Smile Kid :)

“Smile Kid :)”, the second full length album by youg Florida-native band WE the Kings just came out in December. I did some engineering work on it at EastSide Sound and could tell these guys were really talented and had their shit together. The tracks sounded great and their playing was right on. I just heard the record and it’s as powerful, catchy, melodic and good sounding as you’d expect… If you are into radio-friendly power-pop definitely give this a listen, they are great!

Look out for the new Manorexia record by Foetus mastermind Jim Thirlwell, out sometimes this year on the amazing Tzadik label. We’re mixing it these days and it sounds really great!

Luckily there are still musicians out there who care about “the sound” and are willing to experiment to get there. The incredibly talented Eyvind Kang is one of those and I was excited when he called me and told me he wanted to check out different mic positions and try something new and unusual. When I told my assistant to set up 5 mics he looked at me weird and thought it was overkill given it was just one instrument.
The sound we got was beautiful and rich!
The JZ Mic Black Hole was the close-mic of choice. I also had a stereo Rode NT 4 in front of the instrument, a few feet away, and then a Rode NT2000 and Fet 47 and a 414.
Recording one viola with 5 microphones on 6 channels was a new experience for me. Once I checked phase correlation, I mixed the signals and the result was impressing. Fascinating how different all the positions and mics sounded. Subtleties, richness and qualities of Eyvind’s unique instrument were beautifully captured in this way and when you complement that with his incredible playing the result was really stunning.
Look out for the one and only Eyvind Kang’s new record (produced by Jessika Kenney and himself) sometimes in 2010.