Ken Lewis - News, Thoughts and Advice for Musicians, Artists, and recording industry people
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Josh Charles Tonight in NYC - 8/6/08
Recently i had the distinct pleasure of mixing an album by artist Josh Charles. ( www.JoshCharlesMusic.com ) Josh describes his sound loosely as "NoTown", a fusion of New Orleans influences, Motown influences, soul, and modern pop. (i'm sure thats not exactly accurate, but you get the general idea, and there are songs posted on his website). At its core, the album has really great, memorable songs, with performances equally captivating. However, where the band truly shines is live on stage, and tonight they'll be playing at the Cutting Room in New York City at 8pm sharp. The Cutting Room is at 24th street between Broadway and 6th Ave. Go see them. I'll be there cheering!
Lots of great things have been happening for Josh, and i'm sure many many more are to come. Of special note, one of my favorite bass players in the world, and old friend, Paul Frasier, is on bass with Josh tonight. I've worked with Paul on many projects, most notably Paul played on the David Byrne album "Look Into the Eyeball" which i recorded and mixed, and played on a couple songs myself. Paul is truly amazing, as is the rest of the band. If your at the show, look for me and say hello! And if you miss the show, then check out the music on Josh's website, and let me know what you think of the mixes :-)
I just thought this story was so inspirational and kind of reminded me of the show "Heroes" only in real life. I tend to think that we get a glimpse into our evolution 10,000 years into the future (if we make it that far) with people like Autistic Savants. The human brain and the human body are capable of doing the most unbelievable and extraordinary things, but almost always because they are highly crippled in some other way. Watch this kid (he is not autistic) who has developed echo location abilities, much like dolphins and bats have. He is also blind since the age of 2. This kid has the most incredibly tuned in pair of ears on the planet. If he ever wanted to be a mix engineer, the rest of us might just hang it up. Enjoy!!
here's a bonus. one of my favorites. Daniel Tammet, a savant, but amazingly not autistic. There's an hour long documentary on him, this is just a 4 minute excerpt. the full documentary is simply beyond belief. This 4 minute clip is also pretty astounding. Like i said, this seems to me that a handful of people on Earth have unlocked the evolution of the human brain and body and are giving us a glimpse of what our distant future as a species might hold. Imagine if everyone could do these things!!!!
For those of you who do not know you Randy Pausch is, you owe it to yourself to learn who he is and to watch his "Last Lecture". Randy Pausch was a researcher and lecturer at Carnegie Mellon. Several months ago, he was diagnosed with terminal Pancreatic cancer, and today, Friday, July 25, 2008, it claimed his life. I could give you 100 reasons why you should know and care who he was, but instead, you owe it to yourself to spend one hour of your life watching his "Last Lecture". He is one of the strongest, most inspirational people I've ever heard. If you dont have an hour to spend, I've included a ten minute version of his Lecture which he gave on the Oprah show, just as inspiring. I promise you, it will change you. Rest In Peace Randy.
Hey there! So i fired up my webcam Monday night and rattled off a new little video blog. Just a general update really, not much of a tech blog but thats coming in a day or so. So, if you're bored and have 7 minutes to kill, kick back and catch the update!
I just did a really nice interview with PMPWorldwide.com
They run a great website for producers (PMP= Producers Market Place), so if you are an aspiring urban producer, check out the site and while you are at it, check out my interview, its a pretty good read. Its on the main page at....
Last Tuesday i returned to Daddy's House Studios, the recording home of Bad Boy Records, to continue mixes on MTV Making The Band solo artist, Donnie Klang. I mixed 2 songs last week, and so far two more songs this week, and I'm about to begin another mix now (8pm Wednesday evening). I already mixed Donnie's fist single "Take U There", which Donnie recently shot a hot hot HOT video to. The single should be dropping early next month to coincide with the new season of Making The Band on MTV, which i think starts in early August. As Diddy has already announced, this coming season will be "Making the Tour", as the cameras have been following Danity Kane, Day 26, and Donnie Klang out on tour. No cameo's for me this season, my 15 seconds (literally) of airtime last season was all she wrote.
So, this is also the return of the incredibly high track count mixes. The one i just finished had over 192 tracks!!! The one i'm about to start is equally daunting. Donnie's got some really hot songs on this album, I'm really proud to be working on it. Its always fun making records you think will be hits. Hell, i get to make records for a living, its hard NOT to have a fun day :-)
And on that note, my next mix is ready, back to work for me.
