David Poe records drums in our Mezz suite

Songwriter David Poe set up shop in our Mezzanine studio suite last month to track with old pal drummer Sim Cain (Henry Rollins) for an upcoming project.

The session looked extremely creative and made judicious use of our racks of of amazing outboard equipment. Dubway engineer Russell Castiglione sat behind the board and helped the musicians and David find the right sound.

Best of luck with the rest of the project, David!

Poe, Castiglione, and the team. Look at all those patch cables on the far right!

Wayne Krantz tracks saxophone

Noted guitarist and composer Wayne Krantz, of Steely Dan, Billy Cobham, and Michael Brecker (and his own, well deserved) fame, stopped into our studios to continue work on an upcoming album, tentatively titled Write Out Your Head. This is a project that’s been cooking in and outside of Dubway for some time, and we’re excited to see it nearing completion.

This session covered saxophone overdubs on existing tracks from previous sessions. All the tracks are written and produced by Wayne, and the saxophonist brought in for the session was the great Chris Potter. Dubway’s Violette Furton engineered the session.

Dubway engineer Violette Furton with Wayne Krantz, right, and saxophonist Chris Potter, center.

Dubway West takes off – sessions with Halsey, Hey Violet, Bishop Briggs, AlunaGeorge, Jorgie and more!

Bishop Briggs in front of our Audient console.

Dubway West has been blessed with a string of high-profile recording sessions in its first few months of operation. Some of the notable names that have come through our new Downtown LA facility to record with lead engineer Chris Montgomery include Halsey, Hey Violet, Bishop Briggs, AlunaGeorge, Jorgie, Macklemore, and more, some still too recent to be announced. Keep your ears out for a whole slew of albums recorded in our studio – many are coming out in the next three to four months.

If you’d like to schedule a session head to the website or to our studiotime.io page.

Christmas comes early to Dubway

Ok, Halloween just ended – and that means it’s holiday season now! This year, we were happy to participate in the long tradition of Christmas records in assisting in the production, recording, and mixing of two holiday albums, both released on the same day.

Elizabeth Chan’s newest holiday outing, If The Fates Allow, was made almost entirely at Dubway, and features a number of original Christmas tunes alongside classics. The New Yorker calls her the Queen of Christmas, and if you don’t already know why, start with this album!

Press and album artwork for Elizabeth Chan’s If The Fates Allow.

For a different take on the holidays, try Ana Gasteyer’s (SNL) newest holiday album, Sugar and Booze! This one was also tracked and mixed at Dubway, and is a ton of fun. The album was produced by the great Julian Fleisher in coordination with our team.

Both – both! – of these albums were primarily engineered, through the whole process, by our very own Sam Palumbo, with contributing efforts from Zac Suskevich in recording and editing.

Huge congratulations to both teams. Go get some holiday cheer!

Dubway records Live From The Artist's Den with Echosmith

Dubway engineers Russell Castiglione, Burgess Carleton, and Zach Grappone continued our partnership with Live From The Artist’s Den last week and recorded the premiere set of season 14, featuring Echosmith at Brookfield Place, Manhattan. Dubway worked alongside artist and venue staff in capturing the multitrack recording, to be mixed by Chris Montgomery (at Dubway West) for the show. Check Live From The Artist’s Den for viewing information and see some pix below.

Press photos courtesy Kevin W Condon and Joe Papeo for Live From The Artists Den.

"Genius" musical records studio songs

Genius, a new musical from writers/directors Michael Heitzman and Ilene Reid – aka Broadway team Heitzman & Reid – has been recording studio versions of its songs at Dubway. The sessions have been engineered by Zach Grappone, and feature the performers from the show, including Kara Lindsay (Newsies, Wicked).

This team is truly a powerhouse, so if you’re a Broadway fan, make sure to find the album when it’s released!

In the Dubway lobby with Zach Grappone (left) and the Genius team: Ilene Reid, Michael Heitzman, and Kara Lindsay.

Halsey records for upcoming album at Dubway West

Pop star Halsey came through Dubway West last month to record with Chris Montgomery for her upcoming album, Manic!.

Halsey with Taylor Swift at the Billboard Music Awards 2019; photo credit Kevin Mazur

Chris has been working tirelessly to get Dubway West up and flying, and it’s great to see the hard work paying off in amazing-sounding records from artists of Halsey’s caliber. The album is scheduled for release in January 2020. Don’t miss it!

Dubway West records Warm Audio demo with Rozzi

We love Warm Audio’s roster of pro gear, and were recently lucky enough to record California singer Rozzi using a full chain of Warm Audio equipment at our Dubway West facility in LA. Chris Montgomery produced and engineered the session. Check it out above!

Aspen Hsu tracks in Dubway's Red Room

NYC pop musician Aspen Hsu has been working in our Red Room studios on new music, alongside Dubway engineer Zach Grappone. Hsu is currently writing and recording new material, as well as working out stripped-down versions of her previous singles for tracking.

We can’t say too much more yet, except that we’re excited to hear where these songs head!

Dubway West's beautiful Audient console gets a shout-out from the manufacturer

We’ve been super excited for the past few months as Dubway West, our new large-format studio in Los Angeles, has gotten off the ground. Major acts like Bishop Briggs, Halsey, AlunaGeorge, and more have already experienced the space firsthand, but for those who haven’t, allow us to introduce you to its heart: a one-of-a-kind, fully restored Audient ASP8024 mixing desk.

This console is a true beast, so much so that Audient went ahead and wrote an article showcasing the console, its path to health from a state of neglect, and its steward, Dubway’s Chris Montgomery. Read the article here, and as always, if you want some personal time with it, head here to book a session!

EMS Synthi "A" restored and studio-ready!

Years ago, studio owner Al Houghton found an old EMS Synthi A series synthesizer for sale at an antique store. That same synthesizer has now been repaired and refurbished, and is back at the studios! The EMS Synthi series has been used on numerous classic records (Jean-Michel Jarre, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, King Crimson, and many others), and was famously used to design the sound of the Daleks in Dr. Who. These are very special synthesizers, built in the UK in 1971 with the classic “Putney” style matrix patching. Three oscillators, a noise generator, a filter, an envelope generator, a ring mod, and a spring reverb round out the unit.

The Synthi A is available on request for music, post production, or whatever use you find for it!

"Behind The Curtain" in consideration for Best Musical Theatre Album Grammy

Michael Zager’s Behind The Curtain - Broadway Composers and Lyricists Sing Their Songs, which was partially tracked at Dubway, is up for Grammy consideration in the Best Musical Theatre Album category. The album is a series of recordings of major Broadway composers, singing stripped-down versions of their work accompanied by only a piano.

Featured composers have written the music for shows like Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked, Annie, The Book Of Mormon, Avenue Q, and many more.

You can pick up a copy of the album at the above link, and learn more about Professor Zager here.

The Life tracks in the Mezzanine

NYC band The Life recorded drums and guitar for an upcoming album in our Mezzanine studio last month.

The Life is the project of Curtis Pawley; the sessions also featured drummer Ned Haweeli, producer/guitarist Dashael Nadler-Fennell, and Dubway recording engineer Keenan DuBois.

Drums were tracked through our SSL 4064 G+ desk with additional outboard gear, and the guitar was recorded through a group of Mercenary Audio Neve preamps.

The album is still in production, but in the meantime you can read an interview with Curtis or listen to previous releases by The Life.

Tommy Saeli returns to Dubway for vocal tracking

Longtime musician/entertainer and friend of the studios Tommie Saeli has been tracking vocals on our main floor for the past month. The tracking has been helmed by Dubway engineer Zach Grappone.

Here’s Tommie (left), pictured with studio owner Al Houghton (center) in one of our sound rooms after the session. We look forward to hearing the final project!

Natalie Weiss tracks leads and background vocals for a new song

Noted musical theatre singer, vocal coach, and person-online-in-music (not to mention someone we love working with) Natalie Weiss spent a few days on our Main Floor recently to record vocals for a new song. Weiss tracked both main vocals and a group of backgrounds with Dubway engineer Russell Castiglione. We can’t say too much about the project yet, but keep your ears open – her productions and songs are always entertaining.

Thanks Natalie for stopping in—let’s do it again sometime!

Gospel singer Carla Harris tracks vocals in Dubway's Blue room

Local area gospel vocalist (accomplished investment banker and Obama advisor) Carla Harris recorded vocals for an upcoming release with Dubway engineer Russell Castiglione last week in our Blue room. The session was produced by gospel producer Shawn Lucas.

Keep up with Carla’s various performance and speech dates at her website above, or here. Thanks for stopping in, Carla!

SOCAPA caps off another summer of recording at Dubway

NYC’s School of Creative and Performing Arts (SOCAPA) has wrapped up another full summer of recording with us! We love having these talented kids, most of whom are highschool age, back each summer to work on their music with our engineers.

During the camp, the attendees write, record, and (depending on the length of their camp stay) shoot a music video for an original song. Songs are recorded in sprint-style sessions, with each student getting a two or three hour chunk to track their entire song! SOCAPA days are where Dubway engineers tend to prove they can work at speed over the course of an entire day – a single engineer may start and finish up to four songs – as they follow one camper’s creative process through to the next’s.

Check out videos of finished songs from previous years here, here, and here (all shot in our Mezzanine studio) and if you’ve got a young songwriter in the family, consider signing them up! Thanks again to the SOCAPA team for another great summer. See you next year!

ECR Music takes over the Mezzanine, with Blake Morgan, Janita, and Miles East

Several of ECR Music Group’s artists, including Blake Morgan and Janita, recorded drums in our Mezzanine studio last week, with local session musician Miles East on drums. The session was tracked through our SSL 4064 G+ console, and helmed by in-house Dubway engineer Russell Castiglione.

From left: Dubway engineer Russell Castiglione, ECR artists Blake Morgan and Janita, and ECR drummer Miles East.

These songs are destined for upcoming EP’s from both Blake Morgan and Janita. There isn’t a release date set for either project as of yet, but in the meantime, check out the backcatalog from these artists and affiliated labels here.

The Aberdeen tracks at Dubway

Aberdeen in the newly-lit Mezz studio, tracking Korg Minilogue.

Local Brooklyn band The Aberdeen had the run of our Mezzanine studio recently, tracking drums, synths, guitar, and additional instruments for an upcoming record. The record was handled by Dubway’s Sam Palumbo on the console.

The band just came off a few local shows, including a stop at the Bowery Electric on Friday, as well as an international tour that included Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming dates!

Charli XCX performance at Pier 17

Charli XCX on stage at Pier 17; image courtesy Joe Papeo for Artists Den Entertainment.

Dubway’s ongoing relationship with Live From The Artists’ Den allowed us the recent opportunity to record a live performance featuring pop futurist Charli XCX at NYC’s Pier 17 rooftop venue. Our engineers Russell Castiglione and assistant Burgess Carleton were backstage tracking and mixing the audio recording for the entire performance. Check out the photos and video above and below, and keep an eye on the Artists’ Den website for the full multimedia release of concert documentation!

Stage preparation, before.

Stage, after. Image courtesy Joe Papeo and Kevin Condon for Artists Den Entertainment.