2013 has started with a bang!  Some new gear and plenty of new acts that we’re excited about.  The studio has added a few more great pieces of hardware to the arsenal and have acquired a bunch more gear from SSL.

This year, we plan to continue to provide the finest music production and recording services available.

Artists

Late last year we knocked over some classic rock with the guys from Crashing Tomorrow, prog-rock with Liquid Gravity, finger-picking folk with Daniel Poloni and hip-hop with talented NZ MC Deadstar.  I wrote the music to his tune “It’s Deadstar” which is featured below.

In February we began work with the very talented Sarah Rae on her 13 track album.  Sarah’s style ranges from jazz to punk and we have had a ball working with her.  Some usual suspects were involved – Steve Pope drummed like the talented man that he is and I played some bass, guitar and piano.  For this project we also hooked up with one of the industry’s finest horn arrangers from the USA Danny T. Levin.  Danny has provided horns for Snoop Dogg, Regina Spektor, Vampire Weekend and a bunch of other great acts.  We’ve worked with him a few times and are stoked to have the opportunity to do it again.  He’s come with some really fantastic lines.  There will be samples of Sarah’s album on the website in the coming months.

Great friend of JNP TJ Quinton has had plenty of radioplay and glowing reviews of his album Sorry Business.  He will also be touring Australia in the coming months after spending the summer (winter) in the UK.

Get In Touch!

As usual we’ve got plenty happening over the next 6 months at the studio, so if you are interested in working together please get in touch very soon!

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We’re very excited here at JNP to be using the revolutionary Kemper Profiling Amplifier.   It’s an extremely powerful piece of equipment that can learn the nuances of any amp and bottle them.  Its accuracy is mind blowing and its flexibility is unheralded in the guitar amp world.

It’s not an amp modeler (which are very different with much less accurate tech) and it sounds incredible.  It doesn’t sound digital, it sounds real.

You can use it in the studio and in live situations to carry your custom rigs anywhere.

We’re using it on pretty much all projects that require electric guitar in some capacity, and it does everything from clean Fender tones, to JCM800′s all the way to huge Fortin metal tones.  Pretty much any amp!

It’s one of the most exciting pieces of gear we’ve ever had the pleasure of owning!

It’s also featured in our current video which covers its use across several genres:

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Acoustic based tunes, dark humour and life lessons come from Breslow’s debut EP.  We had a fantastic time making this one which features Steve Pope on the skins yet again.

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Liquid Gravity are a Brisbane based rock band of brothers.  A real pleasure to work with.

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Biff is soon to be back on the shelves with his second EP – “Mechaphilia”.

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Late in 2011 and early in 2012, I had the pleasure of working with T.J Quinton for his new album Sorry Business.  We spent quite a bit of time discussing concepts and continuity on the record, as it tells the story of a man and his journey after losing a loved one.  It is definitely the sort of record that you put on, and leave on.  The album showcases T.J’s guitar playing and lyric writing abilities.

I played some piano, drums and bass on this one  We used a lot of odd sounding stuff on the album – beater-hit floor toms, distorted pianos, hip hop beats, congas and rivet cymbals.  As a result, the soundscape and supporting story are heard as one.

It is a truly artful album.

Gearwise we used our great BLA inductor EQ to carve out some lo-fi piano, and on T.J’s voice for the whole record we used the always surprsing Shure SM7 mic.

T.J also made the great decision to use Wealth and Hellbeing Creative to create a stellar album cover design, and used our CD pressing service to get great rates on a high end product.

T.J played a few dates in NZ with Laydhawke and is back in town to launch his album.

I’ll be playing keyboards with T.J on Sunday 16th September at Black Bear Lodge (it takes a bit for me to play live these days) for his album launch.

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T.J. Quinton has completed his 2012 album Sorry Business.  It’s got a concept, story and vibe and we had a great time making it.

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The Queensland Music Awards (previously Q Song Awards) are nearing and JNP artist Andrew Redford is in the final round of voting for the People’s Choice award.  It’s for most popular male artist and he’s up against Pete Murray.  Vote for him here:

http://www.couriermail.com.au/extras/digital/qma/week3.html

Listen to his International Songwriting Finalist tune “The Duet Song” that we produced (Steve Pope on drums, myself on bass and string arrangements) here:

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We’ve produced EPs and albums with The Updraft Imperative, T.J. Quinton, Biff Rockmore and Dean Ganter; and tracks for Damien Olsen, Blaq Carrie, Jo-Anne Jackson and Michael McCarthy. That covers funk/rock, acoustic pop, rock/metal, roots, r&b, hip hop and pop/rock.  Whether it’s beat writing; guitars, keys, bass and drum sessions work or high-end mixes, it’s been a really fun year so far, with plenty of variety to come in the next few months!

It’s been great working with a bunch of people who appreciate the very high standard that JNP operates at, and who strive for the best possible result for their music.  The reward is the finest sound going around.

Steve Pope has been in the studio quite a bit doing a bunch of session drumming and it’s been a pleasure having him in as always.  This is despite the fact that I have a considerably better haircut.  Wealth and Hellbeing Creative has been at it yet again, creating some of this industry’s finest artwork and creative services.

If you’re interested in working with us, please get in contact or send through a quote request form.

Spaces are being booked for the rest of 2012 at the moment, and we’d love to hear what your musical goals are.

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The Updraft Imperative are a Brisbane based band with a message.  Their tunes range from country to groove based rock.

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