by Christine Natanael
LINKS:
nettmanagement.com
Many times during the course of reading a review
of an album or an interview with a band, you’ll read the name of
some guy who’s credited as being the producer of the record. Now,
if you’re not a musician who can afford these dudes, they’re
little more than just names that get in the way of your reading. You end
up becoming familiar with their names after seeing them attached to so
many different projects, but ultimately still know very little about them.
Ultimately, I realized that today’s fans are tomorrow’s musicians,
and that I’m probably not the only one who’s interested in
finding out more about these mysterious people. Here’s my first
in a series on producers in an attempt to give more info on what these
people do.
Howard Benson is a name you’ve seen attached to many different types
of groups over the years, from the recent Papa Roach, Hazen Street, and
My Chemical Romance albums to classics like L.A. Guns, Bang Tango, and
TSOL. I did this interview last year right around the same time I did
the Hazen Street and Rag Men interviews…my apologies for being so
late in getting this up…(things have been a bit fucked over here
lately….but I digress…). So in an effort to shed some light
on who Howard Benson is and how he got to do what he does…read on….
HOWARD BENSON: That’s probably true.
CN: How did you get started? Were you a musician, or were you always a studio guy?
HB: I actually went to college. My degree is in aerospace engineering.
CN: Get out!
HB: From Drexel University, which is one of the best engineering schools in the country.
CN: Really?
HB: Yeah. I was like, a math guy and everything, but I was always in a band. My little something-to-do was always to play in a band. I was a keyboard player. I started going to school for engineering, but I decided that I really did like music. So I took a year off and went to music school. I got a background in theory and composition and all that. Then I went back to Drexel, finished the degree, and came out to California. I got a job as an engineer with an air research corporation for like, four years, plus I was in a band playing in Hollywood—a really bad band, actually.
CN: When was this? What year was this?
HB: I don’t know what year it was. Maybe ’83 or ’84, something like that. It was horrible. The only people that came to our shows were friends of ours that were Beverly Hills kids. We had a rich manager that owned The Beverly Hills Hotel. I mean, it was so misguided. But I was able to get some time in the studio. And I realized: here I am struggling to make ends meet, spending all my money on the music business, and I quit my job as an engineer. I realized that the producer had the best gig in the whole studio. He was the guy making money, enjoying himself, turning the knobs, writing songs, being creative, and he didn’t have to travel all over.
CN: Yeah, and he’s getting a percentage of the gross, he’s got points on the record. It’s a good gig.
HB: It’s a great gig, and I said, ‘You know what? I want to be that guy.’ I didn’t really realize what a producer did. But you can be musical, and you can also get involved in all the engineering aspects, all the technical stuff. The musical stuff is so easy compared to what I was doing in engineering.
CN: Right.
HB: That was sort of second nature. I got into doing demos for local bands and all that. And I finally got a break when I produced the TSOL record.
CN: Which is one of my favorite bands.
CN: Was that in ’85?
HB: ’88.
CN: ’88. So that was a little after I met them in ’85.
HB: Yeah, I did the one with Joe Wood in the band. I didn’t produce Jack Grisham. I was sort of in the tail end of TSOL. But weirdly enough, the record I did which was called Hit And Run – I did two records with them, Revenge and Hit And Run – but Hit And Run was their biggest selling album. We actually got on the radio, with a song called “The Name Is Love.” Back in the day, I forget what that station was from Long Beach… it got on KNAC and it got on KLOS. And it started to sell records. And all of a sudden I was like, 'Well, wait a minute, this is doing pretty well.' I mean, in the early stages of your producer career you’re taking whatever you can take. So I was producing incredibly eclectic stuff. I went from TSOL to making a completely live jazz album. You know, I was doing whatever it took. I kept doing demos and I finally got my first really big record which was a band called Bang Tango.
CN: I remember them. I have some pictures of them on my site right now. Some classics from ’90.
HB: That’s right. That was one of my first big breaks. Now, of course, from them on...you just crawl and scrap your way to stay in the business until your resume gets good and you start picking the right bands to produce. I’m a very lucky person. I consider myself blessed to be able to do this job, and make a living doing it. It’s a great job.
CN: Yeah. I studied audio engineering, briefly.
HB: It’s funny. I mean, when you first get into it… I actually read a very funny comment in Mix magazine by Steven McCroy, I think his name is. He writes one of those offbeat columns. I was reading it this week, and it was so funny because it reminded me of what it was like when I was kid. Back then, all I was concerned with was how to get the best, you know, kick drum sound. I spent days on it; days on the best guitar sound, days on the best bass sound. I mean, so much time spent on that stuff, and the pressure of not changing the arrangement and making it… I remember when I used to go into the studios with my artists and making the arrangements longer, bigger, and make them a more a part, you know? Just because that was what I wanted to do and that was purity and all that. And now, I realize so much that what my job really is, is to be able to take an artist, and really bring it down to its simplest mix, you know? I spend most of my time, really, on the songs and the vocals. That’s really where I spend 99% of my time.
CN: Condensing and editing, the same thing I do as an editor.
HB: And that’s really what it’s about, you know? I mean, I have a great team of individuals that work for me. I have a great engineer, a great Pro Tools guy, and people in the studio. I’ve got maybe, like five to eight people that work on these projects with me. They take care of a lot of stuff that would be, you know, really distracting to me right now.
CN: Like the micing and all that, right?
HB: I’ve been there, done that. I have one of the best engineers in town right now. And we’ve really worked together for a long time. So we all know what’s going on and we’re very in tune to the same… well, nothing really gets by at all. The main focus for me, you know, is on the songs, and the lyrics and the vocals. I don’t let anybody in the studio when I’m doing vocals. I do them myself. No one’s allowed in. That’s like, to me, where I really get the impact of the record across. That’s something that I didn’t really pay attention to early on. I was like, 'Oh, I’ve got to get this great guitar sound, that’s important.' It is important, but what’s really important is the singing, the performance of the singer.
CN: The attack, the presentation, because the singer is the focal point?
HB: The way it sort of works (and I always tell this to a lot of bands, and of course it bursts a big bubble) is that most listeners don’t spend time sitting in a studio between two speakers at a 60 degree angle at 78 db.
CN: Right.
HB: They just don’t, you know? Most people listen to music in the background, or in a car, while they’re talking, or with the windows are open. Or they’re hearing it from afar, or in a stadium, or whatever, and that’s not stereo, you know? No one’s even hearing the guitars or the drums there. They’re just hearing the singing. So it’s up to the producer to make sure that the big picture is taken into account. That’s something that can easily get lost in the studio. It’s so much fun to make records, you know? There’s so many buttons and switches and knobs and amps and guitars, you know? The gear is unbelievable.
CN: Toys! That’s what I call toys...
HB: Yeah. And I respect, and I actually believe… it’s funny, I heard some record company people say ‘The days of recording in mix studios are gonna be over, because of this-and-that, and because of the business.' I’m like, ‘No they’re not!’ They’re never gonna be over because bands, when they grow up, and they sign a record deal, what they really want from that record deal is the chance to go into a studio for two months with someone like me or Rick Rubin, or Don Gilmour or someone like that, and make a record. They want to have all that stuff, and they want to be able to really do that. I mean, that’s a dream. I remember when I was a kid, that was all that I would think about. ‘I want to make a record. I want to go in the studio. I want to make a record in a big studio.’ So, artists will always drive that part of the process. It’s never gonna go away. So, you know, it’s our job in the studio to create that environment, for everybody to have a great time and to make that a memorable occasion. On the other hand, it’s my job to make sure that the forest doesn’t get lost for the trees. As much as you have a good time pushing all these buttons, you still need to have… you’ve got to remember why we’re there. Someone invested a lot of money.
CN: Sure, and the producer is usually the guiding influence, you know? Maybe a band is as talented as all-get-out but if they don’t know how to make it concise and direct and focused, it’s just a mess when you record it.
HB: And it’s becoming easier now, because bands really do have a sense of that kind of stuff now. It used to be that you had to talk bands into doing stuff like that. Nowadays, you really don’t have to say to bands, ‘Oh, you’ve got to do this arrangement or that arrangement.’ They’ve usually pretty much figured it out ahead of time. The challenge, I’m finding, is the opposite. It’s trying to make this stuff interesting and not to stick to the same basic formula all the time. So, you’re trying to stop songs from being blocky, like verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus. That formula has been around for a long time. I’m trying to stay there, but not stay there, you know? To pull a few fast ones on the listener. By the time the first chorus has finished, they’ve heard the entire song and there’s no reason to listen to it anymore. So you’ve got to draw them through the song.
CN: Well, also, do you find the same being with tone, intonation, key? Some people get stuck writing in the same key, with the same patterns, the same vocal inflections.
HB: I really don’t think that’s as big of a deal. A lot of times a singer will write in a key that they feel comfortable singing in, you know? If that’s a key that they feel comfortable singing in, then I’m not going to change it on them. The worst part is not the key, but the actual chords. I don’t find it that much anymore, but I’ve never run across a band whose written the same three chords over and over again. I’ve never run across that. But I do come across bands who tune in E Flat, so basically every song starts in E Flat. The first chord is E Flat, and that’s it, all the way through. You know, then again, you’re dealing with issues with the guitar player. If you change the tune of the song, you have to detune everything, and then you come to the issues of tuning. You think it sounds a bit too dark, maybe the singer’s not singing high enough when he sounds aggressive, and that kind of stuff. It’s more the songwriting. I find that I really don’t like bands that just have the same rhythm parts. That’s why it’s really hard to produce pop-punk bands. I’ve passed on a bunch of those bands because, like, what do you do with them? They just have the same drum beat all the way through the song, the same four chords all the way through the song, they’re singing about how hard it is to get out of bed in the morning.
CN: It’s also hard to tell them apart now because their songs sound so much the same. Sometimes I can’t tell the different bands apart when I hear them on MTV or whatever.
HB: Yeah. I think our business is suffering from a really huge problem now. I don’t know how it happened (well, actually, I think I sorta know how) but rap artists have become the rock stars. There aren’t any rock stars left in our business. I can’t think of any. I can’t think of anybody like Kurt Cobain, people like that who really command a huge part of the arena, you know? It’s just not out there. I can’t think of any of them. I think that part of it is that newer artists… and I’ve spoken to a lot of the younger artists that I produce. I ask them that question. I’m like, “Why don’t you feel that you can be up there and just be, like, holier than everybody, and be a total rock star.” And, apparently, their feeling is that their fans just wouldn’t put up with it. To be a band like Thrice now, you almost have to stoop to the level of your fans and stay at that point where you constantly communicate with them, so they feel like they’re part of your world, as opposed to being separate from your world. Like Marilyn Manson, artists like that, they were always removed from their fans. They were mysterious, there was a mystique around them. And I don’t think you see that that much anymore. I think out there somewhere – it could have been the Darkness, I don’t know, I don’t think it’s that band – but there are artists out there like that. Somewhere there’s some kid in a garage and he’s just going to come out and just be a massive star. You know, I hope. I’m waiting for that.
CN: Yeah, there’s some interesting things going on. There’s a lot of things going on in the hardcore world right now.
HB: There are. One of those artists… I mean, we’ve actually been looking - I work at Elektra as well as you probably know - and we’ve looked at bands like Shadows Fall, Motograter, bands like that. The interesting thing is, like I was saying to my engineer… I think what’s going to save our business… I was watching MTV2 and I saw a lot of ads for hardcore bands, like Shadows Fall and all those bands. I bet you a million bucks that what’s going to save our business is a hardcore band.
CN: ‘The Year of Hardcore.’
HB: I think that is where you will see the reinvention of the record business, where it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re dealing with a 'Korn' issue. The great thing about Korn is that, when it came out, radio was never going to play that.
CN: I didn’t care about them with they first came out, when their label first started pitching them to me.
HB: The first Korn record I heard was in ’94. That was the first record that came out that Ross Robinson produced.
CN: I remember seeing them open for Forbidden somewhere out in Long Island very early on.
HB: Oh really? They were sort of something else. Weren’t they a hair band at that point?
CN: Yeah, they were something different, all right.
HB: The weird thing is that, when I first heard that record I couldn’t even listen to it. I was just like, 'Ugh, what is this?' They were tuned to, like, Q. But in some ways, that was a good reaction to have. 'Okay, this is something different.' In the studio, we’re trying to make things different. We really do stretch out and try as hard as we can to come up with different things in there. So it’s not like we’re not trying to do that. You know, I’m hired by a major label to make radio stuff. That’s part of the deal, and this is like a horse race. Everybody thinks they can pick the winning horse. But when their horse doesn’t come in, they’re always saying, 'Oh I would’nt have picked that song…' But it’s easy to pick the other song…
CN: In retrospect, yeah.
HB: I always go, 'Hey, if you tell me the one they want ahead of time, great.' But this business is full of people picking the losing horses. Come on it’s easy to do that. But, go in there, pick a single, and work it. Half the battle here is not the song, but the amount of time you need to really work it, and the tours you get, and the opportunities you get.
CN: They’ve cut down the time frame on a lot of that.
HB: They’re cutting it down a lot.
CN: I used to be able to have access to artists while they were still in the studio, before they did mixing and hear some roughs; especially if they were friends. Now, I’m really cut out of the loop on a lot of that because the record company wants to have such total control over everything now.
HB: Yeah. I have a huge record coming out today (remember I did this interview last year--ed.) with P.O.D., and half the writers haven’t even heard it yet.
CN: No, I haven’t gotten it yet, either.
HB: The security was so tight on that record, that I didn’t make any rough mixes from that album except for mp3’s that went straight onto iPod’s right from the studio. We didn’t have one leak from that record, and a lot of it was because of me. I was brutal in the studio about that stuff. I would not let one rough mix be made. If they were made, they were deleted immediately. So it was very much a situation where they were not gonna let that happen. And the labels are really, really, really crazy. I think it kind of sucks, to be honest with you. The press is really important.
CN: I get a lot of CD’s that are watermarked. They tell me not to play them in my computer, stuff like that. My computer has better digital sound than my stereo, you know, so that cuts down on the dynamic response I hear? And If I want to assign it to a writer – because it’s assigned to me – I actually have to call the publicist and say, 'Look, I assigned it to this writer, can you send them a disc?' It’s just such a pain.
HB: It’s nobody’s fault, you know what I mean? It is what it is. It’s kind of like we’re really slaves to this technology that we have to deal with. The people that get hurt by the whole thing is mostly the artists. They get hurt because if the record leaks out they lose a ton of money. They get hurt because if they don’t get it reviewed, they lose a ton of publicity. I don’t even know what the solution is. We’ve had writers coming down to the studio and playing stuff all the time, but how many writers can you have?
CN: Yeah, that’s true. Sometimes you can just invite, like, six or seven of them for one day. And have them all there at one time, like a little powwow.
HB: We did that with the R&R convention. Actually, it worked out really well. We had a couple hundred people down to listen to the rough mixes of the P.O.D. record.
CN: That works well because it also makes journalists feel important because they got invited to the studio before the label puts it out. It’s kind of an ego stroke to them, too. I know how it works. Unfortunately, I’m a dot-com. So I don’t get things until a day before, or a week before they’re released. Once I get my financing and go back into print, I’ll get the two, three month advances. They really hold it tight as far as online stuff because a lot of them are just kids that have fansites. So, I can dig that. But it’s a little hard for me to function sometimes. That’s why some of my reviews are a little old when I get them up. I look at the stuff on the desk and I’m like, 'Oh my God, this Headbanger’s Ball thing.' They just sent it to me today but it came out in the beginning of the month, last month, and I’m already late on it. And I’ve got, maybe, eighty of them in front of that one to be reviewed.
HB: Is that what you mostly do on your website, review stuff?
CN: Yeah, and I do features. I have news. I have a Pollstar search engine. I have a section to download photos from my archives, from when I was a journalist in the 80’s, when I worked at Gibson, when I worked at Limelight.
HB: Have I ever met you or something?
CN: I don’t know if we’ve ever met or not. We might have. I didn’t get out to the west coast very much.
HB: Who were you working for back then?
CN: I did Rock Scene, Metal Mania, Powerline, Reflex, Metal Hammer Germany.
HB: So you did, like, features for them?
CN: Yeah. And then I went to work for Gibson, doing endorsements. I did endorsements for Nirvana, Biohazard, White Zombie, and Hootie and the Blowfish among others.
HB: Why did you leave that job?
CN: Well it was a part time gig. They don’t really hire people full time--at least not the consultants that they get to sign most of the endorsees.. It’s like a stipend thing. I was only doing that because I had a young child, and I couldn’t really tour around and go out to shows every night, and do what I needed to do. Now that he’s a bit older I can do it. It’s a good thing.
HB: Your business certainly has changed in that time.
CN: Oh, you don’t even know how badly it’s changed. A lot of the people that work at the labels didn’t know who I was because I hadn’t written in years. When I started the site it had been maybe ten years since I had been a feature writer, at the top of my game. So I’d call people and ask for things and they’re like, ‘Oh you’re a dot-com. We don’t send you things.’ And then I’d have to call their boss and go down to the office and blow them a new butthole. I hate having to do that. A lot of people are happy that I’m back, so that’s good. I’m happy to be back, and I’m happy to help out my friends.
HB: Well the
weird thing is – it has to do with the dot-com thing – we
had one of our artists come in and he was asking about all the reviews
from dot-coms and how we’re servicing them. And we didn’t
have an answer for him. They don’t have that part of it together
at all. There’s all these places to go online where you find out
where all the coolest new bands are, et cetera. And our publicity department
really doesn’t deal with that. They deal with mostly the big huge
things. I think that we, at least at the labels, have to be dedicated
to all that.
Here's a listing of some of Howard's credits:
Various Artists;
Halo 2, Vol. 2; Producer
Various Artists; The Passion of the Christ: Original Songs Inspired
by the Film; Producer
Papa Roach; Getting Away With Murder; Keyboards, Programming,
Producer
Papa Roach; Getting Away With Murder (Clean); Keyboards, Programming,
Producer
Head Automatica; Decadence; Producer, Mixing
Skindred; Babylon; Keyboards, Producer
Hazen Street; Hazen Street; Keyboards, Producer, Mixing
Various Artists; Spider-Man 2 (Original Soundtrack); Producer
My Chemical Romance; Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge; Organ (Hammond),
Producer
Various Artists; Galerians: Rion; Producer
Blindside; About a Burning Fire; Producer, A&R, Musician,
Vox Continental, Organ
Hoobastank; The Reason; Producer
Santana; Shaman (Bonus Track); Producer
P.O.D.; Will You; Producer
P.O.D.; Payable on Death (W/Sony Playstation CD); Producer
Various Artists; MTV2 Headbangers Ball; Producer
Mark Ronson; Here Comes the Fuzz (Clean); Vocal Producer
Mark Ronson; Here Comes the Fuzz; Vocal Producer
Adema; Unstable (Clean); Producer
Adema; Unstable; Producer
Various Artists; Freddy vs. Jason (Original Soundtrack); Producer,
Mixing
Various Artists; Freddy vs. Jason (Clean) (Original Soundtrack);Producer,
Mixing
Year Of The Rabbit; Year of the Rabbit; A&R
AM Radio; Radioactive;Keyboards, Producer, A&R
Various Artists; Hollywood Hairspray, Vol. 2; Producer
Pretty Boy Floyd; Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz (Bonus Tracks);
Keyboards, Mixing
Depswa; Two Angels and a Dream; Producer
Various Artists; The Real Cancun; Producer
Various Artists; Matrix Reloaded: The Album (Clean); Producer
Cold; Year of the Spider (Clean); Keyboards, Programming, Producer,
Soloist, Piano
Cold; Year of the Spider; Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Soloist,
Piano
Cold; Year of the Spider (Bonus DVD); Keyboards, Programming,
Producer, Soloist, Piano
Various Artists; Matrix Reloaded: The Album; Producer
Skindred; Babylon (2003); Keyboards, Producer
Systematic; Pleasure to Burn (Clean); Producer, Mixing, A&R
Systematic; Pleasure to Burn; Producer, Mixing, A&R
Veggie Tales; Veggie Tales: O Veggie, Where Art Thou?; Executive
Producer
Cold; Stupid Girl; Producer
Various Artists; Biker Boyz; Producer
P.O.D.; Sleeping Awake (US CD); Producer
Year Of The Rabbit; Rabbit Hole; A&R
Crazy Town; Darkhorse; Keyboards, Producer
Crazy Town; Darkhorse (Clean); Keyboards, Producer
Various Artists; Totally Hits 2002: More Platinum Hits; Producer
P.O.D.; Satellite (CD Single); Producer
P.O.D.; Satellite (Limited Edition With DVD); Keyboards, Producer,
Loops
Blindside; Silence; Keyboards, Producer, A&R
The Buzzhorn; Disconnected; Keyboards, Producer
The Crystal Method; Community Service; Producer
Various Artists; Totally Hits 2002; Producer
Various Artists; WW: Tough Enough, Vol. 2 (Clean); Keyboards
Pretty Boy Floyd; The Vault; Producer
Various Artists; WW: Tough Enough, Vol. 2; Keyboards
Various Artists; The Scorpion King (Soundtrack); Producer
Switched; Subject to Change; Producer
Reveille; Bleed the Sky (Bonus Track); Keyboards, Programming,
Producer
Reveille; Bleed the Sky (Clean) (Bonus Track); Keyboards, Programming,
Producer
P.O.D.; Satellite (Japan Bonus Tracks); Keyboards, Producer,
Loops
Reveille; Inside Out (Can You Feel Me Now); Producer
Blindside; Sleepwalking; Producer, A&R
AM Radio; Taken for a Ride; Producer
Various Artists; MTV: TRL Christmas; Producer
Bionic Jive; Armageddon Through Your Speakers; Keyboards, Producer
Reveille; Bleed the Sky (Clean); Keyboards, Programming, Producer
Reveille; Bleed the Sky; Keyboards, Programming, Producer
P.O.D.; Satellite; Keyboards, Producer, Loops
Zebrahead; Stupid Fat Americans; Producer, Digital Editing, Mixing
Various Artists; Faust; Producer
Nullset; Nullset; Producer, Mixing
Lucky Boys Confusion; Throwing the Game; Producer
Dislocated Styles; Pin the Tail on the Honkey; Producer, Mixing
Various Artists; Extreme Days; Producer
Various Artists; MTV The Return of the Rock, Vol. 2 (Clean);
Producer
Various Artists; MTV: The Return of the Rock, Vol. 2; Producer
Far Too Jones; Shame and Her Sister; Keyboards, Producer
Various Artists; Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows (Soundtrack);
Producer
Various Artists; Download 2000; Producer
Zebrahead; Playmate of the Year; Keyboards, Programming, Producer
Various Artists; MTV The Return of the Rock; Producer
P.O.D.; The Fundamental Elements of Southtown (Import Bonus Tracks);
Keyboards, Producer, Mixing
Pax217; Twoseventeen; Producer
Phoenix Down; Under a Wild Sky; Engineer, Mixing
Various Artists; Ready to Rumble (Clean); Producer
Various Artists; Ready to Rumble; Producer
Stir; Holy Dogs; Keyboards, Noise, Producer
Various Artists; Any Given Sunday; Producer
Various Artists; Drive Me Crazy; Producer
The Pilfers; Chawalaleng; Production Assistant
P.O.D.; The Fundamental Elements of Southtown; Keyboards, Producer,
Mixing
Various Artists; Never Give In: A Tribute to Bad Brains; Producer,
Mixing
Pretty Boy Floyd; Porn Stars; Producer
Sepultura; Tribus; Producer, Mixing
The Ernies; Meson Ray; Producer, Digital Editing, Mixing
Various Artists; Idle Hands; Producer
Buck-O-Nine; Libido; Producer
Zebrahead; Deck the Halls (I Hate Christmas); Producer, Digital
Editing, Mixing
Zebrahead; The Real Me; Producer
Kottonmouth Kings; Bump; Producer
Zebrahead; Waste of Mind; Producer
Sepultura; Against; Producer, Mixing
Less Than Jake; Hello Rockview; Keyboards, Producer, Editing
Various Artists; Explore; Producer
Buck-O-Nine; Pass the Dutchie (EP); Producer, Mixing
Motörhead; Snake Bite Love; Producer, Digital Editing
Various Artists; Scream 2; Producer
Cellophane; Cellophane; Producer, Digital Editing, Mixing
Various Artists; Power Chords, Vol. 3; Producer
Body Count; Violent Demise: Last Days; Producer, Digital Editing,
Mixing
Motörhead; Overnight Sensation; Producer
Kilgore Smudge; Blue Collar Solitude; Producer
Motörhead; Sacrifice; Producer, Mixing
Various Artists; Melrose Place: The Music; Producer
Cadillac Tramps; It's Allright; Producer, Digital Editing
Various Artists; Airheads; Producer, Mixing
Bang Tango; Love After Death; Producer, Mixing
Motörhead; Bastards; Producer, Mixing
Little Caesar; Influence; Producer
Southgang; Group Therapy; Producer
Sweet F.A.; Temptation; Keyboards, Producer, Mixing
Southgang; Tainted Angel; Producer
Sanctuary; Into the Mirror Black; Arranger, Producer, Mixing
Slammin' Watusis; Kings of Noise; Arranger, Producer, Mastering
Sweet F.A.; Stick to Your Guns; Keyboards, Producer
Bang Tango; Psycho Cafe; Arranger, Producer
Various Artists; The Karate Kid, Pt. 3; Producer
L.A. Guns; L.A. Guns; String Arrangements
Greg & Bev Smith; No Baggage; Keyboards, Programming, Producer
Tom Toth; Long Distance Calling; Producer, Synthesizer
T.S.O.L.; Hit and Run; Keyboards, Producer, Mixing
T.S.O.L.; Revenge; Producer, Mixing
Matthew Sweet; Inside; Keyboards, Programming, Sequencing
Masi; Downtown Dreamers; Arranger, Keyboards, Producer
Various Artists; Nintendo: White Knuckle Scorin'; Producer