Well here we are, welcome to 2023 everybody! I know I'm a little delayed on this whole thing but after the launch of my website I just needed to get away from it for awhile and evaluate my next move from there.
Nevertheless, I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind words and website visits, this will always be a work in progress and I will do my best to add content and make your experience the best that I can.
2022 was quite the year. I've been thinking about how best to summarize what has happened and it's tough! Many of you may know that I used to be the house engineer at Vespa Studio's in North York, owned by one of my mentors and good friends Harry Hess. In August 2021, after 25 years of ownership, Harry decided that it was time for the building to change hands. Notice was short and I worked there until about 2 weeks before the closing date, cramming in as many mixes as I could (something along the lines of 45 songs in about 3-4 weeks). With only a couple of weeks lefts until the closing date, Harry and I disassembled and boxed up the whole studio. The 64 channel SSL was sold and is floating around somewhere, waiting for a new home. There's a lot to unpack about Vespa, it meant a lot to me, but we'll save that for another blog post.
The reason this blog starts at Vespa closing is because it was the beginning of an entirely new and unknown chapter of my career. I took some much needed time off to re-centre myself and find my new direction. By the beginning of 2022 I had begun exploring new studios to work from, new networks of clients, co-workers and collaborators.
One of those exciting new relationships was that with the newly formed trio 'Bruv Kentucky'. I've known Sean and Gail since back in the day when they were in the band London Swagger but it's been some time since we've reconnected. We started recording at Halo Studio in Hamilton and cut a few tracks including the singles 'Nuts and Bolts' and 'Eat the Dark'. Since then they've added Matt Bailey on bass and I'm really excited about what these guys are coming up with. It's like a blend of Queens of the Stone Age and Stone Temple Pilots.
I also had the opportunity to do some editing work at Noble Street Studio's with The Arkells on a couple songs they were recording with Eric Ratz ("Reckoning" and "Take Back Everything") for their new record Blink Twice. Interesting fact: after I graduated Metalworks Institute around 2008, I was an intern at their studio. This is where I first met Eric Ratz and my interview with him was during an Arkells session. This was my intro to Vespa Studios and the rest is history from there.
For the older generations reading this you may remember the '70s rock band The Kings, known for their smash hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" produced by Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper) . I've become quite good friends with these guys and we've done a lot of work in the studio together over the years, one of those things being their latest single "Man That I Am/Circle of Friends". I did all the recording for this song and the band reunited with Bob to mix it in Nashville. In 2022 we then finished recording their new album. I can't give away to many details about but it's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears for everyone involved and I'm very excited for this to finally be released sometime in 2023.
If you're a fan of Skull Fist, you'll love their drummer JJ Tartaglia and former guitar player Jonny Nesta's new side-project Thunderor. This was one of the last projects I mixed at Vespa before it closed. They released the album in early 2022.
One of the happy beginnings for 2022 was forging a new relationship with the super cool rock band Blood Ceremony. I happened to meet their guitar player Sean on a session at Halo Studio (thanks Roman for introducing us) and we just hit it off so well I ended up engineering their new record on Rise Above Records, slated for released on May 5 2023. This album is seriously so cool it'll deserve a blog of it's own.
Punk/Ska band BUSM had been steadily releasing tracks that I mixed for them through 2021, getting more gigs under their belts and planning big things for 2023.
One of my pals Marc Zara released his acoustic album that I recorded and mixed over 2020-21.
Big Wreck released 7.2, the second part of their two EP releases that I was fortunate enough to work on with Eric Ratz at Noble Street Studios.
Skull Fist released their album Paid In Full on Atomic Fire Records which I am super stoked about. We had a blast recording it throughout 2021 at Vespa Studios, co-mixed by Eric Ratz and myself. Just yesterday they announced the nominees for the 2022 Juno Awards and Paid in Full was nominated for Best Metal/Hard Album of the Year, alongside Cancer Bats, Voivod, Get The Shot and Wake. Definitely got my fingers crossed for a win but I can't complain about being nominated alongside these amazing bands. I just purchased my hotel and flight to attend the award ceremony as a guest of the band and I gotta say, I'm very excited for my first time at the Juno Awards. (You can read about my trip to the Junos in this blog post)
Monster Truck also released their new album Warriors that I got to work on with Eric Ratz at Vespa Studios, this is another record that was in progress for a couple years and I'm very happy to finally see out in the world.
Before COVID took over the world back in 2020 I had started working with this awesome soul band The Imagine If. We did one of their singles "Sweet" at Vespa Studios before the first lockdown. It started off as a demo and morphed into a full production that they finished at RHC Music along with their full debut EP. They released the final version of Sweet near the end of 2022 which features my original bedtracks (drums, bass, guitar, vocals).
Lastly, I tracked drums at Halo Studios with a new metal band Gravearth from Oshawa. I know some of these guys from their older projects like Fallen Legion and Treats for Addicts. This shit is pretty crazy so I'm stoked to share more news about this as it develops.
As usual there are always things happening in the background that aren't ready for the public yet so I will be sharing these things as they come to light.
So, that's it for my 2022 wrap-up! We'll find out what happens with the Juno-Fist nomination in March (which I am hoping to attend). Until then, if you have any questions or suggestions for my next blog post, please feel free to contact me!
