Pete’s November 15th article in Glide is out now!

Aziza & the Cure’s Debut Album Release Looms Near

As the AES (Audio Engineering Society) convention was just in NYC I had intended to offer a brief overview on some highlights.  I usually look forward to the event where I get to catch up with people only spoken with on the phone most of the year.  Walking into the show & learning the unfortunate news of Michael Spitz’s passing away on October 12^th understandably & unquestionably dampened my enthusiasm that day.  I decided to abandon my plans & just go home & be with my family.  Mike was one of the many “behind the scenes” people most never knew, but who’s technical work for Ampex & later ATR services touched upon countless creative projects.  If you ever recorded an album on tape, his work likely touched yours.   Mike was an invaluable source of knowledge, a true mentor.  He will be greatly missed.

Michael Spitz

In my last article we left off discussing how artists today have so many more options available to them for producing a music project.   The question is, can you be honest with yourself (or bandmates) about which activities you need to outsource and which ones you not only want to do yourself but are actually skilled to do on your own.   Here is some insight into what some of the musicians I’ve been working with lately have to say on the subject.

Aziza & the Cure is a Symphonic Soul Pop duo based in NYC & devoted to happiness, health, and good music. They compose and arrange all the music that their duo/band performs.  They outsourced the production and recording of their Kickstarter video to Artem Agafonov, an experienced and sought after videographer who’s work they enjoyed and were familiar with. Though the band has sample tracks and an EP that they recorded, mixed and mastered on their own, they decided to enlist the skills of MetroSonic for the recording, mixing, and mastering of their debut album. They also contracted additional musicians to perform and record in the studio. The design they wanted for their album artwork required a professional in the line of photography, Ben Zank, an up and coming photographer who’s work the group greatly admired. But when it comes to marketing and promoting their new album, the band is still weighing their options.

Aziza and the Cure

 Currently, we are debating whether we should outsource for the marketing and sales of the album. While we are willing to cultivate our marketing and sales experience, the Dec. 12th release deadline we have set for ourselves has forced us to consider combining our efforts with a publicist, promoter, and/or marketing team. We believe in the power of sound to soothe, empower, and enrich our lives. While we take pride in doing all we can ourselves, we realize that outsourcing for specific services and unique skill sets is at times the best choice.” -  Violinist Joelle Britt and guitarist Bradley Rouen

And this brings up an important factor for weighing whether or not to hire a professional. Beyond just knowing that they need a marketing campaign, Aziza & the Cure also feel that there isn’t enough time for them to learn how to properly manage their own marketing with a looming deadline. Given time, surely they would learn how to effectively launch a campaign and reach levels of success. And this isn’t to say that with future albums theywon’t decide to develop and manage all or a significant portion of their own marketing on their own.

A music campaign with tight timelines though is not the time for trial and error – especially if you are not experienced or don’t have the proper contacts to reach your target audience. Sometimes the window of opportunity for releasing new music is very small. Often enough, this is because the quantity of new music that is released each week happens so rapidly and on such a large scale that without the right marketing behind it, a new song can get lost against all the other music that’s either already on the market or better promoted for an upcoming release.

This would be a situation where an artist would be better served to outsource or hire a professional to manage specific tasks (i.e. PR blasts, radio outreach, etc.) especially if that person has strong contacts and can make a meaningful impact. Of course, the band can continue to market and promote directly through their existing social media outlets by themselves as this comes across as more authentic anyway. But for high priority outreach, it makes absolute sense for them to hire someone experienced in marketing and promoting music.

Aziza & the Cure seem to be very adept at understanding exactly which tasks are best managed in house and which ones should be outsourced to professionals. So, I’m very confident that we’ll be hearing more from this band as time goes on.

The Biz is a Glide column by guest columnist Pete Mignola, who is the owner and chief engineer of MetroSonic Studios which is located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  MetroSonic Studios is a world renowned fully analog & digital studio where major & independent labels have recorded & produced, ranging from EMI, Island/Def Jam, Chromeo, Flight of the Conchords and ABC TV. Mignolia opened the studio in 1991 and is still successfully managing & operating it. In addition to this, Pete is also an artist and has a full understanding of what’s necessary to take a music career to the next level..Originally published in Glide Magazine:
http://www.glidemagazine.com/41836/aziza-the-cures-debut-album-release-looms-nears/

From Start to Finish: A Journey with Aziza and the Cure

Symphonic Soul Pop duo Aziza and the Cure is the brain-child of violinist Joelle Britt and guitarist Bradley Rouen, a musically gifted couple sharing their love of composing soulful, melodic ballads with classical & Jazz sensibilities. The two held a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the recording of their debut album. Appropriately so, they kickstarted their stay at MetroSonic with a live streaming concert held in our Showroom. The concert was simultaneously recorded, mixed, and live streamed. A first for MetroSonic. As you can see in the pictures, a diverse & talented group of musicians accompanied the duo, including Ian Baggette on bass, Jamie Eblen on drums, Jujari Britt on cello, backing vocals, and a string section.

Bradley and Joelle returned to MetroSonic to produce and record their album over a period of two weeks.  The process began with recording basic elements from where the compositions were originally inspired, guitar and vocal parts. Next were drums and bass, followed by strings and vocal overdubs. As seen in the photo, MetroSonic’s RCA 44-BX pair were used to record drums, allowing for the uncolored sound the album aimed for. Later, the string section was recorded in our Show-Room, also to enhance the recording’s live and realistic feel.

Once recording was completed, Pete worked in solitary mixing the album’s tracks as Joelle and Bradley graciously took some time to talk about the album with us. We began to discuss the concept of the album and what they wanted their listeners to experience. The two exchanged glances and Bradley began, “It is a song cycle, portraying the first few years of our relationship, meeting, being enamored, our issues, societal issues, in order for us to be in a good place. There are themes throughout like an opus, or symphony that reoccur throughout keys, time signatures, songs.  It was not intellectualized, we wanted to have fun writing music, doing things we thought were cool.” Joelle added, “We want the listener to take something out of, it does not have to be how I felt, I want everyone to connect on some level even if its subconscious or subtle. Its a pretty honest album, not just the story, but how we recorded it. Its supposed to be like a live performance, people can relate to that fact, its intimate and exposing. Listeners will feel you’re probably telling the truth when there’s no auto-tune.”  Bradley described a ride he envisioned the listeners to be on with the couple, “They are going with us to all these places, up and down, dynamic changes, an emotional roller coaster. At the end of the album, the first few seconds of silence I want the listener to be there in awe. We want each song to stand on its own and interweave together to form a well constructed tapestry.”

Joelle spoke of the difficulties they encountered while writing the album, “Its about a relationship, and we are trying to put it in one person’s perspective. It’s like, ‘I didn’t do that’, and you reply, ‘Uhh yes, you did.’ There was a lot of growing we did to perform those songs, they were so personal. The first time we preformed we did the songs in New Orleans for Bradley’s friends and family, it was so exposing, I was yelling at him in his house, in front of his mother, like should I stop? Its so hard separating yourself from it, accusing, ranting at the other person. Then explaining it to them, you have to sing like this, cause they can’t sing it right if they don’t understand what they are singing about. Just organizing it was hard, writing for 12 people, especially the string parts."

Bradley concluded, ” We just want to make the best music we can, live the best we can, and make the world the best it could be. Joelle smiled, “Its true but when you read it or say it, its like sure. Everyone is so jaded, like ‘Hah, right’. Aldous Huxley said words are like laundry, people feel ‘I don’t care about this anymore, I’ve heard it so many times’. We just want to be as harmonious as we can.” When asked about their experience working at Metrosonic, Bradley replied, “Pete got what we wanted without us having to tell him, he captured the concept. It was a special place to perform in as well, the showroom  has a great energy, a supportive environment.”