In the spring of 1997, I was just finishing up a consulting job designing a mix stage and networked audio/video system for a film post production company in Pacific Palisades, a six month consulting job which also entailed mixing yet one more “turd” movie to train the staff.

I was driving back to Apparatus, my home/studio in Topanga Canyon, when I was struck with an impulse to pray.. it went something like this: “please send me a project worthy of my abilities”. I continued my drive home to Topanga, up the post-card perfect coastline, contemplating my 30+ years of studio work, and what it had all amounted to…..

The next Monday I received a call from a producer/friend named Bruce Fanta, who hired me to master a compilation of Scandinavian artists called; “Hot Tracks From Scandinavia”. I was impressed with the general quality of the writing and performances, but when I put a track by depresleys up in my trusty Spectral Audio Engine, I was blown away by what I heard. The dePresleys composition and arrangement skills just floored me.. The music was at once familiar, but utterly fresh and original, the vocals and lyrics were unforgettable..

I was able to talk Bruce (a very kindly and dedicated producer), into giving me depresley Geir Weggersen’s number, which I immediately called, and said: “you guys are incredible, do you ever come to LA?”, to which keyboardist composer Geir Weggersen replied: “we are coming to LA in three weeks to work with (producer) John Boylan, (Aerosmith, Boston etc), and Tom Whitlock”, (Berlin )..

I replied, “cool, do you have a place to stay?”, Geir said, in his inimitable deadpan, “no, we don’t”.. I invited Geir and depresleys vocalist Jon Ravneng, along with former guitarist Johannes Bjerga to stay at my Topanga home/post production studio, Apparatus.. I picked the boys up at LAX three weeks later..

The first stop was at the supermarket ice cream case, for 4 half gallon containers of various flavors Breyers ice cream, including chocolate chip-mint, singer Jon Ravnengs’ favorite flavor.. Over the next two weeks, we jammed at my studio and ate ice cream, when they weren’t working at John Boylan’s studio, in the Hollywood Hills.

After a while, the boys confided that they were under pressure to change lyrics, and that the production style was not exactly what they were looking for. Jon and Geir asked me to take over production, since they liked what we were coming up with at my studio, They felt that my production style was well suited to depresleys music..

The Topanga Sessions, rev. 1.0

The first batch of recordings for what came to be known as “Leaking Blue” were recorded at Apparatus, my Topanga Canyon studio/home, on a pioneering DAW*, the Spectral Synthesis Audio Engine.. The Spectral Synthesis Audio Engine, had a uniquely warm tone and awesome features when compared to other digital recording and mixing solutions of the period between 1989, and 1997. The tracks we recorded on that system in the late 90’s still hold up to anything. *Digital Audio Workstation

• The rig we used for the early recordings had three Spectral Synthesis Audio Engines with native dsp plug-ins, routed through a YAMAHA 02R, with APOGEE AP8-AD converters and three light-pipe buckets, through two Spectral Translators with an additional three Spectral ADDAX 8 channel ADDA boxes in digital side-chains, a Spectral Synthesis Synclock clocking the whole network.. The system was also packed with cool old school outboard processing, AMS, Eventide, T.C. Systems, Lexicon, Sony and Studio Technologies LTD. and some cool

Team Nerd, rev. 1.0

The ADAP II’s Last Stand

As fate would have it, my old Hybrid Arts ADAP II prototype laptop workstation, (The very same one Butch Vig had hired me to fix Kurt Cobain’s acoustic guitar, do some vocal tuning and fix the cello part with on Nevermind!), was used for the very last time to rescue depresleys midi tracks from digital oblivion, forming the musical framework that “Leaking Blue” was built on.

The midi tracks that formed the basic arrangements for “Leaking Blue” had gotten corrupted in Geirs’ EMU sampler, the backups had failed and production was at a sand-still..

The ancient laptop based workstation, a prototype and arguably the fist of it’s kind, based on an ATARI Stacy II laptop, no longer passed audio, but it was able, using the ancient Hybrid Arts SMPTE Track II software and its rock solid smpte time-code hardware, to re-quantitize, and break out the midi tracks by voice/channel, magically locking the groove back into the tracks while quantitizing to some strange micro-decimal BPM values, which altered very slightly the tempos of the project.... At any rate, it was kind of miraculous..

Just after we finished the rescue project, the screen went blank, as if the old warhorse had given it’s last for the cause, after pulling off a heroic save.. Geir, Jon and I were all very moved by the experience, as only true music nerds, and diehard Nirvana fans could be.

Basic Tracks

Having rescued the midi tracks from oblivion, Geir and I went to work. We only had 10 days to do the basics session for the whole album including futzing with machines and out-takes..

Fortunately, Geir and I instantly were in synch.. We worked at a pace that could be described as blistering.. We have a rare synchronicity in our work habits, and our technical approaches, and we both find it unusual to meet others who can keep up with us in the studio.. Basically, Geir works up the samples and voices, then create the data base, tweak the tones, and record contiguous tracks. Geir and I have become a quick, sure-footed production team, as well as close friends.. We tracked all Geirs keyboard parts, and Johannes guitar parts, in batches of three or four tunes per day, working in shifts, almost around the clock..

The Guitar, rev. 1.0

The electric guitar rig Johannes used was a pair of Red Acoustic 150w bi-amped A-2 powered cabinets, a fat rack of tube and digital processors, and a Valley People Dynamite limiter/expander plus a Rocktron Hush II to keep it all under control. The “wah” was a VOX/Dunlop cry baby.

Into this beastly rack, Johannes plugged my classic 1979 Moonstone Vulcan II with Bortolini “The Beast II” hand-built discreet FET Preamp, and hand-wound prototype pickups..

Thunderous, but deceptively small, this 300w stereo guitar rig was mic’d with an AKG CK452 @ 1m on one side, and the Octava mk209 @ 1m on the other, using the Yamaha 02-R mic-pre.

The acoustic guitars Johannes used were primarily my Guild D114-12 st with Baggs pickup and preamp, and a carbon fiber 6 string prototype that we were loaned, which I am afraid I have forgotten the name of.. Both recorded using an AKG CK452 condenser mic, through the Symmetrix 601, recorded in a tile bathroom, with the Baggs DI on a separate track, through the 02-Rs’ add-on Apogee AP8AD converter mod....

Recording was to the Spectral Audio Engine, at 364 times oversampling, 16bit 48k resolution, clocked by the Spectral Synclock through a Sigma vda100**, and it sounded phenomenal!

**note (the Synclock and the Sigma VDA100 are the only parts of the Spectral rig that we still use today.)

It was just amazing to me that my neighbors at the time, (Jim and Judy Smart, and their children, actress Amy Smart, and her brother, post production supervisor Adam Smart.), never once complained about Johannes power chording through the 300w stereo guitar rig..***

***Nor did the Smarts, (later), even once complain about dePresleys drummer Rick Shlosser slammin’ on his Gretsch kit and “Black Beauty” snare.. In fact, the Smarts were always very kind and supportive of depresleys.. They were great neighbors.

The Vocals, rev. 1.0

The first round of vocals were tracked using an inexpensive Russian Octava mk 209 condenser mic I had picked up used, (Jon lovingly called the mic “Boris” ) this was put through the under-rated but totally bitchen sounding Symmetrix 601 mic pre-amp/converter/ dsp channel-strip..

This unusual combo proved magical on singer/lyricist Jon Ravneng’s voice, sounding; warm, clear, dimensional and bright, with a hint of roughness, which worked perfectly with Jon’s unique, smooth, resonant baritone..

The way we worked the vocals first time around, was for me to set up the mic channel, and put together a nice cue mix, then go to my room downstairs and nap, while Jon and Geir recorded the vocals upstairs in Apparatus Studio A. Geir and Jon have a comfort level in the studio that can only come from years of working together.

As they finished one track, I would get up and put together another mix, then they went at it again, and I went back to sleep… around the clock.. It really was amazing to record multiple takes on more than an albums worth of vocals, plus backgrounds, in three days..

We pumped out (I think)16 songs in ten days the first time around, recording midi tracks, guitar and voice… then the boys went back to Norway… Quite a few tracks from those first recordings made it to the final mix.. but the depresleys saga was just beginning..

The Drums, rev. 1.0

After the boys went home, I went to work, first; bringing in the live drum elements, with the addition of Rick Shlosser, a legendary session drummer, (Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Van Morrison, Boz Skaggs, Lionel Ritchie, Edgar Winter, Full Moon, etc..) and one of the top touring drummers in the business..

Rick joined the group as a member because he was also knocked out by the great songs we were recording..Rick added a fluidity and the great drum tones I was looking for.. Rick also was fascinated by the intricate looped and programmed drum parts that Geir came up with, and he started to incorporate some of these ideas into his own drum arrangements.

At first we tried a “triggered sample with acoustic elements” approach, but it wasn’t long before Rick had a sweet Gretsch kit, with a 22” kick and a Black Beauty snare parked in my Topanga studio, Apparatus, where we recorded drums initially.. The mic setup was, a pair of AKG ck 452s’ on overheads, a Shure Beta 52 on kick, a Shure Beta 57 on snare, Octava 209s on the racks and a Sennheiser 421 on the floor tom.. I used a Sony ECM23F on the high hat..

The exception to this setup was when Rick brought in his Ludwig big band kit, with the 26” kick, and the “pawn shop” snare.. For this kit I went to a 5 mic setup. I mic-ed the 26” Ludwig Big Band Kick with the Sennheiser 412, about 14” in front of the hole in the rear head..

I used a Sony f121 on Rick’s “pawn shop” snare, the AKG ck452 on the high hat, and a pair of Octava mk 209s in a stereo co-incident pair about 24” overhead.. This setup just sounded wonderful, and is the setup we used on “Horizons”, as well as some tracks from the follow-up to “Leaking Blue”, which is already well underway....

We used the Yamaha Mic Pre’s from the Yamaha 02-R, through Apogee AP8AD converters, in soft limit mode, for both setups. I also used a CAD MC-8 compressor to do some light compression, and expansion on the way in, along with the 02R 56bit EQ and dynamics, which I found to be great for tracking.

The Bass, rev. 1.0

At this time we recorded a number of great bassists from the around the Topanga Canyon music scene.. Jaime Scher, Francis DiCosmo, Bobby Tsukimoto all contributed great bass tracks during this period,(1998-1999), but some of these tracks did not make it onto the new CD “Leaking Blue”.. the notable exception is Bobby Tsukimoto, John Trudell’s “bad dog band” bassist, and a studio pro, who is heard on “Streets Like a River”, and “Salvation Army Sam”.

We recorded both direct, through the BBE 441 sonic maximizer, which makes a great bass DI, and through a Fender Bassman, with a Shure Beta 52 on it, through the Symetrix 601..

More Guitar, rev. 1.0

We also tracked guitar parts with a couple of great guitarists at this time.. Ritchie Ayres, and J.R.Getches, both put down memorable guitar parts for us.. None of these parts made it onto the final product, even though they were great performances..

The Critics rev. 1.0

At this point, the songs were starting to sound a bit more like a compilation, than a band. We were really struggling to come up with a consistent vision, and were trying many things during this period. Most of the criticisms that were coming our way from the industry centered on our apparent lack of direction and musical cohesion....

At the end of the day, we had to agree with the critics. So began the monumental task of forging a coherent musical vision, which for a bunch of eclectic studio rats, was no small task.

The Adventures of Ricardo Reeds.. rev. 1.0

It was during this period, while Jon and Geir were back in Norway, that we started our ongoing association with Richard Hardy. Richard was in a Topanga Canyon trance-dance band with Aziz Paige, and Jaime Scher called: the Shape Shifters.. I had mixed a couple of songs on their CD, and Richard Hardy and I, along with Jaime and Aziz had become close pals..

Richard was over for a pasta dinner one night, when I was fiddling around with “Streets Like a River”.. (he always has his instruments with him, and never leaves them in his car.). so upon hearing “Streets”, he whipped out his soprano sax, and just started blowing.. Richard is an incredible musician, and one does not want to miss anything that he is doing.. so.. I immediately went into record mode.

I grabbed the trusty Octava mk209, and stuck it about 14” out from the “bell” of the instrument, he just improvised through the whole track, then he went back over it with a beautiful old tenor sax of his, recorded with a Sennheiser 421, (both through the Symmetrix 601..), which turned into the duet horn part that is woven in with Terry Haggarty’s guitar part, on the final version of “Streets Like a River”, from “Leaking Blue”.. This was just the beginning of a great friendship and the beginning of a new sound for depresleys. One that was not anticipated by Jon or Geir when they were originally writing these tunes..

depresleys in Norway, rev. 2.0

By now I was sending depresleys back some rough mixes. Much to my surprise, Jon and Geir were pleased with the new direction and excited about the new players, sounds and the newly altered arrangements.. Usually, folks resent it if you get under the hood and monkey with their tunes, but not these guys, they welcomed my input, which was unusual in my experience.

Soon depresleys would return to Topanga for a fresh round of recordings, with a new batch of tunes.. We planned to record, rehearse the new band, do some gigs, shoot some video, do some interviews, meet with some potential management, etc... An ambitious agenda..

The Topanga Sessions rev. 2.0