Zeptepland

OUT NOW - LINK IN BIO! About a year ago, after a great experience working together on an album for his band Delano, approached me about co-producing some solo work for him, so he sent me some 60+ demos and told me to choose my favorites. This one was at the very top of my list, and from the first moments of the demo, you could just feel the impact. The first recording session was a disaster - I had just had my old 1964 Wurlitzer piano tuned and it promptly went back out of tune minutes later. So we postponed the session while I frantically began the hunt for a new piano. If you've never shopped for a worthwhile piano for a recording studio, it's an adventure. And if you've ever worked on the new Yamaha U1 upright at Zeptepland, you have this song to thank! Luckily, the rest of the production process went smoothly, we assembled an A team, and I couldn't be more thrilled to have this out there. This song means a lot to me and my career, and Josh is an incredibly special songwriter & performer who pours his heart and soul into his work. Give it a listen, would you?

Produced by Josh Hughes & AM Namee
Recorded and mixed by AM Namee at Zeptepland
Mastered to tape by at Grey House Studios

Josh Hughes - vocals, piano, guitars, harmonica
AM Namee - bass
- drums
Derek Reese - backing vocals

I've been doing a lot of amp miking experimentation lately. I always try to approach each project uniquely, but I have to move quick during recording sessions, so the more setups I have in my back pocket, the quicker we can find the right sound for the project. In this case, I'm trying out some different bass amp miking setups on my 100 watt Fender Rumble. When we're working on amp tone, I often step back to hear the bigger picture, so I've been really into placing a distance mic (in this case, a 414) where my ears perk up the most (which, in the case of bass amps, ends up being around 4 feet in front of the amp at varying heights, depending on the sound I'm going for). For close mics, I've always liked D112, 421, and SM7 the most, depending on the sound I'm going for. Paired with the right preamps (and the right tone of the instrument & on the amp), as well as the right placement of the amp (I've been liking it in front of this bunker trap which eats up some 300hz-500hz nastiness), I can usually achieve what I hear in my head with varying combinations of these mics. How will a ribbon mic fare in the distance position? Stay tuned, because now I can't get that pesky idea out of my head...and so the cycle continues...