Session Buzz: Who’s Recording In & Around NYC — A Monthly Report

GREATER NYC AREA: Zooming in on some studios around town…this month, we find New York super-group The Gaddabouts – Edie Brickell, Steve Gadd, Andy Fairweather Low and Pino Palladino – finishing up mixing on their new album at Germano Studios. Gadd is producing the album, with Andy Smith (Paul Simon, David Bowie, A Place To Bury Strangers) recording/mixing.

Meanwhile, will.i.am checked into Germano to record new material in Studio 2, and then to produce/engineer on sessions with Jennifer Lopez; Nas recorded with Vernon Mungo engineering in Studio 1; and Earth Wind & Fire recorded with Philip Bailey and Fulton Yard Unltd (Neil Pogue) producing. Germano also hosted writing and recording sessions with Cheryl Cole and producers Alex Da Kidd, Jim Beanz and Ann Yvette; Rhianna with songwriter-producers Sandy Vee and Cri$tyle; and Javier Colon with Ryan Tedder.

The new album by Passion Pit (Columbia Records) is underway at Gigantic Studios in Tribeca, with Chris Zane (The Walkmen, Asobi Seksu, Friendly Fires) producing and Alex Aldi engineering. Zane also recently mixed an album for synthy indie-pop band Geographer (Modern Art/Warner), and produced/recorded and mixed five new songs for pop singer Ruby Frost (Universal).

And noise-rockers The Big Sleep recorded a long-awaited new album for French Kiss Records at Saltlands Studio in DUMBO with engineer/producer Eli Janney (The Obits, The Soft Pack, Ursula 1000). Janney mixed the album at his own mix room, Blistering Sound, where he’s currently in the midst of mixing an album project for Peter Salett, the singer/songwriter known for his music writing for films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Role Models.

Janney also mixed the new album for Ursula 1000, recently released on Eighteenth Street Lounge Music, featuring vocals by Fred Schneider of the B-52s, French avant-jazz singer Isabelle Antena, Thievery Corporation chanteuse Natalia Clavier, and Big Mike Geier from Atlanta’s premier big band Kingsized.

Next, over at Fluxivity Recording in Williamsburg, HEM brought in a chorus and overdubbed vocals on tracks for a new album. HEM’s Gary Maurer engineered. Maurer also used Fluxivity’s new edit room, featuring a Neve 10-Channel Kelso console and ATC monitors. Engineer Brian Thorn also recently worked on a Japanese release for Blonde Redhead in this new suite.

In Fluxivity’s main studio: Thorn engineered a session for French artist Daran – remixing songs from the 5.1 surround film Monsieur Papa into the stereo format; Randy Wooten recorded vocals for his new album, engineered by David Schoenwetter, assisted by Ed McEntee; Brooklyn-based singer/composer Maria Neckam mixed her forthcoming album; Lily and The Parlour Tricks mixed for their new album – largely recorded at Daptone Records in Bushwick; and Brazillian-born television star Guto Bittencourt recorded vocals for an upcoming release.

Gary Maurer mixed the new HEM album in Sear Sound Studio A, mixing down to (½” RMGI 900) tape on the Studer C37 2-track machine. This machine and 3 more like it at Sear Sound – as well as a Studer J37 1″ 2 track machine – were all acquired from Abbey Road and converted to 2 track machines by Walter Sear.

Sear Sound also recently hosted Bob Dylan remixing sessions, with Steve Berkowitz producing and Tom Schick mixing on the Neve 8038. And Joss Stone recorded tracks for a new album for S-Curve Records, with Steven Greenwell engineering and co-producing with Steve Greenberg.

Over in Greenpoint at the Rare Book Room, Nicolas Vernhes (Dirty Projectors & Bjork, Deerhunter, Animal Collective) is mixing Matthew Dear’s new LP for Ghostly International. He also recently mixed the new Bowerbirds LP for Dead Oceans, and has been working on the new Palms record for his own label, Rare Book Room Records.

Over the summer, Vernhes co-produced/engineered/mixed Atlas Sound’s Parallax for 4AD, and he also recently mixed the new Light Pollution LP for Carpark, and co-produced/mixed Lia Ices’ cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” for Mojo. Bon Iver and Josh Ritter also recorded at the Rare Book Room, in separate live sessions with Tom Gloady.

Back in Manhattan, a 65-piece children’s choir recorded on the stage in Manhattan Center Studio’s Grand Ballroom in a session shot by Spike Lee for State Farm Insurance, and engineered by Jonathan Duckett.

Manhattan Center also recorded an 85-piece orchestra for the Universal Studios film Tower Heist, starring Eddie Murphy and Matthew Broderick, directed by Brett Ratner. The music was composed by Christophe Beck and engineered by Casey Stone. The facility also hosted a 24-hour shoot in the Grand Ballroom for “24 Hour Climate Change” featuring Al Gore, which was webcast all over the world – with feeds coming in from all over the world. The shoot was produced by Suite Spot.

And TV1 at Manhattan Center is now up and running – with its first show currently in production: “Would You Rather” with Graham Norton, produced by So TV.

Down at The Lodge Mastering…The Lodge’s Emily Lazar and Joe LaPorta have been busy working on several late summer/fall releases including: Neutral Milk Hotel‘s highly anticipated massive vinyl box set, Matt & Kim’s track “I’m A Goner” featuring Soulja Boy & Andrew WK for Converse, Icelandic folk artist Ólöf Arnalds cover album, “Ólöf Sings,” (One little Indian), power-pop songstress Katie Herzig’s new album “The Waking Sleep” (Downtown Records) – mixed by Justin Gerrish and produced by Cason Cooley – Tiësto’s latest Kanye West remix of “Lost in the World”, and The Raveonettes “Bsides & Rarities” album featuring 28 unreleased tracks.

Over on the West Side, at Stratosphere Sound, the Brooklyn-based indie rock band Folding Legs (whose members hail from Stockholm, New York, Vienna & São Paulo) spent two weeks tracking their new album with producers Craig Roseberry and Rudyard Lee Cullers. Cullers engineered, with Adam Tilzer assisting.

French actress/model/singer Emmanuelle Seigner was also at Stratosphere working on her upcoming album with songwriter/producer Adam Schlesinger, and Arjun Agerwala engineering.

In Times Square, the Broadway Cares Foundation checked into Premier Studios for multiple days of tracking with all the top casts from the major Broadway shows, including Jersey Boys, Addams Family, Sister Act, The Lion King, Godspell, Mamma Mia, Billy Elliot and more. For Premier, this means a diverse schedule of sessions, including everything from tracking large string and horn sections, to large choir and ensemble performance recordings.

The upcoming Broadway Cares release is being produced by Lynn Pinto for Rocket Science Records, with tracking and mixing engineered by Andros Rodriguez, and assisted by Sam Giannelli.

Also in-session recently at Premier: boy band Big Time Rush (Columbia) recorded vocals, with producer/engineer Chris Rojas; Trey Songz (Atlantic Records) produced music for his new album, with engineer Anthony Daniel, assisted by Colin Rivers; Bluey Robinson (Sony UK) recorded vocals with Pawel Szarejko engineering; The Roots tracked music for a series of Captain Morgan commercials, with Robert “L.B.” Dorsey engineering; and Estelle (Atlantic) tracked vocals, with engineer Anthony Daniel.

Meanwhile, at KMA Studios in The Brill Building: “rockjazz” pianist/songwriter ELEW (Eric Lewis) was producing and composing music for an upcoming ballet production, as well as an independent film with Harry Lennix called Mr. Sophistication; rapper/producer J. Cole dropped in for a session; rapper Wale rolled through for a listening session for his forthcoming album; and Akai hosted a preview/consultation with the next generation MPC with a pretty killer focus group that included Q-Tip, 88 Keys, Prince Paul, Sean C and LV, Salaam Remi, KG of Naughty by Nature, and DJ Marly Marl.

Across the river, at Big Blue Meenie in Jersey City – “indie rock manifestation” Suit of Lights tracked and mixed the follow-up to their last studio record, Bacteria, with producer Joe Darone (The Fiendz), recording engineer Chris “Noz” Marinaccio and mixers Tim “Rumblefish” Gilles & Matt “Dasher” Messenger.

According to a BBM insider, the new Suit of Lights album has a creepy carnival feel to it with Beatlesque vox and superb guitar playing from Dan McGowan (The Tea Club) and always amazing Roy Van Tassel (Ghost Orgy) on Drums. The album will also feature Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle, John Zorn, Secret Chiefs III) on bass.

NYC punk band The Dead Tricks also recently recorded and mixed their debut EP at Big Blue Meenie with Mike Gallo (Agnostic Front and Stigma bassist) producing, Marinaccio engineering, and Messenger mixing. The album is currently being mastered at West West Side Music by Alan Douches.

NJ pop-rock band Catch Wild also finished their debut album at Big Blue Meenie.

Andy VanDette recently mastered the new live Rush album – Time Machine 2011 Live in Cleveland – at Masterdisk. The album was mixed by Richard Chycki and recorded by Chycki and Joel Singer (of Music Mix Mobile). Also at Masterdisk, Vlado Meller mastered the new Lou Reed / Metallica collaboration – Lulu. Producers on the project were Reed, Metallica, Hal Wilner and Greg Fidelman, who also mixed the record. As on the recent Red Hot Chili Peppers album Meller recently mastered, there was a unique iTunes-optimized master created for this album.

Meller also recently mastered Susan Boyle’s latest Someone To Watch Over Me for Syco/Sony – produced by Steve Mac, mixed by Ren Swann.

Back in Williamsburg, at Grand Street Recording…Charlene Kaye just started pre-production on her new project, Animal Love, with Tomek Miernowski producing and engineering. Grand Street’s Ken Rich has been mixing a new album for Nancy Magarill, produced by Daniel Mintseris. The album was tracked over the summer at Grand Street with Thad DeBrock on guitars, Yuvall Lion on drums, and Christopher Kuffner on bass, Dave Eggar on cello, and Rachel Gollub on violin.

Eben D’Amico (from Saves The Day) produced a new song for hip-hop artist XV at Grand Street featuring Charlie Z on drums and Jesse Fischer on keyboards. Miernowski played guitar and engineered. Noe Venable is in the process of tracking her new record with Ken Rich,Todd Sickafoose on bass and piano, Mathias Kunzli on percussion. And Ohio rocker JP Olsen is wrapping up tracking his record with fellow Ohio-ans Mark Stepro, and Aaron Lee Tasjan of the Madison Square Gardeners producing / Miernowski engineering.

And finally up North at The Wild Arctic, Dean Baltulonis is producing an EP for the band w/o (without), featuring members of The Hold Steady and Primitive Weapons, and co-writing/producing new songs for UK singer/songwriter Rosie Vanier with James Wells of The Gay Blades. And Tad Kubler, guitarist in The Hold Steady, has also worked out of The Wild Arctic on some original composition for advertising campaigns by The Martin Agency and McGarry Bowen.

And we know there’s so much more going on out there! If you’d like to be featured in “Session Buzz,” please submit your studio news to submissions@sonicscoop.com.

Session Buzz: Who’s Recording In & Around NYC — A Monthly Report

GREATER NYC AREA: As always, there are a number of interesting recording projects underway in studios throughout the NYC area. The following is but a sampling of recent sessions, and works in progress…a snapshot of what’s going on around town:

We’ll start at Great City Productions in Chelsea, where Anand Wilder of Yeasayer has been producing a musical called “Coal Into Diamonds,” an homage to the hard rock and psychedelia-inspired musicals of the 1960′s and 70′s

Co-produced and co-written by Wilder and pianist Max Kardon, “Coal Into Diamonds” features performances by members of Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Dirty Projectors, Chairlift, Man Man, Suckers, and Dragons of Zynth. Engineered by Britt Myers and Geoff Vincent, and mixed by Britt Myers at Great City, the 11-song LP will be released on Secretly Canadian.

Next stop – Fluxivity in Williamsburg, where Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Colin McGrath recently mixed several songs with producer William Berlind, and engineer Brian Thorn, and Flight of The Conchords’ Jemaine Clement and engineer/producer Matt Shane worked on some new songs for an upcoming film project. John Agnello also visited Fluxivity to overdub and mix songs for an upcoming release for Barton Stanley David. The sessions were mixed to ½” tape on Fluxivity’s Ampex ATR100 recorder.

Universal artist Jay Picton was in town from London, recording his debut release at Mission Sound in Williamsburg. Oliver Straus tracked an assortment of New York’s “A” team musicians for this album including Jack Daley, Steve Wolf, James Poyser of The Roots and Clifford Carter. Mike Peden produced.

And at The Buddy Project in Astoria, Julia Nunes tracked a new album with producer/engineer Zach McNees, Pipe Villaran (former lead singer of Los Fuckin Sombreros) recorded his debut solo EP with producer/engineer Kieran Kelly, and Nate Campany recorded some finishing touches for his solo album, with Kelly engineering.

Meanwhile at Vacation Island Recording in East Williamsburg, indie cult hero R. Stevie Moore “and some friends” recorded a song for a benefit compilation. Jorge Elbrecht from Violens produced the tracks and Matt Boynton engineered.

And, bouncing around, up at the Carriage House Studios in Stamford, CT, Johnny Winter has been working on a new record, his first studio album in 7 years. The record was tracked and mixed by engineer Brendan Muldowney on Carriage House’s SSL 4000 E series console and produced by Paul Nelson. Guest guitarists include Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Vince Gill, and Sonny Landreth.

Back in town, Avatar Studios has been hosting Ingrid Michaelson recording her upcoming album with producer David Kahne and engineer Roy Hendrickson; VHS or Beta mixing an upcoming release with Martin Brumbach engineering; Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks recording with Regina Spektor for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, with Stewart Lerman producing/engineering; the Baby It’s You cast album recording with producer Richard Perry and engineer Frank Filipetti; and New York Yankee Nick Swisher recording a kids album with producer Loren Harriet and engineer Danny Bernini.

And as previously reported, Sear Sound hosted Sting composing and recording on the 1973 Steinway “D” grand piano, with Rob Mathes arranging and co-producing; Foreigner tracking with original frontman/producer Mick Jones co-producing, Jeff Pilson, Tom Gimble and Kelly Hansesn completing the band, and Wyn Davis of Total Access Recording engineering; and the Gipsy Kings working with engineer James Farber mixing to RMGI 1/2″ 900 tape using Sear Sound’s ATR 102. Bernard Paganotti produced and supervised the Gipsy Kings mixes from France.

Also previously reported, Manhattan Center Studios hosted the recording of a 52-piece orchestra for Tony Bennett’s Duets Album 2. The all-star team on the sessions included Producer Phil Ramone, Conductor and Orchestrator Jorge Calandrelli and Engineer Dae Bennett.

Renee Fleming was recorded singing live with a  69-piece orchestra in Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom and adjacent Studio 7, equipped with the 108-input Neve VR, for Steven Speilberg’s animated film Tintin.

Two video crews were present at the sessions, one for a polycom set up allowing Speilberg and composer John Williams to attend the session from LA. The second crew performed motion capture, which will allow the film’s animators to capture Fleming’s facial expressions exactly for her animated character. Todd Whitelock was the engineer on the session.

Back in Brooklyn — at Grand Street Recording — owner/producer/engineer Ken Rich has been working on new records with NYC singer Deborah Berg and Nashville singer-songwriter David Mead. And S-Curve artist Diane Birch spent a week at Grand Street with English producer Ant Whiting. The pair began production on her next record, with Tomek Miernowski engineering.

Miernowski also produced and engineered “Dress and Tie,” a single for singer/songwriter Charlene Kaye and Darren Criss of Glee. Ken Rich has also been working on The Compulsions’ newest project, with Hugh Pool co-producing. And actor/artist Michael Pitt mixed a live recording from Paris with Miernowski.

And we know there’s so much more going on out there! If you’d like to be featured in “Session Buzz,” please submit your studio news to submissions@sonicscoop.com.

Matt Mays, Juan Son and Kurt Vile Recording, Mixing at Fluxivity

Recently at Fluxivity, Nat Priest’s Neve 8048-equipped Williamsburg studio…

Matt Mays and engineer/producer Ted Young overdubbed and mixed for Mays’ upcoming album. Young mixed down to Fluxivity’s Ampex ATR 100 analog tape machine.

Blonde Redhead drummer Simone Pace produced sessions for Grammy-nominated vocalist Juan Son, recording and mixing songs for a forthcoming album for the Guadalajara, Mexico-native / NYC-based artist. Brian Thorn engineered these sessions.

And portions of Kurt Vile’s new album, the Pitchfork “Best New Music”-certified Smoke Ring For My Halo, were recorded and mixed by producer/engineer John Agnello.

The album was produced by Agnello with “Kurt Vile and the Violators” — Mike Zanghi (drums), Adam Granduciel (guitar, mellotron, percussion) and Jesse Trbovich (guitars) — and recording and mixing sessions went down in four states and multiple studios, including Philadelphia (Miner Street and Uniform Recording), New York (Magic Shop, Headgear, Fluxivity, Vacation Island), New Jersey (Water Music), and Amherst, MA (J Mascis‘ Bisquiteen Studios).

For more on Fluxivity, visit www.fluxivity.com.

Chile’s Los Tres Mix With Joe Blaney at Fluxivity

This summer, Chilean rock band Los Tres traveled to New York to record, mix and master their new record. Working with producer/engineer Joe Blaney, Los Tres tracked the record up at Dreamland Recording, outside of Woodstock, and then mixed and recorded overdubs at Fluxivity in Williamsburg.

This is the fourth record Los Tres has made with Blaney, who brought the project to Fluxivity to mix on the automated Neve 8048 console with Flying Faders. Fluxivity owner Nathaniel Priest notes that this is the same console Blaney used to record Ron Woods, Bob Dylan and Steve Stevens on in the 80s!

The session was recorded and mixed on ATR analog tape, which Priest notes “sounded fabulous and performed flawlessly.”

“Joe brought in two of his own racks of outboard gear to Fluxivity that he had at his former studio in Greenwich Village,” Priest shares, adding, “We are set up here to interface with racks of users’ gear, either on DL connectors or XLR’s.

“Los Tres is a band that very much knows music, music history and appreciates the art of playing fine music and making a record that will endure as a notable example of artistic expression,” Priest adds.

“The record has 16 songs which expertly covers a range of styles, from rock to more traditional Andean tunes. It was made in the classic authentic style of record making with particular attention to sonic quality and detail, drawing on the many finely-honed skills of Joe Blaney.”

The group finished mixing the last song within the hour of the start of the mastering session at Sterling Sound, and Priest relays, “left here with a reel of warm tape!” The record was mastered by Sterling’s Dave McNair.

In other recent sessions at Fluxivity…Chris Brown visited the studio to wrap up mixing the upcoming Abrams Brothers album Northern Exposure with Grammy-winning engineer Brian Thorn. And for its 21st Anniversary release, Matador Records mixed a live 1999 Anniversary show from Irving Plaza. Jesper Eklow produced and Tom Gloady engineered.

Brooklyn’s Fluxivity Adds Tracking Room, Hosts The Abrams Brothers, Rob Wasserman

Williamsburg’s Fluxivity, the Neve 8048-equipped studio owned/operated by technician and custom tube equipment manufacturer Nat Priest, now has a tracking room. Check out the Fluxivity website for more information.

Recent sessions at Fluxivity have included The Abrams Brothers, a folk/bluegrass trio working on their new release, Northern Redemption. The album’s first single, “Mermaid Town,” was produced for video release by Chris Brown (Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, The Barenaked Ladies), with engineering at Fluxivity by Brian Thorn. The video can be viewed on CMT.com

Musician/composers Gordon Minette and Mark Grandfield were in the studio working on their project of standards, with a band that included Tony Garnier, Marc Ribot, and Danny Kortchmar. Engineer/producer Matt Shane mixed five songs for the upcoming release at Fluxivity.

And bass player Rob Wasserman (Lou Reed, Bob Weir) recorded a song for his next CD, “My Name Is New York,” to be released soon. A collaborative project with The Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archive, it features Rob in duet with an incredible cast of singers interpreting unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics. Rob was accompanied by Tony Trishka on banjo. The session was produced by Steve Rosenthal and engineered by Brian Thorn.

Arrivals & Departures In The Making Of John Garrison’s Latest Record

It’s a crisp October night, and British singer/songwriter John Garrison’s playing Rockwood Music Hall. The intimate showcase venue on Allen Street is a far cry from the 50,000-capacity arenas he’s been playing on tour with James Blunt. But that’s just fine with Garrison.

“I’ve realized I have no interest in being a global megastar,” Garrison says humbly, in a post-show interview. “Of course, if that’s what I have to do to make my music than I’ll do it, but that’s not the goal. I just want to make records and sell enough copies of each to make more. I don’t need a Ferrari, I just want to make music. It’s what makes me tick.”

Of course, Garrison’s already done the major label thing and survived the highs and lows of getting a record deal and getting dropped with his band, Budapest, who had a record out in the U.S. via Universal back in ’02. He’s also supported other major label artists — in the studio, playing bass for Leona Lewis among others, and on the road, as Blunt’s bassman.

Garrison’s recent work has been as a solo artist. He will release his latest record, Departures, through AWAL (Artists Without A Label) in the UK (and digitally, worldwide), and independently in the U.S. on November 10.

“If a label steps in, I’m open to it,” he says, “But what I’ve learned is I’m never going to go on a major again and not know what’s going on. Right now, I have management looking after me, a publicist and licensing companies representing my music. I’m doing everything I’ve ever done, I’m just not running it through a major label, I’m doing it myself.”

TO NYC AND BEYOND

A singer and multi-instrumentalist, Garrison moved to NYC after Budapest broke up in ’06 and began his solo career. He’d already recorded the material for his first record, Above The Cosmos, when he hooked up with producer/engineer Matt Shane to mix it. The two hit it off, and Garrison — who’d played all the instruments on the record himself — invited Shane to plunge deeper into the project as a co-producer.

“It’s very rare to find someone with the same kind of musical brain,” says Garrison, of Shane. “We don’t even need to discuss things so much, I don’t even have to say what I want, he just knows it.”

Naturally, when writing and pre-production on Departures began somewhat early in ’08, Shane came onboard as producer from the start. The tunes were written mostly in NYC, but when Garrison got the gig to go out on tour with Blunt, the writing and production of his record went with him.

“The first few songs I wrote for Departures were about moving to New York, but then it was just about ‘moving,’ in general,” describes Garrison. “And realizing that no matter where you live, you have to be at home within your own skin. You don’t realize that until you start moving around. And when I left to go out on tour with James Blunt, all I was doing was moving. We did 188 shows all over the world.”

THE MAKING OF DEPARTURES

On break from the Blunt tour, Garrison and Shane met up in London to record basics at Sleeper Studios, the magnificently-equipped studio of songwriter/record producer Guy Chambers. (see in video below) Departures would be produced quite differently from Above The Cosmos.

“The first record was really more meat and potatoes — drum, bass, guitars, piano, keyboards,” says Shane, to which Garrison interjects, “And it was all played by me, and you can hear it. It sounds like one person playing everything and that is not a good thing.”

Departures opener, “Let’s Run,” demonstrates just how far away Garrison’s moved from ‘meat-and-potatoes’ instrumentation. It’s a brilliant, soaring track, of anthemic Eno-produced Coldplay proportions. “Where we recorded most of the instrumental tracks was any musician or producer’s dream studio,” Shane qualifies.

“And the beauty of it was that everything is setup and ready to go, with all of it running through an EMI desk that recorded the Beatles and Pink Floyd. Every day we’d go in at like 10-11am and the next thing we knew, it was 8pm before we broke for lunch.”

“Let’s Run” was the first song they cut their first day in the studio. “It started out like a basic band track — bass, drums and guitar based on this arpeggio that John laid down on piano,” says Shane. “We added parts here and there until we thought we’d finished it, but it only ever sounded only about 75% there. So, we gave the load of tracks to John’s buddy Tom Visser, a musical mad scientist, and told him to go nuts with it. He sent us back a whole bunch of files, re-recorded drum and bass parts, and additional sounds. We added from that and created the final arrangement.”

Electronic patterns and textures build out the big rock sound in “Let’s Run.” It’s a totally lush arrangement but with just enough space built in to hear everything. Ultimately, says Shane, “We ended up having to rush through the mix, and Richard Flack who mastered the record, asked if he could do another mix of ‘Let’s Run,’ where he stripped it down a little. It had been a bit too sweet, there was actually too much ear candy. Richard nailed it and also mastered the rest of the tunes.”

“Let’s Run” (video below) sets the stage for the rest of the album, as far as sound and production, adds Shane. “Everything else that happens on the record can be traced back to what we do in that song. We use a lot of really organic sounds, and you’ll hear that they’ve been really cleanly recorded, but you also hear loops and production elements and tricks. It all blends together really well.”

Another Departure, “I Leave on Friday,” goes down more of a straight-ahead alt-rock road and the blend of cleanly recorded tracks with a dirtier electric rock guitar sounds keeps it from sounding too polished and pretty.

Garrison’s craft is sentimental pop songwriting, and he does it really well. To that, his and Shane’s combined sonic aesthetic adds interesting and certainly commercially appealing dimension. And, if a James Blunt comparison happens to come to mind, on a tune like “So Close,” for example, it’s not because of a sappy sound or vocal. (In fact, if anything, hearing all of these tracks performed solo on acoustic guitar or piano at Rockwood, I hear more of a Glen Hansard or Fran Healy.) Garrison’s a talent and the sound that grew up around these songs seems to add conviction to the material.

“The sound really kind of evolved naturally,” says Garrison. “It’s really organic. We wanted everything to be authentic, so if we’re going to have some synth sound, let’s find the actual vintage synth and use that. At Guy’s you can do that. Want a Moog sound? It’s all ready to go!”

“The record is pretty sonically (as opposed to stylistically) diverse though,” assures Shane. “It goes from really giant roomy rock-and-roll drums to really dead 70s drums and we incorporated all these great synths and live strings and percussion.”

BACK TO NYC, BACK ON THE ROAD

From Sleeper, Garrison and Shane flew back to NYC to record vocals, strings and other overdubs at One East in Manhattan. Then, with Garrison heading back on tour between recording and mixing, they kept the project alive via email, sending edits and ideas back and forth.

Shane mixed the record when Garrison came over on a couple breaks — the first sessions went down at Looking Glass just before it closed and the second leg of the mix happened at Fluxivity in Williamsburg, a uniquely well-equipped facility (owned by Nat Priest, a studio equipment technician: www.musicvalve.com) that Shane calls “a treasure.”

“NYC still feels like home to me,” says Garrison, of working in New York over London, “I just don’t live here at the moment. But something about this place brings out the best in me. Plus, I admit it was also more economical with the pound vs. the dollar.”

And, the studio hopping and intermittent production schedule may have worked to the record’s benefit. “It was cool that we had the time between sessions because we really got to look at it from every possible angle and work out all the kinks,” says Shane. “We tried everything and ended up with exactly what we wanted.”

Garrison adds, “There were some songs we were loving at one point, but then they died. By the next time we’d picked back up, we weren’t into them anymore. You get that benefit when you have the gaps.”

Though it stretched out over several months, the team kept a brisk pace when actually in the studio. “There was nothing we couldn’t try and no idea that was a bad one, but it never felt like we were stretching too far because John and I think so much alike in how we approach music,” says Shane. “So, it was all productive.”

Garrison concludes, “It was such an amazingly enjoyable experience, much more so than any of my band records. I remember when we finished mixing and I was flying back to the UK, I didn’t want it to end! I was so happy, waking up in NYC, getting a coffee and going into the studio, and Matt would already be there an hour listening back to my music and it’s sounding absolutely amazing because I’ve left it in his hands and he totally understood it.”