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A Question & Answer With Stevo Bruno, Producer & Musician On Growing up Rock 'n Roll, Clowns and Klown EQ Magazine July, 2003 Q Your bio says that your dad was a producer/ studio owner when you were growing up. What sort of things did you learn from him? Did you work at the studio? Why did you want to follow in his footsteps? Was there a specific time or moment in your younger days when you realized you wanted to do music as a career? A My father, Stephen Bruno Senior, is my hero. He owned and operated the infamous Earmark in Philadelphia. It was like Disneyland for me (maybe that's why I created Klown like Disneyland). His three-story studio used to be a bank. There were secret rooms everywhere and dumb waiters that I would ride up and down. They used the bank vaults as echo chambers and mic vaults. I remember when I was young I couldn't even open the vault doors to get a Neumann U-47 for my dad. I was literally setting up sessions at 10 years old and learning everything firsthand from the pros. My father's credits include Hendrix & Humble Pie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, The Chambers Brothers, Jethro Tull, New England, Todd Rundgren, Paul Stanley and worked along side legendary producers as Eddie Kramer, Mike Stone, George Martin, Sam Charters and Paul McCartney. In addition to the invaluable experience of being born into the music business I also got to hang out with the coolest musicians. Actually, all of the original members of Cheap Trick (minus Robin) lived in my house when I was a kid. Before Cheap Trick they were called "The Sick Man of Europe". Our house was lined with Marshall amps, guitars, speakers and rock stars. What else could a kid want? This life-style is all I have ever known. My following years were all about honing my craft as a producer, engineer and musician. At 13 my dad helped me put together my first band. We played Beatles covers in the garage and I played bass. It was in that magical moment as I was creating music collectively with other musicians and all of my thoughts disappeared and I felt like I was one with everything that I realized that music would be my life. Q It says that you are an accomplished musician, songwriter, producer and engineer. What came first? Briefly chart your career path, and what was your professional breakthrough? Was it as a musician or engineer? What led up to the opening of your first studio and what was it called? What were your goals then and have things worked out as you envisioned? A I 'm a musician and music lover first. My true love is the bass, I've been playing for 23 years now and have had many accomplishments, but for me it's not about that. It's about the quality, the experience and the process of the accomplishment. The end result is always the same. You want the music to sound as good as possible. I guess the big question for me is what do I love more, playing music or producing music. They both have totally unique, yet similar rewards. Playing and writing original music is fulfilling in a very personal way. It is more of an internal emotional experience from the soul. Producing and engineering music gives me the opportunity to let other musicians have that same experience. It can be even more rewarding for me to provide the means and skills to produce a product that is as close as possible to the artists intent. The real magic is when the music surpasses the artist's intent. Some of the best personal moments I have had in my life have been when other artists call me and thank me for making their magic happen. I opened my first studio to the public in Hollywood in 1990. It was a 24 track analog studio called SOS Studios on Highland. I produced dozens of local Hollywood bands and really developed key producer skills that many producers overlook or don't anticipate. Many new producers right out of MI or other entry level recording schools don't realize that being a producer goes way beyond the music. You have to have big balls to be a producer. I've produced sessions with gangsters, guns, drugs, bloody fistfights in the control room, players not showing up because they'd OD'd or they were in jail, band break-ups, wives showing up with divorce papers - you name it. The biggest problem I used to have to deal with was bands having no money at the end of sessions and then they would want the finals. I still hear funny, old school stories of how I used to give out finals with my voice on them. When the band would pay me, I would take my voice off. A producer has to play many roles and be able to get along well with people. Keeping a calm, creative and productive environment is key. Q What qualities make a great engineer? A great producer? When bands seek you out to work with you, what are they hoping for? What makes you unique? What is the most important element of a great recording? A I think the most important quality for a great engineer, producer or mixer is a good set of ears. I know guys who have tracked records with 57's and they sound great. The qualities that I value in pro engineers are experience, knowledge of equipment, mics, mic placement, mic pre-usage, compression, EQ, and above all, someone who is easy to get along with and knows his place in the food chain. I look for the same qualities in a producer, plus the ability to communicate on a musical and personal level with the artist -- to share the same vision as the artist, to recognize hooks and substantial melodies and cut out the fat (especially with radio-oriented bands) and inevitably to reproduce the authenticity, originality, and magic of the music. I think what makes me unique, as a producer is that there is only one Stevo. I have my own unique set of ears and my own unique thought process (which can be kinda scary sometimes). There are only so many consoles, mics, instruments, amps, EQ's, monitors, etc. available and most of the pros use the same stuff. In the end, it's all about the little things that you learn along the way that work for you. If I told you what my little secrets were, then they wouldn't be secrets anymore. Like any studio owner, I constantly have engineers or producers dropping off resumes or coming by looking for work. Most of them try to bump up their credits and embellish. They might look great on paper, but ten out of ten times I will want to hear something and they will have nothing to play for me. The proof is in the mix man! I always have a producer demo on hand to give to people so they can hear my work. Q Did your current band roster seek you out specifically, or were they Klown Records clients, who you then chose to work with? What is the basic premise of Klown Records and why has it been successful? Atmosphere is great, but do any musicians ever find the aesthetics a distraction? A I am introduced to the artists that I work with in many ways -- usually it’Äôs through a referral. I work with a lot of LA bands, especially West-Side bands in Venice, Santa Monica, W.L.A. & Malibu - everybody knows everybody. That’Äôs why it is so important to be cool and not burn any bridges. I like to develop relationships with bands, work with them up the ladder of success, and eventually produce the ’Äúbig’Äù record. Since I opened Klown Records in Santa Monica, which offers rehearsal, lock-outs, showcase rooms, etc., I am definitely exposed to a sea of artists that I wasn’Äôt before with just the Klown Records recording studio in Marina Del Rey. I like to keep an ear to the wall and listen for new talent. I actually have labels calling me all the time looking for new bands. The basic premise of Klown Records is my mission statement. ’ÄúKlown Records provides cutting edge recording, rehearsing and showcasing in an environment of your choice. It’Äôs basically a Disneyland for musicians.’Äù I wanted to create a really fun, unique and professional place. There is no place like Klown in the world. It’Äôs not your average, lifeless, dull rehearsal studio. I don’Äôt like to talk smack about anyone and I won’Äôt, but I’Äôve rehearsed in hundreds of studios around the globe and a lot of those horrible experiences inspired me to create the atmosphere and aesthetics at Klown -- it’Äôs like walking into the circus, and everybody loves the circus! I remember when I was building Klown, I got a call from Stan Ridgway (Wall of Voodoo - Singer) and he had to come down and see the place that day. I told him not until it was finished and he showed up anyway. He said, ’ÄúStevo, I don’Äôt know if it’Äôs gonna work, the theme room idea might be too much for musicians to handle.’Äù He said I was either crazy, or a genius. It’Äôs now a year in and we are completely booked with major label artists and Stan is one of em’Äô. I have read articles and people have indirectly attacked Klown with insecure comments like, ’Äúwe are a professional studio unlike those other carnival-like places’Äù (you know who you are) and it doesn’Äôt bother me, bad press is still press. If their phone were ringing off the hook like mine, they wouldn’Äôt have time to talk shit. Cool studios like 4th Street and B-5 Atomic in Santa Monica sent me e-mails thanking me for opening up such a cool place and welcomed me to the neighborhood. Musicians flock to Klown Records. It’Äôs something new and original and isn’Äôt that what every musician is looking for? Q Pick two or three recent bands you have worked with. Tell me their genre, and give me specifics about how you came to work with them. Take me through the process of producing them, from the first meeting through the final take. What was the psychology involved, the give and take, what did you offer them, how did your work with them help shape the project? Are there any special moments with any of them that sum up your role as a producer? A The most recent bands that I have worked with are Prong, Nikki Sixx, Boy Hits Car, Fear Factory, Mother’Äôs Finest and The Union Underground. Other recent visitors to Klown have been Jane’Äôs Addiction, Primus, Our Lady Peace, Killing Joke, Chaka Khan, and Vanilla Ice. All of these bands are rock. I’Äôll focus on my experience with Boy Hits Car. These guys are signed to Wind-Up and are going to hit big when this second album hits the streets. The band found me through their manager, John Boyle. The band locked out The Space Room for a couple of months and we developed a relationship. I need to mention that these guys are one of the hardest working bands I have ever seen. They would literally lock themselves in their room from noon till midnight and only come out for 20 minutes a day -- they would even pack their own lunches. Anyway, I played them some stuff that I’Äôve done and they decided to do the pre-production with me. We tracked, edited and mixed 12 songs in eight days. Everything went straight to a fully loaded Pro Tools Mix Cubed TDM system. I tracked everybody live and actually kept some of the scratch vocals. I used a D-112 on the kick, a 57 on the snare top and a Sennheiser MD-604 for the bottom snare for that thwack. I used 412’Äôs on the toms, a C-451 on the hi-hat and C-1000’Äôs on the ride and overs. I ran everything through a Focusrite console with platinum mic pres and handled compression with 16 channels of Pre-Sonus compressors. I don’Äôt gate anything -- I cut it out in editing. The bass tone was achieved with a few different Music Man basses ran through a Blue Tube mic pre and then into a Sans Amp to shape the tone. I also ran a D/I so I would have options. I broke out my secret weapon for guitars. A German hand made 100-watt guitar head called a Framus Cobra. We used a Mesa Boogie 2 X 12 cab to push all that air with a 57 jammed in the grill. Acoustic guitars and sitar were mic’Äôd with a Rode NTK tube mic. Vocals went through a Neuman U-87 and then through an Avalon 737. Mild compression on vox (4:1), just enough to squash any unexpected energy surges which Craig is known and loved for. Tracking was smooth and flawless. Then came three full days of editing, vocal comping, vocal align and tuning. I was left with 2 days to mix. I usually pull up a Brendan O’ÄôBrien mix before I mix rock (most likely the track will be Dead & Bloated by STP). I will also pull up some old Bob Ezrin Floyd mixes to set my ears for some fat, warm low end. For me, the kick and snare are the foundation of a rock mix so I will spend a lot of time tweaking them. I love a kick that sounds like a sonic boom when an F-14 breaks through the sound barrier. The snare has to have a slammin’Äô crack but still have a lot of body; I’Äôll try 10 snares if I have to. But above all this tech talk, the most important thing is to capture the magic. I have all kinds of rituals I will do with bands. One I usually do is before I start tracking, when everybody is ready to go and you can hear their heartbeats, I have them close their eyes and paint a picture in their mind. A picture of that point in time when they realized they wanted to be a musician, the first time they felt that magic, and then I hit record. I can’Äôt stand stop and go producers or engineers. I let a band play all the way through a song good or bad, especially vocals. That’Äôs why I love the wonderful world of comping. I can let a singer sing eight passes so they don’Äôt lose the emotion from stop and go recording -- flat or sharp as long as the emotion is there. I’Äôll comp and tune them later. The final mixes of BHC came out awesome and the guys were a real treat to work with! We all became good friends and they’Äôre all really happy with the finals. This particular experience has given me a lot a personal satisfaction because the band was so positive and receptive to everything. They all called me afterwards to thank me and give me love on the mixes. Those are my favorite phone calls! Good luck BHC!!! Q How do you pick which bands you want to work with? What qualities attract you? Is it good songs, great vision, image, what? A At this point in my career, especially as a studio owner, I won’Äôt turn away work -- unless it’Äôs so bad that it makes my fillings hurt! If a band is not that great or they need a lot more development, I will make it a personal goal to make them sound as good as possible. But certain bands stand out, and then I put my personal life on hold. I will camp out in the studio and not even go home for days if my heart is in a project. I know when a band has ’Äúit’Äù! Now ’Äúit’Äù on a musical level and ’Äúit’Äù in the world of commerce are two different things. I can appreciate both. But in this overly saturated world of music, the music is not enough anymore (although the single is everything). An image, a rock-star persona, confidence, flexibility to the industries needs and demands are all things that makes a band have ’Äúit’Äù. That’Äôs what I look for when I actively pursue bands. I approach every project differently. Music is alive’Ķit has emotion and energy. It’Äôs kind of like a woman for me. Every woman is different and likes different things, but they all share those similar, magical qualities. That’Äôs how bands are for me. I am pretty much a Pro Tools guy nowadays. That doesn’Äôt mean I am opposed to tracking certain things to tape (bass and drums). Whatever the project calls for. My problem is these old-school guys that insist that the only way to get a good sound is to tape. A few years ago that was true. But now with all the digital recording advances and all of the available plug-ins, digital is the only way to go. I have literally been actively involved in the recording world for 25 years. That’Äôs long enough to know what’Äôs up. Anyone who has used Pro Tools on a record can never go back, it doesn’Äôt make sense --I don’Äôt care who you are -- The sky is the limit. Anything is possible and can be achieved almost instantly. The automation possibilities are endless and the concept of adding a visual to the whole mix is profound. I actually worked in another studio recently without Pro Tools and I literally felt like I was blind. Technology is a part of life. We can ignore and resist it or embrace it and utilize it. The best part of my career is right now. I wouldn’Äôt change a thing! I wake up every day with a big fat smile on my face knowing that I get to go to the coolest place on Earth, Klown Records. I do what I love to do; I make a good living at it and have fun along the way. What else could you ask for??? - Stevo Bruno (producer)