In today’s age of social networking we to have added the studio to these sites.  With regular updates and studio images.   You can see more of who we are on both Myspace & Facebook, type in Fastback Studios and become our friend.

  After topping the CMJ weekly electronica charts in the fall of 2008, and being deemed by XLR8R Magazine as the #7 Top Release for September 2008, local Seattle dance quartet, Wunderbugg, has entered Fastback Studios to record their second album “Transgradulate,” which is scheduled to hit nationally in the summer of 2009.

  Doing their work independently and with guerrilla strength, Wunderbugg is starting to dominate the underground Seattle scene by headlining at venues like El Corazon and the Showbox Sodo Lounge, while making waves across the country through articles in Remix, Progression, and Slug Magazine (amongst many others). The four piece, live improv, dj-style electronica band brings punch, spice, and symphonic spacey vibes to influences such as The Chemical Brothers, Paul Oakenfold, Thievery Corporation, and Portishead.

Here are some random photo’s of P4Square FBS recording session. I would like to say that this was a very talented young band. The age of this band was 15 to 21 years old. The 15 year old drummer played to a click, very impressive!

Our remodeled control room, 19×18 ICON D-Command in the engineering desk

Some of our Outboard Gear… Our gear dates back to the mid 1940’s to the present.

Live Room: 33×22x12.. We also have 3 Isolation booths.

Live Room: some of our amps, Hammond B-3.  Great room to record everything.

Andy Werth new release was record here at Fastback Studios co-produced & engineered by Jason Lackie, mixed by Tom Hall. Andy CD Release party is Friday April 3rd at the High Dive with special guest: Black Swedes, The Kindness Kind & The Dimes.

Here is a press quote anout Andy’s music.  “. . .Good-time pop that never fails to take my mind off the cares of the world. Andy’s got a great band. . .The group’s songs would fit with Wings-era McCartney or Supertramp, but have a depth that recalls great songwriters like Cole Porter and the Gershwins. Andy has confident but vulnerable vocals. . .and no one can deny the hooks. There’s not a bad song in the bunch.
- Abe Beeson, KEXP

10 reasons why not to spend time or money at a home recording studio… These are not reason I made up but a compilation of artist who told their stories of home recording studios in the Northwest.  When recording something as important as your art, you want to hand that to the public with no apologizes but excitement.

1). Cost, often it cost more to go to a home studio because in the end commercial studios clean up what went wrong at a home studio.  Such as editing, mixing, phase issues, over compressed, bass build up, no stereo field.

2). Quality of recording, harder to hear, bad mix, low volume.

3). Low ceilings, drums and piano never sound good. 7 to 8ft ceilings are a drum set’s enemy.

4). Small rooms, guitar and vocal tones are muffled or lost.

5). Hours of operation, bands have to work around the engineer’s 40 hour a week other job or family schedule (since the the studio is in the house) 

6). Low selection or quality of gear and microphones.

7). bands can’t record live / together.

8). Mixing the songs, room acoustics or speaker placement is not correct so the final mix is stacked all together and the music has no stereo fields.

9). takes twice as long to record than expected, because some “engineer” is recording part time.

10).  In the end the band is often embarrassed to release the music to friends, fans, radio or promoters because they thought they could save a dollar and go to a home studio. Time, energy and resources lost. 

A majority of artist / bands are often use to the stage set-up mentality.  Fifteen minutes set-up with a five minute soundcheck. That is all well and good when you are playing with three other bands and using Shure SM 57 and 58 microphones for your live sound.  

Since it’s a performance on the bands part, it’s about being entertaining and if they can hear themselves, often that is a bonus.

Now when coming into the studio leave that stage mentality at the door.  Once you are at a studio it is all about production.  A three minute songs does not mean it takes five minutes to record.  When entering the studio you should understand it takes time to set-up, tune drums, find great tones, record, edit & mix.  most commercial studios will often use 24-36 tracks per song, and that takes time.  

The number one question I get is “how long does it take to record a song”  and the answer is:….. It 100% depends on how prepared the band is to record.  It’s all about practice, and knowing your material.  The commercial studio is always prepared, we do this daily everyday, not part time after an eight hour day at another job or just on the weekends.

One of the great things about the studio is because you are so focused on putting out a great product, your music will naturally sound better on stage because of production.

One of Seattle’s best bands Look Closer recorded their latest release at Fastback and will have their CD Release Party, March 21st at the Showbox.  If you are looking for a great rock show this is one not to miss.

FBS would like to congratulate Polly O’Keary & the Rhythm Method for being nominated, 2009 Best Blues Recording from the Washington Blues Society. The album “Who Needs the Blues” was recorded at FBS and this will be our 2^nd nomination from the WBS for recorded works.