I can’t help but feel excited about the prospects of the coming year as I look back on 2012. The experiences of the past 12 months have been uniquely challenging and emotionally fulfilling at every turn.
I want to thank everyone who has shared in the memories and helped push me to be the best record producer I can be. Here’s a few of the many highlights from 2012.
In my first full year at WAX LTD. working with veteran record producers Wally Gagel and Xandy Barry I’ve graciously soaked up as much knowledge as I could take in.
Tinsel Korey, known to many as Emily in the Twilght franchise, wrote and recorded her Seize The Day EP from early January to mid-March. As Tinsel states in her EP booklet, this project was truly a “labor of love”. Since releasing her EP in August, Tinsel has toured with Country artist Crystal Shawanda, been on the final “Twilight Tour” and her and I even performed together for Clevver TV.
The other artist I started the year writing with and producing is my dear friend Diana Meyer. Diana and I began writing with no real plans for an album back in January. After a few months of dabbling with some new ideas, we finally started to hit our stride. Over the next few months from the end of spring to the beginning of fall, Diana and I wrote and recorded five songs which we couldn’t be more proud of. Mixed by Seth Von Paulus and mastered by Joe Bozzi at the world renowned Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, Diana’s EP was officially completed in late November. Back in October, Diana decided to test out her new material at the Malibu Inn opening for Samantha Ronson and the songs were extremely well received. Look for Diana’s EP to be released in early 2013. WATCH DIANA MEYER
In March, I began to working with Dani Ivory, an extraordinary keyboardist and vocalist who was just diving into the world of songwriting and recording. Previously, she has toured with Cee Lo Green as his touring keyboardist and backup vocalist. Watching Dani grow in 2012 has been nothing short of amazing. Dani’s songwriting and production chops seem to have grown exponentially, while she continues to make huge strides touring with Asian sensation 2NE1 and beginning in 2013, Beyonce. LISTEN TO DANI IVORY
Elize came to America from her native Holland back in 2010. As a well known pop star back home, Elize decided to take a huge a leap of faith and show the world what she was capable of on the biggest stage of all. In the past three months, Elize and I have written three new songs which we could be more more proud of moving into the new year. WATCH ELIZE
There have been several other remarkable artists I’ve worked with this year including Nathan Beale, Jesse Stern, Maura Murphy, Haley D, Jeff Zacharski, Anahita Skye, The Unknown, and Colorblind.
At WAX LTD, I’ve been honored and privileged to engineer and assist on projects for some unreal talent.
Early in 2012, a new artist by the name of Irina began working at WAX. Incredibly enough, since Irina began working at WAX in December 2011, she has already had her track, “Something About You”, crack Billboard’s Top 40 in the Dance category.
As the summer was winding down, Modern Heavy Rocker’s Rev Theory came into WAX to write and record an EP for Killer Tracks Records. This was a several week grind and these talented guys absolutely threw it down. I had an awesome experience engineering all of the vocals from Rich and Matt, and even joining in with some gang vocals. Their EP was just released this month and sounds big and bad ass!
Engineering for Indie Rock Band The Kin from Australia was some of the most fun I had all year. This three piece consists of two brothers sharing lead vocals and percussionist/drummer Shakerleg. Their debut album will come out sometime in early 2013 with Interscope.
Some of the other unbelievable artists I’ve been humbled to engineer or assist for in 2012 include Bon Iver, Blondfire, Hunter Hunted, We Are Augustines, Zella Day, Redlight King, Belinda Kazanci of Echocell, Alex Band, Johnzo West and Bird, Kaela Gardner, Cillie Barnes, and Rob Simonsen.
In 2012, music from myself and a few of my favorite writing partners like Lauren Pardini (The Deadly Serious) and Arlene Matza-Jackson could have been heard on shows like Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Hollywood Heights and Bad Girl’s Club. I also was lucky enough to work on a one of a kind, joint venture by Cirque Du Soleil and Google called “Movi Kanti Revo” with one of my closest friends, Jeffrey Michael.
Thank you again to everyone who has supported and believed in me through all of the ups and downs of the past year and beyond…I don’t know where I’d be without you.
Happy New Year to all!
