Loudini Interviews Continental Recording Studio

First opening our doors in 2008, we have called Long Island City our home for the past six years. We are proud to be part of Long Island City’s vibrant artistic community, and celebrate the exciting cultural diversity that New York City embodies. Continental Recording Studio is fully independent and rooted in DIY ethos.

Having recorded, mixed, and mastered dozens of LP’s, EP’s, and singles over the last several years, our seasoned engineers are well versed in the art of turning your vision into reality. Our staff possesses the professional expertise to spearhead high level sessions in an efficient and effective manner while experimenting with new sounds and exploring creativity.

Loudini Interviews Brett Staggs

Brett Staggs is a songwriter based in Pittsburgh, PA. His music is a mix between Tom Petty and Paul Westerberg with poetic lyrics and melodic hooks of the americana genre. He has had many songs placed in films and is currently working on releasing his first album.

Loudini interviews Steve March-Torme

Steve's extraordinary voice has electrified audiences in venues from the Detroit Jazz Festival to the McCallum Performing Arts Center in Palm Desert, CA, to the Smith Center in Las Vegas, and worldwide from London to Japan, Australia to Brazil and Canada. It might seem an obvious choice that Steve would enter the family business, but he discovered his love for music almost by accident. Steve was born in New York City to the multi-talented Mel Tormé and the former model/actress, Candy Tockstein. They were divorced when Steve was young, and Candy married Hal March, an actor/comedian best known as the host of NBC-TV’s The $64,000 Question Show, but who also starred on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn. An avid baseball player and fan growing up in Westchester County, N.Y., Steve's dream was to play for the Yankees. He was a devoted fan who listened to games on the radio in the basement of his family home. Following every game, he’d switch to the Top 40 music stations and sing along with such artists as The Four Seasons, Nat King Cole, The Temptations, Ricky Nelson, and Gene Pitney. With his natural ear for harmonies, his favorite quickly became and remains The Beatles. By the age of 12, he knew that he wanted to be a performer, and at 13 he earned his first paycheck fronting his own band. After his family moved to Beverly Hills, he continued to develop as a musician and his influences grew to include Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Todd Rundgren, and Steely Dan.

     Steve recorded his first LP, Lucky, for United Artists Records, supporting it with a 20-city, national concert tour. Upon returning to California, he produced and sang on Liza Minnelli’s Columbia Records release Tropical Nights, which became a favorite of the New York dance clubs.

     Following Lucky, Steve received a phone call from noted jazz critic Leonard Feather, inquiring his interest in auditioning for a vocal group that Leonard's daughter, Lorraine Feather, was starting up with her friend Charlotte Crossley of The Harlettes. The recommendation came from Quincy Jones, who'd seen Steve perform at a tribute to Henry Mancini at the Hollywood Bowl. Steve went to the Planet Records offices to sing "Serenade in Blue" and "Blue Suede Shoes" for producer Richard Perry and his partner, movie producer Joel Silver, and got the gig as the solo male voice in the trio Full Swing. After the debut album (entitled Full Swing) was recorded, it was followed with tours of Brazil and Japan. Another Full Swing highlight: singing with his father, Mel, at the Kool Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall. Steve sang the lead part on Mel's arrangement of "What Is This Thing Called Love,” previously performed by the Meltones. After Richard Perry sold Planet Records, Steve left the group to pursue his solo career.

     Honing his craft as a performer, Steve worked as an actor, playing the male lead in a mini-series for RAI (Italian) Television, and appeared on a number of variety television shows back home. He spent three years as the featured vocalist on ABC-TV’s $100,000 Name That Tune and also hosted two Los Angeles-based television shows, Video 22 (a precursor to MTV) and Box Office America.

    Steve’s first solo project after Full Swing was his CD Swingin’ at the Blue Moon Bar & Grille, recorded with a crackerjack big band. It also features a duet between Steve and Mel (“Straighten Up and Fly Right”) and showcases an improvised scat lesson between father and son. That disc was followed up by The Night I Fell For You, featuring an alluring arrangement of the Lerner & Loewe classic “On the Street Where You Live,” and a number of Steve’s original tunes, many penned with longtime collaborator, pianist and musical conductor Steve Rawlins. In reviews of both CDs, critics singled out these new songs as “contemporary yet timeless,” and “combining a wry sense of humor and a natural feel for romance, with classic melodies.” Those two releases were followed up by The Essence of Love, a collection of some of the most romantic, well-crafted standards ever written, including “Blue Skies,” “Stardust,” “Every Time We Say Goodbye,” and a playful duet with jazz icon Diane Schuur on “The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else.” His current jazz CD, So Far (on iTunes, cdbaby.com, and amazon.com), combines the most popular material from his first three CDs into one “best of” recording.

    Steve’s latest CD, inside/out, goes back to his roots as a singer/songwriter, words and music written by Steve, on which he not only sings but also plays keyboards and guitar. Inside/out was written and recorded in the pop vein that Steve was weaned on as a teenager and young adult and includes cleverly penned homages to Steely Dan, Todd Rundgren and Joni Mitchell. (Available on itunes, amazon.com, and cdbaby.com.)

    Steve performs shows backed by configurations ranging from trio to symphony orchestra in venues around the world, from intimate jazz clubs to performing arts centers to festivals. Because a natural interest exists in hearing Steve sing the songs his dad was known for, he did a 28-city cross-country tour for Columbia Artists Mgt. Inc. (CAMI) entitled Tormé Sings Tormé. Steve is proud to have had the opportunity to pay tribute to his father in  a show featuring a ten-piece band (dektette) playing the extraordinary arrangements penned by Marty Paich exclusively for Mel, and a multimedia presentation of photos and video clips. A Hi-Def, 5.1 Surround Sound version of Tormé Sings Tormé was released on AIX Records, and won Best Music Dual Disc at the EMX DVD Awards Show in Los Angeles.

    In addition to his performing and recording career, Steve hosts his own radio show on the Music of Your Life network every Wed. and Thurs. afternoon. And, he is the weekday afternoon host on 91.1 FM The Avenue in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and KVYL-FM Vinyl in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. He can also be heard every Monday morning on KVYL-FM at 9 a.m. Mountain Time for a sports segment called “Mondays with March-Tormé.”

https://sites.google.com/a/rockitartistmanagement.com/steve-march-torme/home/biography

Loudini Interviews Larry Coryell

As one of the pioneers of jazz-rock -- perhaps the pioneer in the ears of some -- Larry Coryell deserves a special place in the history books. He brought what amounted to a nearly alien sensibility to jazz electric guitar playing in the 1960s, a hard-edged, cutting tone, phrasing and note-bending that owed as much to blues, rock and even country as it did to earlier, smoother bop influences. Yet as a true eclectic, armed with a brilliant technique, he is comfortable in almost every style, covering almost every base from the most decibel-heavy, distortion-laden electric work to the most delicate, soothing, intricate lines on acoustic guitar. Unfortunately, a lot of his most crucial electric work from the '60s and '70s is missing on CD, tied up by the erratic reissue schemes of Vanguard, RCA and other labels, and by jazz-rock's myopically low level of status in the CD era (although that mindset is slowly changing).

Born in Galveston, Texas on April 2, 1943 Coryell grew up in the Seattle, Washington area where his mother introduced him to the piano at the tender age of 4. He switched to guitar and played rock music while in his teens. He didn't consider himself good enough to pursue a music career and studied journalism at The University of Washington while simultaneously taking private guitar lessons. By 1965 he had relocated to New York City and began taking classical guitar lessons which would figure prominently in later stages of his career. Although citing Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry as early influences he also took cues from jazzmen such as John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery. He was also inspired by the popular music of the day by the Beatles, The Byrds and Bob Dylan and worked diligently to meld both rock and jazz stylings into his technique. This was reflected on his debut recording performance on drummer Chico Hamilton's album " The Dealer" where he sounded like chuck Berry at times with his almost distorted "fat" tone. Also in 1966 he formed a psychedelic band called The Free Spirits on which he also sang vocals, played the sitar and did most of the composing. Although conceptually the band's music conformed to the psychedelic formula with titles like "Bad News Cat" and" I'm Gonna Be Free" it foreshadowed jazz rock with more complex soloing by Coryell and Sax/flute player Jim Pepper. However, it wasn't until three years later after apprenticing on albums by Vibraphonist Gary Burton and flutist Herbie Mann and gigging with the likes of Jack Bruce and others that Coryell established his multifarious musical voice, releasing two solo albums which mixed jazz, classical and rock ingredients. In late 1969 he recorded "Spaces", the album for which he is most noted. It was a guitar blow-out which also included John McLaughlin who was also sitting on the fence between rock and jazz at the time and the cogitative result formed what many aficionados consider to be the embryo from which the fusion jazz movement of the 1970s emerged. It contained insane tempos and fiery guitar exchanges which were often beyond category not to mention some innovating acoustic bass work by Miroslav Vitous and power drumming by Billy Cobham both of whom were to make contributions to Jazz rock throughout the `70s.

His career, however, began in era of guitar rock, where he was able to rise for a time with legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, and Eric Clapton. As this era came to a close, his musical expression took him on a diverse journey, and though he did not receive the level of commercial fame the aformentioned musicians had, he was still able to make his mark in music by way of the jazz & fusion world. His music continues to influence musicians and fans internationally and will continue to do so for a very long time.

Loudini Interviews the Slovaks

Manchester Rock n Roll  - Adam Saylaby, Luke Allen & Luke Barton
Bio
Label Conact:
AdamChristopher@JefferyDragRecords.com
or
Jenna@JefferyDragRecords.com
or contact us at:
theSlovaks@live.com
http://www.theslovaks.co.uk

Loudini Interviews NORWOOD

I wish I could start this off with a “I was raised in a very musical family.” Or even a “Music was the last thing on my family’s mind” kind of place. But, like most people, my family was somewhere in the middle. My dad went to school for musicology when he was younger, but he wasn’t looking to be a musician, he doesn’t want to write his own music. We’ve talked about it, it doesn’t interest him. My mom could carry a tune, but again, not looking to be up on the stage performing. I don’t have a romantic legacy to fall back on, nor do I have the charm of someone who comes from absolutely no background whatsoever. All I have are my guts and a good sense of rhythm.

I grew up in Long Island, New York and spent most of my childhood during the 90s. My parents moved us to a neighborhood they most certainly could not afford when I was three and we did our best to pretend that we belonged there for as long as we could. It left a bad taste in my mouth, but I didn’t have much of a choice. My sister was a handful, so I was left to my own devices most of the time. I found that keeping quiet kept me out of hot water. And it went on like that for a long while. The middle. Not rich, but not starving. Always almost, though. Nothing to rightfully complain about, but not much to really celebrate. It was maddening. Still is.

Music was something outside of everything. And the bands I clung to were the bands that couldn’t be clearly defined. Sublime was my first “I have to buy everything they put out” band. They were punk, but not. They were ska, but not. They were even kinda pop sometimes, but definitely not. And that’s now a mantra I live by: “I am not a genre.” When “Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell and friends” came out, it became one of my favorite albums. Just a guy and his guitar, but it was beautiful. That album made me want to pick up a guitar and play music. That led into all kinds of bands: Ska bands, Singer-Songwriters, Classic rock, R&B, whatever They Might Be Giants would be called. All of it got listened to.

I went into theater for college, and it made me a better artist, but it’s not for me. I thought, “Hey I like theater and music, so why not do musical theater? It’s perfect!” But it wasn’t. And one day, over in Wisconsin, I was introduced to The Mountain Goats.

I hadn’t realized that you could write songs like that. Bradley Nowell is the reason I picked up a guitar; John Darnielle is the reason I started writing songs. So I wrote a whole bunch of stuff, shared it online a little bit, but never actually put it up anywhere, that was back in 2010. 2 years later, I had written enough to play a full honest-to-god set. I started making my way around the smaller café venues and also began connecting with people who, luckily for me, seemed to immediately get what I was going for.

Nastasia Green was the first to join me. She’s also a musical theater misfit who realized she doesn’t like musical theater. She’s one of my best friends and has been singing with me ever since. Sometimes you meet people, and you get a feeling that you’re meant to make music with them. Nastasia and I are meant to sing together. I worked with Keith Michael Pinault at a shitty server job on the upper west side of manhattan. I was looking around for a bassist one day and he told me he kind of played. I think he used the word “amateur”, but I wouldn’t. And he’s only been getting better and better with each new song or show. He always seems to know what kind of song I’m writing before I do. I met Hajnal Pivnick through a mutual friend and knew I wanted her to play with me on the first note. I’m a rag-tag kind of musician. I pride myself on being rough around the edges. Hajnal brings a sort of grace and sturdiness of core to the music and it takes every song to a whole different level. I met Max Maples through Hannah of Hannah Vs. The Many and also through Hajnal. He’s added so much backbone to my music and I can’t thank him enough for his willingness to jump in and swim.

I would say that my music is for the middle children of culture. The people who are constantly being told what’s cool and how they should think. These songs are for the people who take life on a person-by-person basis instead of lumping people into easily marketable groups, cliques, races, social classes, genders, whatever. This music is for anybody who feels pinned down by a thousand voices coming from all directions telling them they aren’t good enough for any of a million bullshit reasons. Fuck that.

http://norwood.band/

Loudini Interviews Vijay of InRegalia

Born in Mangalore, Vijay's talent was imminent at an early age having won several local guitar and singing competitions. Music, though took a back seat for six years due to the pressure of academics. But destiny had other plans and brought him back to where he belonged - playing music. The journey from an acoustic folk guitarist to an accomplished Rock Lead/Rhythm guitarist has brought with it experience in Rock & Soul bands to which he blends in pop and ethnic sensibilities. Some of his guitar heroes and influences are Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Angus Young. "The journey to musical fulfillment is endless " he says.

Composer, Lead/Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals - InRegalia
Guitar & Music Instructor