Yes, it’s clear that I’m shamefully neglecting this recording studio blog. I suppose the answer would be to hire an intern, but who has time for that? Needless to say, Popheart Productions is slammed. So, as my blog entries have become less frequent and my schedule becomes exponentially more packed with Athens, Georgia recording artists and beyond, Dream Boat(Page Campbell and Dan Donahue of Hope For Agoldensummer and Great Lakes, respectively) has been back in the studio, following up their debut album with a whole new set of songs and basically living in the studio for the month of March. They literally came in with 80 songs! We landed on a little over a dozen and somehow the second record is even more brilliant than the first. In addition to Page and Dan, the new Dream Boat album features performances by John Fernandez (The Olivia Tremor Control), Scott Spillane (Neutral Milk Hotel), Kris Deason (Dark Meat), and Heather McIntosch (The Instruments, Elf Power, Lil Wayne). Young Benjamin continues to make it into the studio every few weekends to cut new songs for his upcoming fall LP. Ryan Monahan (Easter Island) has also been in the studio off and on, recording singles rather than a concentrated album effort. Brett Vaughn has also been in the studio here a few times lately, gradually recording tracks for his new EP, which is filled with existential, somehow religious, yet agnostic songs. Both pacificUV and Electrophoria have been in and out of the studio working on demos and initial tracking in preparation for their summer recording schedules, and both bands have late July deadlines for wrapping brand new LPs here at Popheart Productions. k until next time xoxosuny

The studio has been teeming with Athens music talent since the new year began here at Popheart Productions. First I wrapped up mixing an amazing debut LP by Athens’ The Viking Progress and continued by finalizing masters and sequences with The Viking Progress, Dream Boat, and Electrophoria, featuring performances by members of Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control, The B52′s, Now It’s Overhead, Azure Ray, Reptar, Hope For Agoldensummer, Macha, and more. Next, I mixed and mastered a soundtrack for the film “World’s Smallest Airport”, a documentary about Georgia’s own Thrasher Brothers’ Flying Circus, the daring entertainers who graced the southern skies in the late 1940′s and early 1950′s. Please visit the local Cine theater in downtown Athens and see the film today! Later, I started recording fresh material with Athens’ singer and songwriter Brett Vaughn, in the style of swooning and crooning 1950′s cinematic love songs, for his upcoming EP. I also made a debut EP filled with Grievous Angel and Blood On The Tracks allusions with Athens southern rockers Cannery Row. Finally, I finished mixing the epic new upcoming LP by Athens’ non-profit music project Emergent Heart, featuring members of Easter Island, Young Benjamin, pacificUV, Wild Nothing, powerkompany, Venice Is Sinking, Brett Vaughn, Monahan, and many more. Emergent Heart raises money for Athens’ mental health resource Nuci Space and is organized and co-produced by drummer and co-creator Luke Johnson. Last of all, up in the office at Mazarine Records we’ve also been having a lovely new year so far! Many of the records made at Popheart Productions are coming out on our new label during the spring, and pacificUV‘s new album “Weekends” just dropped on January 31st! I find myself referring to 2012 as the year of the butterfly. Until next time -xosuny

Why so long between entries, you ask? I can explain: Dream Boat recently wrapped up their amazing debut album Rising Sign here at Popheart Productions, and they’re coming back next week to start on another brand new collection of songs! Dream Boat is Page Campbell and Dan Donahue, and their songs feature members of Hope For Agoldensummer, pacificUV, The Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Dark Meat. Look for Rising Sign on Harvest Records this spring! Dare Dukes was in the studio wrapping up his holiday release, Ghosts of Christmas. It’s a two-song single and easily my favorite this he’s ever released. Also, Dare Dukes recently signed with our own Mazarine Records! Emergent Heart has been in my studio quite a lot lately, and we’re almost ready to begin mixing their sophomore release, which is a 10-song LP featuring members of Easter Island, Hope For Agoldensummer, pacificUV, Young Benjamin, Power Kompany, Venice Is Sinking, The Viking Progress, as well as Brett Vaughn, Ryan Monahan, and of course, Samuel Kim and Luke Johnson. The new Emergent Heart album is an astonishing leap forward from their 2010 debut EP, One, and it’s likely to make a lot of listeners’ top spring album lists. The Viking Progress has made tremendous strides in the studio and we’re only about 5 days away from having a beautiful, sparkling, finished record! The debut LP includes members of Hope For Agoldensummer, Neutral Milk Hotel, Venice Is Sinking and many more. The Viking Progress also recently signed with Mazarine Records and we’re planning the album release for early April! In addition, I’ve done some recent design work for Rene Guest Jewelry, gone on a mini-tour with Hope For Agoldensummer, recorded a single with pacificUV, and have been on a rigorous rehearsal schedule with both Electrophoria and pacificUV in preparation for our upcoming spring show schedule. Plus, Amanda and I got married! More in the New Year, talk soon xoxo suny

The delicious daily madness continues here at Popheart Productions. Even after launching our brand new sparkling magic Athens label Mazarine Records there hasn’t been a moment to spare. Little sleep was had, the music rejoiced, and static arose in applause. Dare Dukes returned to the studio for the first time since we finished his latest upcoming LP, Thugs and China Dolls, to record two new singles in time for the holiday season. The songs are refreshingly inventive, sticky, addictive, and a joy to record. Among our guest stars this time around were Athens musicians Laura Wrenn, Liz Hardin, and Jojo Glidewell of The Modern Skirts. The Viking Progress also returned to the studio and continued recording and production on what has grown from an upcoming debut EP to LP. Patrick’s songs take me to a mountaintop campsite, shivering and wrapped in refuge blankets, hunched over a roaring fire and squinting at the flame while watching the world melt in a swirling mass of cataclysmic implosion hundreds of feet below, dazed and humming along, absorbed in an accompanying narration.

Popheart Productions Recording Studio continues to overflow with amazing music and prolific artists from Athens, Georgia. During the last month I’ve also spent some time wrapping up the next upcoming LP by Electrophoria, entitled “You’re Not Just Anyone”. The record comes out in January but you can hear a preview now at Mazarine Records. I also wrapped up the provocative debut EP by Athens local Young Benjamin, recorded a composition entitled “Gratis”, which was written and commissioned by Philip Glass and performed by Athens own Hart Linker, broke ground on a debut LP with Kara Kildare, continued production on a new LP by The Viking Progress, and worked with Marie Devon from Venice is Sinking (as Karolyn Troupe) and Power Kompany on a new song by Emergent Heart entitled Carried Away.

Alas, my efforts to write increasing numbers of blog entries are continuously thwarted by an overwhelming lack of time in which to do it! During the last month at Popheart Productions I worked on tons of recording, editing, mixing, and mastering, but I also started a new record label with a couple of my colleagues. Behold, Mazarine Records is born! We’re employing a rather untraditional model and releasing over half a dozen albums between next month and Spring 2012. I’ve also been busy making a new EP in the studio with Pacific UV, continuing to record the next Emergent Heart record, and doing some audio mastering for a video documentary project by Jen Formwalt called Songs: Athens, GA. In addition, I started working on an exciting new EP with Patrick Morales for his project called The Viking Progress, and I spent a few days finishing new songs with Electrophoria, featuring special guests such as Maria Taylor (Azure Ray), Andy Lemaster (Now It’s Overhead), and Bill Doss (The Olivia Tremor Control, The Apples In Stereo). Then, Dream Boat (Page Campbell of Hope For Agoldensummer and Dan Donahue of Great Lakes) came back into the studio and took a gigantic leap toward finishing their upcoming debut LP, Rising Sign. We’re all very excited about getting this record finished in October! Their album has turned out to be more psychedelic and wonderful than I could have possibly imagined and I love it to pieces. And Finally, I came down with the flu for the better part of a week, because I work all the time, I never seem to sleep very well or feel particularly rested, and I can’t seem to find the time for exercise in my insane schedule. Oh, delicate bodies with their fragile immune systems.

The last month at Popheart Productions has found my recording studio filled with loads of lovely Athens music, and my laptop has seen no design down-time during the studio off-hours. Pacific UV has been in and out of the studio, first sequencing the master of the recently completed and upcoming LP, “Weekends”, and then continuing to record new material, including a new song which was recently released on their website called “I’m here (but it’s not me). Dare Dukes finished recording the last of their material for the upcoming fall record with a song called “Jim Egger’s Parrot”, and we’re putting the final touches on our mixes now, expecting to have the album wrapped by this coming Monday! I played a couple of shows with Hope For Agoldensummer, and we’ve finally, at long last, actually settled on a sequence for upcoming fall LP and sent our master away for manufacturing! I also did some recording with a talented chap named Matt Whittaker, who collaborates with Luke Johnson on the non-profit music project Emergent Heart. In other news, I swear I’m gonna make more time for writing blog entries! -More soon, xoxo Suny

The buzzing, busy summer schedule here at Popheart Productions has continued to rock me senseless during the last week. Bill Doss (The Olivia Tremor Control, Apples In Stereo) came by to work on an Elephant 6 recording collaboration with Our New Silence. Then, Dare Dukes and Emergent Heart tasked me with editing and mixing elements on a number of songs for their upcoming releases. Hope For Agoldensummer made it into the studio a couple of times, and Pacific UV has been here off and on getting started on the songs for a second upcoming release (we recently finished an upcoming fall release, Weekends). Finally, I’ve been doing search engine optimization for Oconee Natural Healthcare and Little Cuckoo Chocolate Company. Pictured here is Bill Doss dishing out dreamy and delicious vocal stacks on a song called Red Light Caravan. Oconee Natural Healthcare

I’m finally back from touring with Hope For Agoldensummer and now I’m here all summer! Since getting back to dear old Athens I’ve been filling the studio calendar with the spice of life (umm, variety). Dare Dukes came back to Popheart Productions and continued the epic recording, editing, and mixing process of producing the upcoming record, possibly titled Thugs and China Dolls. Then I did some mixing of b-sides for Pacific UV to release along with the new album Weekends that we recently finished and started working on demos for a bunch of new songs we’ve already started crafting. Dream Boat came back into the studio and is almost ready to mix their debut release, which is very exciting! What a summer! And it’s only the beginning of June. Pictured here: Page Campbell, Claire Campbell, and me, Suny Lyons (Hope For Agoldensummer) performing live on tour last month.

During the last 30 days I’ve been in and out of town touring with Hope For Agoldensummer, so the schedule here at Popheart Productions has been a bit scattered! Over the 9 days I was actually in the studio during this month I finished mixing a new album by PacificUV called “Weekends”, did some drum recording and editing with Emergent Heart, built a web shop and made some adverts for Rene Guest Jewelry, edited a video for Oconee Natural Healthcare, and did some recording and mixing with Kill Kill Buffalo. Pictured here are Kara and Tyler of Kill Kill Buffalo, brimming with raw intensity as they perform a song entitled “Hello Again”.

Emergent Heart was back in the studio today at Popheart Productions working on a song by Easter Island’s Ethan Payne entitled “The Light” for the upcoming follow-up EP to Emergent Heart’s debut, “One”. Pictured here is Nathan Goodman of Wild Nothing, who stopped by for a few hours this afternoon and filled the studio with layers of his spacey, plucky hooks.

Dream Boat is back in the studio here at Popheart Productions today. Page and I worked on a couple of music videos and then recorded some vocals. Later we were visited by Kris Deason (Dark Meat) and an array of experimental noise makers. Pictured here playing a spacey synth and growling guitar on a new Dream Boat song called “Wild Fires”.  In the dimly lit control room we peered through a shoe-gaze haze in shades of MBV.

Mixing continued with PacificUV here at Popheart Productions today. We’ve reached the happily experimental stage of constructing interludes and figuring out how all the songs fit together. There have been a few surprise songs with a pop edge which have emerged over our production process, and even some vocoder voices charging unexpectedly through the final sequence. Pictured here is Clay listening to our mix of a two-part lush and dreamy epic called “Going Home”.

The last five days at Popheart Productions have been filled with assiduous multitasking! PacificUV is nearly finished mixing a new album after the work we did Saturday and Sunday. Then, on Monday and Tuesday Emergent Heart was in the studio while Samuel Kim was visiting Athens. Today and tomorrow I’m alone in the studio, continuing my work on mixes for PacificUV, editing for Dare Dukes, Design for Rene Guest Jewelry, and mastering for a video by Dream Boat. Pictured here is Sam strumming a chunky rhythm guitar track down for a new shoe-gazey song called “Burning The Books”.

Dream Boat is back in the studio today working on new songs and doing a few overdubs. Dream Boat is Page Campbell and Dan Donahue, featuring members of Hope For Agoldensummer, Creepy, The Olivia Tremor Control, and Neutral Milk Hotel. Today we recorded a magical lullaby called “Picture It”. Claire also came in and recorded some lovely harmonies on three songs, “Done”, “Be Beautiful”,and “Ever We Are Going”.

This weekend at Popheart Productions has been filled with an amalgam of mixing and editing tasks. I’ve spent the bulk of my time working on the last few mixes for the upcoming PacificUV album and an extensive list of editing jobs for Dare Dukes. The empty studio and a solitary work schedule is a rare occurrence around here, particularly over an entire weekend, and I’m looking forward to a busy week ahead with Dream Boat, PacificUV, and Our New Silence, along with design work for Oconee Natural Healthcare and Rene Guest Jewelry. Pictured here flying solo in my control room with Dare Dukes “Thugs And China Dolls” in the headphones.

Our New Silence concluded a few days of post-production work here at Popheart Productions today. We recorded scattered peripheral overdubs, did a quite a bit of editing, and made a lot of progress with mixing this 3-album project. Among the songs we worked on today were two featuring Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink of Azure Ray, “You’re Not Just Anyone” and “Electrophoria (One Heartbeat Away)”. We also spent some time mixing a song featuring Andy Lemaster of Now It’s Overhead called “Restless”. Pictured here is Kai Riedl stomping and hand-clapping along to a swinging song featuring Kate Pearson of The B52s called “Leave It In The Hands Of Love (Xenophoria)”.

Our New Silence has returned to Popheart Productions this week for post-production work and mixing for their upcoming -3- fall releases, two EPs and one LP of entirely new and original material created by an astounding number of collaborating Athens musicians. The music is based on a concept of remixing sounds from an Indonesian music series I recorded with Kai a few years ago called Javasounds. Our New Silence collaborators include Kate Pierson of The B52s, Graham Ulicny of Reptar, Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink of Azure Ray, Andy Lemaster of Now It’s Overhead, Andrew Rieger of Elf Power, John Fernandez of The Olivia Tremor Control, and sooooooooooooo many more I can’t keep typing them all. Pictured here playing hammer dulcimer for a swing-your-arms-and-dance song called “Leave It In The Hands Of Love (Xenophoria)” featuring fabulous lead vocals by the incomparable Kate Pierson.

Dare Dukes is continuing a weekend of overdubs and post-production work at Popheart Productions today. After wrapping up a few final ideas with Drummer Jeremy Wheatley we moved on to upright bass with Andrew Small. For the record, Andrew has just about the finest sounding upright basses I’ve ever heard, and since he’s unbelievably adept at playing just about anything our meddling little minds can make up…well, he’s truly a pleasure to record and I hope to see him back in my studio often as a session player. Pictured here thumping and sliding his way smoothly through a melancholy journey Dare likes to call “Lament of the Subway Rider”.  

Dare Dukes has returned to Popheart Productions today to record more overdubs and generally continue with post-production for their latest upcoming full-length album! Which brings us to Jeremy Wheatley, a simply marvelous drummer. Even after the many years we spent touring around the country and the globe in various bands, and recording together on a heap of records, I’m still always thrilled with his relentless professionalism and monumental talent in the studio. Pictured here in my drum room producing tight, round, punchy sounds right out of the 1975 of our musical imaginations.