Bertolf, Nina June, Dolorous Daze

The best wishes for all of you.Keep going strong in 2009!

Talking about going strong ;-) Bertolf's first single "Another Day" is launching his career with rocketspeed. Radio 3FM declared it the first megahit of 2009, and I assume it will hit the top ten of the charts in a couple of days.

The album (For Life) was due to be released on the 9th of january 2009, but since everything is going so well, it is already being released.

Besides all the radio & tv appearances Bertolf and his band are also going to hit stages everywhere. Two important shows comming up: Noorderslag festival on the 17th and supporting James Morrison on the 14th of january in the HMH. Go check em out!

I also recorded a single with Nina June.
It's gonne be something different then you might know from her. I am going to mix/finish it next week and will post more details once it's ready. I can tell you however that it's a very very nice song! [keep you posted!]

"Just a Flirt" the hitsingle I did with Miss Montreal is still being played a lot on the radio. It reached number 4 in the charts, wich makes me very proud.

At the moment we are scheduling the recording of her second single and her debut album. So you can expect the new Miss Montreal single by the end of february (I guess).

Dolorous Daze's single 'Shine' will be released on the 26th of January 2009! It's the second single of the forthcoming debut album 'Headstart', which will be released on the 27th of Febuary. I think Shine is a real good radio song. You can check snippets of their songs on their MySpace

There is more to come... 2009 has so much nice things comming up!

These were the highlights for now; I will try to keep you updated.

Gie

Bertolf, Dolorous Daze, Jeremy's,

Yeah I know... It's been a long long time since my last news update. I am sorry, but I was just f@#king busy.
And since I am still very busy, I won't tell you about the construction work on my home (I was actually mixing concreet instead of songs!), and some other projects I did before the summer hollidays (sorry to all that feel ignored now ;-))

What I do have to tell you about is this big project I am working on right now. Do you remember Bertolf? He used to be the singer of a band called The Junes, and after that he played guitars in Ilse de Lange her band. Well, I am recording and (co-)producing his debut album at the moment.

We started out recording drums at Studio Lobbes, then moved to ICP for 7 long studio days. After that we did some vocal recordings in Zwolle. This weekend we returned from Brussels after recording yet another 7 days at the famous ICP studio's.
On the last day at ICP the guys from the record company came by and we played them all the recordings we have made. (Although some are still missing leadvocals and other additional stuff). We actually recorded more songs than there needed to be on the album, so we got together and decided wich songs are going to make it on this cd.
All the backingtracks are done now. Some more leadvocals, backingvocals, strings and percussion need to be recorded in the next 2 weeks. I can't wait to start mixing, cause man this is gonne be a great album! There are gonne be a lot of amazing songs on this album. Ranging from intimate acoustic to dynamic songs with lot's of layers. Melancholic being the keyword to sum it all up.
Bertolf made a couple of small video impressions [watch em all]:

I also posted some new pics in the photo-section of my MySpace
At ICP they have a huge collection of guitars, basses, amplifiers, keys, drums, FX-pedals. So we were able to create and capture every sound we wanted and we used a lot of vintage stuff for it. The amazing part is that (besides drums) Bertolf plays every instrument himself. Lapsteel, wurlitzer, hammond, guitar, rhodes, bass, moog, banjo, mandoline etc. etc.
As soon as I have any news on when the first single and the album will be released I will let you know.


Short other news:-Jeremy's (aka THE Jeremy's) new single (I want a Girl) will be out soon. They played almost everywhere for the last couple of months, including Lowlands and Goffertpark.
-Dolorous Daze debut album is scheduled to be released pretty soon now. Their new single will be Shine, wich I think is a real good radio song.

That's all 4 now...
There is much more nice stuff comming up on my schedule.
I'll try to keep you posted
Gie

Loads of news!!

yeah, yeah, I know... it has been a long time ;-)
Finally a news update, and I don't know where to begin since I worked on so many projects. So I won't mention everything.

First of all: Jeremy's (aka THE Jeremy's). After scoring a hit with 'Saturday' and being nominated for a TMF Award the band had been talking to different record company's. Finally they teamed up with PIAS for the album release. It's out now, and called 'O Yeah Aha Oh' featuring 16 high energy punkpop songs that kick your butt.
They also just finished shooting a video for the second single 'I want a Girl' wich will be released soon.
The first album reviews are all great (even in OOR magazine!).
It seems that a lot of people catch the adrenaline vibe.
(in case you did not know ;-) I mixed & mastered the album, and I also co-produced it and recorded a lot).

Shooting stars Dolorous Daze are signing a record deal with APR/CNR any minute now. A year ago I mixed a lot of songs they had been recording at home. Last month we went into the studio to record an additional 4 songs. All super catchy!
The band produces richly arranged, meloncollic pop/rock. Their music is enriched with additional vocals, strings, hammond, rhodes, piano and mellotron. They will use everything that helps to make their songs more colourful.
Bas (vocals/guitar) has a very unique voice and he is very good in controlling it. He's an amazing singer and reached all those high notes without autotune or everything. The three other members (Dani and the bros. Thierry & Caesar) are also very talented and multi-instrumentalists.
I completed mixing the new songs so we are all set for mastering the album this weekend at Wisseloord.
I will keep you posted on the release date of the first single and the album.

Talking about young talented bands with catchy tunes: For Goomah Music I mixed a 5-track EP of I Kissed Charles. (not released yet)


Charlotte, the singer is only 16! This young band sounds like the are from the UK, and that's meant as a compliment.
On their MySpace-page you can check out 2 songs.
And remember where you first heard of this band!
;-)


The Veldman Brothers scored 3 (!) number one positions in 3 different "Blues Album of the Year "-charts!!

You might remember that I was going to mix a metal record? Well... I did! The band is called The Monolith Deatcult and they used to make speedy and brutal death metal, but for their 3rd album they choose a different approach. I would say: 'bombastic Death Metal with a lot of orchestral and industrial elements as well as fast sections making it a genuinely colossal album'. The mixes were very complex since some songs contained around 100 tracks!
The album is comming out worldwide(!) real soon, but a lot of reviews are already in. All outstanding so far; I mean 6 out of 6 stars and 95 out of 100 points. Stuff like that. I think the worst review gave them 8 out of 10 ;-) All reviews are praising their new epic sound.
These guys don't mind a little self glorification BTW, so be aware when you visit their site ;-)


Talking about great reviews: the debut cd on Goomah Music from Cool Genius (wich I mixed, and did some recordings on) is also getting good reviews. And again; also from OOR.

More news from our 'young-talents-department' ;-) Pioneers of Love had to play at the prestigious Eurosonic festival and wanted to have a new demo to present to all the bizz-people out there. So we hit the studio (guerilla-style) to quickly record & mix a couple of songs. All of wich can be heard on their MySpace-page of course.
They received a lot of good reactions on the demo, and it got them more gigs. This four-piece band puts a distinctive dancable and pumping synthesizer-sound at the centre, suffused with melancholical guitar-riffs the band creates a surprisingly typical atmosphere. Its own musical identity gets strengthened by the intense hitsensitive songs.


I told you earlier about an album I made with Jeremy's guitarist Fokko. It is a side-project with Dutch songs. (Well... he sings in Dutch... allright).
The band is called WantWant and there is a lot of interest from different labels and record-company's to sign this band. Fokko teamed up with publisher Wim Kwakman (PFH) to talk to all the enthousiastic hotshots.
WantWant also has a MySpace page wich features some of the songs we did.


That's all 4 now. As always; I'll keep you posted!

V8 recordings, and more

Let me start off by giving you an update on Jeremy's; a very talented punkrock band with a pop-flavour. As you might know I did most of the recordings and mixed all songs for their debut-cd. They are still talking to severel labels as we speak, but there has been a lot of development. First of all: trendsetting 3FM DJ Giel Beelen is very enthousiastic about the band. He not only ranked them as "Most Promissing act" in Hitkrant magazine, but also invited the band to come play live at his populair morning-show.
Second: Other 3FM DJ's are also playing "Saturday" and they also performed that song live in the show that's hosted by Barbara (forgot the name). 3FM added Jeremy's to their "Serious Talent project".

Third: MTV invited the band to come over and have a chat. They want Jeremy's in their "Kweekvijver" ;-)
Fourth: there are already plans for the first video.
Fifth: there is also interest to release the album overseas.

So that's what I call a lot of good news! Check out their MySpace-page to preview 2 songs.

Other bands I mixed at the end of 2006 are also going strong. Both Heavens Devils and Dolorous Daze are talking with labels after A&R's responded positively to their music. Check out their MySpace-pages (by clicking on their names) to listen to their music.

Together with engineer Frank Mathijssen and assisting engineer Frank van Kleef I recorded a Fratellis live show. Brit-award-winning band The Fratellis is from Glasgow and scored a big hit with "Chelsea Dagger". We recorded the concert they gave in Haarlem and they showed that they are a promising act. Let's see if they can forfill that promise this summer playing the Pinkpop festival.

Almost forgot to mention one of the biggest highlights of the last few weeks: recording a live show from The Decemberists. They are a five-piece indie pop band from Portland, Oregon, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. Their fourth full-length album "The Crane Wife" is their first appearance on a major label and also their first official European release. The band gave a tremendous concert at the Paradiso in Amsterdam at wich they showed, that not only they have got some excellent songs, but they also know how to perform them live and create their own unique atmosphere. At times: breathtaking.

I also finished recording The Veldman Brothers. This bluesband features the two brothers Bennie (on Hammond and Mouthharp) and Gerrit (on guitar). Most songs are sung by Gerrit, but Bennie is also featured on leadvocals for two songs. Inspired by the Blues and Rhythm & Blues they play their own material and an occasional cover. All in wich the Hammond, guitar and blues harp play important roles.
Some of you might know Gerrit because he used to play in The Prodigal Sons. Or you saw him on the successful tour with a band called Nexperienced for a Jimi Hendrix Tribute. Thts band even played in the Heineken Music Hall during 'the Night of the Guitar', where Gerrit shared the stage with names like Steve Vai, Steve Lukather and Eric Sardinas.

I just finished mixing the album and the band will try to find a label that will release their debut-cd. BTW: all songs are recorded live in the studio, so you might hear an occasional mistake, but you will also get a lot of pure energy and atmosphere! We all thought the 'feel' of these blues-songs is the most important thing to catch on tape.
Check out their MySpace-page to preview 2 songs.

A lot of people have asked me to make some pictures in the studio while recording.
I finally did! Click here to go to my photo-section, and check out these pictures.

I also just finished the recordings and mix-sessions with retro-rockband Wilsum. A band that combines The Who / Grand Funk Railroad / Led Zeppelin / Black Sabbath (and more) into a great groovin cocktail. These guys are really into vintage equipment, that's why we also used a lot of old techniques, equipment and microphones to capture their sound. So don't expect a smashed-to-death-modern-rock-sound, because that's NOT what you are going to get. What DO you get? Groovy guitar, ramblin'bass, angular drums and screaming vocals combined for a high energy, kick a$$, dynamic, rock&roll overdrive!

All sessions were highly rock&roll, to give you an example: we had pasta that was cooked in a few liters of Bacardi! We also recorded a V8 engine blasting from 0 to 200 it a couple of seconds, wich will feature in one of the songs.

Check their MySpace page. I will keep you posted on any news regarding the release of this album. (On CD and Vinyl!) ;-)

I also made recordings on the last episode of London Calling festival in Paradiso. So maybe I will shine a light on those two days and 22 bands(!) later on...

Please keep rockin'!
Guido aka Gie aka GieSound aka MuteMaster G aka Der MuteMeister ;-)

TapeOp Con / Dolorous Daze

Tucson / TapeOp Conference 2006:

First of all: it was great; I've had a blast!
The conference was nice, insightfull, amusing, (and sometimes boring...)

I've met a lot of great people, and gathered some new contacts. As you might know, I went on invitation of Michael Brauer so it was nice to finally meet him in person after all the internet contact. Soon we were talking and laughing, drinking our favorite drink: Margarita's!
Lot's of stuff to talk about, and his workshops gave me more than enough material for the article I had to write for the (Dutch) magazine: Interface.

Michael also invited me for a dinner with some of his "friends"... as it tured out, I was gathered by hotshots that night. To mention just two:
Chris Athens, Mastering Engineer with Sterling Sound (they've probably mastered more CD's than any other studio in the world) and Dave Derr (the man behind the Distressor and Fatso, two of my favorite toys). We keep in touch.

Michael also invited me to come down to his studio on a mixing job he had to do, but my wallet would not co-operate on that one...

Dolorous Daze

I am working on a lot of different projects right now. One that recently stood out: the mixing of an 12-track album of a brand new Dutch band called Dolorous Daze... soon to be released??? I hope so, because it turned out great.

They recorded everything themselves. The vibe was good, but the recording quality suffered on some parts. So I had to do some creative editting/cleaning before I started mixing.
Bas (vocals/guitar) has a very unique voice and he is very good in controlling it. He's an amazing singer and he reached all those high notes without autotune or everything. And he does not need many takes to get it on tape!
The two other members (brothers Thierry and Caesar) are also very talented; they played a lot of different instruments themselves.
Right now the band is auditioning for a keyboard-player, and they might need an extra guitar-player in the future tooooo...

I'll give you an update soon..? Check em out on MySpace

BTW; I am fully booked for the next few weeks, so that's nice! Some great projects comming up with very talented bands!