciously decided to give away this first song for free on Bandcamp.  Head on over there are check it out!  You won't regret it.  

For the past several years I've had it in the back of my mind that I'd love to record a Christmas record.  Not just another CD filled with the likes of "Jingle Bells" and "Santa Baby"; What I had in mind would be something that would creatively draw the listener in and captivate them with lyrics filled with Christmas truths.  Maybe even something that on the surface didn't HAVE to be classified as a "Christmas record".   I think some of this idea sprang from listening to Austin Crane several years ago as he sang a song that he had written for Christmas time.  The song was a bit dark and haunting, yet was clearly about Christmas.  I found myself asking "why aren't more bands doing this!?"

A couple months ago I heard a rumor that some good friends of mine in The Sea Wolf Mutiny were thinking about recording a Christmas EP but didn't have much of a budget.  I quickly realized that this was my chance. The Sea Wolf Mutiny has fast become a serious musical force in Columbia.  I recorded their debut EP a few months ago and have continued to be captivated by these guys  creativity and immense talent.  I called Bobby (the lead singer) to discuss the idea of us working together on this project.  We figured out how to  work around the budget constraints and booked two full days for tracking and mixing 3 songs.  


While we ended up taking a bit longer then the two days we allotted, I think we are all very pleased with the outcome.  I know this short EP surpassed my expectations and I'm thrilled to have you listen to it. The first of these tunes is an original song and the other two are lesser known old hymns that these fellas have given their own unique spin to.  The guys in The Sea Wolf Mutiny have decided to give the EP (titled "The Apple Tree") away for a "pay-what-you-want" price.  So don't let money be an object!  Grab it now for free or give these guys a few dollars for their effort.  You can download it here. 

I also put together a short video showing some of our time together.  If you dig the EP make sure to tell your friends about it, I mean it IS free music!

Well if you've been following us at all on Facebook or Twitter you may have noticed that we recently added a couple guitar amplifiers to our arsenal.  We are very excited about these additions and I wanted to take a minute to properly introduce them.  

The first of the new amps is a Vox AC-30.  If this type of amp doesn't ring a bell, think of the famous guitar sounds of The Beatles, U2, Radiohead, and Tom Petty.  These people/bands have relied on Vox amps for the majority of their signature sound. 

This is The Edge's (U2) original 1964 Vox AC-30.  It has suppossedly been used on EVERY U2 album.

Brian May of Queen. Nine AC-30's!

It was 1958 when Vox first introduced the AC-30 to be a big brother to the popular AC-15.  By the early 1960's the AC-30 had taken on the look and sound that we all know and love today.  In fact, I first totally fell in love with the AC-30 in a studio in New York.  I recorded most of the electric guitar parts for that record through the studio's 1964 Vox AC-30.  Of course I already loved the guitar tone of the aforementioned bands,  but playing/recording through that amp sealed the deal.  I quickly sold some gear and bought my first Vox AC-30.  

Those early 1960's AC-30's have become some of the most sought after vintage amps out there, which of course means the price to get one is VERY high.  Thankfully for us in 2007 Vox introduced what they are calling "The Holy Grail of Vox tone", and "Perhaps the finest Vox amplifier in the company's 50 year history".  This limited addition (only 500 made) version of the AC-30 is completely hand-wired and absolutely beautiful.  The normal channel in this amp is an exact copy of the 1958 EF86 preamp channel, and the other channel is an exact copy of the 1963 Top Boost channel.  To top it all off it's made out of stunning African Mahogany and (of course) includes two of the famous Celestion Blue speakers.

This amp immediately blew Eric and I away when we first plugged it in.  As I played through it and adjusted the tone, I could hear the famous sounds of Johnny Greenwood, The Edge, and Brian May spilling out of the speakers.  This amp is truly a joy and inspiration to play and we are excited to put it to great use!

The second new amplifier that deserves a fine introduction is an amazing 1969 Marshall 50 watt head.  The guts of this thing are seriously from 1969 and of course, are hand-wired and all original.  Once again if this type of amplifier isn't ringing a bell think early Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, early Eddie Van Halen, and Angus Young.  The list could go on and on. 

Jimi Hendrix's Marshall stack.

Eric Clapton shown here while playing with Cream.

Needless to say, Marshall amps have greatly helped shape the voice of electric guitar over the past several decades.  It was actually in 1969 that Marshall first introduced a 50 watt version of their 100 watt Superlead.  These new lower wattage amplifiers were called the 1987 model (no relation to the year) or also referred to as 50 watt Plexi's.  

Honestly I haven't had a very extensive history with Marshall amps.  I am proud to say that the first "real" guitar amplifier I bought (when I was in highschool) was a Marshall JCM 900 half stack.    This was a pretty impressive amp for a 17 year old and I played this amp exclusively until I fell in love with Vox (refer to the story above).  So even though I've heard amazing Marshall sounds on recordings most of my perception of these amps came from my JCM 900.  While there is nothing at all wrong with that amp, my memories weren't all that  impressive.  So when Eric started talking about wanting a Marshall head I just kinda went along with it.  I assumed I'd use it here and there but really it'd be Eric's tool.  Well let me be the first to admit I was gravely wrong about true vintage Marshall tone!!  As soon as I began playing through this beautiful red amp I knew I was falling in love all over again.  Yes, Vox is my first love, and will always be, but now there was a new contender.  

This Marshall sounds HUGE!!!  It is the perfect "rock n roll" amplifier.  It does everything from very "dirty" or distorted to "crunchy" mild breakup.  If these words and terms mean nothing to you then just take my word for it, this thing is amazing and very versatile.  


By adding these amps to our "tools of the trade" we believe that we'll be able to give our clients an even more enjoyable and inspiring studio experience.  We take what we do very seriously and want to be able to offer the best.  Actually, very soon we'll have another exciting addition to our amplifier collection to tell you about!  But until then we'll be perfectly content with these two new (to us) pieces of guitar history.

So I know this post will be boring to many of you, but I've come across a piece of equipment that deserves it's own post.  If you don't play guitar you may want to stop reading here...

As guitar players we all know that looking for the perfect pedal/pedals is a lifelong task.  There are just too many options to ever really get to try everything.  I'm actually in the process of totally re-working my pedalboard and  have found some amazing pedals.  

While I still have a few pieces to replace I can tell you with certainty that my Caroline Guitar Company "Wave Cannon",  will never leave my board.  That along with my Keeley Compressor and Fulltone Full-drive 2 are responsible for most of my tone these days.   Of course the Keeley modded TS-9 and Fulltone Fat-Boost are great as well!  

Well, the reason for this post is that while re-building my board, I've discovered that due to the amount of pedals I'm using, I'm actually losing some tone somewhere in between my guitar and my amp.  This of course is a huge problem.  I'm carefully choosing pedals to advance my tone NOT deplete it.  While some of this tone loss may be due to the random assortment of cables that I've amassed in the last ten years (this problem will be taken care of very soon with all new cables), I know that some of the loss is due to having a large number of "true bypass" pedals.  When a few of these pedals are stacked together there is noticeable loss in clarity and top-end.  

Much to my relief there is a solution!  And best of all, it doesn't have to break the bank.  

Introducing the T1M Mini Buffer.  While I barely understand what this little thing does it has made a huge difference in my tone!  So far, I'm putting it first in my chain and it sounds like I've lifted a sheet off my amp.  Please check this it out and do yourself a favor and go ahead and buy one!!!  At $39 plus shipping this is the most inexpensive tool you could add to your pedalboard with the most amount of positive change.  Get it!

This month I've had the privilege of working with several very talented bands and artists.  One of these bands is Southwood.  They are a four piece rock group out of Charleston SC.  We've spent three days together so far and will get a couple more at the end of the  month.  These dudes are great people and I've had a blast with them.  I really believe in their songs and I think they have a substantial future ahead of them.  We'll be wrapping u p this EP shortly and they will be releasing it in October.  But until then here's a small sneak peak of one of their songs and our time together.

Today I began working on a record I am very excited about.  You may have already heard of her but if not I'd like to introduce you to Shameka Dwight.  She is a VERY talented singer, songwriter, piano and guitar player!  We'll be working together for the next week and a half and I'm convinced we'll end up with a record we are both proud of.   Today we tracked the first round of drums and bass.  Fred (drums) and Joe (bass) totally killed it and we got off to a GREAT start.  Here's a very short video showing some of our day.

I'll be sure to blog more about her record this week.  Click here to find her on Facebook.

Here's her music video for a song she has previously recorded that should also make it on this record.  Check it out!