Hello readers! I know this issue is most likely a surprise, but this year we are doing a special edition. Two of our Senior Editors: Tareq Al Saud and Thom Olson had brought up the idea to me of releasing a special edition of Halfstack. In June millions of Muslims around the world embarked on a month of intense prayer, dawn to dusk fasting and nightly feasts. The fast is intended to bring the faithful closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate. This year there were many affected by events from this Ramadan that we wanted to release an issue that many could enjoy. While Ramadan has come to an end, the celebration should extend year around. I am moved with the idea of sharing this issue with our international readers and here we are releasing this special mini release. As our publication has grown, so has the number our staff and our readership reach. Although we still have a special interest in Chicago, many of the stories you read in our issue reach farther than our Midwest City. It amazes me every time I check our stats and see the readers from not only different states, but also different parts of the world. We are not only a regional creative entity; we are beginning to realize our global reach. Diversity is one of the driving factors behind why I launched this publication 4 years ago. I didn’t see enough diversity in the publications I was reading. Many of those publications were also solely focusing on issues that were only skin-deep. I wanted to go beyond that; I wanted to showcase different things, lifestyles, art, music, interesting people and creativity that wasn’t a part of the status quo.
LETTER FROM THE
During a time of crisis in our world, where people are being persecuted for their beliefs and many people are dying because of war – we still have hope that there will be a better day. During a time when politicians like Donald Trump are speaking intolerant words and hateful remarks about people who aren’t of the typical “Americana” mold – it’s people like the Halfstack team who continue to share love, tolerance and embrace the beauty in the differences among the people of the world. America is a beautiful melting pot of cultures that make up our national population. I am proud of that and I hope that I can continue to expose my children to the different cultures, religions and people of the world. This issue is a continuation of that goal.
EDITOR
JENNIFER M. LEZAN-VEGUILLA
Thom and Tareq pulled together some amazing stories that are timely and interesting. These features are sure to inspire and motivate as well as expose our local readers to international icons, stories and developments. This issue is also a sort of shout out to our international readers. We know you are reading. We know you are there. We stand in solidarity with you. Despite the hardships the world is facing, we hope this issue gives you some respite, something to be inspired by and something to motivate you to continue to follow your dreams.
EDITOR IN CHIEF & FOUNDER
Thank you for reading,
Jennifer M. Lezan
STELLA QUIMBY Sr. Fashion Editor
Thom Olson Blogger, Online Digital Editor Art Director
Tareq Al Saud Blogger, Sr. Writer, Translator
/halfstackmag
TABLE OF CONTENTSINTERNATIONAL 2016
Editors Letter 2 Jammin’ to some FABulous music 6 Inside the Grand Hotel 15 Shining a Light From DC to Cairo 24 Mustafa Al-Sumaidaie: Eye on the World 29
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WRITTEN BY THOM OLSON TRANSLATED BY TAREQ AL SAUD
S
o let’s define Fabulous. In this case, it’s not a question
of “what” as it is a question of “whom”. By “Fabulous”
I am referring to music producer music Fabrice DuPont.
Fab for short. And if your vision of fabulous is a six foot tall, dark-haired Frenchman then we’re on the right track. Fab
Dupont is the owner and proprietor of Flux Studio. It’s kinda
unusual that people around the world know him as Fabulous Fab — but it’s the truth. For those that know Flux Studio, you are probably very aware that he is one of the top names in
the international music industry. For those of you that don’t know him, you do know his roster of clients. On this day,
Fab has a full schedule. His fabulous day starts early — we’re talking 5:30 early. Today starts particularly early because he is actually packing to go to the Grammy Awards in LA so it’s
an unusually hectic day. His recording studio — Flux Studio, is
one floor up from his apartment. The studio originally started small. At first, it was just one recording studio, then two.
Currently, Flux has four recording suites and is busting out of
the floor and onto a second. It made sense to live next to the recording studio given the hours. This morning, Fab shuffles
upstairs to the expresso machine to get his first cup of coffee
Fabrice DuPont with Paul McCartney
to start his day.
Flux Studio is an anomaly in the music industry. Many recording studios are closing with the advent of the computer and the DYI band craze. Everyone is posting music on YouTube and the quantity (not necessarily quality) of music has exploded. While many recording studios are leaving New York for cheaper areas, Flux Studios is thriving and doing very well. Just North of Houston Street in the East Village, it is a recording studio that never seems to sleep. Like many musicians, recording starts at all hours of the day and goes well into the evening as the creativity hits the artist. It is not uncommon to see this recording studio run 24 hours. Nor is it uncommon to see it listed as a recipient of multiple Grammy nominations. The studio has garners at least two nominations consistently for the past five years. When one factors in the International Grammy Awards located throughout the world, the studio stands apart also for the depth of variety that comes out of the suites. Today, Fab has received notice he received a Grammy in France for an album that he mixed and produced early last year. Next week, he will travel to South America to mix an album. January has him booked in South Africa for three weeks. When he is not mixing for artists around the globe, bands fly from everywhere in to book with him. He is usually booked up six months in advance.
THE WORLD IN FLUX Flux studio is a very eclectic place. It takes up a floor on an L-shaped building. The place has a vibe very similar to a visual artist’s workspace. It is not corporate as it is creative. One can
I LEARNED BY MYSELF… FAILING. MAKING RECORDS THAT DIDN’T SOUND LIKE THE WAY I HEARD THEM IN MY HEAD. THERE IS NOTHING MORE FRUSTRATING THAN KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT IT TO SOUND LIKE — WHICH IS VERY DIFFICULT TO GET TO.
MUSIC feel the creative synergy walking in the door. If you’re walking through the East Village, you would probably walk right by it. That is by design. Nestled between a methadone clinic and a pizza-by-the-slice dive, the entrance is very unassuming, covered with graffiti and almost invisible even if you’re looking for it. It’s in an area that is very easy to catch a cab, get transportation to and from the airport or find a meal at 4:00 AM. Artists fly in specifically to get into the recording space as it is the right mix of business, creativity and focusing energy. People get inspired and get to work. It’s a musical artist playground. It is a secluded oasis in the middle of Manhattan so recording artists such as J-Lo, Shakira or Queen Latifah can walk in and out and not be inundated with fans waiting outside. It is a hidden gem under the noses of the paparazzi. Amazingly high tech, there are plethora of microphones, pianos, instruments and just about any piece of recording or mixing equipment a person could need/use/want when putting together an album. The studio has state of the art of equipment that in many instances isn’t on the market. Some of the pieces of the equipment are in beta testing phase by many sound engineering companies looking for feedback. Fab is meticulous, demanding and intensely vocal about what works and what doesn’t. Executives in the industry ask him to help troubleshoot and beta test their equipment before releasing it to the world. “The studio is really about making amazing quality work. Everything we do here is so that the artist can craft the most perfect album. It’s not about mixing a record in your garage, a bedroom and then mixing it in GarageBand. While there is a place for that and you can do some pretty good stuff, this is about people who take their music very seriously and want to be in the top 1 to 2% of what is being listened to.”
MUSIC IS ART How do we gauge music quality, impact and value? As makers of music, it is important to understand what makes the listeners in the world tick. Music and the ranking of a music performance is very different for the civilian listener verses the performer, composer, band member or mixer. The average person could care less about music production, mixing or mastering a recording. The average person cares more about who the singer is, whether they are they hot or not, perhaps what the singer is saying in their music. But on a deeper level (often very nuanced), they really are most importantly concerned about how the music makes them feel when they
Fab with Diego Calvino at Latin GRAMMY Awards
listen to it. Does it make them happy, cry with emotion, laugh, experience anger or anxiety? Does the music make them feel zen or want to dance? Does it make them feel anything at all? Does it move them in some way? That is the art of music. That’s the challenge of the music artist, mixer and composer. Fab is very blunt and honest when talking about his beginnings. “It’s a very particular situation. I learned by myself… failing. Making records that didn’t sound like the way I heard them in my head. There is nothing more frustrating than knowing exactly what you want it to sound like and it doesn’t — which is very difficult to get to. I don’t know many people who are naturally born with the instinct of what a drum set should sound like through a bunch of microphones and speakers. Right there, creating that notion in your head is the start of a journey. Once you have that notion, you have to achieve the technical knowledge to achieve that notion in reality. Those are two different things. It doesn’t come naturally. Your mother did not give you that gene. What is giving you that gene is listening to music and being relentless in your search for it. When you’re alone at home and you don’t have a sound board it’s hard. Referencing is the best way. You have to listen, experiment and be open to try new things. You don’t run on tried and true. You have to develop your intuition and experience.”
GETTING THERE Fab paraphases to be something like this: “Here’s what I tell people. I’m going to give you a seminar. I am going to give you two hours to learn the guitar. In that two hours, I am going to give you all the knowledge I have in my head. Two hours and I will show you everything I know and tomorrow you’re going to play the guitar.” Everyone laughs at that notion but that is what is the expectation and that how many artists in the music industry are. People don’t see the parallel of playing the bass, the drums or singing and mixing, sound engineering and producing. It’s the same thing. In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours before someone can master something. It’s the same thing for a musician — it takes 10,000 hours. It’s also the same thing for the person mixing, producing and mastering the sound that one hopes people will love. “It takes time to learn, listen and come up with solutions to making a good sound… besides learning what a good sound is.” Fab at NAMM 2014 with his own custom SSD2go with Angelbird CEO Roman Rabitsch.
MUSIC “For me, I no longer run off my knowledge base, I run off my intuition. I remember how so many people feel as I remember how I felt. I also know exactly how that person in the basement feels who is working with one microphone, a converter and bare bones equipment feels. Because I have been there, I remember it well. I remember how depressing it can be AND how the depressing factor make you feel how the sound is worst that it really is. It’s one of the reasons we started PureMix.”
A PURE MIX PureMix is an online learning environment. It has been the passion of Fab for over five years. In that time, PureMix has made a name for itself. It is the go-to site for clear and insightful tutorials to assist people who don’t have access to the traditional ways or tools about learning how to mix a recording. PureMix is not like Lynda.com. It doesn’t teach software as it teaches theory. It teaches one to use their instincts. One doesn’t learn how a particular software package is used as one learns how to pass onto others the experience of the sound that is whirling around in the artist’s head. It teaches how to convey the experience of the music. People sit in on mixing sessions with mentors of the recording industry and watch them work. Mixing is an art — not a science. One has to train one’s ears on how to listen but also how to create the perfect end-product regardless of the genre. The mentors on the teaching team are not only impressive but to someone perhaps wanting to get into the music industry, they can be as intimidating as hell. When I asked Fab how he managed to get these people involved, the answer was a little funny but also quite sincere. “We don’t like to listen to crap… but we also want to pass on to others how to make music great. Everyone involved wants to share our knowledge as what we have found, in explaining it to other people what we do, we actually enjoy it more through the process of sharing.” The opportunity to learn from these people is amazing. This group of people has basically contributed to everything on the airwave or over the internet. To convey this, you will need to forgive me as I name drop the bands these folks have worked with—this is justs a few by the way. Here are just a few of the mentors on the team includes: Fab Dupont — Queen Latifah, Jennifer Lopez, Les Nubians, Bon Jovi and Marc Anthony,
I DON’T KNOW MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE NATURALLY BORN WITH THE INSTINCT OF WHAT A DRUM SET SHOULD SOUND LIKE THROUGH A BUNCH OF MICROPHONES AND SPEAKERS. RIGHT THERE... IS THE START OF A JOURNEY.
Andrew Scheps — Beyonce, Lana Del Rey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, Michael Jackson, Green Day, Johnny Cash, The Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z, Mick Guzauski — Prince, Michael Jackson, Earth Wind & Fire, Kenny G, Eric Clapton, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Madonna John Paterno — Robbie Williams, The Steve Gadd Band, Soraya, Robben Ford, Eros Ramazzotti, The Thrills, Tim McGraw and Bonnie Raitt Ben LIndel — 50 Cent, Soulja Boy, Wale, Kelly Rowland, Chromeo, MGMT, Rufus Wainright, Edie Brickell, Joey MacIntyre, Ryan Leslie and Lloyd Banks Ryan West — Eminem, Kanye West, Usher, Rihanna, Jay Z, Dr. Dre and Kid Cudi Just about every music genre is covered. The team pulls together about two dozen grammy wins amongst themselves… thus someone that’s really interesting in getting to that top 1 or 2% has an opportunity that many would drool over plus puts them a good head and shoulders above the frey. The group helps teach individuals about how they work but also how they think. They give guidance, show what to listen for and also how to find one’s own sound using their techniques. It is more than just a virtual classroom. It is a community of engineers and producers from around the globe that discuss real life recording situations in a private forum. To ensure everyone is listening to the same thing, all the audio for the PureMix site is calibrated at -18dBFs average across the board. Videos are encoding so that audio ALWAYS has priority over video and the sound quality never suffers in low bandwidth situations. It is a thoughtful approach to explain the technical methods but more importantly, it focuses in on the reasoning and honing of skills that are not intuitive. One learns the craft of sound
Fab with Magda Giannikou and the international Banda Magda after mixing her upcoming release..
not just making things louder. While the roster of credentials may be intimidating, the content delivery is not. The content is delivered in a way that is actually quite fun and at times quite amusing and laughable. Some of the courses offer very deep analysis of music and theory but usually done in a way that offers clarity without confusion. Currently over 45,000 engineers from around the world are plugged into PureMix. PureMix has now gone into phase two. The website launched a new redesign at the beginning of the year. The amazing volume of content is broken down into four categories: mixing, producing, recording and mastering.
STAYING GROUNDED So while he still is flying off to the Grammy’s and struggling to figure out what to wear (or at least — that would be MY problem), Fab still has some family chores. Somewhere between packing for the Grammy’s, mixing, booking/reviewing contracts and listening to tracks, Fab picks up his daughter from school. She is seven and has lived her life constantly surrounded by musicians. It has been a rather unusual playground but one that offers exposure to many things that most children would never get exposed to. “Daddy, who is Shakira?” So one day she asks another rather thought provoking question: “What’s your favorite song?” It’s an interesting question that only a child can ask but takes on new meaning when one is in the business of making music.
After a recording session with David Crosby and Snarky Puppy’s Bassist’ Michael League
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