Cameron Spies : Always Something Cool Happening

BY LARRY CRANE, LARRY CRANE

In my hometown of Portland, Oregon, there are a number of talented engineers, producers, mixers, mastering engineers, gear builders, studios, and more. It's a thriving community of creative people, if you hadn't noticed, and one of the folks I'd been curious about for years has been Cameron Spies. He first caught my ear in the cool-sounding Radiation City from 2010 to 2016. From there, he began recording and producing some interesting Portland artists, such as Blackwater Holylight (amazing femme metal), Aan, The Shivas, New Constellations, Spoon Benders, Forty Feet Tall, Haley Johnsen, Reptaliens, and many others. He's now working out of Trash Treasury Studio, and his current group, Night Heron, is a real groovy sonic treat. We met up at Trash Treasury for a chat, and I got to see a heck of a lot of keyboards there!

Flemming Rasmussen Riding the Sweet Silence

BY BRIAN TARQUIN

The engineer/producer behind the sound of the '80s Metallica albums is Flemming Rasmussen and his Sweet Silence Studios, located in Copenhagen, Denmark. These early Metallica records, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, brought a whole new light to the sound of what would become heavy metal and thrash.   Flemming began building Sweet Silence Studios in 1976, in 1980 he became co-owner, and in March 1999 he took over the studio altogether. He began his career as an in-house engineer and soon became known for his sound, as well as his ability to work with all kinds of music, from jazz, folk, and pop to hardcore metal. Everybody who worked with him experienced the feeling of being in “safe hands.” He produced his first album in 1982, working mainly with Danish bands like Sort Sol, but also with international artists, such as Rainbow, Morbid Angel, and Blind Guardian, picking up a Danish Grammy award for Producer of the Year along the way. He prefers to record drums, bass, and guitars on analog tape, using as much vintage gear as possible, then transferring to Pro Tools to do edits, overdubs, and mixdowns. Flemming’s trademark as a producer is that he always works very closely with the musicians, trying to get everything done from their perspectives. Many groups even describe him as their hidden bandmember.

Dan The Automator

BY JOHN BACCIGALUPPI, SAM RETZER

It’s Sunday night in Manhattan at Irving Plaza, and Dan “The Automator” Nakamura takes the stage behind a mouthwatering wall of synths, across from Kid Koala [Tape Op #159] and his three turntables. Deltron 3030 is back to rock the same stage where they made their New York debut 25 years ago, and the place is mobbed. If you were a hip-hop fan at the turn of the 21st century, Dan The Automator most likely blew your mind on numerous occasions. After cutting his teeth in the Bay Area DJ scene, Dan assembled his Glue Factory studio, originally in his parents’ basement, and produced some of the most revered and forward-thinking albums of the era. Dr. Octagon’s Dr. Octagonecologyst, Handsome Boy Modeling School’s So… How’s Your Girl?, and Deltron 3030’s self-titled debut stood out for their unorthodox sample sources and futuristic takes on rap music. Who can forget the first time they heard Dr. Octagon’s “Blue Flowers,” where Dan loops a Bartok violin phrase over a Minnie Ripperton vocal sample to set up DJ Qbert’s virtuosic scratching? Equally at ease producing rockers like Kasabian, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cornershop, or his Serge Gainsbourg-inspired duo Got a Girl, Dan still operates the Glue Factory out of his San Francisco home and has expanded into scoring for television and film. We spoke on the phone between dates of the Deltron 3030 25th anniversary tour.

Giving Back, But Gaining More

BY JUSTIN DOUGLAS