Red Rockets Glare
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Red Rockets Glare is a
Portland, OR Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
recording studio, founded by musician, producer, and engineer Raymond Richards in 2003. The associated record label, Red Rockets Glare Records, has signed bands such as Frankel and the Leviathan Brothers, while artists that have recorded at the studio include The Broken West,
Chapin Sisters The Chapin Sisters are an American folk rock and harmony duo from Brooklyn, New York. The band consists of sisters Abigail and Lily Chapin, and formerly their half-sister Jessica Craven. Their sound blurs the lines between old-time Appalachian m ...
,
The Fling ''Hank the Cowdog'' is a long-running, ongoing series of children's books written by John R. Erickson and illustrated originally by Gerald L. Holmes, and later by Nikki Earley. The books follow Hank, a dog who views himself as the "Head of Ran ...
, The Monolators and My Own Holiday. Richards frequently produces albums at the studio, including '' Catch the Brass Ring'' (2007) by Ferraby Lionheart and ''
Gorilla Manor ''Gorilla Manor'' is the debut album by Los Angeles based indie rock band Local Natives. It was released in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2009, on Infectious Records, and February 16, 2010, by Frenchkiss Records in the United States. The al ...
'' (2009) by
Local Natives Local Natives is an American indie rock band formed in Orange County, California, and based in Los Angeles. The band currently consists of Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (ba ...
.


History


Founding

Before founding the studio in 2003, producer and musician Raymond Richards began working as a touring
pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...
ist in 2001. He toured with artists including
Mojave 3 Mojave 3 were a British rock band consisting of former Slowdive members Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar), Rachel Goswell (vocals, bass) and Ian McCutcheon (drums) alongside keyboardist Alan Forrester and former Chapterhouse guitarist Simon Rowe. ...
,
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions are an American-Irish dream pop band comprising Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star and Colm Ó Cíosóig of My Bloody Valentine (band), My Bloody Valentine. Their first studio album, ''Bavarian Fruit Bread'', was rel ...
,
Lisa Germano Lisa Ruth Germano (born June 27, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Indiana. Her album '' Geek the Girl'' (1994) was named one of the best albums of the 1990s by ''Spin'' magazine. She began her career as a viol ...
and
The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American Rock music, rock band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called ''Dig!'', and have gained media notorie ...
, while also attending the
Academy of Art University The Academy of Art University (AAU, or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. ...
in
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from 2001 to 2004. He began collecting vintage gear and building his own microphones and pre-amplifiers, and started working as a producer at Red Rockets Glare in April 2003, founding the studio in the residential
Rancho Park Rancho Park is a residential neighborhood in the Los Angeles Westside, Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California with mostly single family homes and tree lined streets. The community is nestled between West Los Angeles and Cheviot Hills, L ...
section of
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. The Studio was founded partly to help record the music of his own band, The Idaho Falls.


Early releases

The Monolators recorded their 2005 album ''Our Tears Have Wings'' at the studio, and stated in 2006, "Red Rockets Glare was a converted garage. Unlike our garage, though, it's nice and comfortable and sound-treated inside, and, oh, it doesn't leak when it rains and form large patches of mold on the floor. That is fortunate." Los Angeles
power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...
band Broken West recorded their debut album ''I Can't Go On, I'll Go On'' at the studio over the course of a year (July 2005-August 2006) with Richards engineering. and Richards worked with Ferraby Lionheart to record 2007's '' Catch the Brass Ring''. "Making this album was a real adventure," Lionheart said in a press release. "I met a guy with a cool little garage studio in West L.A. The place was packed with instruments and vintage gear; I tried to use it all." Frankel, the
folk pop Folk-pop is a broad musical fusion genre that includes contemporary folk songs with pop arrangements, and pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Folk-pop has been popularized by mainstream media in recent years. Musica ...
solo recording project of Michael Orendy, has released an album on the Red Rockets Glare record label, ''Lullaby for the Passersby'' in 2007. Group Leviathan Brothers recorded their second jazz EP "The Man Who Lost His Shadow" (2007) at the studio and released it on Red Rockets Glare Records. Their third EP, "Short Stories", was released in 2008 and recorded by Richards at Hot Pie Studios in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
.L.A. Weekly CD Review
''Don't Dance'' by The Monolators was produced, recorded and engineered by Richards at the studio, and released in October 2008. The Sweet Hurt works with Richards at the studio. About her experience first recording ''Everyday Mistakes'' over three days at the studio, "It was the most polished-sounding thing I'd done. I learned a lot from that recording process. It was inspiring. Raymond really encouraged me to keep doing the music thing, so I recorded another batch of songs at the studio and that's how the new EP came about." In June 2008 The Sweet Hurt released ''In The Shade of Dreams,'' their new EP, on Red Rockets Glare Records.


''Gorilla Manor'' (2008)

Local Natives Local Natives is an American indie rock band formed in Orange County, California, and based in Los Angeles. The band currently consists of Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (ba ...
stated in a 2009 interview, "To record ''Gorilla Manor'', we stumbled upon a gentlemen by the name of Raymond Richards who runs a little studio in Rancho Park called Red Rockets Glare." "We contacted him and he had a really great vibe... we clicked right away. We did everything you heard on ''Gorilla Manor'' with him." "All of out prior recording experiences had been very stiff and stale so one of our biggest goals going in was to get more of a natural and more relaxed sound." According to a 2010 review, "Local Natives'... self-funded album ''Gorilla Manor,'' produced by the excellent Raymond Richards here in LA, maintains everything I love about their live shows – a controlled ruckus filled with passionate percussion and beautiful melodies."


Recent recordings

Bands that Richards produced in 2009 included Salt Petal and
The Fling ''Hank the Cowdog'' is a long-running, ongoing series of children's books written by John R. Erickson and illustrated originally by Gerald L. Holmes, and later by Nikki Earley. The books follow Hank, a dog who views himself as the "Head of Ran ...
. In 2010 Richards recorded one of the songs on the new Henry Clay People album ''The Fall Trees,'' and that year Produced country rockers Honey Honey, and A House For Lions. Miles Kurosky's solo debut, ''The Desert of Shallow Effects'' (2010), was recorded at Red Rockets Glare, and according to a review the album "works the same vein of melodic, intelligent pop that deemed so much of his former group’s catalog essential listening." A version of the Kurosky session for ''Aquarium Drunkard'' recorded at the studio in February 2010, was played on
SIRIUS XMU SiriusXMU (formerly XMU, and known as Sirius U on Sirius Canada, although Sirius receivers list it as Sirius XM U) is an indie pop, indie rock, unsigned artist music channel on XM Satellite Radio channel 35 (previously 43). On November 12, 200 ...
in April of that year. In 2011 Richards produced records for Count Fleet, Salt Petal, Will Courtney and Warships. Richards played bass on and produced the new record by Marvelous Toy. The Parson Red Heads have included Richards as an occasional band member, and he produced their 2011 album ''Yearling'', released on Arena Rock Records. The first part of ''Yearling'' was recorded over several months at the studio. Artists that Richards produced at the studio in early 2013 included John Isaac Watters,
Jody Glenham Jody Glenham is a Canadian musician based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Jody is often joined by her six-piece backing band, The Dreamers. History In 2013, Glenham left her home in Vancouver, BC for California to work with producer Raymond Ric ...
, The Picture & The Frame, The Blank Tapes, and Local Natives. Staff band Young Creatures also records at the studio.


Equipment

Much of the gear is vintage, related to equipment used by
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
in their London studios, or is hand-crafted by Richards. Starting in 2009, the following equipment has been added to the studio: ;Organs *Farfisa Compact organ *Lowrey Heritage organ, vintage, with a built in Leslie speaker (similar to the one the Beatles used at
Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although '' Let It Be'' (1970) was the last album completed before th ...
) ;Recording *Trident 80B Mixing Board, previously owned by Jim James and Dan Fogelberg * Neve 1084 mic preamp and eq by Brent Averill Enterprises *
Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television producer, founded in Berlin in 1903 as a joint venture between Siemens & Halske and the ''AEG (German company), Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ("General electricity company"). Prior to ...
V72a Tube Mic Preamp *UA 2-610 All tube mic pre *Royer-Made U67 *SM-57's, 58's *Coles 4038 Ribbon Mic *
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
C38b *Vintage
Sennheiser MD 421 The Sennheiser MD 421 is a German cardioid dynamic microphone, widely used for speech in broadcasting and for music in live concerts and the recording studio. Introduced in 1960, the internal large-diaphragm transducer element of the MD 421 ...
*2 AKG D19c ;Compressors *Chandler TG-1 Abbey Road Limiter (copy of the compressors on the Beatles Mixing board) *2 1176 compressors from the 1970s *Retro Sta-Level tube compressor *JDK stereo compressor ;Instruments * Silvertone 1443 Bass with flat wounds (on loan from Jen Finch of L7) *Roland JUno 60 Synth *
Omnichord The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It allows users to play distinctive harp-like arpeggios produced through an electronic strum plate, simulating the experience of ...
synth *
Roland Space Echo The Roland Space Echo is a line of tape delay units introduced by Roland Corporation in 1974. Whereas prior tape delay effects used tape reels, the Space Echo uses a free-running tape transport system. This reduces tape wear, noise, and w ...
, vintage *Fulltone Tube Tape Echo *
Spring reverb A reverb effect, or reverb, is an audio effect applied to a sound signal to simulate reverberation. It may be created through physical means, such as echo chambers, or electronically through audio signal processing. The American producer Bill ...
units ;Other instruments *
Fender Jazz Bass The Fender Jazz Bass (often shortened to "J-Bass") is the second model of Bass guitar, electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Fender Precision Bass, Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midra ...
, *Several vintage guitars *1954s WFL (Ludwig) Drum kit (22, 16, 10)


Artists

Artists who have recorded at Red Rockets Glare include:
A House For Lions
ref name="hl"/> *Angela Correa (Correatown) *Andrew Deadman * The Broken West *The Blank Tapes *Calamity Magnet *
Chapin Sisters The Chapin Sisters are an American folk rock and harmony duo from Brooklyn, New York. The band consists of sisters Abigail and Lily Chapin, and formerly their half-sister Jessica Craven. Their sound blurs the lines between old-time Appalachian m ...
*Count Fleet *The ExFriends *The Grizzly Owls *Groupee.com *The Harpeth Trace *
The Henry Clay People The Henry Clay People was an American indie rock and punk band, formed by brothers Joey and Andy Siara. History Joey and Andy Siara began playing with current drummer Eric Scott in 2002 under the name "Vallejo by Knife," which they changed in ...
*The Idaho Falls *John Isaac Watters * Ferraby Lionheart *
The Fling ''Hank the Cowdog'' is a long-running, ongoing series of children's books written by John R. Erickson and illustrated originally by Gerald L. Holmes, and later by Nikki Earley. The books follow Hank, a dog who views himself as the "Head of Ran ...
*Frankel *
Jody Glenham Jody Glenham is a Canadian musician based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Jody is often joined by her six-piece backing band, The Dreamers. History In 2013, Glenham left her home in Vancouver, BC for California to work with producer Raymond Ric ...
*Laura Laura (Richards plays guitar in 2012) * Leslie and the Badgers * Leviathan Brothers *
Local Natives Local Natives is an American indie rock band formed in Orange County, California, and based in Los Angeles. The band currently consists of Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (ba ...
*Let's Go Sailing *Marvelous Toy * The Monolators * Miles Kurosky *Mississippi Man * My Own Holiday *Naomi Greenwald *The Parson Red Heads *The Picture & The Frame *Red Cortez *Salt Petal *Shelley Short *Stevenson Ranch Davidians *The Sweet Hurt *Travel by Sea * Will Courtney *Warships


Discography

The following albums were recorded at the studio:


See also

*
List of record labels File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg File:Bingola1011b.jpg Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Recording studios in California American record labels