New Location, Up and Running
Posted by Carson Slovak on Jul.19, 2011
June was a pretty hectic month for Atrium. Between finishing several projects at the same time, tearing apart / organizing / packing up the old studio, accruing some good old debt on some brand new gear, settling on a building, moving in / organizing / setting up the new studio and jumping right into an overbooked recording schedule, I’m somewhat surprised I haven’t suffered a brain aneurysm or at least a quick murder-suicide. But now that the dust is finally settled, I’m proud to announce that Atrium Audio 3.0 is up and running.
Moving out of the old studio was a bittersweet process. So many things I couldn’t stand about that stupid place but I can’t deny the last five years being some of the best in my life. I’ve learned so much about recording and producing, made life-long friends, built my business and had some incredibly fun experiences in that old warehouse. But at the end of the day, I suppose the allure of high-class amenities such as internet and hot water was just too much to bear.
Onwards and upwards. In classic form, my estimated timeframe for the move was about half as much time as was actually needed. As a result, the first scheduled recording sessions for the new studio had to be pushed back a full week, in turn condensing the next six weeks of sessions into a highly-concentrated workaholic’s wet dream. Our new Argosy desk didn’t even arrive until three days into the first band’s progress. Grant’s tour with TOTA was cancelled unexpectedly and he managed to book a week’s worth of sessions for Studio B before they even arrived back in Lancaster. Surprisingly though, very few bugs had to be worked out and we managed to get acclimated to the new studio pretty quickly. 13 bands later and we finally have a few days off, allowing us to clean the studio spotless and get our buddy Eric Forberger to come in and take some slick new interior photos (and subsequently enabling me to update this website).
So there you have it. Poke around and check out the new digs. Needless to say, everyone involved with the studio is extremely excited about the new place. Thanks to all of the bands who helped me build something from nothing over the last few years. – c
Tags: Eric Forberger, New Studio, This or the Apocalypse
Launch 2011 Wrap-up
Posted by Carson Slovak on Apr.25, 2011
Thanks so much to everyone who checked out our trade show booth at the Launch Music Conference this past weekend. It was great seeing so many friends and meeting some new ones as well. The Atrium / Aurora booth seemed to be a hit with everyone who stopped by. So thanks again for making this year a success.
As part of the trade show, we raffled off some free studio time. Believe it or not, the winner of the raffle is York, PA’s Hold Your Breath!, the same band that recently won studio time in the Champ High School Battle of the Bands at the end of 2010. Congrats to HYB. I’m stoked to have you guys back in! – c
Tags: Hold Your Breath!, Launch Music Conference
Belated 2011 Update
Posted by Carson Slovak on Mar.25, 2011
As usual, the lack of updates is due to us being ridiculously busy with a ton of cool stuff. Hopefully I can get myself into the habit of keeping this site fresh with more frequent blog posts about what’s happening. Where to start…
Since December, we’ve had a ton of cool bands come through, including artists new to the studio and some returning friends as well. Some of the projects include new music from Jerod Eckenrode, Adam Taylor, Young Historians, Atlantic Avenue, May Bright Sunday, Morgan’s Accident, Schema, Macter The Martyr, Cyperna, My Heart To Fear, Carousel Kings, Amateur Theory, One Year Later, Now The City, Black Friday, Ryan Wickersham, Free The Fallen, Flight Case Syndrome, Anoka and Ex-Creations, to name a few. As you can imagine, we’ve had our hands full but it’s been a fantastic start to 2011 and a great kick-off to what’s shaping up to be an awesome year.
Atrium recently sponsored the High School Battle of the Bands at The Champ in Lemoyne, PA. The event took place once a month over the end of 2010. As part of the final prize, the winning band came into Atrium to track a song for free. Congrats to Hold Your Breath from York, PA for winning. We had a blast tracking their song “The Weak Are Left For Dead” at the studio.
One project I’m personally extremely excited about is the new music from my friends in The Gracious Few, the “super-group” comprised entirely of members of two of my all-time favorite bands, Live and Candlebox. I co-produced and engineered two new singles for the band this past month and they’re both fantastic. As many of you know, Chad Taylor (guitarist in TGF / Live) was a fundamental motivator for me when I became interested in the production end of music. Since his work on my first band’s EP back in 2002, we’ve had the opportunity to work together on a number of projects and it’s always a blast. The new TGF tracks are heavy, thick and dynamic. Very excited to play them for everyone when they’re released. Stay tuned.
Atrium, along with Aurora Creative Group, will again be an official sponsor of this year’s upcoming Launch Music Conference. This will be the third year for the annual conference, which seems to be getting exponentially bigger with each incarnation. Atrium will have a booth at the conference trade show and we’ll be there for the entire weekend to hand out free music, information and talk to everyone who comes by. The event takes place April 21-24 at the Convention Center in downtown Lancaster, PA. If you’re thinking of attending, remember to register ahead of time to receive discounted pricing. And of course, please stop by our booth and say hello!
Last but certainly not least, the big news: Atrium is now officially moving! We’ve endeavored to purchase a stand-alone building down the street from our current location. I’m extremely excited about this as it’s a move I’ve been wanting to make happen for over a year. While I’ve personally put a ton of “love labor” into our current space (sanding drywall at 3am, building a wooden subfloor with a group of friends, very slowly painting things, etc.) it’s time to say goodbye and move on up. The new space is a small, three-floor building on Prince St. in (a much nicer area of) Lancaster, close-by to The Brickyard sports bar and restaurant, Senorita Burrita, CI Records and The Chameleon, among other cool businesses. The new facility will have two studios, a main “A” tracking room, control room and iso, along with a “B” control room and iso. The vibe is great and I’m beyond excited to move, which is tentatively scheduled for mid-May.
So that’s about as concise of an update as I can make right now without my head imploding. Some cool upcoming projects we have booked over the next few months include Fisthammer, Twelve After, Black Friday, Paper Castle, Bells, Face For Radio, Barriers, Until Days End, Ahimsa Sunrise, The Last Ten Seconds Of Life, Daylight Falls, Headstrong, Things Behind The Sun, Dionaea and Set Sail. At some point in there, I’m also going to attempt to finish up the recording process for my own band, Century, which Ricky, Grant and I have about 13 solid songs for, sans vocals. Hopefully it will come out sometime before the 2012 apocalypse.
– Carson
Tags: Adam Taylor, Amateur Theory, Anoka and Ex-Creations, Atlantic Avenue, Aurora Creative Group, Black Friday, Carousel Kings, Cyperna, Flight Case Syndrome, Free The Fallen, Jerod Eckenrode, Macter The Martyr, May Bright Sunday, Morgan's Accident, My Heart To Fear, Now The City, One Year Later, Ryan Wickersham, Schema, The Champ, The Gracious Few, Young Historians
August Burns Red “Little Drummer Boy”
Posted by Carson Slovak on Nov.23, 2010
Our pals in August Burns Red just posted their cover of the classic Christmas song “Little Drummer Boy.” The track was produced and recorded by me (Carson) here at Atrium and mixed by Magnus Líndberg of Cult of Luna. We had a blast putting this one together as it’s quite different from anything ABR has done in the past. Check it out HERE.
Tags: August Burns Red, Little Drummer Boy
Current Projects, Champ Battle of the Bands
Posted by Carson Slovak on Oct.29, 2010
Things are rolling along nicely as 2010 nears its end. We’ve had a handful of really cool and diverse bands come through over the last month or so. I did a full-length for the awesome dudes in Dream Device, who play a great mixture of 90′s-style alternative and modern radio rock. My great friend Adam Taylor also tracked his new folk/rock album at Atrium with his big brother (and current guitarist of The Gracious Few), Chad Taylor, producing.
I’m currently finishing up the final mix on an awesome band from the Philly area called Trophy Wife. We recorded the entire 12-song full-length in under four days, tracking live with minimal overdubs and getting almost everything in one take. Their music has a ton of depth and raw energy that I think we were able to capture by tracking everything together. Some other cool projects include Morgan’s Accident, Vision and Color, The Last Ten Seconds of Life, Now The City, Von Brossman and Tokens of Home.
In other news, Atrium Audio is currently a main sponsor for the Championship Battle of the Bands, which is running until the end of the year at The Champ in Lemoyne, PA. The contest is organized by our close friends at CI Records. The winner will receive a prize package that includes free studio time at Atrium, among other cool shit. Our studio dropcard sampler is available at all of the dates. If you’re in the area, check out the Champ’s website for the schedule and come out to one of the shows.
Atrium producer Grant McFarland recently made a drum video at the studio with our pal Jandy from Never Settle Films. The video is Grant playing drums to his band This or the Apocalypse‘s song “Charmer” off their recent Good Fight Entertainment release Haunt What’s Left. Our pal Max from Carousel Kings also made a similar video for the song “League of Small Heroes” from their upcoming full-length, which Grant and I co-produced at Atrium. Check out both videos below and hit up the videos page for a few new clips of different artists recording at Atrium.
That’s it for now. Namaste. – c
Tags: Adam Taylor, Carousel Kings, Chad Taylor, CI Records, Dream Device, Morgan's Accident, Never Settle Film, Now The City, The Champ, The Gracious Few, The Last Ten Seconds of Life, This or the Apocalypse, Tokens of Home, Trophy Wife, Vision and Color, Von Brossman
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