Q Division Studios

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

studio a

Le Couteau – Now You’re Nowhere

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Last summer we had Le Couteau in for a two-day lockout session in Studio A. At first the goal was just to capture their sound and release it as close to live as possible. But after hearing everything, the band decided to take their time with the process and we are glad they did. Save for a few hours of guitar overdubs in Studio B, the band tracked their whole record in those first two days. Driven primarily by frontman/guitarist, Jean-Francois Blain, the band blends their various influences to make something familiar to shoegaze fans but unique to each of the players in the band. Phil Murphy sang backup and played bass. And Faris Abayya played drums. Q Engineer, Terrance Reeves, co-produced and recorded. And all the tracks were mixed by local friend, Dereck Blackburn (of Quiethouse Recordings).

Count Zero – Live at Q Division

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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.

Bob Bradshaw – Live in Boston

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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!

Mike, John, Steven, Andrew, Peat, Bob, James, Rafi, Andy, Frank, Mark.

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.

Shotgun Waltz – Returns to Q

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Shotgun Waltz returns to Q Division to track to new singles, Pity Party and Sink or Swim, out now on Bandcamp! Produced and mixed by Ed Valauskas with mastering by Pat DiCenso and recording by James Bridges, these sessions were bound to rock out and rock they did. Pulling influence from Indie, Americana and alternative rock, Shotgun Waltz delivers a fresh sound while holding on to a 90’s rock vibe.

Alisa Amador on The Kelly Clarkson Show – Recorded in Studio A

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Alisa Amador came to Q to shoot a live version of her song ‘Enough’ for The Kelly Clarkson Show. Backed by the incredible Cilla Bonnie on bass and long time friend of Q, Dave Brophy on drums, it was magic in gorgeous Studio A! Chuck Hargreaves recorded and engineered and Dave Brophy mixed.

Alisa Amador made history in 2022 as the first-ever Spanish language song to win the Tiny Desk Contest and has since gone on to release her highly praised first full length album Multitudes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpOg4rWLpDw