Red Rockets Glare

For similarly named articles, see Rockets' Red Glare (disambiguation).
Red Rockets Glare Studios
GenreVarious (indie rock, indie folk, etc.)
FoundedRancho Park, Los Angeles, California (2003)
FounderRaymond Richards
ServicesMusic production, recording studio, mastering
DivisionsRed Rockets Glare Records
WebsiteOfficial website

Red Rockets Glare is a Portland, OR 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[1] and the Leviathan Brothers, while artists that have recorded at the studio include The Broken West,[2] Chapin Sisters, The Fling,[3] The Monolators[4] and My Own Holiday.[3] Richards frequently produces albums at the studio, including Catch the Brass Ring (2007) by Ferraby Lionheart and Gorilla Manor (2009) by Local Natives.

History

Founding

Before founding the studio in 2003, producer and musician Raymond Richards began working as a touring pedal steel guitarist in 2001.[5] He toured with artists including Mojave 3,[6] Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions,[7] Lisa Germano[8] and The Brian Jonestown Massacre,[9] while also attending the Academy of Art University in San Francisco from 2001 to 2004.[5] He began collecting vintage gear and building his own microphones and pre-amplifiers,[citation needed] and started working as a producer at Red Rockets Glare in April 2003,[5] founding the studio in the residential Rancho Park section of Los Angeles.[10] The Studio was founded partly to help record the music of his own band,[citation needed] The Idaho Falls.[5]

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."[11]

Broken West, an LA power pop band (pictured in 2007), recorded their debut at RRG.[2]

Los Angeles power pop 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.[2] [12] 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."[13]

Frankel, the folk pop solo recording project of Michael Orendy, has released an album on the Red Rockets Glare record label, Lullaby for the Passersby in 2007.[1] 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.[14]

Don't Dance by The Monolators was produced, recorded and engineered by Richards at the studio, and released in October 2008.[4] 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."[15] In June 2008 The Sweet Hurt released In The Shade of Dreams,[16] their new EP, on Red Rockets Glare Records.[17]

Gorilla Manor (2008)

Main article: Gorilla Manor

Local Natives 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."[18] "We contacted him and he had a really great vibe... we clicked right away. We did everything you heard on Gorilla Manor with him."[19] "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."[18] 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."[20]

Recent recordings

Los Angeles band the Local Natives (pictured in 2013) continue to use the studio.[10]

Bands that Richards produced in 2009 included Salt Petal and The Fling. 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.[3] 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 in April of that year.[21]

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.[3] The Parson Red Heads have included Richards as an occasional band member, and he produced their 2011 album Yearling, released on Arena Rock Records.[22] The first part of Yearling was recorded over several months at the studio.[23] Artists that Richards produced at the studio in early 2013 included John Isaac Watters, Jody Glenham, The Picture & The Frame, The Blank Tapes, and Local Natives. Staff band Young Creatures also records at the studio.[10]

Equipment

Much of the gear is vintage, related to equipment used by The Beatles in their London studios, or is hand-crafted by Richards. Starting in 2009, the following equipment has been added to the studio:[3]

Organs
  • Farfisa Compact organ
  • Lowrey Heritage organ, vintage, with a built in Leslie speaker (similar to the one the Beatles used at Abbey Road)
Recording
  • Trident 80B Mixing Board, previously owned by Jim James and Dan Fogelberg
  • Neve 1084 mic preamp and eq by Brent Averill Enterprises
  • Telefunken V72a Tube Mic Preamp
  • UA 2-610 All tube mic pre
  • Royer-Made U67
  • SM-57's, 58's
  • Coles 4038 Ribbon Mic
  • Sony C38b
  • Vintage Sennheiser 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
Other instruments
  • Fender Jazz Bass,
  • Several vintage guitars
  • 1954s WFL (Ludwig) Drum kit (22, 16, 10)

Artists

Artists who have recorded at Red Rockets Glare include:

Discography

The following albums were recorded at the studio:

Year Title Artist Founders role Label
2003
(2007) 		King Giraffe[12] The Parson Red Heads Yukon Records
2005 Concrete Prairie The Idaho Falls Vocals, instruments, production[30] Self-released
2005 Magnitude Icebird Engineering Flying Squirrel Records
2005 Man and the Cousin The Harpeth Trace Mixing Robert Barry Construction
2006 Everyday Mistakes EP The Sweet Hurt Production[15] Digitalpressure/Wendy Wang
2006 Praise is Poison The Clean Prophets Engineering Tuff Penguin
2006 Our Tears Have Wings The Monolators Monolator Music
2006 I Can't Go On, I'll Go On Broken West Engineering[2] Merge Records
2007 Catch the Brass Ring Ferraby Lionheart Instruments, engineering, photography Nettwerk Records
2007 By Night On My Bed The Grizzly Owls Engineering, mastering,
mixing, instruments[25] 		Self-released
2007 Lullaby for the Passersby Frankel Red Rockets Glare[1]
2007 Pancho Fantastico John Hoskinson Engineering Tallboy Records
2007 The Man Who Lost His Shadow Leviathan Brothers Red Rockets Glare
2008 In The Shade Of Dreams EP The Sweet Hurt Red Rockets Glare[17]
2008 Short Stories Leviathan Brothers Red Rockets Glare
2008 Don't Dance The Monolators Engineering, production[4] Monolator Music
2008 On Disappearing The Harpeth Trace Production, guitar, mixing Red Rockets Glare
2009 Chinese Leftovers Sugarplum Fairies Engineering, pedal steel Starfish Records
2009 Your Doll Lisa Douglass Engineering Baby Taste Records
2009 Gorilla Manor Local Natives Production Frenchkiss Records
2010 The Spark The Idaho Falls Instruments, production, mixing Self-released
2010 The Fall Tree The Henry Clay People Recording several tracks[3]
2010 Desert of Shallow Effects[21] Miles Kurosky Shout! Factory
2010 Somewhere on the Golden Coast The Henry Clay People Engineering, mixing TBD Records
2011 Billy Jack honeyhoney Instruments, production HoneyHoney Records
2011 When the Madhouses Appear The Fling Engineering, pedal steel, production Lady Monk Records
2011 Yearling The Parson Red Heads Production Arena Rock Records[3]
2012 Murmurations The Parson Red Heads Engineering, production Timber Carnival Records

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Frankel - Lullaby for the Passersby". CDBaby. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Broken West". KevChino. Archived from the original on 2013-10-24. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Red Rockets Glare: News Archive". Red Rockets Glare. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  4. ^ a b c d "official site". The Monolators. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  5. ^ a b c d "Raymond Richards". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  6. ^ "Is Neil's Spring '09 USA tour solo or with a band? (Page 1) - Mojave 3, Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell". www.mojave3online.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  7. ^ "A Star Is Reborn Mazzy Star Singer Hope Sandoval Rounds Up Her Favorite Musicians To Spread Some Warmth. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  8. ^ Phares, Heather (April 15, 2003). "Lisa Germano - Lullaby for Liquid Pig". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  9. ^ Greene, Jo-Ann (October 16, 2001). "The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Bravery, Repetition and Noise". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "Red Rockets Glare". Red Rockets Glare. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  11. ^ a b Rolls, Shirley (February 20, 2006). "Feed Us a Live Insect". The Monolators. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  12. ^ a b c "The Parson Red Heads - King Giraffe". Allmusic. August 14, 2007. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  13. ^ a b "Ferraby Lionheart Preps Debut, Tour". SPIN.com. 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  14. ^ L.A. Weekly CD Review Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ a b c d e "Radio Free Silver Lake: Interview: The Sweet Hurt". Radiofreesilverlake.blogspot.com. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  16. ^ "Los Angeles Loves...The Sweet Hurt". LA Underground. June 10, 2008. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  17. ^ a b "The Sweet Hurt". Rock Insider. June 6, 2008. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  18. ^ a b King, Boney (February 23, 2009). "Band Interview: Local Natives". ForkKnifeBlog. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  19. ^ Berlinger, Max (November 3, 2010). "Need To Know: Local Natives". Popnography. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  20. ^ a b "Raymond Richards | KCRW Music Blog". Newmedia.kcrw.com. February 1, 2010. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  21. ^ a b "Miles Kurosky :: The Aquarium Drunkard Session". Aquarium Drunkard. April 9, 2010. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  22. ^ "The Parson Red Heads". Arena rock Recording Company. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  23. ^ "The Parson Red Heads". SXSW. March 2012. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  24. ^ "Featured Artist Interview: Angela Correa/ Correatown : web in front [dot] net | L.A. music news, reviews and interviews". Webinfront.net. 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  25. ^ a b "The Grizzly Owls- By Night On My Bed". Allmusic. November 13, 2007. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  26. ^ "Leviathan Brothers - The Man Who Lost His Shadow". Allmusic. February 10, 2007. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  27. ^ Un. "Marvelous Toy | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Blogs.myspace.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  28. ^ LA Times: Ears Wide Open Archived October 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ TravelbySea: Pictures from Red Rockets Studio (February 9, 2010) [dead link‍]
  30. ^ Hopkin, Kenyon. "The Idaho Falls - Concrete Prairie". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-10-10.

34°02′43″N 118°25′19″W / 34.0453°N 118.4219°W / 34.0453; -118.4219