Howard Bilerman (born September 25, 1970) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

musician, sound engineer, and record producer based in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

."Goldfish finishes what it started 21 years ago"
Jordan Zivitz, ''Montreal Gazette'', April 26, 2017"Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Jama Ko – review (Out Here)"
''The Guardian'', Robin Denselow, 24 Jan 2013 He co-owns the

hotel2tango The Hotel2Tango (sometimes referred to as Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango and abbreviated H2T) is a 24-track Analog recording, analogue recording studio situated in the Mile End, Montreal, Mile End district of Montreal, Quebec. The current facility is th ...

recording studio, and played drums for the band

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...

. Across his recording career, Bilerman has worked on albums by several prominent Canadian artists, including

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock collective that originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation Records (Canada), Constellation, an in ...

Wolf Parade Wolf Parade is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2003 in Montreal. The band released three full-length albums before taking a five-year hiatus in 2011. They announced their return in 2016, releasing a self-titled EP in May of that year, and ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

Bell Orchestre Bell Orchestre is a six-piece instrumental band from Montreal. It was formed in 1999 by multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry and violinist Sarah Neufeld. Both also joined Arcade Fire. They were joined in Bell Orchestre by Michael Feuerstack (ste ...

U.S. Girls U.S. Girls is a Toronto-based experimental pop project formed in 2007, consisting solely of American musician and record producer Meghan Remy.The Weather Station The Weather Station is a Canadian folk music band fronted by Tamara Lindeman, formed in 2006. Band membership has changed over the years, but the lineup includes Lindeman (lead vocals, piano), Ben Whiteley (bass), Johnny Spence (keyboards), Wi ...

Early life and education

Bilerman grew up in Montreal where he attended

St. George's School of Montreal St. George's School of Montreal is an independent school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada founded in 1930. It consists of two campuses: the elementary school campus in Westmount, Quebec, and the high school campus in Montreal just a 15-minute walk from ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree in communication studies from

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

in 1994.

Career

Beginning in 1996, Bilerman started a studio called ''Mom & Pop Sounds'', first in his parents' basement, then in a loft in

Old Montreal Old Montreal (, ) is a historic List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, neighbourhood within the List of municipalities in Quebec, municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is b ...

. In addition to his own material under the name EAVESDROPPER, he recorded tracks for local bands such as The Paper Route, Bionic, UVBC, The Spaceshits,

Tricky Woo Tricky Woo was a Canadian garage punk band, based in Montreal. The "classic lineup" of the band consisted of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Dickson, guitarist Adrian Popovich, bass guitarist Eric Larock and drummer Patrick Conan. Tricky Woo rele ...

& Goldfish. As of 2000, Bilerman runs the

recording studio in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

along with Efrim Menuck and Thierry Amar of

and

A Silver Mt. Zion A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

, and Radwan Moumneh. Bilerman was the drummer for the band Arcade Fire between 2003 & 2004; he recorded and drummed on their debut album, ''

Funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

'' as well as acting as sound engineer. He has also drummed on songs by Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band,

Vic Chesnutt James Victor Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little (album), ''Little'', was released in 1990. His commercial breakthrough came in 1996 with the rele ...

Basia Bulat Barbara Josephine Bulat, known professionally as Basia Bulat (), is a Canadian Folk music, folk singer-songwriter. She is known for performing with an autoharp. Early life and education Bulat grew up in Etobicoke, Ontario where her mother was ...

, Sons of an Illustrious Father, Lilah Larson, Peter Peter,

Rich Aucoin Richard Aucoin (born September 15, 1983) is a Canadian musician, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band and musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the ...

and

Angela Desveaux Angela Desveaux is a Canadian singer-songwriter, based in Montreal, Quebec, whose style blends a diverse mix of pop, rock and country influences.T'cha Dunlevy"Not indie, not country, just Desveaux" ''Vancouver Sun'', 18 September 2008. Backgrou ...

. As a recording engineer or producer, Bilerman has a credit on over 500 records, including those by

Handsome Furs Handsome Furs was a Montreal-based indie rock duo which consisted of Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry, who were married at the time. Boeckner is best known for his time in the bands Wolf Parade and Atlas Strategic. The band announced its breakup on ...

Titus Andronicus (band) Titus Andronicus is an American indie rock band formed in Glen Rock, New Jersey, in 2005. The band is composed of singer-lyricist-guitarist Patrick Stickles, guitarist Liam Betson, bassist R.J. Gordon, and drummer Chris Wilson. The group takes ...

Coeur de Pirate Cœur is the French word for heart, and may refer to: * ''Cœurs'', a 2006 French film by Alain Resnais * Cœur (song), "Cœur" (song), a song by Zoé Clauzure which won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 * Coeur (playing cards), a brand of ...

Lou Doillon Lou Doillon (born 4 September 1982) is a French-British singer and actress. She is the daughter of French director Jacques Doillon and English actress and singer Jane Birkin. Doillon started her career as a model during her teenage years and ...

, Perfect Pussy, Charlotte Cornfield,

British Sea Power Sea Power, previously known as British Sea Power and initially as British Air Powers, are an English alternative rock band. The group's original lineup consisted of Jan Scott Wilkinson, known as Yan; Martin Noble, known as Noble; and Alison Co ...

, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band,

Thalia Zedek Thalia Zedek (born 1961) is an American singer and guitarist. Active since the early 1980s, she has been a member of several notable alternative rock groups, including Live Skull and Uzi (band), Uzi both of which, according to ''Spin (magazine) ...

, CPC Gangbangs,

U.S. Girls U.S. Girls is a Toronto-based experimental pop project formed in 2007, consisting solely of American musician and record producer Meghan Remy.Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock collective that originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation Records (Canada), Constellation, an in ...

Grant Hart Grant Vernon Hart (March 18, 1961 – September 13, 2017) was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the punk rock band Hüsker Dü. After the band's breakup in 1988, he released his first solo album, ''Intolerance'', before fo ...

Bassekou Kouyate Bassekou Kouyate (born 1966) is a musician from Mali. His band is known as Ngoni ba. Life and career He was born into the Kouyate family in Garana, Barouéli Cercle, 60 kilometres from Ségou, in 1966.Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: At t ...

, The Wooden Sky,

The Weather Station The Weather Station is a Canadian folk music band fronted by Tamara Lindeman, formed in 2006. Band membership has changed over the years, but the lineup includes Lindeman (lead vocals, piano), Ben Whiteley (bass), Johnny Spence (keyboards), Wi ...

The Barr Brothers The Barr Brothers is an indie folk band founded in Montreal, Quebec in 2006, consisting of two American brothers Andrew (drums, percussion, vocals, keyboards) and Brad Barr (guitar, vocals), as well as bassist Morgan Moore, pedal steel guitarist ...

Leif Vollebekk Leif Vollebekk is a Canadian indie folk singer-songwriter, whose 2017 album ''Twin Solitude'' was a shortlisted finalist for the 2017 Polaris Music PrizeSarah Davachi,

, Sons of an Illustrious Father,

Dan Boeckner Dan Boeckner (; born 5 February 1978) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist and podcaster. He is best known as one of the frontmen of Wolf Parade, which he helped found in 2003. Since 2013, he has also been a member of the Montreal-based ba ...

's band Operators, and Halifax's

Nap Eyes Nap Eyes is a Canadian indie rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

. In 2012, Bilerman travelled to Mali to record an album by ngoni player

, despite political unrest in the country at the time. Bilerman is a frequent host of

Pop Montreal POP Montreal is an annual List of music festivals, music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the early fall, usually at the end of September or the beginning of October. More than 400 bands are scheduled to play in more than 50 ve ...

public lectures, where he interviews fellow producers & musicians. Those include

Bob Johnston Donald William "Bob" Johnston (May 14, 1932 – August 14, 2015) was an American record producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, and Simon & Garfunkel. Early life and career Johnston was born into a profe ...

, John Simon,

Andrew Loog Oldham Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style. Early life Oldham's f ...

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

Brian Paulson Brian Paulson is an American record producer and audio engineer from Minnesota, best known for recording albums by Slint, Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Superchunk and Wilco. Paulson grew up in Bemidji, Minnesota, but moved about 200 miles south to ...

Guy Picciotto Guy Picciotto ( ; born September 17, 1965) is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer from Washington, D.C. He is best known as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist in Fugazi and as lead vocalist of Rites of Spring. Career Rites ...

Peter Jesperson Peter Jesperson is an American music industry businessman from Minneapolis, Minnesota, known for his involvement in discovering the Replacements, and for later serving as their manager. He also co-founded Twin/Tone Records along with Paul Stark an ...

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis, who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. It is currently run by co-managing directors Travis and Jeannette Lee and ...

founder

Geoff Travis Geoff Travis (born 2 February 1952) is the founder of both Rough Trade Records and the Rough Trade chain of record shops. A former drama teacher and owner of a punk record shop, Travis founded the Rough Trade label in 1976. Biography Travis wa ...

. He has also been a frequent instructor at

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (formerly Banff Centre) is an arts and culture educational institution in Banff, Alberta, Banff, Alberta. It offers arts programs in the Performing arts, performing and fine arts, as well as leadership trai ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. In 2016 Bilerman was one of the engineers on

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

award winning song "

You Want It Darker ''You Want It Darker'' is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on October 21, 2016, by Columbia Records, 17 days before Cohen's death. The album was created at the end of his life and focuses on death, ...

"."It was kind of nice to sort of feel something was this important"
''Radio Noon Montreal'', October 20, 2016, Season 2016, Episode 300266617

Production discography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilerman, Howard 1970 births Living people Canadian male drummers Canadian record producers Anglophone Quebec people Musicians from Montreal 21st-century Canadian drummers 21st-century Canadian male musicians