“My days in New York were pretty varied. In the studios are definitely feeling the crunch in this area. morning I’d be processing orders, filling envelopes and going to the post office. Then maybe I’d have 2 Mastering Engineer Joe Lambert has a long and imporor 3 recording sessions a week… Then band practice tant role in mastering a lot of local heavyweights, from 3 times a week. I’d be constantly tweaking the OJ Eleanor Friedberger’s first solo CD, Last Summer, to The website, trying to blog and write reviews as much Dirty Projectors’s seminal Bitte Orca. So it’s of conas possible… Between my band and solo project I’d cern to him that “increased quality of at-home setups, probably gig an average of once every 2 weeks. In changes within the actual music industry and economic between all that I’d be working on mixing Schwerdownturn all seem to be factors as to why recording von! stuff or Major Matt stuff. I’d also moonlight as a studios aren’t booming like they used to.” live sound engineer so maybe one night a week I’d be doing that until 2am. I worked at the 4th Street But mastering studios have fared relatively well comFood Co-op receiving produce on Friday mornings. pared to recording studios. Although, as Jim Bentley Occasionally, I’d put on live shows so I’d be working from The Fort recording studio told us, there are also on booking and/or promoting those, making flyers, a lot of challenges when committing to lo-fi that many sending emails etc… Towards the end, it got really artists aren’t aware of at the outset, and this is causing crazy trying to make ends meet. I’d be selling stuff a reverse exodus back to the studios at some point in on Craigslist or going to these paid test-marketing the musician’s career. things. I’d do anything to pay the bills “When the economy shit and keep my sched“I’d be selling stuff on Craigslist or going the bed, everyone ran ule flexible for music. out to buy a $200 conto these paid test-marketing things. I’d probably also go denser mic and some see a show at least crappy interface for their I’d do anything to pay the bills and keep 2 to 3 nights a week laptop and thought they on average to either my schedule flexible for music.” were going to make check out a friend or magic. It’s like going to —Matthew Roth (Olive Juice Music) a new venue.” the chain music store buying an entry level Here’s a man who lived, breathed and ate music, and still guitar and amp… never played the thing in your life and had to do test-marketing to make ends meet. So if there’s bam you’re supposed to be Eddie Van Halen or someany reason an artist/entrepreneur like Matthew Roth was thing… it takes experience, chops… Nice gear helps, but able to make it work, it’s because he saw a demand, and understanding how to craft the way the music feels and figured out how to make that need work for him. technical skill (like knowing what mics sound like on this or that and how to move them around to get the sounds It’s also interesting to note that after 11 years of this you want) are the weapons of the “big studio sound”… hectic lifestyle, Matt finally moved back to his homeIt’s next level wizard shit…” town Kansas City in April 2012. All his struggle and hard work during the last difficult period was done almost as if to prove to himself that he could make it through the post recession years: Adapting your business to economic hardships is a challenge, and challenges are motivating.
Record Making and Wizardry In the past decade, NYC has suffered unspeakable losses in the recording studios department. Roth ran with this need for low-priced, “ok quality” recordings: “I started recording people because there was a real need for it. The Internet was just catching on and not a lot people knew very much about recording outside of 4-track cassette. I was fortunate enough to work in a studio at the time that had Pro Tools. I saved up some money and got a 001 system for myself and started recording bands in my apartment in the L.E.S. for cheap. It was better than a 4 track and cheaper than a studio.” Many more musicians followed this path in the following years, so much so that today, recording engineer might as well be the most widespread (non-paying) job in the Big Apple. The older and better-established
the deli_8 Spring 2012
The Textured, Dancey Sounds of the Bedroom
An obvious consequence of the bedroom recording phenomenon is that NYC has experienced an explosion of lo-fi, electronic and/or semi-electronic artists who perform music that lacks the live “oomph,” choosing to focus instead on other production values like danceability, texture and/or the most important of all: songwriting. While there’s no need to write the obit just yet, there doesn’t seem to be nearly as many straight-ahead quality rock bands coming out of the city anymore. Even Long Island, once a well-cultivated home for East Coast-grown hard rock, has largely abandoned its radio stations and is known more today for their Cabernet than hardcore groups like Dead Superstar and Powerman. Nowadays, you may have to take the Path down to Jersey to check out what’s new in this genre. With Glen Rock’s Titus Andronicus and New Brunswick’s Screaming Females representing from across the Hudson, that’s quite