Interscope Denies Drug Trafficking Involvement – Possible NYC Studio Connection to Case

According Billboard.biz, Interscope Records has issued a response to a claim by federal prosecutors that the label’s offices were used by a drug trafficking ring. Part of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s investigation focuses on New York City recording studios, which are alleged to have been the recipients of music cases containing drugs.

Read more in this Billboard.biz article.

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

GREATER NYC AREA: Both through the grapevine and straight from the source(s), we’ve been hearing about a number of different recording projects going on 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:

Starting in Williamsburg, Chrissie Hynde and J.P. Jones are cutting their new album at Mission Sound this month, with Victor Van Vugt producing. Hynde and Jones released their debut collaboration, Fidelity, as J.P., Chrissie and the Fairground Boys last summer.

A couple stops away on the L train at The Brewery, Staten Island-native hip-hop veteran JoJo Pellegrino and producer Lofey (Nas, Foxy Brown, Beanie Sigel) wrapped up mixing Pelligrino’s upcoming mixtape with engineer Andrew Krivonos.

For the song “Love,” which features Chris Brown, they guys completely mashed up the track with a new instrumental and had to make pitch and time elastic audio changes in Pro Tools — complete surgery — spending 20+ hours over a three-day stretch tweaking and perfecting little details.

“We really wanted it to have a certain feel so we worked until we got it right. We’re totally psyched about hearing the feedback on JoJo’s project,” says Krivonos. Pellegrino released the track on Monday… check it out!

Meanwhile, at J Rock Studios in Chelsea, engineer Jamie Siegel recorded with Fall Out Boy lead singer/songwriter Patrick Stump for his upcoming solo album. With Stump producing and playing drums and Matt Rubano on bass, Siegel recorded a couple key parts for the opening track of Stump’s new solo record.

“We tracked live bass (with an octave pedal) and a drum solo that added a really interesting depth to a mostly electronic track,” says Siegel. “One week after the recording session, the EP Truant Wave debuted at #5 on iTunes.”

Downtown, the new Will Knox album was being produced entirely within Flux Studios on the Lower East Side. Produced by Fabrice “Fab” Dupont and recorded by Flux chief engineer Meredith McCandless, the album was tracked live to a minimal amount of tracks over 4 days and mixed the following week over a couple of days by McCandless and Dupont.

“There was no editing, no tuning, no MIDI, just a few B3, Wurlitzer and Glockenspiel overdubs,” Flux manager Chris Sipes relays. “Old school spirit for a new school sound!” Dupont also mastered the record, which is being released as a comic book with download codes for the music — no CDs are being printed.

And at Germano Studios, Keith Richards has been writing and recording new material with NYC native multi-instrumentalist producer Steve Jordan. NYC-based Dave O’Donnell engineered these sessions in Germano’s Studio 1.

Across the Hudson, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Jennifer O’Connor has been recording at Tom Beaujour’s Nuthouse Recording in Hoboken. Beaujour is co-producing, recording and mixing, and collaborators include Jon Langmead on drums, Michael Brodlieb on bass, and cameos by Kendall Meade (Wurlitzer), Richard X. Baluyut (vocals and guitar) and Amy Bezunartea (vocals and guitar).

And just a ways up the River, at Bicoastal Recording in Ossining, jazz singer/songwriter Michael Franks and bassist/producer Mark Egan worked on a new song, featuring Clifford Carter on keys, Joe Bonadio on drums and Chuck Loeb on guitar. Bicoastal owner Hal Winer was the engineer. In another recent session at Bicoastal, NYC string quartet Ethel recorded with engineer/producer Dave Cook, and Francois Moutin tracked some new material with trumpeter Lew Soloff and vocalist Anne Sila with Winer engineering.

Back in Manhattan at Threshold Studios, Freelance Whales were recording and mixing a new track with Jeremy Sklarsky engineering and co-producing. Sklarsky also recently engineered sessions with composer Tim Janis and Alexa Ray Joel. Check out Threshold’s new website/blog at www.thresholdstudios.com.

Over at Stratosphere Sound, where songwriter/producer Amanda Ghost and producer Dave McCracken have recently taken up residence, Florence Welch was in for writing sessions with Ghost — McCracken producing and Andros Rodriguez engineering — and John Legend was also in for sessions with the duo, engineered by Adam Tilzer.

And as previously reported…

Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore and Yoko Ono are making a record together at Sear Sound in Midtown Manhattan. Chris Allen is engineering.

Fluxivity, Nat Priest’s custom Neve 8048-equipped Williamsburg studio, recently hosted Matt Mays with engineer/producer Ted Young, and Juan Son with Blonde Redhead drummer Simone Pace producing and Brian Thorn engineering.

Also, portions of Kurt Vile’s latest Matador album, Smoke Ring For My Halo, were recorded and mixed by producer/engineer John Agnello at Fluxivity, along with a few other local studios, including Magic Shop, Headgear, Water Music and Vacation Island.

Speaking of Vacation Island, it seems Beirut recently mixed their latest record at the Brooklyn studio with producer Griffin Rodriguez.

And speaking of Headgear, Agnello has also been working there with Joy By Proxy, Andy Shernoff and Sons of Bill. And coming up, he’ll be tracking and mixing a new album there with Staten Island-based indie rock foursome Cymbals Eat Guitars.

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.

Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore and Yoko Ono Making A Record at Sear Sound

A number of interesting artists have been recording at the legendary Sear Sound in Midtown Manhattan — Walter Sear’s legacy of audio excellence lives on!

First, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore and Yoko Ono are making a record together. And they’ve been recording it at Sear Sound, with Chris Allen engineering.

Both Sonic Youth and Ono have a history with the studio — Sonic Youth having recorded multiple albums (Rather Ripped, Sister, Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star) in Studio A with its Neve 8038 with Flying Faders. Apparently Walter Sear even recorded one of their earliest records at his former studio in the Paramount Hotel. And Ono recorded and mixed her last record Between My Head and the Sky at Sear with Allen engineering in Studio C, on the Avalon/Sear custom console.

Meanwhile, Bjork has been working at Sear Sound as well, recording tracks for her new album, with Damian Taylor engineering on the Avalon/Sear with David Schoenwetter assisting.

In other recent sessions: the NYC-based blues band JD and The Straight Shot have also been recording for a new album with Dave Natale engineering and Mark Atkins producing. The band, led by James Dolan with Charlie Drayton on drums, reportedly have their own live performance setup in the studio, with speaker wedges and a submixing Yamaha board.

And singer/songwriter Harper Simon (son of Paul Simon) has been tracking a new album, with Ruddy Cullers engineering. John Scofield also tracked and mixed his new record at Sear on the Neve 8038, with Brian Blades on drums, Scott Colley on bass and Larry Goldings on the studio’s B3 Hammond and Steinway ‘C’ grand, and James Farber engineering. They mixed down to RMG 900 1/2″ on the ATR 102.

Producer Craig Street recorded singer Madeleine Peroux with Matt Cullen engineering and a band that included Drayton again on drums, and Mark Ribot on guitar. And Scarlet Johansson was in recording overdubs for an album with Lucien Gainsbourg, with Jeremy Loucas engineering. Prior to Johansson coming in, Gainsbourg has been recording his larger album project at Sear as well.

Singer Nicole Henry recorded with producer Matt Pierson and Allen engineering, with John Stoddardt on piano, and arrangements by Stoddardt and Gil Goldstein. And Japanese outfit New Friends, Inc. were in tracking the pianist / vocalist Akiko Yano for a film. She played the Steinway ‘D’ – 9′ concert grand, and Aya Merrill engineered the sessions.

This is just a sampling of the recent sessions, according to Sear Sound’s manager Roberta Findlay. Visit www.searsound.com for more information on the studio, and its equipment and history.

Seth MacFarlane & Norah Jones, Suzanne Vega and All Time Low Recording at Avatar

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is recording an album of 1940s and 50s-era Broadway standards for Universal Republic Records, working with producer and arranger Joel McNeely.

MacFarlane and McNeely recently recorded for the project in Avatar’s Studio B, joined by Norah Jones, with engineer Frank Fillipetti. Rick Kwan assisted on the recording sessions.

The album is reportedly being produced using recording techniques from the 40s-50s era — MacFarlane singing live backed by an orchestra and big band all in the same room. They’ve been recording at Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood, utilizing the same microphones, mic pre-amps and signal chains (to analog tape) used in recordings made there by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Rosemary Clooney.

Naturally, when in NYC, they booked time at Avatar where the production could continue in that style with much (if not all) of the same gear.

In other recent sessions at Avatar Studios…

- Alicia Keys recorded in Studio A for an interactive Music Experience project by Sony Wonder Technology Lab with producer Chuck Fishbein, engineer Jeff “Jedi Master” Jones (also assisted by Kwan).

- Randy Travis and Kristin Chenoweth recorded in Studio G with producer/engineer Elliot Scheiner assisted by Bob Mallory.

- Suzanne Vega recorded in Studio A with engineer/producer Joe Blaney.

- All Time Low recorded in Studio C with producer David Kahne, engineer Roy Hendrickson, assisted by Aki Nishimura.

- More music for Glee was mixed in Studio G with producer Tommy Faragher, engineer Bryan Smith, assisted by Charlie Kramsky.

- Tracking sessions for the Mildred Pierce (HBO) score continued in Studio A with composer/producer Carter Burwell and engineer Todd Whitelock assisted by Rick Kwan and Fernando Lodeiro.

- Jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut recorded in Studio B with producer Todd Barkan, engineer Katherine Miller assisted by Charlie Kramsky.

- Jazz guitarist Steve Khan mixed in Studio C with engineer James Farber assisted by Rick Kwan.

- And The Great Unknown recorded in Studio C with children for an ASCAP and America Scores (a nonprofit group that runs after-school programs) songwriting project produced by Sue Devine and engineered by Rick Kwan.

MTV “Skins,” Diamondsnake, Chromeo Recording at Stratosphere

Catch MTV’s latest teen docu-drama-style show, Skins, this week? The chiptune theme song, by Brooklyn-based duo Starscream was tracked at NYC’s Stratosphere Studios, with producer/engineer Gabe Liberti. The cast of the show also joined Liberti in the studio to record vocals.

Stratosphere has also welcomed songwriter and former Epic Records president, Amanda Ghost (Beyonce, James Blunt, Shakira), producer Dave McCracken (Depeche Mode, John Legend, Ian Brown) and engineer Andros Rodriguez (Justin Timberlake, Ben Folds, Leona Lewis) as the new long-term clients in Studio B. They will reportedly be working on a variety of projects over the next few months. Stay tuned….

In other recent Stratosphere sessions, Diamondsnake — Moby’s metal band project with Dave Hill, Phil Costello and Chris “Tomato” Harfenist — tracked and mixed new material in Studio A with engineer Ruddy Cullers; Brooklyn trio Menage à Twang tracked and mixed an album with engineer Reed Black (formerly of Saves the Day) in Studio B; engineer Thom Leinbach recorded tracks by composer John Angier for the upcoming animated series Jolly Rabbit; Chromeo worked out of Studios A and B, tracking and mixing with producer Sonjay Prabhakar and engineer Michael Nesci; and producer Tony Visconti tracked backing vocals and strings for Welsh singer Debbie Clarke.

For more on Stratosphere, visit www.stratospheresound.com!

M. Ward, Moby, Smith Westerns & More Record/Mix at The Magic Shop

It’s been a minute since we checked in with The Magic Shop, one of NYC’s favorite, longest-standing recording studios. Here’s what’s been happening:

Legendary engineer Ken Thomas (David Bowie, Public Image Ltd., Sigur Ros) mixed Moby’s new, largely acoustic/orchestral album, with Ted Young assisting. (Click for some words from Thomas on the Moby record.)

M. Ward tracked material for his new record with Tom Schick engineering, assisted by Brian Thorn.

Smith Westerns were in with Chris Coady tracking and mixing their new record, Dye It Blonde for Fat Possum. The record was mastered by Joe LaPorta at The Lodge.

Earlier last year, producer Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Editors) brought The Kooks in to track at The Magic Shop.

Lenny Kravitz was in this past fall tracking for his upcoming album with engineer Tom “T-Bone” Edmonds, assisted by Ted Young.

Singer/songwriter Leslie Mendelson mixed her new record as Melody Kills at The Magic Shop with Steve McEwan producing and Kabir Hermon engineering.

Producer Jimi Zhivago and engineer Brian Thorn mixed Jenna Nicholls’ latest record.

Rock legends Alice Cooper and producer Bob Ezrin stopped by to track for a couple of days. Ted Young assisted on the session.

A few Grammy-nominated records were also recorded at The Magic Shop last year, including Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs and Norah Jones’ song “Chasing Pirates,” and the “Best Historical Album” nominated “Alan Lomax in Haiti” 10 CD box set was mastered in the Blue Room — an audio restoration, archiving and mastering suite — by Warren Russell Smith and Magic Shop owner Steve Rosenthal.

Also in the Blue Room, Russell-Smith continued audio restoration work for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and mastered albums for Melody Kills, On The Brink Recordings, Oh Whitney, Glass Rifle and These People. He also worked on mastering Rockstar Games’ “Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmares Original Soundtrack,” and continued his work mastering and restoration of the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival.

In the “Red Room,” also dedicated to restoration and mastering, engineer Jessica Thompson mastered Ryat‘s Avant Gold, Jenna Nicholls‘ In The Blooming Hours, The Nowherenauts‘ Delightfully Distracted, produced by Kevin March, Mitten‘s debut EP, John Holk and the Sequins‘ If You See Her, and continued working on concerts from the Newport Jazz and Folk Festival archive.

Visit The Magic Shop at www.magicshopny.com.

Adam Schlesinger: Tinted Windows, Big Screens And Stratosphere Sound

CHELSEA, MANHATTAN: Is Adam Schlesinger really A Golden God? Or does he just play one on TV? The answer, of course, is neither of the above. But what’s true is this: There are few in New York City who know what it takes to make it in music – and can deliver the goods – like this multimedia operator.

A songwriter’s songwriter, Schlesinger first made his mark on planetary ears by penning the theme song for Tom Hanks’ 1996 vehicle That Thing You Do. From then on, it was Schlesinger doing the driving with the bands Ivy and Fountains of Wayne (“Stacy’s Mom”, “All Kinds of Time”), and co-founding Stratosphere Sound in 2001, one of NYC’s most resilient tracking/mixing studios. TV composing work with his mentor Steven Gold has always been in the mix, as well. As Flava Flav would say, it all adds up to a funky situation.

TINTED WINDOWS ROLL UP
Schlesinger’s latest baby is his new band, Tinted Windows. A joint venture with some people you may have heard of – vocalist Taylor Hanson (Hanson), guitarist James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins/co-founder of Stratosphere), and drummer Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) – Tinted Windows hears Schlesinger wielding his bass and pop sensibilities in evolved fashion. The songs on the self-titled S-Curve Records debut are raw, rockin’, and explode out of the speakers for track after hugely satisfying track.

“For this band,” Schlesinger explains, “my motivation was to write songs that were as direct and simple as possible, especially lyrically, and get away from the character stuff that I do with Fountains of Wayne.

“It’s very traditional, lyrically speaking. It can be difficult to write that way, but for me it was kind of a breath of fresh air, because I spent so many years trying to write other kinds of songs. Most of these songs were written by me just picking up the guitar and messing around, which is not how I usually write. Usually I write lyrics first, but with Tinted Windows I started bashing on the guitar, trying to come up with something with energy and melody that I liked.”

Started along with longtime collaborators/friends Iha and Hanson, TW was completed when the three brainstormed tediously to think of a drummer who could play just like Carlos, the same man responsible for the urgent pulse of “I Want You to Want Me”.

It finally occurred to them they were all rock stars who knew the legendary drummer personally, and they should just call and put him on speakerphone. “The light bulb came on,” Schlesinger says. “Bun E.’s the best power pop drummer of all time. But he’s also still, after all these years, unbelievably enthusiastic. He still loves to play, and he loves to listen to music. He’s just an inspiring guy to be involved with.”

TW IN THE STUDIO
To record the record, TW naturally chose Stratosphere, which sports an extremely comfortable vibe, spacious tracking rooms, and one of NYC’s best consoles: an amazing-sounding-and-looking 32- channel Neve 8068 with GML automation. True to the fast-and-loose sound of the record, the recording style, facilitated by longtime Stratosphere engineer Geoff Sanoff was shoot first, ask questions later.

“I don’t really know if I had a recording philosophy,” recalls Schlesinger, who has done well to depend on his instincts up to this point. “The hardest part of this record was the scheduling. Once we got into the studio, the recording was really fast. It was actually done slightly backwards. We started working on some of the songs with drum machines, demoing them. Then the demos evolved into masters, and then we replaced the drum machines with Bun E.

“John Holbrook mixed the record, and Tom Lord-Alge mixed ‘Kind of a Girl’ and ‘Back with You.’ It’s almost a tradition for him to do a couple. John is a great mixer, but they just wanted to give Tom a couple for good luck.”

Schlesinger notes that demand for the rooms at Stratosphere Sound remain strong as ever. “Stratosphere has luckily been busy lately, because I think it’s a place that’s grown very organically, and most of our clients come from an ever-expanding circle of friends. Unfortunately, a lot of the studios have closed, but the flipside is that it’s been good for us. There’s just fewer choices in NYC now.”

HE WRITES THE SONGS THAT MAKE THE ACTORS SING
Think about this: When Hollywood has a movie where the song plays a starring role as big as any of the actors, a top choice for that critical mission today is Adam Schlesinger. He did it for That Thing You Do, and again for 2007’s Music and Lyrics, that yummy brain candy nugget where Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore sing his clever pop duet “Way Back Into Love” again and again.

What’s the key to this perilous task, where the composer has to create a catchy and satisfying song strong enough to plausibly power the plot, without fatiguing the listener after multiple plays? “That’s an assignment, and the assignment is usually very specific,” Schlesinger explains. “It’s not just what you feel like writing that day. Ultimately, you have to bend to the will of the director and everyone else in the movie. You’re just one of hundreds of people trying to piece something together.

“’Way Back Into Love’ was kind of tricky. It had to be sung by different characters. It had to be a love song, but not an ‘I love you’-type love song. It wouldn’t make sense for the older and younger characters to look into each other’s eyes and say that so soon after they had met. So it had to be a lot of different things.”

IF Y’ALL COULD BE LIKE SCHLESINGER
“Advice is always tough,” Adam Schlesinger admits when pressed for a juicy nugget o’wisdom. “I think the main thing is: as much as you can, do stuff that you’re interested in doing. People respond to music that comes from a place of real enthusiasm. Your work will be better because of it. That will lead to other good things.” – David Weiss