INTERVIEW
WESTBEACH RECORDERS
by Christer Davidsson, November 2007

Hey there Westbeach Recorders! How are you?

Don: -Fantastic!
Ian: -Partly cloudy at 810 degrees. Feeling great about it, although the earth is on fire.

To get started, can you tell me a little bit about who's working at Westbeach?

Don: -Ian and Seth. I’m not working anymore, only by request.
Ian: -Plus Chewbacca and an unknown elf.

When did you start the studio and why? Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion was one of the founders, right?

Don: -I met Brett after going to engineering school, Hollywood Sound Arts, coincidentally the same school that Brett had attended a year or so previously. A mutual acquaintance introduced us and having just moved from Victoria, B.C., the ultra repressive center of Canada, I was immediately caught up in the excitement of the punk rock resurgence of 1987. There were strippers, L7, Children’s Day with gorgeous model girlfriends in the studio; Bad Religion, NOFX…I had arrived in Hollywood!

I think most people involved in the punk/ hardcore movement know about the studio. You recorded some of the classic punk rock records of the 90's. Which was your first really good recording?

Don: -I love “Paint as a Fragrance” by Rocket From The Crypt, also Chemical People “Ask The Angels” and Big Drill Car “Surrender”. The Distorted Pony track on the Flipside Comp is great. I really love the Concrete Blonde demo for “Joey”.

"Punk In Drublic" by NOFX and "How To Clean Everything" by Propagandhi were two of the records that got me into the whole punk rock thing. Apart from that you've recorded classic records by Rancid, Ten Foot Pole etc. How does it feel to be a part of punk rock history?

Don: -Fantastic, I am called the Grandfather of Punk Rock in Wikipedia. At this time of my life I am able to receive that appreciation from others and really feel good about it. As an artist, it was always hard for me to appreciate my own work. By the way, I recorded “White Trash, Two Heebs, and a Bean” not “Punk in Drublic”, and Ten Foot Pole was done by another guy; both recorded at Westbeach, of course.

A bunch of those records must be the "best-sellers" of 90's punk. Do you know which one of your recordings has sold the most?

Don: -Yes. I think Munkafust sold over 50 copies. I got a tin foil record to prove it.
Seth: -Last I checked The Offspring’s “Smash” has sold over 16 million copies making it the biggest selling independent album of all time. We also have a few awards displayed on the wall; Rancid “Let’s Go”, and NOFX “Punk in Drublic” just to name a few. Both of those albums achieved gold status selling over 500,000 copies.

Back then you could almost tell if a record was recorded at Westbeach by just listening to it. I think you really had a signature sound back then, do you think that has changed a lot over the years?

Don: -No Westbeach has never been afraid of the midrange. Our productions are never muddy or thin. We are balls to the wall and now with Ian at the controls, our records actually have bass on them.
Ian: -Westbeach has a reputation for quality in our recordings, we try to uphold it no matter what we are working on.

Which recording are you the most proud of?
Don: - “White Trash”, “Shaver”, Against All Authourity, “When Pregnasaurs Ruled The Earth…”, Empty Handed, Guttermouth and Strung Out.

Any recordings you're ashamed of? Anything that just didn't work out..?

Don: -Yes I really screwed up the Frenzal Rhomb and Burning Heads, also a few others. On the upside, I got really good at salvaging shitty sounding recordings, and even had a band from Belgium bring masters to me to remix. Joe Peccerillo, a Westbeach engineer in the 1990’s, said one day that I was really good and making stuff sound better than it was. I think I learned this because my own tracks were recorded badly by me and then I would try to salvage them the best I could! Nowadays, I try to lay down great sounding tracks, right off the bat.  That is what is good about engineering, the older you get the better you get at it, just like having sex.

You must have a ton of memories from your past recording-sessions. Any favorite anecdotes?
Don: -Dave Smalley (Down By Law) having to be eating Mc Donald’s while singing, you can hear him chewing a burger on the recordings if you listen closely. Rancid scoring 18 runs to 3 at whiffle ball against the jocks next door. Pennywises’ Fletcher Dragge eating 6 bags of pork rhinds in the back seat of the car just so he could puke on Byron on the way to a show at the Cocoanut Teaser.  Caught Inside rolling into the parking lot from Florida with a box full of “Shane’s World”. Brett, a heavy smoker, beating the drummer from Instead in the 50-yard dash!
ian: I wish there was more time for the craziness but bands these days seem ultra tame and most are focused on their music. Unless there is more going on beyond the scenes then I know of. I’ve heard some really crazy stories from the old days, but I’m keeping that stuff on the down low. Since I’ve been here their haven’t been such outrageous stories, but hopefully there will be in the near future, I could use the entertainment.

How many recordings do you normally do in year?

Seth: -We get a constant flow of bands that lockout the studio for a few weeks and bands who are on a budget just looking to record some demos. We also have a steady amount of weekend sessions all year long. The days of 3-month lockouts are few and far between nowadays, but occasionally they happen. We are proud to say that Westbeach also maintains a steady wave of bookings based on the projects that we’ve done in the past IE: NOFX, Bad Religion, Rancid, etc. 

Some of you have been releasing records under the name Fallen-Angel-Records. Would you call this Westbeach's own label?

Seth: -All of the albums released on Fallen-Angel-Records have been recorded at Westbeach except for one EP. I chose this studio on the simple fact that I grew up listening to Brett and Dons’ recordings and because I thought their work was some of the best.  After working on several albums with Don, we became friends and eventually I was hired as the studio manager.  Besides the history alone here at Westbeach it gives me the opportunity to meet a ton of great bands; that’s how I met Battle Flask and The Filthies.  After being in the studio with these bands I was impressed by more than just their talent as musicians, but by their drive and pursuit of their music careers.  We eventually stuck a deal and I released their albums later that year.

For how long have you been running the label?

Seth: -I came up with the idea of starting the label in 1999 after finishing an internship at Epitaph.  As a 15-year-old kid, my goal was to work at Epitaph and 12 years later I finally got that chance. I had just finished a program at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and had to complete 400 internship “free” hours thus landing at Epitaph.  My knowledge of the music industry was limited but my dedication to the punk music scene was second to none as far as I was concerned. Some days it was like a “who’s who of punk rock”.  On any given day you might see Dropkick Murphys stopping in from tour, BBQ with Voodoo Glow Skulls, or just seeing Joe Strummer walking the halls. It was so much fun just being there and being involved with the people who were a huge force behind the punk music scene. But things were changing when I was there and there was no chance of employment for me. I decided then and there I want to re-create what I had learned through my experiences at Epitaph on a smaller scale. Fallen-Angel-Records has been in operation now for 7 years. We operate as an independent label, but our bands have achieved some major accomplishments. I feel that it’s important to maintain a strong artist/label relationship, grow together, and have the time of your life in the process. 

I really like the Battle Flask CD you released. What else is new?

Seth: -I can’t say enough good about those guys. Battle Flask is what every up and coming band should strive to be. They go out there, get after it, and make things happen for themselves.  The Filthies “Your Turn” was released in February and that album blows me away. Front man Kenny Mount has so much charisma and is a natural born performer who always gives 110%.  That particular project was so memorable because Don, Ian, and myself all worked on their album together and I feel it’s one of the best things that we’ve done. The Widders “Down For Life” featuring professional skateboarding legend Tom Knox was released in August and has been doing really well. They sound like Motorhead with an upright bass, really gnarly stuff!

With the "digital-age" the technology development is so freakin' fast. Has the fact that band's have a much more wide range of recording options, Cubase, ProTools and such, had an impact on regular studios?

Ian: -It has totally changed the way the recording industry does business. It’s cheaper faster and easier for the average joe to record these days, but do they really know what they are doing? I’ve seen a million back yard studios pop up in the last 10 years. Some good, some OK and some are terrible. You have to know that you usually get what you pay for. It has also changed the sound of music, is it for better or worse? Well, it depends on who you ask. But the biggest factor to me is the price of music. It’s kinda sad to see people rushing to make an album these days when the prices are so cheap. I understand being on a budget and getting a lot of work done in a small amount of time. But when you make a record, it is just that, a record of a period of time in your life. Hopefully you don’t sell it short, make sure you put something out that captures what you wanted and you are proud to have as a record of that period in your life. Choose your engineer by listening to their past work. Make sure you are getting what you paid for.

How do you feel about that? Is the "regular" studio taking a hit because of this?

Ian: -The bigger “million dollar a day” studios definitely took a hit. Most people don’t realize that the biggest studios are closing down or for sale. We get a lot of the spill off from that. A lot of the bigger label projects are starting to come to us based on the quality and price we offer. Studios like ours are right in the middle. We keep the rates low, and still have a huge recording console and plenty of outboard gear. Plus, our drum room is amazing. You really can’t compare us to a back yard studio because we are far beyond that.

New bands that doesn't have a lot of money must be doing a lot of their recordings pratically in their own homes since it's much cheaper, am I right?

Ian: -Yep absolutely, I’ve just finished working with a couple bands that are doing half home studio and half with us. I think if you take that route, the most important thing to do is to record at least the drums at a real studio and get the final mix done at a real studio, those to me are the most crucial elements to a good recording. But if you do it yourself, talk to the engineer you are working with, try and get some tips on what you are attempting to record. Otherwise you might be completely wasting your time. Nothing is worse then working on something that wasn’t properly recorded. You could end up chasing your tail. In the end you may spend more trying to fix what you did wrong. So if your going to attempt it yourself just do your research and practice, practice, practice.

Have how technology changed your own studio these past years. Have you been using more digital stuff than before?

Ian: -Definitely, it’s been more digital these days. Like I said before it is faster and cheaper in so many ways, BUT we still use analog. I mainly mix on the console and we still use tape when we can talk a band into spending a bit of extra money. Nobody has regretted tape yet. Of course it is so rare these days because the tape is getting more expensive and digital prices on things are going down. On another note, digital is getting better everyday and there is a bunch of cool stuff out there these days that can emulate tape and classic analog gear. Again, it’s a preference. I love the integration of both analog and digital together.

So, why should a band book Westbeach Recorders? What makes your studio so great?

Ian: -I can definitely say that we like to have fun. I mean, c’mon we are making music! We like to establish a relationship with the bands. Most of them become more than clients to us, we end up friends during the process of working together. I know that Don and myself are extremely close to the projects that we work on. We never want a client to walk away disappointed with the work we have done. We take pride in what we do almost to the point of being obsessed over your project while you are here. We don’t stop until you are hearing what you had intended to hear when you choose to come to us, or hopefully you are hearing something way beyond your expectations. Plus just being in a studio with as much history as this place has is exciting alone!

Anything else you'd like to add before we say goodbye?

Don: -I want to thank all of our clients and friends who have made all the memories I have so very meaningful.
Ian: - Nope, but if you want to see and hear more…come down here and take a tour. We are always open to meeting people even if it’s just to say hello and take a look at the studio. It really is something you have to see to believe. Goodbye people.

Photos: 1) The Filthies. 2) Melvins

Links:

Westbeach Recorders | http://www.westbeachrecorders.com

Official MySpace | http://www.myspace.com/westbeachrecorders