ifellONmyGuitar

Alternative Press | Magazine | #242.1 - Anthony Green & Craig Owens

This was a cool moment for The Artist Life. AP’N’R section. Up and Coming bands. 2008. 

Gear Story: Part 1. 

This is my 1980’s Marshall JCM 800 model #2204 50 watt all tube head. Here are some interesting facts about this amp:

- I paid $750 for it in 2001, sold it in 2004 for $700 cash and bought it back in 2006 for $650. I will never, EVER sell it again.

- I’ve played this amp in numerous projects. Always Outnumbered and The Fullblast were the first bands I used it consecutively in and then of course The Artist Life. 

- It has been used on every The Artist Life record since 2006 and is my “go to” amp. 

- It is now retired and is only used at LimeGreen Studio. 

- If you listen to any Green Day record (except Warning, he used a Fender Bassman) you can hear Billie Joe’s Marshall JCM800 and JMP amps blazing away. I had my amp moded to sound exactly like these. 

- The Power light does not and has never worked while in my possession. 

- Is (in my opinion) one of the greatest British amplifiers ever created. 

Plug into this baby and I promise you will want to steal it!

Happy to report after 2+ years smoke free my pulmonary heart function has now decreased from a severe risk to a mild/moderate function (back to normal for me). That’s straight from the Doc.

3 months into a Gluten/Dairy free and plant based diet (minus an egg here and there) I’m also happy to report I’m off my heart burn medication and have been off it for close to 2 months now.

I’ve also lost 10 pounds.

happy and healthy

blackie

Records are becoming more and more slick as the years go by and it’s becoming alarmingly easier to achieve these sounds without most of the “old skool” methods. Even something as simple as miking a guitar amp is starting to become archaic. To me, half the fun of the studio is getting that amp sounding just right and then throwing a couple of microphones at it and listening for that sweet tone. Now, I’m not completely bashing these direct input rigs because I do find that sometimes they are fantastic writing tools for ‘on-the-spot’ tones or last minute ideas, just don’t forget about that sweet old Fender amp you have sitting in the corner waiting to be fired up. I promise you, it sounds great. 

Is it just me or are younger bands slowly becoming more and more broke? Gotta love when a band hands you a Strike Anywhere record and says “We’re thinking this mix and something huge like the master on the Rise Against record.” Right, and you have barely the equivalent of a Toronto bachelor apartment’s 3 months rent for budget? I think it’s important bands be slightly more realistic with what they want to achieve in the studio. 

Setting up in a live room, isolating the drums away from the guitar amps and plugging the bass direct is a fantastic way to bang out a great sounding ‘raw’ demo. If it’s done correctly you can even make a few touch-ups after and voila, you’ve got a cost effective and cool sounding demo. I remember this was practically the ONLY way to do things when I was a teenager. But also when I was a teenager we knew the term “you get what you pay for.” These days you can mic your leg and with a big enough signal you can replace the “slap” with a snare drum. Pretty wild.

I think bands should spend more time working on getting tight in the rehearsal space. Try approaching a recording situation like this. It’ll highlight all your strengths and (unfortunately) your weaknesses. But at least you’ll get a fresh sense of musicianship and it will allow both you and your band to start hacking things out in the songs and between members. 

Lastly, let’s not forget why we create, it feels good. So think twice before you completely shoot down a member for trying something out. I say keep the floor open to suggestions. There will always be a stronger side to an opinion but at least try and keep an open mind. After all, it’s music. Enjoy it. 

thanks for reading. 

blackie

I’m just going to say it. It seems we are in an era that big recording studios do not need to exist anymore. Is this a good thing? 

I think it is NOT a good thing. Being a home studio owner it may sound hypocritical of me to say but in my ‘gods honest truth’ technology is murdering recording studios.

Young bands have it made these days. I remember playing in a band and counting the sleeps until recording studio day. I’ll never forget walking in to Rumenal Records in Mississauga, Ontario and thinking “this is where it all begins… Is that a MARSHALL STACK!? Oh man, look at that drum room! And wait, so you just plug the bass guitar… right in to the wall and magically it sounds cool?”

Granted it wasn’t the greatest recording in the world but after that 10 hour day we drove home blasting our 8 song cassette and it felt so good. Guitars slightly out of tune, drums sounding as “Ryan Greene” as we could get them and the singing… oh the singing. The experience was great because really, we sounded like shit, but at the time it felt like a perfect representation of ourselves.

Nowadays, with a few hours and a little studio magic you can literally take a band that sounds awful and make them sound perfect. This boogles my mind. The words “we’ll fix it in post” have been severely taken advantage of I think. If a drummer can’t drum on time, then he or she should probably practice. If a singer can’t sing in pitch, they should probably get singing lessons and if a guitar/bass player can’t pick on time, well… THEY SHOULD PRACTICE EVERY DAY!

Remember that time you fell off your skateboard when you were trying to do that set of stairs at the train station by your house? Or that time at football practice you missed the catch? Or when you mistakenly gave the wrong change to a customer at your first Tim Hortons job? They all ended in “Shit, I gotta get better at this… or “Hey KID YOU’VE gotta get better at this or you’re fired / won’t make the team / have to go to University!

I think bands need to be shown how they ACTUALLY sound. This way they’ll learn how to get better. And there are enough demos/ep’s/records out there that sound so perfect I’m starting to miss the flaws. 

I miss the vibe. 

blackie

thenoisetoronto:

We’re very excited to announce 2 huge shows in June!

Friday June 15th @ Sound Academy Toronto
FACE TO FACE & THE NOISE

http://www.facebook.com/events/221716734599797/

Saturday June 16th @ Call the Office London
GOOD RIDDANCE & THE NOISE

http://www.calltheoffice.com

(via aaronmorrice)

Stoked

Recent Billabong ad…

New Cover! Check it out!

best.