rockandrollgeek
Mar 21st, 2007, 11:30 AM
SUGGESTION FOR INTERVIEW:
Contact: Steve Levesque, James Levesque
Luck Media & Marketing, Inc. (310) 860-9170
info@luckmedia.com, www.luckmedia.com
JOE BLANEY
* * *
Platinum Selling Producer, Engineer And Mixer Adds
Hot NYC-Based Indie Rock Band ism To An All-Star Clientele List
That Includes The Clash, Keith Richards, The Ramones, Prince,
Soul Asylum And A Host Of Groundbreaking International Artists
World-renowned producer, engineer and mixer Joe Blaney boasts a 25 year resume loaded with critically acclaimed pop/rock superstars and popular international artists, but his true creative heart these days lies in helping upstart indie bands realize their potential and break through to a wider audience.
Launching his career 25 years ago with a mix of The Clash?s single ?Radio Clash,? Blaney was later hired to record their best selling double platinum album Combat Rock, which featured the eternally popular smash ?Rock The Casbah? and ?Should I Stay Or Should I Go.?
He then worked extensively as a mixer and engineer with Def Jam, recording and mixing tracks by Oran ?Juice? Jones as well as seminal rap hits for The Beastie Boys, Davy D, Alyson Williams, Run D.M.C. and Slick Rick. By the late 80s, he was legendary in pop mixing circles, working on tracks for everyone from Keith Richards and The Ramones to Blues Traveler, Guadalcanal Diary, Tom Waits and The Neville Brothers. During 1987-88, he recorded and mixed most of Prince?s Lovesexy album and later mixed others for The Black Album.
In the early 90s, Blaney shifted his focus towards producing, working with Soul Asylum (their pre-superstardom album Soul Asylum And The Horse They Rode In On), Jack Bruce, Bernie Worrell, Lucy Brown, The Beautiful and singer/comic Denis Leary (platinum selling album No Cure for Cancer). Before opening his own independent facility, Magnetic Studios (a.k.a. Joe Music) in 1998 in the heart of Greenwich Village, he also kept his mixing career thriving with tracks by Roseanne Cash, Shawn Colvin, The B-52?s and Joey Ramone.
In recent years, he?s balanced running the studio and producing other hot NYC-based indie acts like the Village Voice Award-winning White Magic, Night Kills The Day and Pure Horse Hair with his overwhelming overseas schedule producing hot international rock acts. He has worked with Japanese singer Tamio Okuda (from the early 90s band Unicorn), Argentina?s Charlie Garcia, Spain?s Los Rodriguez, Chile?s Los Tres and, most recently, the #1 Spanish band Fititaldis.
?My approach to making great records is a little different than most producers,? says Blaney. ?I listen carefully to what the artist is about, try to bring out their strengths and not to impose any specific vibe on them. You can listen to any three projects I make and find no similarity of production style, and that?s because it?s more important to help artists achieve the sound they are looking for. The records that stand out are the ones where the band has had a good relationship with the producer.
Blaney is currently gearing up to helm the long anticipated follow-up album to Monkey Underneath, the impressive STM Records debut by NYC-based indie band ism. The noteworthy strides ism made in 2006, in addition to what the producer calls incredible new material and a ?powerful, evolving synchronicity,? adds to his sense of optimism.
?I?m into making records that last forever, ones that make you want to listen over and over,? comments Blaney. ?I feel like a coach on a sports team. I know my ?athletes? have a gift, and it?s my job to direct and guide them to bring out the best of what they have inside.?
Last year, on a lengthy tour of summer music festivals, ism was voted ?Best Emerging Artist? by concertgoers at Milwaukee?s Summerfest. In the fall, the band, which appeared the previous year at European Music Day Festival in Athens, Greece, performed at the 2006 CMJ Marathon after breaking the CMJ Top 30 on radio and being spun on nearly 90 commercial stations in formats ranging from Top 40 to Active Rock, Alternative, Mainstream Rock, Triple A, AC and Hot AC.
Candidly elaborating on the immediate synergy he felt with lead singer/songwriter Andre Mistier and his crew and ism?s edgy, powerful sound, Blaney says, ?They have something that?s idiosyncratic, unique and special that I really want to help them bring out and further develop. Andre writes really good songs and has great self-expression. I?m always looking for indie artists who are not only talented, but also believable and have that extra something that will help them rise above the crowded fray. Ism?s definitely got it.?
?With ism,? Blaney adds, ?we?re working on Michael Higgins? drum beats and patterns, Leigh Battle?s unique bass effects and Gerard Toriello?s unique guitar ideas. With Andre?s lyrics and the songs, I am helping the band make them tighter and more concise for maximum emotional impact.?
# # #
Contact: Steve Levesque, James Levesque
Luck Media & Marketing, Inc. (310) 860-9170
info@luckmedia.com, www.luckmedia.com
JOE BLANEY
* * *
Platinum Selling Producer, Engineer And Mixer Adds
Hot NYC-Based Indie Rock Band ism To An All-Star Clientele List
That Includes The Clash, Keith Richards, The Ramones, Prince,
Soul Asylum And A Host Of Groundbreaking International Artists
World-renowned producer, engineer and mixer Joe Blaney boasts a 25 year resume loaded with critically acclaimed pop/rock superstars and popular international artists, but his true creative heart these days lies in helping upstart indie bands realize their potential and break through to a wider audience.
Launching his career 25 years ago with a mix of The Clash?s single ?Radio Clash,? Blaney was later hired to record their best selling double platinum album Combat Rock, which featured the eternally popular smash ?Rock The Casbah? and ?Should I Stay Or Should I Go.?
He then worked extensively as a mixer and engineer with Def Jam, recording and mixing tracks by Oran ?Juice? Jones as well as seminal rap hits for The Beastie Boys, Davy D, Alyson Williams, Run D.M.C. and Slick Rick. By the late 80s, he was legendary in pop mixing circles, working on tracks for everyone from Keith Richards and The Ramones to Blues Traveler, Guadalcanal Diary, Tom Waits and The Neville Brothers. During 1987-88, he recorded and mixed most of Prince?s Lovesexy album and later mixed others for The Black Album.
In the early 90s, Blaney shifted his focus towards producing, working with Soul Asylum (their pre-superstardom album Soul Asylum And The Horse They Rode In On), Jack Bruce, Bernie Worrell, Lucy Brown, The Beautiful and singer/comic Denis Leary (platinum selling album No Cure for Cancer). Before opening his own independent facility, Magnetic Studios (a.k.a. Joe Music) in 1998 in the heart of Greenwich Village, he also kept his mixing career thriving with tracks by Roseanne Cash, Shawn Colvin, The B-52?s and Joey Ramone.
In recent years, he?s balanced running the studio and producing other hot NYC-based indie acts like the Village Voice Award-winning White Magic, Night Kills The Day and Pure Horse Hair with his overwhelming overseas schedule producing hot international rock acts. He has worked with Japanese singer Tamio Okuda (from the early 90s band Unicorn), Argentina?s Charlie Garcia, Spain?s Los Rodriguez, Chile?s Los Tres and, most recently, the #1 Spanish band Fititaldis.
?My approach to making great records is a little different than most producers,? says Blaney. ?I listen carefully to what the artist is about, try to bring out their strengths and not to impose any specific vibe on them. You can listen to any three projects I make and find no similarity of production style, and that?s because it?s more important to help artists achieve the sound they are looking for. The records that stand out are the ones where the band has had a good relationship with the producer.
Blaney is currently gearing up to helm the long anticipated follow-up album to Monkey Underneath, the impressive STM Records debut by NYC-based indie band ism. The noteworthy strides ism made in 2006, in addition to what the producer calls incredible new material and a ?powerful, evolving synchronicity,? adds to his sense of optimism.
?I?m into making records that last forever, ones that make you want to listen over and over,? comments Blaney. ?I feel like a coach on a sports team. I know my ?athletes? have a gift, and it?s my job to direct and guide them to bring out the best of what they have inside.?
Last year, on a lengthy tour of summer music festivals, ism was voted ?Best Emerging Artist? by concertgoers at Milwaukee?s Summerfest. In the fall, the band, which appeared the previous year at European Music Day Festival in Athens, Greece, performed at the 2006 CMJ Marathon after breaking the CMJ Top 30 on radio and being spun on nearly 90 commercial stations in formats ranging from Top 40 to Active Rock, Alternative, Mainstream Rock, Triple A, AC and Hot AC.
Candidly elaborating on the immediate synergy he felt with lead singer/songwriter Andre Mistier and his crew and ism?s edgy, powerful sound, Blaney says, ?They have something that?s idiosyncratic, unique and special that I really want to help them bring out and further develop. Andre writes really good songs and has great self-expression. I?m always looking for indie artists who are not only talented, but also believable and have that extra something that will help them rise above the crowded fray. Ism?s definitely got it.?
?With ism,? Blaney adds, ?we?re working on Michael Higgins? drum beats and patterns, Leigh Battle?s unique bass effects and Gerard Toriello?s unique guitar ideas. With Andre?s lyrics and the songs, I am helping the band make them tighter and more concise for maximum emotional impact.?
# # #