8 February 02

Happy Belated New Year, better late than never i guess... a quick recap to bring you up to date. Had a wonderful time through the holidays, relaxing and recording on my own for Mark Mangold and the new Drive, She Said CD (due out in March/April). Since everyone was away celebrating, I took advantage of the down time to dig further into pro tools and set myself up to track on my own at Skyline. With a 60 second preroll, it was... hit record, run to the kit, headphones on and wait for the click, play the track, headphones off, run to the control room, hit stop... it turned out to be great fun and I was able to give Mark 17 drum tracks for the holidays.

Guitarist Alan Friedman was in just after that for me to finish up another 5 songs to complete his long awaited debut "Friedman Comes Alone", which should be out in late spring/early summer. Other guest artists on the record are Wil Calhoun & Doug Wimbish (Living Color), Bernard Fowler (Rolling Stones) & Bobby Kimball (Toto) to name a few.

On another note... I was also reminded recently once again of why I chose for so long to remain independant and avoid permanantly joining a band. As much as I was so looking forward to the association with Happy The Man, after a few months of trying to get some work done, it was obvious that it wasn't going to be the situation I had hoped for. Aside from some musical/rhythmic differences with the other four drummers in the band (nudge nudge wink wink), it looked like it was going to take at least another year of rehearsals before the band would have been ready to start any recording... and unfortunately that just made it impossible for me to commit to a project with so much down time. We've left the door open though, so who knows what the possibilities are for something else to happen in the future.

 

14 February 02

Happy V.D.

Vocalist Matt Kramer, formerely of Saigon Kick, was at Skyline last week to start work on his first solo cd. Having been a big fan of the band, I was happy to be laying down the drum tracks for the project, as Matt and I have been talking about this for years. We worked up 13 songs, of which I not only played kit, but got the chance to stretch out on percussion too by adding some tablas, congas, hand bells, gong, finger cymbals, bells & shells, gong drum, shaker and tambourine.

Other activities at the studio recently were producer/engineer Warren Riker (Lauryn Hill/Michael Jackson/Destiny's Child) working on the debut cd for Down, featuring members of Pantera and Corrosion of Conformity, as well as producer/engineer Ron Allaire finishing up the last track on the long awaited Gaggle Of Cocks cd.

On another note... the long awaited compilation cds that I wanted to put together, are finally being processed. In short, having played on a variety of different sessions over the years that unfortunately have never seen the light of day, I thought it would be a cool idea to pick the best of the lot and put them together on cd and finally allow them to be heard. Some of the material will be from GTR, Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, Action, Amy Fairchild, Broken Poets, einstein, Bobby Bell, Marillion, The Fools, Julian, the long awaited Put Up Or Shut Up Sessions and a few others. Some of the material dating back to my first recording sessions as a teenager. Once compiled, there will be a breakdown and listing of the material on the Merchandise page which will include names, dates and other details about the sessions.

 

3 March 02

Engineer John O'Mahony was in the studio tracking drums and guitars for the debut cd of vocalist Erin Moran on the British label Setanta Records. Right after, working at Skyline was producer/engineer Stefen Heger with Superhypermost. On another note, all five volumes of the fundraising compilation, "Band Together - Artist Unite" are available through Mars Music for ONLY $10.00... (proceeds benefit the United Way/September 11 Fund)... included on every CD is the einstein track Ad Nauseam, and you can hear 8/4 by Shimmerhead on the North East Mid Atlantic regional.

For all of you art fans out there. If you happen to be in NYC some time between 17 March and 28 April, you can stop by Fuse Gallery to check out an exhibit from my favorite artist HR Giger.

For those of you not so familiar with Giger, you might know him from his designing the creature from the Alien films, as well as his work on the album covers for Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Brain Salad Surgery", Debbie Harry's " KooKoo" and Steve Stevens' "Atomic Playboys" to name a few. He also recently designed the biomechanoid microphone stand (above photo) for Korn lead singer Jonathan Davis.

9 April 02

Had the pleasure of tracking once again with singer/songwriter, Mark Cattano, Mark and I first worked together on the Heed project a few years back with producer Robert Kirk at Treehouse Studios. This time around for his new solo record entitled Prescribed Burn, it was Mark and myself laying down the rhythm tracks, later accompanied by Eric Czar (Joe Bonamasso) on bass and Henry Bogdan (Helmet/The Moonlighters) on lap steel. Mark should be back in Skyline to finish vocals and mix some time in May/June, with a release date scheduled for late summer/early fall.

and for you art lovers in Los Angeles... another great show worth checking out.

3 May 02

Skyline has been busy with lots of interesting and diverse projects. For myself, i was busy with laying down the rest of the percussion tracks for Mark Cattano and Matt Kramer's recordings. Aside from that, producer Kevin Bents was in with engineer Ron Allaire tracking horns for German megastar Marius-Muller Westernhagen. Our own Mauricio Cersosimo was engineering the tracking sessions for a NY project known as SP. Engineer Johnny Wydrycs in once again, this time to mix the first track of the newest recording from ex-Extreme vocalist, Gary Cherone. His new band, Tribe of Judah, features Gary on vocals, Leo Mallace on guitars, Pat Badger on bass and Mike Mangini on drums.

The studio has now been taken over once again with Steely Dan. Walter and Donald are back from their holiday break and are back to work on their new recording, this time with Skyline's very own T.J. Doherty at the controls, along with Mauricio Cersosimo assisting.

23 May 02

The big news... i took my first ever holiday!!! a week on a private beach estate in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico was more than what the doctor ordered. great golf, sun, beaches, diving and far too many mango margheritas... could be habit forming.

On the work front, aside from a session with engineer John O'Mahoney working with producer Roundtree, Skyline has been locked out with Steely Dan. Coming up in June we've got Matt Kramer back in to mix with engineer Ron Allaire, as well producer/engineer Steven Haigler (Fuel/Oleander/Pixies) coming in to track and mix New York's own Error Type 11.

04 July 02

June was a busy one... just getting around to finally catching up on the news front. Recorded jingles for Pepsi, Kodak and Folgers Coffee. As well as laying down tracks for a new project called Ripe. Also had a great night playing with Porn Reign (formerly known as Shimmerhead) down in the East Village at Arlene Grocery, with another gig coming up on the 16th at Brownies. The production team of Leo & Steve (Tribe Of Judah) were back in Skyline working on mixes for Chris Emerson (Monomoy Records) with Ron Allaire engineering. Matt Kramer has now taken over the studio to finish his debut solo record, with Matt, Ron Allaire and myself mixing.

18 August 02

Hudson Music and Steve Smith were in a couple of weeks ago to finish shooting for Steve's new instructional DVD. As usual, Steve was amazing and full of surprises, just wait til you see the hi hat solo!!! Steely Dan was backin to work right after Steve and continues to work on their new one. We also had a nice surprise visit from Simon Phillips, who stopped by to see the studio and have a go on my 26" kick, while in town for a show with Toto. Simon and the band were absolutely spectacular, as always, and topped it off with an appearance by special guest, Larry Carlton. Also, in the studio was Brett Scallions of Fuel, working on and recording some new material for their next CD. Brett took care of the vocals and instrumentation, with Mauricio Cersosimo engineering and myself laying down the drums.

15 September 02

Steely Dan is still in Skyline working away on their new one. In and around their schedule, i've had the opportunity to lay down tracks and work with a variety of artists such as Shari Pine, Mark Cattano, Richard Pierce and Putney Swope. Had a great time once again playing with guitarist extraordinaire Al Pitrlli, recording a few jingles for Fozzoli's Italian Restaurant at David Horowitz Music here in NYC. Off to Florida in a couple of weeks to play a live record release party with Matt Kramer in Ft. Lauderdale, 27 September at The Factory. This weekend in the studio was Karma Cycle with producer C.T., Ron Allaire engineering and Mauricio Cersosimo assisting.

25 September 02

Updating from Florida, rehearsing for the Matt Kramer Record Release Party at The Factory this friday. With Matt on vocals, Jimmy Griffin (King Of The Hill) and Dave Scott (Tuff Luck) on guitars, Fernando Perdomo on bass and me on the kit, the band is smoking and I'm really looking forward to the gig with hopes that it'll go out on the road for a few weeks later this year. Anyone interested in checking out Matt's debut CD War and Peas, can get it via his website at www.mattkramer.com.

Now that Steely is taking a month off, we've got lots of modifications and additions at Skyline. The console has been completely upgraded now to a Neve VR60 Mussgrave model and sounds better than ever. Our microphone selection also now includes a bunch of new pieces, most notably, the addition of 2 vintage Neumann U47 FETs (from the original RCA Studios), along with some new outboard and Bryston amps to drive the Augspergers. And... just in time to welcome producer Butch Walker this week working with Arista artist Avril Levigne.

24 October 02

Had a fantastic gig and evening last night at The Bottom Line as the house drummer for the Rory Gallagher Tribute Concert, which featured a variety of wonderful artists such as Seamus Kelleher, Pierce Turner, Larry Kirwin, Sean Fleming, Justin Jordan, Matt O'Ree, Chris Ebneth, Monty Monaghan, Pat McGuire and Brian Moran... Being such an influence to not only the guitarists of the world, but especially to his Irish brothers, it was an idea that Seamus had been working on since Rory's death back in 95. He and Larry finally took action a few months back and with the help of The Bottom Line, along with the cast of players, the show was put together with a few rehearsals over the past few weeks and kicked ass to a sold out audience. My thanks to Seamus and Justin for inviting me in...

On the Skyline front... Myself (producing and guest drummer on one track) and Ron Allaire spent the last week working with a great new band from Philly called Brothers From Another. Check them out at www.brothersfromanother.com and see why these guys are not your ordinary alternative band from the neighborhood. Donald Fagan is back in this week working on some vocals and horns for the new Steely Dan recording and next week we've got bassist/vocalist Clint Bahr (Flash) and his progressive solo outfit Tripod recording their new cd with producer Ray Bennett and Ron Allaire engineering.

12 December 02

Boy how time flies when you're working...! First up at Skyline, along with Ron Allaire by my side, was producing the demos for a new band from Allentown, PA. called System Failure. Next in line was a great experience working for Sony Music, producing a song/demo for Celine Dion. It was a cover of the Waterboys single, "The Whole Of The Moon." I programmed and played all the instruments, with Ron at the board assisting and engineering. Arista/Dreamworks artist True Life was in mixing a few tracks for his debut CD with producer Just and engineer Johnny Wydrycs. Just after that producer C.T. was back in with his project Karma Cycle tracking a few new tunes for their debut CD.

This past week was set aside for mixing the long awaited Alan Friedman CD that i played on some time ago. I did three different sessions, recording a total of nine songs for the CD, using three entirely different drum kits. Three songs done on my Tama Artstar II's, three songs on my Pearl pancake kit and three more done on the new Pearl Solid Mahogany Masters with the 26" kick. Needless to say, that 26" kick is still kicking my ass and blowing my mind!!! The CD sounds fantastic and has quite an array of players on it including, Bobby Kimball (Toto) on vocals, Bernard Flowler (Rolling Stones) on vocals, Vince D'cola and Mark Zampino on keys, Doug Wimbish (Living Color) and ....... on bass, Jen on percussion and Wil Calhoun (Living Color), Rob Gottfried (Rob The Drummer) and myself on drums.