What led a man in his forties to fill several bags full of equipment and hit the road? Especially given that you have a son, own a studio and were enjoying a busy stateside recording career!
Part of it is Los Angeles. After working there for 13 years, I found myself recording bands that were selling out local venues — the darlings of the city. Not that I questioned the art that they made, but after the fact I questioned what they were really making music for. I saw a lot of bands making music for a scene, or a style. There's a certain time period where you start to burn out in this business. These people are in China, and they can't leave the country. Who are you making music for? It's got to be for yourself.
How did China become a focus for you?
I had gone to Steve Albini's wedding in Honolulu, and I found out that there was a hardcore punk scene in Honolulu's Chinatown. Once you're stuck on an island, it's kind of the same thinking. They only made music for one block in Hawaii, on Hotel Street. All these punk and weird bands made music there. I started to record them. One of the band guys told me that he'd gone to China and had seen these crazy bands. I went on the Internet, about seven months before I actually went to China, and I started becoming almost obsessed with finding these bands. Eventually I found a blogger and a booker. As I found a few bands that were worth thinking about recording, I thought more about the logistics of going there. It didn't make any sense. I don't make enough money to disband my own studio. We had this prototype microphone made by sE Electronics, and I knew it was made in China. sE turned out to be this modern company, with Rupert Neve [Tape Op #26/79] even designing microphones for them. I sent them an email and said, "My name's Manny. I wanna go to China. Can you help me out?" The next day, the owner, James Ishmaev-Young, called me from Europe and said, "Hey, if you can land in Shanghai, that's where our factory is. We'll hook you up with microphones if you want to record Chinese artists."
That's pretty sweet.
So right then, before I even got one band to agree, I literally had a choice of two of the best mics, the Voodoo VR2s and the T2 [titanium multi-pattern large diaphragm condensers]. The T2 are like bulletproof [AKG] 414s. That was the point where I went down and got my visa. "I'm going to China!" I had one band in Hong Kong lined up. What I didn't know is that China's pretty big. Hong Kong isn't even technically considered China. When I looked at a map, I was like, "Oh, look! That's close by!" Taipei is technically part of China in some ways, but it's not. I had no idea. I found some more bands, and I found a group in Shanghai to record. I landed in Taipei because I thought there were some sick bands there, but they were all on tour. In the process of leaving Taipei to go into China I lost about a thousand dollars in gear because they wouldn't let me take that gear into China. I'm thinking, "This is going to suck." I didn't speak any Chinese, and I couldn't understand anything. That was my first moment of, "What the hell am I doing?" I realized that it was the discipline. It was like telling myself, "Okay, you're going to eat it. You're going to work a lot of hours. You're going to haul your own gear, and you have no one else to help you put up your mics." I felt like I needed to learn, once again, how to make records and how to enjoy them.
What was the impetus for the bands to work with you?
Out of all the bands I contacted, none had the money to record in a studio. There wasn't one studio I found that was very affordable. It was about $700 to $1,000 [USD] a day in the studios across all of China, and for that you'd get a few pieces of Avalon gear and maybe a Mackie board. I'd also heard from sE Electronics that in Shanghai there are literally 40 or 50 prestigious studios, but they'd only handle commercial business — they're not really open to artists.
What was the important thing for you about recording all these artists?
In China, the window for a majority of bands is during college. A lot of the bands happen during those four years. I wanted to record these bands before they graduated, moved on, and started working for these big companies. That's what happens. In the United States people are like, "I'm gonna work at a coffee shop for seven years and be in a band." You can do that here. You can't do that in China.
Email dated Aug. 4, 2011: I have been recording the hardcore scene in Honolulu's Chinatown for the last two years, and because of being in the Pacific I started to hear rumbles of some of the most amazing new bands on earth, from Taipei [Taiwan] all the way down to Jakarta [Indonesia]. I'm in contact with over 30 amazing bands, and plan to leave the States in October or November. I'm on a mission to record some of the world's newest and most open-minded artists. I'm not a rich man; it's a struggle keeping my studio booked even when I'm here in L.A. How will I adapt to not using studios, but rather rough lofts, houses, warehouses, and rehearsal rooms? Mics and good gear are pretty much not available to some of these poor, amazing artists. A few bands are coming together to help me with flights once there, but the task of saving on my end has begun. There is no glory in the unknown unless you try and take that leap of faith — three months of my life I will dedicate to recording the unrecorded.
Email dated Sep. 24, 2011: James Ishmaev-Young has made sE Electronics my official world-class mic upgrade in China, as well as the surrounding countries. He emailed today offering a great selection of microphones to me when I arrive in Shanghai. I also wrote PreSonus and Brad Zell to ask what gear I would need as far as preamps and headphone boxes. I'm amazed at how these companies still keep their ears to the ground.
Email dated Oct. 10, 2011: I have my rig ready to go. MacBook Pro, Digi 003, PreSonus FireStudio, Behringer 8-channel headphone rack, five pairs of headphones, nine mic stands, [Shure] SM7B, SM58s, SM57s, [AKG] D 112, and soon all the sE mics they will give me in Shanghai.
Email dated Nov. 1, 2011: Never in my life would I have thought my first record in China would be hundreds of feet below Shanghai in bomb shelter bunkers from the Cold War era. We took a taxi to an open parking lot with a stairwell that literally came up through the earth. I was casually told that it's a small rehearsal space. They were slightly embarrassed and worried about my thoughts as a Westerner. The only scary part was that they're built out of asbestos. Every session is a rush to set up from scratch so that the artists can utilize their valuable rehearsal time. The band is amazing.
I met up with sE Electronics, and I have to say I'm very impressed with their design team. I was given a tour of the factory, which is located far out on the outskirts of Shanghai. The co-owner, Siwei Zou, sent his personal car and had me driven there. Siwei was impressed I was taking on such a very unique task. He is classically trained, but understands the new era of artists looking to push the limits of modern music.
When I entered China I had to throw my mic stands and a few preamps away so the airline would let me in. It sucked, but traveling should be less stressful with a smaller load.
Email dated Nov. 5, 2011: I was thrown to the recording wolves. We headed on a one-hour subway and taxi adventure that took us to a huge wall with one opening, into what I can only say is a run-down village. Shanghai is one of China's most modern cities, but the band was very happy to record in a place they had practiced for years. Huge centipedes crawled over my gear and between my feet all throughout the day. As I hit record, after a one hour set up, Pro Tools froze! The hard drive I was using said it needed to be defragged. About four hours later we were recording and cut an eight-song EP. I do have to admit the sound in this room was better than the bomb shelter under Shanghai. The overhead sE ribbon sounded amazing in this small room packed with five people. A crowd of local musicians gathered outside while we recorded. All I know is that 12 hours later I was a walking zombie as we headed on the dark creepy path back to my hotel.
My main concern here in China is my health. I can't afford to get sick one day, considering my schedule. I need to make sure I stay alert and hydrated constantly. I have also started push-ups and sit-ups, considering the 150 lbs gear I carry. A bad back and tired limbs will not make the cut on this three-month mission. Two weeks in and I'm already beat down. Thirteen years as a recording engineering have been put to the test tenfold, and I'm just barely getting started here. We are force fed that better studios and better gear is the only way to record records, but I welcome this change of being stripped down to the essentials: artist, mic, and a format to capture sound. Music is made everywhere on this earth. I'm honored to experience it again and feel those emotions, like the first time I plugged a mic in. What I will bring home to my studio in Los Angeles is the experience of how little it really takes to make a great record and a work of art.
Email dated Nov. 6, 2011: I'm out of my mind being here. Some of the coolest sessions are still ahead in Beijing, as well as Hong Kong sessions. After Hong Kong I'll travel to Singapore and will be living with an artist and his family for three weeks, making his band's full- length at their house! Today I recorded bass guitar in the bomb shelter for five hours. Breathing down there sucks; after two hours you just start coughing like a smoker. It's 11 p.m. now. I have to edit drums on 14 songs and set up a Telecaster that's out of whack!
Email dated Nov. 7, 2011: I'm almost finished with my first two LPs. Vocals tomorrow at a record store that's also in a bomb shelter. Just got word from Beijing and all looks good with both bands. I purchased a one-way flight here, so my sessions pay for every city I go to. It broke me pretty much between my visa, rent, and flights here. I'm here, and I'm committed to helping these bands. In return they have all gone well beyond being great hosts and have covered the cost of my rooms.
Email dated Nov. 20, 2011: I made it through China on my first wave! I'm back in Beijing for Christmas, through New Year's Eve. I have been on the move nonstop — I have blisters on my feet and worn out shoulders that have carried hundreds of pounds of recording gear through three countries. Shanghai has the best balance of new and exciting artists, but Beijing is my type of playground. Fucked up, weird, and experimental artists make up most of the bands. The actual city is dark and very cold. I was down to $75 dollars when I left Shanghai. Gear has failed on almost every session, and mic cables keep going bad. Traveling is banging up everything, including my body. After all those wicked freezing nights in Beijing, I'm actually on the 32nd floor of a luxury apartment in Hong Kong. The artist had a friend selling this place and they got me keys! I'm recording here for a week then I take a boat across the bay for the last session before Singapore.
Email dated Jan. 3, 2012: I landed in Beijing on Dec. 22nd and pretty much walked out of the airport and into some of Beijing's coolest band sessions and live shows. D22, their premier indie club, was closing its doors after seven years and all of the bands I wished I could have seen were playing [the final show]! Art has no borders or time zones!
Singapore turned out so fucking great! I made the band take me to an after hours bar called "Cold Beer." It was the only place in all of the three weeks where no hookers bothered me. Seriously! The band would talk up this bar or club, and as we walked in they would say, "Yeah man, these are all locals." As soon as I stepped up to the bar every girl in there smiled at me. I could not even enjoy a beer without hearing that "she is on vacation, but unemployed and working to make extra cash. Wink, wink." This band in Singapore is called Cheating Sons and is like Roy Orbison meets Jackson Browne, with lap steel and Nashville tunings. I was told I would be living with them and their family and recording in their basement. The most shocking part of all my adventures is rolling into a country or city and blindly being picked up and driven to an unknown place. We rolled up to a four-story condo beach house with a glass elevator in the middle! The swimming pool stretched from the front gate all along the house. And, of course, a bomb shelter basement... Guess where I slept and recorded! I always thought how cool it would be to live and record in a house with the band. TRAPPED LIKE A RAT is a better way to put it. I came out one time per day; if I was lucky maybe I got offered some ice-cold beer at night. Freedom to just walk out and take a stroll was all gone. I went crazy. I had to ask the band to give me a gate key and cut the hours just a bit. I did make the calendar, so only I was to blame. The guys were awesome and I was fed some of the best Indian food and local Singaporean delights. After the first two weeks I decided I would return in order to finish all the vocals and mix, so we just took our time — quality overshadowing quantity.
Email dated Jan. 3, 2012: Doom is my only way to express my lovely day here in Beijing. On my way to the session I stepped in fresh steaming baby poo. They don't believe in diapers, so the parents race them to a trashcan and... you get the picture.
When I arrived in China I assumed most of my gear was compatible with 220 volts, but I could not risk blowing up my BAE 1073 DMP mic pre. I bought a 15 lb convertor (one more heavy fucker to carry) and used it. Today I fucked up and, without thinking, — six countries later — I plugged it into a 220-volt power strip. UP IN SMOKE. I'm shattered, knowing I must carry it the rest of the trip and see if I can get it repaired here, in China, or Hong Kong.
I was contacted by another band deep in the center of China somewhere up in this mountain range. There are four bands there excited to work with me, so I'm debating on delaying my trip home once again. I feel I need to record them. I miss home, but I did dream of this and, for the most part, it's come true.
Email dated Jan. 6, 2012: Chen Xi from the band Snapline helped me find me a great tech that repairs everything. Atom, the sickest drummer in Beijing, drove me to get the DMP fixed. In a few hours I was walking into another full LP session! I could not find out how you could switch this unit between 110 and 220 volts. The tech popped open a small groove where the socket is; there's a board that you flip upside down and then it reads 220. Amazingly a small fuse blew, and with a flip I was back in biz! A dear friend gave me an ART Tube MP preamp — those $99 dollar specials — as a going away gift. It's one of the best floor tom mic pres I have ever used — deep and rich sounding. Today's session was at a great studio. There was a live venue attached; it hands down had the coolest staff of engineers and producers. API preamps and [Neumann M] 149s made my day.
One more band emailed me today asking if I could stay longer. Flights and hotels are almost impossible to book in all the big cities during Chinese New Year. I have a better chance to find a room in Shanghai, but this LP is for a super-cool label and I'm pretty sure it's gonna happen. This will delay my getting home early, but even worse is that it pushes my Hong Kong sessions into February. I miss taco trucks and sushi in Little Tokyo in downtown L.A. right now. The hotel staff here has finally gotten used to me leaving looking like I'm ready to climb a mountain, and they stopped calling me asking if I was checking out! If I stay in Beijing it will be 30-plus days in one hotel. I was paid today, so I have enough funds to survive. It's below zero now — I left a bottle of water in the car and it was frozen after the session. Beijing McDonalds' breakfast is a hot dog and a cup of joe.
I wish I was Chinese, so what I'm doing here could be cooler. One of their own brothers should be championing all these great artists. I have been told I look like a happy Buddha though, so maybe I still have a chance.
Email dated Jan. 7, 2012: I've been away so long; I think all my friends have forgotten about me over here. I have been schooled, over and over, recording bands without the comforts of my own super sweet recording studio. But I'm now a better engineer, and my techniques for mic placement are off the charts. Every day I'm tested, as these artists have the same worries and concerns when starting a record. Bands just want you to record them, even being ill or torn up! They bring me food and water — keeping me looking at that computer screen at all costs! "Just one more vocal and two backups. It's gonna be real quick, I promise..." Never has that been real quick.
Scary thinking that few have dared this, and there're still plenty of unknowns up ahead. China has changed my life for the better in so many ways, personally and spiritually. I did break down a few weeks ago and almost came home. I stuck it out, flying into Beijing, pumped and thrilled to start some of the coolest records in this "quest for microphone knowledge." Most people here will never be permitted to leave the country. Seeing it in their faces is probably the most painful part of this trip. I hope when all these records are mixed and mastered that their songs will reach across those borders and let the world know that China is fucking badass.
Email dated Jan. 7, 2012: I have not really spoken about the communication issues. Some of these bands have foreigners in them, but the Beijing and hardcore Chinese did not. Broken English was welcome, but you know it's much deeper and personal as you record, and that's a very important key to success in completing a LP or EP. Yesterday was one of the toughest I have come across. They wanted a tough sound! Well, they played pretty lightly, if you get my vibe. I did all I could. The guitar player would pound his chest and say, "I'm punk!" But everything that came out of his rig could have been the outtakes of a Ricky Martin concert. He would tell the only one who spoke any kind of English that I was making his band "pop." The drummer — who was one of the best technical metal guys — ripped, but would make tired faces two takes in and complain in Chinese. I sat for over an hour while the band members argued over an ending they did not have tight. Finally the drummer started to complain that the KFC chicken was getting cold. The session actually went pretty amazing, after that first few hours. A foreign producer and studio time would make any band out of balance for a few. The cultural difference is sometimes like a slap in the face when I start to go on about artist's rights... I'm in China and there are no rights! Arrogant Americans and Europeans have done plenty here already, and I must always remember where I am. Some have disappeared just for asking the wrong questions, so I do sit idle sometimes. The police usually do not bother foreigners because of the hours of paperwork needed, even just for stopping me. I'm ignored most of the time, but I can see them all wondering what the fuck am I'm doing here.
The people here are some of the kindest and most giving I have ever met. The value of human life is a struggle China deals with, generation after generation. They wear masks to keep from getting germs, but the same masked lady with a child on the back of an electric scooter travels head on — not looking into oncoming traffic. An invisible force field must keep them all safe. Meanwhile I have been almost killed half a dozen times by busses and large trucks.
Email dated Jan. 8, 2012: Studios and engineers here are clueless about any Western producers or where to find info about learning anything that's not found in Mix Magazine. I turned a guy named J. at my current studio onto your mag, and he bought a subscription for Tape Op last night! He read some articles online and was blown away. He went to a recording school in England for several years and returned to China a recording stud. All the bands look up to him, but he had no clue of the world we love and adore about the art of recording. He's now a believer, and soon to be fanatic.
