Back in 2007 I reached out to Chris Stamey about mixing my band’s newest album. He’d worked with some of the artists we loved (Mayflies USA, Whiskeytown) and we wanted to see what he could do for us. He arranged to have Al Perkins play pedal steel on a few songs, got the album into great shape, and we went on to sign with a couple of small record labels and have some decent success licensing a few songs for television.
Twangville recently reached out to Chris to do our interview series and his answers are below. After reading, be sure to check out Chris’ latest solo release Anything Is Possible.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Notable Artists: Whiskeytown (Ryan Adams), Chatham County Line, Caitlin Cary, Le Tigre, Flat Duo Jets, Alejandro Escovedo, Tres Chicas, Thad Cockrell, Roman Candle, Tift Merritt, Sally Spring, Tokyo Rosenthal, American Aquarium, Skylar Gudasz, Jon Shain, Peter Holsapple, the dB’s, Freedy Johnson, Mayflies USA, Megafaun, the Rosebuds, Branford Marsalis, the Parson Redheads, Marshall Crenshaw, and the Salt Collective
Background: Modern Recording started in a century-old house on the edges of Chapel Hill, NC, about a mile from where I was born, and I made a lot of records there in the 90s and aughts, with Whiskeytown (Ryan Adams), Chatham County Line, Caitlin Cary, Le Tigre, Flat Duo Jets, Alejandro Escovedo, Tres Chicas, Thad Cockrell, Roman Candle, Tift Merritt.
It was a time when recording in casual environments, in old houses and unusual spaces, was in vogue. And it was very comfortable. But eventually, around 2006, I got tired of the lack of sonic precision inherent in mixing in a living room, however much treatment was on the walls.
My wife and I now live in that old house, and the studio is in a purpose-built structure, created by studio design savant Wes Lachot. It’s located at the back of our property, at the edge of a woods. The control room is very very accurate, with big soffit-mounted monitors as well as nearfield speakers, and I do as much mixing now as anything. I have recorded full bands in it but it’s best for overdubbing, singing, and mixing, so I often go to nearby big spaces to do initial tracking, especially if I’m producing. There have been so many folks through the current space, hard to keep track! A few are Sally Spring, Tokyo Rosenthal, American Aquarium, Skylar Gudasz, Jon Shain, Peter Holsapple, the dB’s, Freedy Johnson, Mayflies USA, Megafaun, the Rosebuds, Branford Marsalis, the Parson Redheads, Marshall Crenshaw, and the Salt Collective (with Aimee Mann, Jason Falkner, Matthew Caws, Mitch Easter, lots more folks)
How did you start the studio or what led you to start the studio?
I had worked with producer Scott Litt (R.E.M., Indigo Girls, Nirvana, many more) off and on for decades, in NYC and LA, and it was really at his suggestion and with his help that I started it, after having relocated back here, to my hometown, in 1993. He probably had more faith in me than I had in myself at that point!, although I’d already been producing (Pylon, Yo La Tengo, etc) in NYC for a decade then.
How do you go about finding new gear for the studio and what’s your favorite toy?
As far as “new gear,” I like old gear! I have a Neve Melbourn board from the late 60s, some Neve 1073s as well, Gates and Urei and DBX compressors, Roland Space Echo, 50s Fender amps, Farfisa, Acetone, Wurlitzer keys, ancient guitars of all stripes . . . A lot of it has to do with smell, I like the way dust burning off the gear excites the brain.
But I have to admit that I started with Pro Tools when it was still “Sound Tools,” in I think 1994, and do so much “in the box” these days. It’s my instrument, as much as a guitar or piano, it falls under my fingers easily. As far as “new gear,” I’m liking the Karzog transformer emulation and the “stems remixer” “Peter Jackson” software, especially for mixing live multitrack recordings.
Name 1 or 2 favorite/most meaningful sessions/albums from the studio.
I really enjoyed everything I did with Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown in the early days. He was so young and so on fire to make good music and to evolve musically. I tend to like people who are slightly obsessed, I guess, who are “on a mission.” Ryan always walked in to a session with an attitude of “Let’s do something really good together.” It’s that feeling of “I’m in a studio, this is where the magic happens” that is important to remember, because a lot of the time it’s actually a bit like drudgery. So there has to be that shining light on the hill that maybe this will be “my best yet,” let’s go for it.
And I loved working on A Man Under the Influence with Alejandro Escovedo. The initial sessions, with his great touring band, were a total blast, they really listened hard, and we just kept going. And he had great confidence in me, which I really appreciated, we shared a vision. Finishing it took a while, he was always saying this or that could be better. Frankly, he was more engaged in the long haul on the record than even I was, at a certain point, it took about a year as I recall? of intermittent changes that actually made it better and better. I really value his commitment to excellence, and it’s a record that in my view has stood the test of time.
It’s always great when I get to do anything with Mitch Easter (Let’s Active, R.E.M. coproducer, many more). He lives about an hour away, but we still overlap just as we did in high school, and he always adds something wonderful to my projects. He’s been an inspiration of mine for approximately forever.
Also, they are not Americana (but are very American), but Le Tigre (and the other things I did with leader Kathleen Hanna) were always inspirational. And I learned a lot, it was great to get out of my usual methods and learn what they were about. She has great instincts and she trusts her instincts, to boot, she was not plagued by self-doubt (in a very good way). I think the two full albums I did with Le Tigre are still faves of mine (and of a lot of folks).
Name 1 or 2 most surprising moments in the studio.
It’s actually no longer a surprise, it happens so often: you get a few good musicians in a room together, get the headphones more or less right and the chord charts in place, and music walks into the room. It’s like a seance, the Ouija board marker moves itself. This is still a thrill and an amazement. And in the age of remote recording, when I send out tracks for overdubbing by the likes of the Lemon Twigs, Probyn Gregory and get back the most marvelous clouds of sound, or when Branford Marsalis shows up and in 15 minutes blows my mind playing on a song he’s never heard before, that has to qualify.
I will say that it’s not that unusual for singers to shed garments as a vocal session progresses, but sometimes a head’s up for the producer would be good. I can’t name names, though.
Hmm, soloing a drum room mic and saying “it sounds broken, sounds like it’s ‘got a bag over it’ ” and then going out in the room and finding out that yes someone had literally put a bag over it.
What’s the best/worst part of running a studio?
Getting a song or a mix to where it sounds like what the artist heard in their head when they first dreamed of the song is very gratifying.
I’d say working too long and too late at night with very tired people who have had a lot of pizza is not my favorite. Shorter sessions with surgical strikes while the iron is hot is the way to go but is of course at odds with deadlines and touring.
What was the first session done at the studio?
When it was for a short time located in downtown Chapel Hill, I think it was Ryan Adams and Phil Wandscher? Or Glory Fountain? One of the first, in any case.
Is there a non-musical aspect of the studio that you are proud of?
I have very good double windows with lots of sun (but no sound leakage). It helps to avoid the spelunking aspect, days in the studio without the sun puts the body out of circadian rhythm, with all kinds of resultant bad effects.
How would you describe the vibe in your studio? How do you maintain it?
I try to keep the energy up and keep the emphasis on creativity and thinking outside the box, when possible. Sometimes my pretty good Pro Tools chops mean that I can suggest an edit or a change to the room and at the very same time I’m talking, I’m actually clicking the mouse and doing it or mocking it up on the screen and we hear it and say yea or nay right then. It’s a bit of parlour magic that is in contrast to the old analog situation where everyone talks about an idea for 30 minutes without being able to hear it. And I try to also “read the room” and realize when it’s not happening and we need a break.
I also really like recording singers, because I know how totally weird it is to be in a booth singing with headphones, it’s like deep-sea diving, and I’ve been there myself. And I like the kind of mind meld that can happen between producer and singer, in this situation, which can sometimes have great results. I do the left-brain thing of making notes on every line on every take (in the old-school way, on a spreadsheet grid) but am also trying my best to listen “with my right brain” to the emotion and overall delivery. And to say the minimal thing, or say nothing, knowing how vulnerable and exposed they may feel in the booth. There’s usually a bell curve of getting better then worse, but there can be magic on that first take as well.
But these days more and more I’m mixing the most. It just now also has a forensics aspect, with all the laptop bedroom recording that’s out there. I’m not saying that great stuff can’t happen on a laptop in a bedroom! Just it’s good to keep the mics away from a wall AC unit or a noisy fridge.
About the author: Producer, Engineer, Musician and all around music enthusiast.