Q Division Studios

Making great sounding records in comfort and style in Boston's best recording studio

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Abbie Barrett’s Freedumb

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With just days until the 2024 presidential election, “Freedumb” — the new single and video from Massachusetts-based songwriter Abbie Barrett and her band — is just about as on point as it gets.

Tracked at Q Division, produced by Ed Valauskas, and recorded, mixed, and mastered by Pat DiCenso; “Freedumb” captures the chaos of January 6, 2021, when a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the election. The song and its video (Fuel Heart Productions) serve as a chilling reminder of that infamous day and what’s at stake on November 5th.

While Barrett wrote the lyrics alone, she and her bandmates co-wrote the music. They are: Mike Oram (guitar), Rice Edmonston (drums), and Ed Valauskas (bass). Guest musicians include Dana Colley (Morphine, Vapors of Morphine) on saxophone and 13-year-old Auggie Valauskas on upright bass.

Barrett didn’t set out to write a song about the January 6 insurrection, nor did she intend to make a political statement. But as the music came together, the lyrics started revealing themselves. Like many who watched that day’s events unfold, she felt deeply angry about the hypocrisy of it all.

“I don’t really consider this song all that political. If you support democracy, then you support the election process, which includes the peaceful transfer of power,” says Barrett. “Calling out the people — including the former president — who stoked the fires that led to such a violent and un-American event shouldn’t be considered controversial.”

A portion of the song’s proceeds will go to the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization that defends democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation at the local, state, and national levels. Visit abbiebarrett.com to listen and contribute.

Jon Auer live at Q Division Studios 8.15.24

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Jon Auer, former Posies singer/songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist and member of Big Star for 17 years will be performing material from every era of his career at 


Q Division Studios on Thursday, August 15 at 7 PM 
Doors at 6 PM


With Special Guest: THE SHELLEYE VALAUSKAS EXPERIENCE

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

Former Posies co-founder/singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jon Auer's notable career started at the age of 17 in Bellingham, WA where the Posies first record Failure (featuring the Jon-composed  "I May Hate You Sometimes" ) was recorded and mixed by a teenage Jon in his home studio after school and on weekends. Two years later The Posies signed a deal with DGC/Geffen and ultimately recorded three records for the prominent label, including Dear 23 (featuring the Jon-composed singles "Suddenly Mary" and “Golden Blunders”, the latter eventually covered by former Beatle Ringo Starr) and the landmark Frosting on the Beater, which included Auer's classic singles "Dream All Day", "Flavor of the Month", and “Definite Door” as well as his dark and epic deep cut "Coming Right Along" (featured in the film of The Basketball Diaries and praised by Jim Carroll himself).  A key player in the former Posies songwriting force, Jon also wrote “Going, Going, Gone” for the 3 million-plus selling Reality Bites soundtrack.
In addition, Auer is a critically-acclaimed solo artist and his solo record Songs From The Year Of Our Demise was named one of the best releases of 2006 by NPR and given 4 stars in UNCUT magazine. Auer toured the globe to support SFTYOOD as an extremely well-received one-man troubadour-style show, his songs and stories side by side. Jon was also a member of the re-formed Big Star for 17 years and continued to perform as part of Big Star's Third after Alex Chilton's passing in 2010. In 2004, Jon spent time at Ardent Studios in Memphis helping write and record Big Star's album In Space, contributing (among others) "Lady Sweet" and co-writing "February's Quiet" with Jody Stephens. In 2022, Jon joined Stephens, Mike Mills (REM), Chris Stamey (The dBs), and Pat Sansone (Wilco) for a much-praised tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of Big Star's #1 Record and this same five-piece lineup toured Spain in November of 2023 as well to a rapturous reception. Now dubbed The Big Star Quintet, 2024 will see the five musicians taking the stage together again in celebration of Big Star's Radio City in the US, EU, and UK as well. 
Auer has also nurtured a sizable production career having produced and/or mixed records for the likes of Love Battery, Truly, The Best Kissers in the World, Sky Cries Mary, Pond, Gnome, The Squirrels, You Am I, Redd Kross, Awesome, Cheap Star, and Spiral Stairs (of Pavement) and the Sub Pop label and also spent time in Nashville playing on the Ben Folds' produced William Shatner record Has Been.
About Songs from the Year of Our Demise:“Startling (and liberating), a brilliant inversion of pop routine” – UNCUT (4 of 5 stars)
"The most arresting songwriting of Auer's career...this is Jon Auer at his best."- UNDER THE RADAR (8 of 10 stars)


"Better even than his contributions to last year’s Posies and Big Star albums, Demise displays the sort of pop classicism that Auer excels at.... pain framed by such unerring, uplifting melodies that you almost hope, selfishly, that heartbreak will visit him each time he sits down to write."  -HARP


 "Each song carries a strong, distinct melody, as if someone built an entire Brill Building in Auer’s head...Auer rides his juxtaposition of soaring form and searing content into pop transcendence.
– POP MATTERS (8 of 10 stars)


"The Posies released Every Kind Of Light last year, but its excellence has already been surpassed by Auer's solo full-length debut.... He's emerged with what could be his sharpest, most memorable work since Frosting On The Beater." – THE ONION


“Leadoff track "Six Feet Under"...is among the catchiest and most emotionally exposed songs Auer has ever recorded.” - MAGNET


“One of the best albums of the year...August, melodic and heart wrenching” – AMPLIFIER

Instagram: Jon Auer Big Star 

Q3.0 Winter 2023 Update

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Hey friends! We put away the soldering irons and the construction equipment at the end of December, to show off where we’re at right now, as 2022 came to a close. Check out the progress – we’re still a few steps away from recording, but we’re so close you can almost smell the new tape coming out of the boxes.

Patty Larkin – Bird in a Cage

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Patty Larkin’s newest album is out; it’s one of the last records Mike Denneen worked on, and Patty dedicates the album to him:
“This album is dedicated to the memory of Mike Denneen, my collaborator, co-producer and musical compass. Mike moved through the musical landscape with grace, ease, humor and brilliance, all the while “changing to a word”: love.”

Analog Tape Week – May 22-29

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We’re turning off the computer* for a week!

Did you ever wish you could record in as they did in the heyday of the analog studio? Don’t get us wrong, we like the computer, but sometimes we miss the smell and sound of analog tape, and well, the whole thing is just very different. You can always record to analog tape at Q Division, but this May we’re going to make it a little easier by setting everything up ahead of time: tape machines, drums, amps, headphones, even instruments; not only that, we’ll waive drum rental AND the tape rental costs.** We’ll be renting out the studio by the day and half day particularly for our first ever ANALOG TAPE WEEK, where you can track basics TO 2” ANALOG TAPE. Are you interested? Drop us a line!

Please check out our FAQ on ANALOG TAPE WEEK, here.

* Actually, we’ll most likely be leaving the computer on so that we can dump your tracks to Pro Tools lickety split, and we’ll most likely run headphones from Pro Tools too – to take advantage of our squeaky clean Hearback headphone mix system.

**So, tape rental is 100% free; however, if you want to keep your work on 2″ analog tape, we’ll pro rate the tape cost and you’ll need a tape flange, which we’ll also have available at near cost.