Stoomboot is well on his way to becoming a regular here at tonekitchen.be. Zwarte Doos is his third full album offering and our third collaboration to date (hence the title of this post; it’s a Dutch proverb – google it ). Besides recording, mixing and mastering the album, I also added a bunch of Hammond parts and various synth parts and textures. Enjoy!

Rebirth::Collective is a Belgian jazz band, founded by trombone player Dree Peremans in 2010. The group is a nonet, six horns and rhythm section (piano/upright bass/drums), and functions as a small bigband, with compositions and arrangements written mainly by its leader. I had the honour and the pleasure of mixing their latest album, “Witchcraft”, in the summer of 2017.

The title of this post breaches the “English only” tradition I had going on this site, only because it’s a nice play of words in Dutch on the title of the album “Zin”. Zin marks the comeback after an eight year hiatus for Lenny en the Wespen. We recorded it during a gorgeously hot Indian Summer week in mid-September 2016. In this kind of weather, tonekitchen studios and its surrounding grounds get to extoll all of their “South-of-France” virtues to the max. Needless to say, we had a blast.

I had recorded and mixed The Monotrol Kid‘s previous album “My Talk My Song” at breakneck speed, under haphazard conditions. This time around we decided to venture out a bit more, both in time and in resources. The result could be described as a warm, lyrical, engaging album. But you be the judge: the album is up on various streaming media and sales outlets.

Having ventured into the exotic realms of Bossa Nova with their previous offering, MandolinMan decided a return to the roots was in order. However, as the name of the album “Unfolding The Roots” suggests, they are extending the quintessential sonic palette of said “roots” to a broader, more adventurous soundscape. I had the pleasure of contributing some keys and textures to this effort.

Pro audio distributor Amptec recently invited me to give a day-long masterclass in Music Mixing with Pro Tools. Over the years, my workflow has changed from using large analog consoles to alternating between a hybrid and a fully in-the-box setup. Explaining the ins and outs of my current methods and exchanging ideas with fellow sound engineers made for an interesting and fruitful day..

Nick Drummond has been a performing songwriter for over 10 years, selling out multi-night runs at historic venues such as Seattle, WA’s Triple Door and Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley with legendary Pacific Northwest rock-band-with-jazz-instrumentation The Senate (hailed by A Prairie Home Companion’s Garrison Keillor for their “Brilliant Dionysian music.”) Drummond is also known for his work with former band Impossible Bird. Seattle Weekly praised his music as “An absolutely stellar combination of upbeat alt-folk that’s mesmerizing and radiates talent.”

We got a little transatlantic connection going when Nick asked me to mix his debut solo album “Follow The Rivulets” here at tonekitchen.be. I had a great time sculpting these finely crafted songs into their final soundstage. Available now on iTunes amongst others. Have a listen!

Released about a month ago (indeed I should get around to updating this place more often..): “Storm”, the new album by Stoomboot. I had a great time mixing and mastering Stoomboot’s debut album a couple of years ago, so I was thrilled to be asked to record, mix and master his latest effort. This was the first full album to be recorded at the new tonekitchen.be location, and I am happy to report the new digs passed the test with flying colors!

Upon its release a couple of months ago, this album got a fair share of exposure and some great critical acclaim (check out the Discography section!). Here’s hoping this feature will yield some extra attention for this little gem, since I honestly feel it’s worth your while. What started off as a spare time pet project a couple of years ago has matured into a rich, multi textured piece of work. At times moodful, at times rocking and energetic, always sonically intriguing.

I had been a member of the original “Wicona” line-up some fifteen-odd years ago, so it’s great to see this album mark a renewed collaboration with Harald Vanherf (founding member of Wicona and Hoodoo Club). Rounding out the outstanding team on this record are Sjang Coenen on bass, Kristof Meeuwissen on drums, Filip Wouters on guitars and pedal steel, and Nina Babet, Chantal Kashala and Pieter-Jan De Smet on backing vocals. I took care of keyboards, part of the recording and all the mixing and mastering.

You can have a taste of some tracks on Youtube, but to savor this recording in all its glory your best bet would be to order a vinyl copy (CD included!). And like us 😉