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2011 was a big year at JNP. We worked with some regular clients and enjoyed recording and producing more new artists from all over.
In early 2012 we're looking forward to helping Biff Rockmore, Daisie May, Johnny Breen, Skye Germein, Michael McCarthy, Andrew Redford, Medollic, Tim Loydell and AKA release their music that was recorded with us recently.
Once again, our partnership with industry leaders in album artwork and merch Wealth and Hellbeing Creative has proved to be an extremely valuable link in the chain for the full range of services that JNP offers. Here are some recent examples of W&H's work:
We acquired a lot of new equipment to enhance our standing in the Australian music production scene. We've taken on a few custom mics and James has hand built a lot of new gear including some API and Neve preamps and revered 1176 compressors.
Our philosophy continues to be the same - good playing and good parts with great recording techniques is the best way to make great sounding records. It's all about the driver of the car!
Get in touch with JNP for 2012 and make sure your single/EP/album sounds fantastic!
Ireland's Brian Sexton was in the studio with me earlier in the year.
He traveled home for a few months to catch up with friends and family, and has returned to Australia. We recently sent his song "You've Got What You Need" over to Nashville for mastering.
Brian came to me wanting to do a single initially and brought his acoustic guitar in to start work on the tune. I ended up playing drums, bass and electric guitar on this one.
We tried to go for a nice warm sound and didn't want to lose the raw and natural tones of his acoustic playing.
This one has been dynamically mastered - so crank it up to get the full effect!
You've Got What You Need by Brian Sexton (Folk Rock) by JamesNorthProductions
This year I've had the pleasure of working with QLD based hip-hop act AKA for his debut album "Product of Australia".
AKA (Dave) writes some beats at home and has worked with producers in LA and in other parts of QLD prior to coming to JNP. He came to me wanting to improve the music he'd brought in, to have me write some music, as well as adding session playing (bass, guitar, keys, drums) to the equation to come up with a unique sound. I played bass, guitar and keys and we employed Steve Pope to play live drums on several tracks.
We're all really happy with the result and feel that his record represents something that is not being done in Australian hip-hop. True to the genre's roots, we've mixed in some funk and rock elements to create a hybrid of real and synthetic sounds.
AKA's "Product of Australia" will be out soon.
Here at JNP we're always looking to stay on top of the game as far as gear goes.
Over the last few months, James has hand-built a series of high end mic pres inspired by classic designs. This means that every single mic pre at JNP was hand-built by us.
As a result, we now own a bunch of Neve, API, Millennia, Hardy and THAT Corp inspired preamps. These hand-built preamps are at the top end of high end. They run on a 30V power supply (similar spec to SSL and Neve consoles) to drive the transformers. So far in testing, they yield amazing results on all aspects of the recording process.
Their sound is absolutely spectacular and we look forward to using them on your next release!
Late 2010 and early 2011 I worked with 2009 and 2010 Q Song Award winner and International Songwriting Contest finalist Andrew Reford.
We've just mastered the project with Matthew Gray Mastering here in Brisbane this week and we're looking forward to its release!
Andrew and I worked together on a 5 track EP. It's the second time we've worked together (we did a few singles last year) and I played some bass along with a few other instruments, Steve Pope played drums and Andrew played some guitar himself.
The result is a great blend of acoustic pop with a few rock elements. Andrew is a talented young songwriter who you will see going places in the near future with this EP.
2011 has been extremely busy for JNP and we're working very hard to make sure that we can offer all our clients the high level of service we're known for at the price point that we do.
We've got some exciting projects lined up for the rest of the year, so if you're interested in working with JNP, get in touch soon!
For the last 5 weeks or so, I've been working with SHEPPARD - songwriting partnership Amy and George Sheppard. They write tunes individually and together and they also collaborate with Sydney based Jay Bovino.
I've produced their debut album and pushed these young artists to get the best out of their songs and to make sure that they sound as good as they possibly can.
I worked with Steve Pope (Kate Miller-Heidke), Stu Barry (Katie Noonan et al), Danny T Levin (A Fine Frenzy, Brooke Fraser) for session work, as well as playing bass guitar, electric guitar and some organ myself. I also composed some string arrangements for the record.
As I always tell my clients, what is being played and who plays it has more of an influence than any one piece of gear, no matter how great it is ... so we pulled out all the stops.
These guys have recorded in Manilla, and also been to another well known studio in Brisbane and were not satisfied with either result - so we're setting the record straight this time!
There are some gems on this one - look out for "Flying Away" as a single in the coming months.
I shall post a sample when we have masters back!
Onward and upward.
It's not often I work with an artist who just wants to do a demo, but I had local acoustic act Amy Janson in recently at the studio to knock over some tunes to get her started for 2011. She'll be putting them on iTunes later this year.
I've got heaps of mixes to finish by some acts I worked with late last year - Matt Dawe, Dan Schaumann, Andrew Redford among others, but I managed to fit Amy in during a day when I was replacing a bunch of cables because we didn't need much to record her acoustic tunes!
Amy's got a great voice and we did 3 tunes in a day. I played some shaker and tambourine just to highlight the verse and chorus changes which made a big difference to the overall finished product.
In 2010 I had a few special offers on the go and Martin Party took one of those offers up.
The band offers up a mix of acoustic based tunes and pop/rock numbers all with an upbeat feel. They were missing a bass player when they came to see me and also needed a bit of help with regards to arrangement and production. They'd done a recording at a large studio here in Brisbane and of course, it wasn't up to scratch.
I'm really happy I got to work with the boys because they have a great attitude and really took everything in. I look forward to hearing more about their EP launch and providing more services down the track with them to assist in its release!
In November I hopped across the Tasman to play a few acoustic shows with Medollic and also be part of a panel at the UK music conference City Showcase.
I was part of the CD Dump Panel where I was asked to give feedback to local artists in Napier NZ on the recordings that they brought in. In my typical style, I was honest, to the point and able to give some constructive feedback to help improve their song craft and offer some advice for their careers. I made some great friends over there, particularly with the City Showcase crew and look forward to more interactions with them in the future - hopefully in the UK.
I also had a chat with Ninja Monkey, Talita Summer, Valve and a bunch of other local acts with regards to their work.
Thanks Napier!
It's been a busy few months at JNP!
In September, I mixed a few artists from the UK and USA and tracked an EP with Brisbane pop/rock act Martin Party. These guys have some great tunes, and a very good attitude towards their music and make it sound fantastic. The results we've achieved have been excellent - I'm sure you'll be hearing more from them in the future, and I hope to work with them again soon!
In October, JNP produced and recorded Sydney singer-songwriter Dan Schaumann's 13 track album. Steve Pope (Kate Miller-Heidke/Angus and Julia Stone/Transport) provided the drums and I played bass and keys. The same lineup got together in 2007 to record his debut EP which was featured on countless compilations and played in stores worldwide. Dan's done a really great job on his record and I'm looking forward to mixing this one - we pulled some really nice warm tones.
In November I'm working with Matt Dawe of The Empty Apology. Matt's a Brisbane based pop/rock writer who works with other musicians live to flesh out his tunes. This is his second EP with us and this one has a real direction and theme behind it, so we'll be pulling some fat sounds for this one.
I'm then heading over to NZ to play some acoustic shows at The City Showcase in Napier with Medollic.
In December I'm working with a very talented and young artist from the Sunshine Coast called Andrew Redford. He's won a number of QSong Awards and I'm really looking forward to pushing the boundaries with his brand of pop.
I've got a number of bookings locked in for early 2011, so if you're considering coming and getting the JNP treatment for your music, please get in touch as soon as you can!