Musical Graffiti

Conceptually “Shine” was conceived precisely five years ago to the month! After starting a new job that temporarily removed me from the music industry and in parallel going trough a bad breakup right after Valentines day I quickly realized that at the end of the day music was the one constant and grounding factor in my life. However, after never producing the “right” track and several failed attempts with other producers to develop this concept the idea behind “Shine” had went into remission. My story fast forwards to the end of 2011 when several incidents in my professional and personal life resurrected something deep inside my soul and I knew it was finally my time to “Shine!” With that, the lyrics stay true to its original values, is told from an older and wiser perspective, and in a nostalgic and heartfelt fashion.

So… after one of those magical studio sessions when everything goes your way and ends with you dancing around the room alone with your hands in the air, I knew I had finally produced “the track” I been waiting for. I then laid down the lyrics with additional edits from life-long friend James Stamm before I began my search for a vocalist. I knew I needed someone who can deliver my story and drive it home with a larger then life presence. I soon found what seemed to be a perfect match with singer/songwriter; Joanna Schubert. She had recently graduated from Skidmore College and her senior recital turned into the demo reel I needed for an audition. It didn’t take much to realize she had the musical knowledge and breadth of experience that I was looking for to complete the project and like that… I had the voice behind “Shine.”

I turned to professional recording engineer David Lawrence to record the vocals. David tracked Joanna through a Lucas CS-1 tube condenser microphone into a Brent Averill 1073 preamp with a Teletronix LA-2A and Universal Audio 1176LN on compression duties. For effects we added a plate reverb from a super classic box and the Line 6 Echo Pro dialed in the timing for our delays which came from the Eventide H3000s Ultra Harmonizer and a Lexicon PCM41. Dave recorded and mixed Joanna through his superb Sound Workshop Series 34 desk to polish it all off with nothing but class.

The last step in the production process is mastering and in the past I’ve tried several mastering houses ranging from Ibiza to Germany and into London. This time around I didn’t want to take any chances with the final product so I decided to stay at home in NYC for an attended session with Tom Coyne at the world renown Sterling Sound Studios. However, just days before the mastering session Dave and I realized stereo/mono compatibility issues with some of my stems which forced me to cancel the mastering session. The next five days were spent tirelessly trouble shooting in the studio before I was able to solve all the issues. A special thank you goes out to Taylor Martyr at Dangerous Music for the technical support and to Dave for the continued mix down advice.

In any event, I felt like I had another chance at the song and set out to make it even better then before. This is when I had the “MUSIC IN YOU” moment and proceeded to work the breakdown and buildup to emphasize the hook on this record. I truly believe everything happens for a reason and the technical difficulties and countless hours of trouble shooting paid off in the end. Nothing came easy which is ironically one of the messages in the song. With the track now officially complete I was able to reschedule the mastering session with Tom just days after he was on stage with Adele when she accepted her grammy for album of the year.

Treating “The Music In You” in the highest regard… I decided to take everything to the next level and print the masters to half-inch tape on a Studer A 820. My goal was to have “The Music In You” released on vinyl so I went ahead and pressed a very small and exclusive run of test pressings at URP. The idea is to send the test pressings to a select few and carefully hand-picked record labels instead of sending the contemporary digital file in a mass email. This will ensure the label’s A&R department can hear the final product on the desired format and of the utmost audio fidelity. I never had a chance to actually execute this plan as the record got signed with Stellar Fountain Records before I even received the test pressings. Stellar Fountain loved the concept however, they thought the sonics could have been improved upon so we sent “The Music In You” to Henri (Cid Inc) to re-master the record. Henri requested the stems and really turned out a great job with the final masters.

In conclusion I couldn’t have been happier with how this project turned out and the timing of it’s release. Feel free to draw your own conclusions and relationship with the song; for me it’s my love affair with electronic dance music.

In closing, remember these words:

THE MUSIC IN YOU
WILL NEVER DIE