Making great sounding records in comfort and style in Boston's best recording studio
The Mommyheads – long time art prog band based on the East coast – were one of the first bands to let us record them live and shoot video at the same time in the old Q2.0 after the pandemic. They recently came back to the new Q and did the same thing – it was a pure blast! Check out some of these videos:
Coral Moon’s cover of HAIM’s Gasoline sort of snuck up on us; it was an extra credit song that we captured during a quick session, and we just love the way it turned out.
Chuck Hargreaves recorded and mixed this, and Rafi Sofer shot and edited it. Jay Kolp hung out and helped on the session.
We were incredibly happy to host local icons Count Zero a couple of months ago for a very ambitious project. They wanted to perform their new record “thought so,” AND a bunch of older songs, live with and without an audience, while we multi tracked the show AND filmed with multiple cameras.
This session would require the highest possible quality of recording (including isolation), careful lighting, and multiple cameras and angles, alongside live sound reinforcement for the audience, and in ear monitoring for the band. We spent quite a bit of time getting to know the material and plotting the set up – and working through all the possible technical pitfalls we’d run into. The band booked two days – one entire day was dedicated to set up, then to recording/performing the set once with out an audience. On the second day we ran through the set at least one more time – with costume changes, and then the audience rolled in and they performed the set a final time (two sets, to be exact). We were able to capture a full multi track of the performance, mix the show live for the in house audience, and capture as many as 7-9 cameras of the performance (oh, and we also ran a secret livestream out to close friends and family of the band:).
Chuck Hargreaves engineered the recording, Izaak Biewald assisted and mixed the live sound, Rafi Sofer oversaw the entire production and took care of lights and cameras, with additional help provided by Q interns Kieh Blevins and Lydia Hazzard-Lael.
Peter Moore and Will Ragano (of the band) mixes and edited the resulting videos – check out this one for their song SOUTH.
Check out With A Feather – featuring keyboardist Jude Heichelbech on lead vocals
And here’s Big Wig, featuring Will Ragano on lead vocals (Will also edited all these videos):
And… Tail Bites Dog:
And their hit, Radium Eyes:
And one more…
A few months ago Bob Bradshaw brought his band of killer players to Studio A, alongside a very talented video crew, and proceeded to record a live album in a single day!
The band, which plays regularly with Bradshaw in haunts as near as the Lizard Lounge and as far as Tipperary, Ireland, is a finely tuned band. Featuring (the Amazing) Mike Connors on drums, Andrew Stern on guitar, John Sheeran on bass, and special guests James Rohr on piano and Andy Santospago on pedal steel and guitar, this crew pulled no punches during an incredibly long day. They recorded upward of 12 songs! The video crew, helmed by Mark Steele captured multiple cameras with fantastic lighting, and the resulting album will be released soon – the videos have been trickling out in anticipation of this release. Rafi Sofer recorded the band, and Dave Westner mixed it (not at Q:).
Check out this video of the song Albuquerque.
Ours (and everyone in Boston’s) friend Hazel Royer joined the Colorado based bluegrass band Big Richard a while back. While they do most of their recordings in Colorado, Hazel does drop in at Q on occasion to cut a vocal or bass part.
Their new album is called Girl Dinner, and the vocals for the first single, Town Line, was recorded in Studio B by Rafi.
