The Daily Adventures of Mixerman
Backbeat Books
(2009)
***
Mixerman, you stole my idea!  I too worked as an engineer and had many, many ridiculous experiences that I would threaten to write about, unfortunately, you beat me to it.  So I challenge you to a mix off.  We each have to mix one really bad song in three hours.  I suggest the Jamie Foxx demos that were sitting in the recording studio where I used to work.  Those were the tapes everybody practiced on because the producer never paid the studio bill and if you could make those songs sound good, you were on to something. 

Sure, you’re a big name engineer/mixer/producer who has worked on many big budget projects and has seen, and apparently, documented the typical and sometimes atypical chaos that goes on in recording sessions.  You’ve learned to balance personalities as any good engineer should and you know when to interject and when to shut up.  Nonetheless, I challenge you. I’ll be waiting by the phone, Mixerman.

Keeping a diary while on a “cursed” recording session is not only entertaining, but also long overdue.  The band he documents is a motley crew at best, and no, I don’t mean the aging hair band with the middle-aged drummer who’s convinced he’s a 20-year-old black stereotype.   This band has the privilege of being at the center of a bidding war.  The label wants hits and has had the band writing for two years to no avail.  Obviously, it’s time to start recording.  Cue big name producer, who is given the nickname “Willy Show,” as he has a habit of not showing up when the sessions are just beginning.  All the characters get nicknames so Mixerman can still have a career after all is said and done.

Insight into the record business is generally offered up from the perspective of a musician or a label figure, but rarely from the perspective of an engineer who has little stake in the outcome of all the drama.  He is getting paid whether the album is shelved or sits on top of the billboard charts for 8 weeks.  Sure it can help his career if it becomes a hit.  Then again, I have friends with Grammy nominations and hits under their belts and they are looking for day jobs as we speak.  Mixerman has an acute understanding of just how absurd the process of signing, recording, and eventually marketing a band can be.  Logic is often absent, while reason is generally out the window.  He bitterly wallows in this mess with mostly his humor keeping him intact.  Oh, how familiar this all is—in careers across the board. The boss knows the least, the person most qualified has his hands tied, and five other people, convinced they know what’s best, constantly chime in.  Maybe the latter aren’t drinking a fifth of Makers Mark and smoking “fatties” while working, but that’s a whole different debate.

While there are many books about recording famous musicians, the majority of them have a historical slant aimed at the fan base of said musicians.  This book, however, is not written for fans of anything other than humorous exercises in futility.  While Mixerman’s attempt at ending every chapter with a one liner can get tiring, he has a fluid writing style that allows everybody into his world and gives you a glimpse behind the golden curtain.  Until we meet face to face, Mixerman, you might want to lay off the chocolate muffins, as our mixing battle will be fierce and unmerciful.

***
http://www.mixerman.net/

Buy it at Backeat Books

via Paul Dreux Smith, 29 June 2009 1:20pm | 1 |