NEW SINGLE: I Kissed Charles- My Heart Goes Boom! (Pre Tour Peptalk)

Nice job: the band I Kissed Charles & Goomah Music asked me to do a special radio-version of their new single.
So first I did a couple of small edits, then a ass kickin' mix ;-)




Nice mastering (as always by Darius van Helfteren).
The song will be released by the end of may.

Studio / Arthur Adam /Rosemary's Sons / Bertolf

It seems that everytime I add an entry to the news-section of my webpage, I have to apologize because it has been way to long since my last update.
Strange...
Anyhow; this time (as always) I think I have a good reason ;)
Not only have I been working my a$$ of lately recording, producing and mixing lot's of wonderful artists, but I have also been very busy setting up my own mix&overdub studio. I am joining well-known mastering engineer Sander vd Heide at his facility in Soest. So right now I can perform all my mixing duties right in a central part of the country, nearby most (big) recordlabels.
I've been working really hard to get my controlroom up and running since the end of 2009. On my Hyves you can find some pics of construction etc.
It's a big analogue setup, build around a powerfull Pro Tools HD rig. The mixing desk is a custom build design, up to my specs. Here's a pic to give you some idea;

Enough on this subject (more on this later?) ;)

Allright, let's talk music! NICE MUSIC!!!!
I recorded, mixed & produced a very very nice & original album by Arthur Adam. This Amsterdam based singer-songwriter has been a "well-know secret" for years, and recently we teamed up to make this fantastic album together with his band.
Everyone who loves music by artists like Damien Rice, Jeff Buckley, Sufjan Stevens, Sebadoh, The Police and Motorpsycho should really check it out when it hits stores.
Right now you can already download the first single, and one of my personal favorite songs ("Dividing a Spider") at iTunes.


Besides that I also have been doing some small projects, including a single with Rosemary's Sons (featuring Stevie Ann) called "Perfect". This is a very nice & warm song that has a great nostalgic feeling.

The biggest and most time-consuming project I have done lately was the album-production of the second Bertolf album. We started recording drums in the north of the country, and then moved over to the world-famous and world-class ICP studio's in Brussels for the main recording sessions.
We tracked at studio C (on a wonderful vintage Neve desk), and in studio D (wich is sort of a very big living room based around a 1940's tube Telefunken desk. Talkin' about vintage!)
On my Hyves & MySpace you can find some pics of those sessions.
After that we moved to my new studio to record all vocals and some percussion stuff and additional instruments.
In between all that Bertolf received the prestigious "Zilveren Harp" award, and we had to finish the fist single "Two in a Million" wich was instantly added to the playlist of big radiostations like 3FM & Q-music. Besides that, I also joined B & his band for some radio & TV promo-gigs, doing the broadcast mix of their live-performances.
Oh yeah... and then I mixed the complete album all on my brand new, custom build, mixing console! Kick ass!!!
Right now I am listening to the cd (that is just being mastered by Darius van Helfteren), and I have to say that Bertolf really made a big step. The album is so amazing and has a nice depth. You really should go out and check it once it is released in the second half of April.


all for now... more to come!!
grtz,
Guido

Anneke van Giersbergen, Aqua de Annique, Polarskin, Veldman Brothers

Very very short update, because I have been working my a$$ of lately ;-)

-mixed the new Anneke van Giersbergen & Agua de Annique album. And it is a f#cking briljant album. It has everything I would be looking for in an album; catchy tunes, different moods, layered songs and also stripped ones. And she sings beautifully! This album is gonna impress a lot of people I can assure you!
The album will be released in 10 countries all over the world.

-recorded/mixed/produced an album by a brand new band called Polarskin. It's a band with layered & atmospheric songs with a great singer. Their style is difficult to pin down, since I don't know a band that does what they do. The best I can come up with (to describe their original sound) is a combination of bands. So elements of; Coldplay (intense), Snow Patrol (dynamic), Starsailor (emotion) with Editors (verb guitars).
We just got the final master of all 15 songs we recorded. Now we will start looking for a label that will pick their favorites (12?) and release that as an album.

-mixed a live TVperformance of Bertolf @ Pauw & Witteman. And also the "rooftop set" he did for that same program. (Besides that also some other Radio/Tv gigs of Miss Montreal & Bertolf, including sets&sessions at Lowlands)
Here's
Bertolf in the P&W show:



And here a part of the "rooftop set" in memory of the Beatles:

(all songs from the rooftop can be found on YouTube)

-mixed a live record by bluesband The Veldman Bros.
This limited edition cd proves that VB is the best Blues band in this country right now. Loads of energy, atmosphere and steamy performances!

Besides that I also did some pre-production with acts that I might record with real soon & I did 2 projects for a publishing company.
And.... I might get my own personal mixing&overdub room!! Looking into options right now. It has to be a room that is build around the combination of Pro Tools HD together with an excellent analogue mixing desk & all my analogue outboard.
Looking into several locations at the moment.

Miss Montreal, Nina June, Bertolf

WOW!!! Man, I have been very very busy lately... So that's why it took me so long to update this news section.
First of all.... YES; I am finally on Hyves, so you can stop asking about it ;-)
http://giesound.hyves.nl/


I am almost ready with the album production for Miss Montreal.
The second single is already released. The rest of the songs are "on their way to blow you away!" ;-)
Here's the video for "This is my Life" (the 2nd single):





This song is already on most playlists, so you will hear it very often on Dutch radio!
In February went to ICP studio's in Brussels and recorded all basics for the album (drums, bass, electric guitars and most acoustic guitars). And in March Sanne and I flew to Portugal, where we recorded vocals (as you can see in the video above) and some percussion. Click here for pics of all those recoding sessions
Right now, I am in the middle of finishing the mixes for the album, so we are almost done.
Her first hitsingle "Just a Flirt" while still being played a lot on Dutch radio is now also picked up by Belgium radio! So it might become a big hit over there as well?!
The live-circuit also picked up this vibe, cause right now the band is already booked for over 40 festivals!!!


I almost forgot to mention that both Sanne (Miss Montreal) & Bertolf are nominated for (each) three 3FM Awards!!!


Bertolf is also still going strong. After the succes of first single "Another Day" (wich reached all the way to number 2 in the charts!!) the 2nd single (For Life) is just out. Check out the wonderfull video:


All this resulted in a lot of radio & tv appearances and some damn-good album-reviews in magazines!


I also finished a single with Nina June. It's something different then you might know from her since she sings this one in Dutch. That's because it's a soundtrack for a new book by bestselling author Patrick van Rhijn. People who buy the book will also get this song on a cd to play along. (More info can be found on her MySpace)


Besides all this, I also demo'd some songs with a band and I mixed a single for Gaia Nostra, wich will be released later this year when they start touring.


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

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