This is the official website of Jamie Kuse, an audio engineer and producer living in Vancouver, Canada.
// December 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog Post, In The Studio
Working on a new Sweatshop Union CD/DVD combo slated for release in 2011. Here’s some footage from a session involving DJ Itchy Ron laying down some cuts on a song I’m producing called “Bring Back The Music” featuring Juno nominee D-Sisive. Ronnie is a serato master, and its really cool to watch him do his thing.
// October 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog Post, In The Studio
Here is the first installment of Vancouver recording artist Bowen’s first video blog. It takes a brief look into the amazing recording process we share. Bowen and I are on our fourth record together, so needless to say we have a great chemistry in the studio. He has also become a great friend over the years. Check out the video:
Bowen is also giving away his first single, the song you hear playing in the video, for free download. You can grab the 320kbps mp3 here: http://www.mediafire.com/?39r37dq5naw5zuc
// September 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Audio, In The Studio
This latest video from Caspian was filmed live during our recording session here at Creativ Recording Studios. Its an aggressive track, which I understand may be a contender for his upcoming record, possibly as the intro track. This video is especially interesting because it takes you right into the moments of recording the song, and I even get a cameo or two. The video was filmed and edited by Blake McRitchie for Stompdown Killaz / FilmThis. Check it:
// July 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Audio, In The Studio
Stunning performance by Hilary Grist captured here at Creativ Recording Studios by Mike Southworth. Hillary co-wrote and preformed the song for soundtrack of David King’s “Every Other Tuesday”, in which she appears as well. Have a listen to one of my favorite voices:
// June 27th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Audio, In The Studio
A hiphop track I recorded & mixed here at Creativ. Caspian kills it on both verses, and Noble brings his usual heavy yet smooth vibe to the chorus and his bridge. The instrumental is produced by Nikoh, and is based around a beautiful string loop… right up my alley.
It was a fun session recording this track. Noble was literally fresh off the plane from Australia, and arrived at the studio right from the airport. Hadn’t seen him in what was probably a couple years, so this was a great “first time back” type of occasion. Noble knew all his parts perfectly because a year or two prior, a rough demo of it had been cut back at the Ephin studios.
After a couple rye and cokes and some catching up, we were all ready to get cas in the booth. If i remember correctly, his verses went down in just one or two takes each, with full double layers thrown on for an extra thick sound – something that I almost always do with Caspian. He also recorded his parts of the chorus, with the holes left in in for Noble to slide in his vocals. (more…)
// June 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog Post, In The Studio
Me and Marmalade working with the MPC 2000, the source of all things pigeon hole.
It was a busy spring. Sweatshop Union was working diligently in the studio, recording three new albums that were released on Urbnet records June 15th. It was an interesting marketing plan, brought on by the necessities of factor deadlines. Two of them debuted in the Top 10 of the Canadian iTunes charts. All three were mixed here at Creativ Recording Studios, and while two of the albums were primarily recorded elsewhere, the Pigeon Hole album was recorded here with me.
It’s always a treat to work with such a diverse and talented bunch of people. I had the pleasure of first working with them on their third studio album, “Water Street”, as the mix engineer on the project.
The hiphop collective that is Sweatshop Union is comprised of 7 people, all with creative input and valid contributions. As one would assume, this allows some amazing creativity and melding of ideas. As an engineer, I am extremely appreciative of the freedom they grant me to experiment with sounds and textures. As many engineers can tell you, being stifled creatively during mix can be a problem, when dealing with an artist or a group that for whatever reason do not want to relinquish any form of creative control. I suppose the guys in Sweatshop Union have learned to work this way out of necessity, considering the number of independent minds in their group. Any way you look at it, their open-mindedness sets an example for anyone working in a group environment, and it’s a very positive thing for the music and their end result.
The Pigeon Hole album was the project I was most hands-on with, seeing it through from recording until the mastering stage. I learned a lot working with Pigeon Hole’s two members, Dusty Melo & Marmalade. In their production, they have mastered the art of “shitty is pretty”, a low-fidelity type of perfection. For example, the drum sounds on the closing song “Bonfire” were all recorded by them on a children’s toy drumset in Dusty’s living room through a pro-sumer mic, then run through the MPC. The result is a crunchy, vintage tone that is completely one of a kind. Working with their great sounds made it fun and easy for me to get the most out of the record.
The songs on this record vary from hiphop bangers to prog-rock/psychedelic. They combine moody vinyl samples with tactful doses of live instrumentation. The live instruments often blend seamlessly with the samples, which is often the achilles heel of producers working with samples who want to add sounds, without taking away from the vintage vibe. We maintained dusty feel across the board with heavy use of ribbon mics, tape saturation and heavily driven 1970′s preamps. (more…)
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