a few updates

FIRST OFF!

all summer (well may-july)

im discounting my prices to the following just for the hell of it :
3 song demo (6 hours, 3 songs) - $150
Album package (4 days up to 12 songs) - $500
E.P package (2 days up to 6 songs) - $275

all packages include free mastering

these prices will stay like this until august first so book now !
weekend and night prices vary so contact me if you have any questions.

booking
626 216 3298
lxestrada@gmail.com

ok now the updates...
this year has been going by really fast! here's whats been going on at the studio :

the "thousands fled" record was finally completed and without a doubt has to be one of the best sounding records ive ever worked on .. unfortunately the band recently decided to call it quits.. bummer ..

i finished recording a e.p for the band "benoit" .. it came out amazing, this band is releasing some more stuff later this year so keep an eye out.

the Cathedrals/Deadhead split came out on mayfly records .. it's one of my favorite splits i've gotten to work on ( and be on)

I've been working with "theater of the absurd" on their debut full length .. it's coming out great so far! this band is nearly impossible to decribe.. maybe Queen meets Elvis Costello with a modern rock/punk influence?

I finished the new DEADHEAD record to be released very soon on Melotov records.. so far it's my record of the year.. it was a lot of fun to make also!

Touche Amore are currently touring with Thursday and Converge before heading out with Strike Anywhere and Bane.. i completed their record "to the beat of a dead horse" last year and am super stoked to see how far these guys are going.

The ABANDON record "the death of urgency" as well as CALCULATOR's "these roots grow deep" were released recently.. both records turned out great and were a great addition to my vinyl collection .

I got some new gear that will be moved into the studio pretty soon and i'm also giving the rooms a much needed makeover ...

i think thats it for now..

become a fan of "the earth capital" on facebook!


smell ya later

THE 2009 EARTH CAPITAL AWARDS!

The 2009 Earth Capital Awards

so this was my busiest year ever at the studio and ive been trying to build a recap of what i've done these past 12 months.. so here are a few random "awards" to bands and people ive worked with this year!. this is pretty much a "best of " list, the winner for each category is decided because i probably still actually listen to them the most! but all the nominees and even ones that werent names are still probably on my constant rotation! unless it's like a metalcore band.. also this is only stuff that came out in 2009 ! some of my fav records ive worked on this year were made this month and wont be out til 2010! so keep an eye out :)

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demo of the year!

nominees :

thousands fled

canyons

calculator

the winner = CANYONS !

this band is from orange county and rules.. the music is along the lines of old modest mouse and tokyo police club .. i havent stopped listening to their demo since we made it!

www.myspace.com/wearecanyons

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e.p of the year !

nominees :

bad lovers

worship

bleeding kansas (the bk/cathedrals split)

the winner = BLEEDING KANSAS!

this is a band i've loved since i was a kid in high school , somewhere along the line i ended up becoming friends with them and in a band with one of the members.. their part of this release is amazing! , they were known for being an amazing live hardcore band with their roots in punk but this time around they pulled a "cave in" on everyone and put on some super solid rock songs!

www.myspace.com/bleedingkansas

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drummer of the year !

the nominees :

Z - touche amore ( studio drums for "to the beat of a dead horse" )

garret harney : ex-charged,narcissa,

wolf - worship

and the winner is : Z!

the first day of recording for the touche amore record was supposed to be a long ass day of drum tones, tempo tracks and multiple takes... but no.. z came in with the old ass drum heads and i was bummed.. then i heard him hit the drums and i was silenced.. his drumming on the ta record is on point from start to finish , we did tracks for 11 songs all to a click track in under 4 hours.. talented dude! be sure to check out his band good friday!

*garret holds the record for fastest tracking , 13 songs, over 45 minutes of music all to a click track recorded in under 2 hours ! , but that record isnt out yet : /

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guitarist of the year!

daniel p. - bleeding kansas

todd jones - nails

the 2 dudes from calculator who's names i forget

and the winner is - Todd jones from nails..

if you don't own "obscene humanity" by nails, you need to.. we all know todd from betrayed, carry on , terror ect.. but nails is on another level.. recording this guys guitar tracks was a hell of an experience.. one side with a bogner and his top secret pedal and the other with my yamaha t100.. he can produce the best feedback i've ever heard, and strum harder/speed pick better than anyone else ive ever worked with .

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bassist of the year!

nick - touche amore

madison - canyons

eric - bad lovers

and the winner is .. ERIC from bad lovers!

eric and i have worked together several times.. all the restrained releases, the first bad lovers demo , deadhead ect.. but on "long hair, no care" his bass playing carries the songs wonderfully ! , plus we've developed a "secret big baby jesus" bass tone over the years.. be sure to check them out! for fans of : the jesus lizard and young widows .

www.myspace.com/badlovers

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vocalist of the year!

jeremy - touche amore

todd - nails

kevan - restrained

and the winner is .. JEREMY from touche amore

the vocals for this record were very raw.. a mic a few inches from his mouth and one like 4 feet back from that.. the further mic is what was used most in the mix.. you can understand every single word on the record , the timing is on and the emotion is there.. there is a reason every fucking kid on earth knows the sing along in "honest sleep" ..

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most laid back fun experience !

canyons - demo

xibalba - madre mia ..

children of god - demo

and the winner is .. XIBALBA!

we laughed all day.. watched movies , made fun of nate, laughed some more..

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most stressful record to make!

xibalba - madre mia

the gypsys - praise jesus ( seriously)

bleeding kansas/cathedrals - split 12 "

and the winner is .. XIBALBA!

we laughed all day.. watched movies , made fun of nate, laughed some more..

this record took wayyy too long to make.

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lunch break of the year!

7 generations - purgatory pizza

abandon - vegan house

restrained - wurstkuche

and the winner is ... 7 GENERATIONS!

vegan pizza > anything else ..

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song of the year!

canyons - "table scraps"

bleeding kansas - "lucky"

spirit fangs - "strawberry skin, where have you been"

and the winner is ... CANYONS!.

i cant stop listening to this damn song! great drumming , great guitar work , awesome bass tone and a very catchy melody!

www.myspace.com/wearecanyons

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best fight that could have happened!

romeo vs tommy - restrained

tommy vs eric - restrained

eric vs tommy - bad lovers

me vs idiot that made a "cop" comment about a friend of mine.

and the winner is ..

ERIC VS TOMMY- bad lovers/restrained!

there is a love that runs deep for each other.. i think , but in the studio it never shows its face!

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most random session of the year!

mr.tyler - mr.tylers neighborhood

the gypsy's - praise jesus

and the winner is.. THE GYPSYS!

this was my first time ever working on a record for a church.. and it will probably be my last.. it was a huge learning experience .. but 9 days working on a 70 minute record with choir's and 11 guitar tracks on each song .. is rough.. oh and it wasnt in english %99 of the time!.

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album of the year!

touche amore - to the beat of a dead horse.. (6131 records)

nails - obscene humanity (6 feet under records)

spirit fangs - read my palm , revenant (steal mantra)

and the winner is .. TOUCHE AMORE.

this album is 11 songs and pretty damn short.. but gets the point across!

it was awesome making this and mixing it (paul miner mastered it) , it has gotten tons of great reviews and really pushed this band forward.. they just got back from a long tour across the u.s , playing along side bands like : thursday , the fall of troy , rise and fall , la dispute and more.. pick up this record asap. with that being said, they are also my pick for band of the year.. they work hard, are great dudes and sacrifice a lot to be on the road for so long to do what they love.. get into it .

www.myspace.com/toucheamore

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updates

summer is way too busy , im currently booking mid august / october . 

the xibalba record is done.

the nails record is out

the final restrained record is out

worship is breaking up :( but you can download their final album .

the touche amore record is up for pre order @ the 6131 site..

sunny day real estate is playing in october!.

i got a sweet little tube mic pre that i love . 

book some time, lets make a record 626 216 3298

summer updates!

hey guys , this is long overdue i know i know.
well summer is here and i've been BEYOND busy in the studio .
the TOUCHE AMORE record has been mastered and sent to record plant .
it will be put out by 6131 and collect records (geoff from thursdays new label)
you can hear a new song off the record on their page as well as mine (theearthcapital.com)

BETRAYED tracked drums for 7 songs a few weeks ago , they will be back in a few months to track a few more before we get down to business with guitars and bass.. i'm super stoked about this record! be sure to catch them as well as touche amore , xibalba , badmouth ,rotting out , downpresser and creatures on this years sound and fury! i'm stoked to have so many bands i've worked with on this years lineup!.

the WORSHIP record turned out great! and has been picked up by a awesome label called reflections records out of europe for a full 12" release! we're all really excited about it .

the BLEEDING KANSAS / CATHEDRALS split is about %75 complete! , all the music is complete and we're going to finish off all the bk stuff tomorrow .. hopefully i can find sometime next week in my crazy schedual to do my vocals on the cathedrals tracks as well as mix it so it can be done already !.

RESTRAINED has decided to call it quits, for this i am very sad.. one of my fav southern california bands and a band i owe a lot too for getting my name out there .. they will be in the studio a few weeks from now to track their final e.p

i'll be doing a new ABANDON record in june, i'm sure i will be eating like a king that week!
(purgatory pizza in downtown has vegan pizza! om nom nom nom )


i leave may 28th for kansas with my girlfriend , i'll be at the black lodge recording workshop being taught by no other than ED ROSE! he is responsible for my fav records by : able baker fox, coalesce, the get up kids, the casket lottery , jackie carol and many more. i'll be back the second week of june and after that i'm booked solid til july.. in other words.. i'm currently booking july !

i guess thats all from now , ill have a new post up this weekend with details of the bleeding kansas record.. the guitar setup for this record is NUTS! okokok im out..
be safe, go vegan .

www.goveg.com

UPDATES!

Published on

2/24/09 12:04 AM

- I'm currently putting the final touches on the TOUCHE AMORE LP "To the beat of a dead horse..."

Which will be out this spring on 6131 records after being mastered by PAUL MINER (since by man, h20, nfg) 

- XIBALBA is now tracking their debut 9 song album. Drums and all the guitars are done as of tonight. i'll be making post's about these 2 records in detail soon . The guitar sounds on this record are EPIC to say the least! we have a lot of cool stuff planned as far as the flow and overall feel to the record as well as a ton of extra percussion. 

BETRAYED - will be back in the studio in March to track a few more songs, not too sure what will happen with them but it's exciting to say the least.

The NAILS record is DONE! I remixed and mastered it recently and it sounds awesome, I can't wait to get my hands on the vinyl. 

BAD LOVERS (nov 4th,5th)

So to start out with ,

this has to be one of my favorite projects to date.. 

the band is calles BAD LOVERS..

the music is similar to that of YOUNG WIDOWS,THE JESUS LIZARD,INK AND DAGGER ect..

awesome right?

anyways.. this was a last minute 2 day project meant to be a demo for this relatively new band feature members of restrained. 

the heart of this recording is the vibe factor.. i had a vision from the get go for this ..

they wanted to record live which im not really set up for right now , so the best i could do was to get a live sound utilizing what i had to work with .. the drum set was a huge fibes acrylic kit with a sweet 70's ludwig suprasonic snare.. .. i  really wanted to utilize the studio space for this project, if i had the resources i most definetly would have used several room mics but given the constraints present i decided to close mic everything as usual but opted for a single mono room mic.. a cool trade show find by the company ALCATRON , it's a pretty basic chinese ribbon mic that's seen better days.. without a second thought i simply placed it in it's given shockmount and nestled it in the bottom half of a extra drum throne sitting a few feet from the kit.. as it turns out this mic captured most of the kit with that "vibe" i was looking for , i compressed it pretty hard with a ultrafunk compressor and let it sit in the dead center of the mix.. next , i grouped the overheads and sent them to the ssl ch strip with a little eq and compression . i also added a nice room reverb .. thats pretty much it for drums.. the kit sounded huge in person and i think it sounds huge recorded which im very happy about.. next was guitars.. the head was a awesome marshall mk been fed by a rickenbacker , well why mess with success right? i kept the ribbon mic active close to the floor and added another dynamic mic close to the center cone of a speaker as well as a ldc a few feet back .. the band only has 1 guitar player so i split all 3 signals and panned them accordingly with a very fast delay to fatting things up .. next was bass... which im sorry to say is TOP SECRET . jazz bass,good bassist = thats all im going to say . 

for the vocals i was a little stumped. it needed that punch , a little something to stand out ... well what better then a room sound for such a interesting singer right? i placed a audix om2 about 8 inches from the singer as well as a ldc about 4 feet away .. i compressed the ldc pretty hard and let the audix get the up close subtle touches from the singer... in the long run , the main vocal track is from the distant mic with no added reverb , just the natural room sound and a nice hard compression  thanks to the waves rcomp . mix wise, there wasnt much too it, get everything to sit well together, and compliment eachother and make sure the vocal was just another instrument in the whole sea of things going on .. 

thats it for now, i hope you like it.

www.myspace.com/badlovers

NEW BLOG EH?

So,

i decided to start a studio blog.. nothing fancy but just somewhere for me to post details and random blurbs about projects i have going on now and projects ive had in the past.. 

word!