DRUM! Magazine’s July 2013 issue features session drummer Dylan Wissing of Indie Studio Drummer in the “Single Strokes” column. Wissing discusses the challenges of building a studio that was hit by two hurricanes in a row, as well as his work with Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Drake and others. The full article is available here:
It’s been hard to keep up with website updates, with all the stuff that’s been going on around here. We’ve been tracking drums like mad fiends (even had the Rolling Stones’ horn section in recently for a session), finished building the new studio after the damage from last year’s hurricane, and spent a couple weeks dodging Hurricane Sandy. Here are some of the highlights:
Our resident session drummer Dylan Wissing is playing on the title track and lead single of Alicia Keys‘ latest release “Girl on Fire” with Nicki Minaj.The recording took place in June at Alicia’s personal Manhattan studio (and that’s a pretty sweet place…). The great Ken Lewis was engineering, with Indie Studio Drummer’s Matt Teitelman assisting on the drum teching. As of this writing the album is #1 on iTunes, and the single is on radio charts all around the world. Check out the video:
Another recent session was for Fabolous and his track “SoNY,” adding old school funk fills. More work with Ken Lewis (Matt T. assisting), for Hip Hop producer extraordinaire Just Blaze. Fairly high-pressure session, as I was on the road with Blues/Soul singer Kirsten Thien when the call came in. It was a mad dash to get back to the studio from the final show in Maine, and a sprint to get the kit miced, the parts learned, and the tracks sent to Ken. Fabolou’s song was on the radio about three days after our parts were sent. Check out the video, with some powerful footage from Hurricane Sandy:
On a completely different side, recently tracked the song “Wouldn’t Be a Merry Christmas” with Grammy-winning producer Steve Addabbo (Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega) for artist Elizabeth Chan. Elizabeth is featured on Morgan Spurlock’s show Failure Club. Her debut EP “Naughty & Nice” hit #4 on iTunes Holiday Music chart, with the single in iTunes Top 25.
Indie studio Drummer’s Dylan Wissing has been on tour for several weeks this year with Blues/Soul sensation Kirsten Thien. In May, Kirsten and the band (an amazing group of musicians and people, with David Patterson on guitar, and Erik Boyd and Johnny Pisano sharing the bass chair) travelled across the US to Washington State. The band travelled to Europe in October for an amazing sixteen days of shows. Here’s live footage from a date opening for the great Dickey Betts.
After Hurricane Irene destroyed our former studio last year, we’ve spent a good part of the year building our fabulous new Triple Colossal Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey. Happy to report that, once the water receded and power came back on, our families, homes, studio and vehicles were all completely unscathed by this year’s Hurricane Sandy! Sad to say that the same can’t be said of a good deal of our beautiful little town – thousands here (and all over the region) lost everything. Please help support Rebuild Hoboken to bring this town back to life.
It’s been a great year so far (with a couple weeks of hurricane madness) at Indie Studio Drummer, with more amazing and inspiring projects coming up.
Working once again with studio wizard Ken Lewis and hip hop mega-producer Just Blaze, recording an intense sample recreation for rapper Rick Ross‘ upcoming 2011 release “God Forgives, I Don’t” (Def Jam). Can’t give away the song we’re recreating, but it’s by one of the most famous songwriters in history, and the track is apparently a single. More news as we have it…
More work with mega-Platinum producer Just Blaze and mega-Grammy-winning engineer Ken Lewis: a sample recreation on rapper/actor Saigon‘s track “The Invitation (feat. Q-Tip & Fatman Scoop)” from his latest album The Greatest Story Never Told on Suburban Noize Records!
The job on the Indie Studio Drummer end was to exactly recreate the original sample underlying the tune, a funky and obscure old soul track with lots of cymbals and percussion. Hard work, and extremely meticulous, but damn fun. I listened to A Tribe Called Quest‘s brilliant record The Low End Theory about a zillion times in my youth, so it’s a personal thrill to play on a track with Q-Tip, too!
Recently cut drums and percussion for the theme song to BET’s “Master of the Mix,” featuring the one and only producer Just Blaze (Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, a zillion others). The track called for funky 70s drumming (my favorite, I must confess), including a Curtis Mayfield “Pusherman”-type percussion vibe – very fun to do, as the soundtrack to “Superfly” is a personal favorite. Plus, I got to actually track a set of Roto-Toms – when’s the last time anyone’s done that?!
[audio:masterofthemix.mp3] “Master of the Mix” Theme Song – Just Blaze
As an aside, when I first moved to NYC from Indiana (my home state) several years ago, I was doing construction work on the side while I established a recording and performing career in the greatest city in the world (OK, maybe I’m biased).
Anyhow, one of my construction jobs was in Just Blaze’s studio, retrofitting some equipment racks and various other audio-related construction tasks. Just was an incredibly cool guy to work for, and very down-to-earth even though he was wearing a million-dollar watch (the thing was pretty ridiculous, more diamonds than I’ve even seen in one place at one time). I had to work in the middle of the night, and hustle because Ol’ Dirty Bastard was coming in the next morning and power saws just wouldn’t be cool while ODB was tracking.
So, one of my first professional credits beyond touring and recording for thirteen years with Johnny Socko (my first band out of college) was that I could legitimately claim I had cut four tracks for producer Just Blaze!
Of course, the tracks held audio gear, and I cut them with a hacksaw, but as Just himself told me when I brought it up, “no one can take that away from me.”
Very happy to be recording actual drums this time, though – that construction work made my lower back very unhappy!