AlphaStatic – Things Left Unsaid
Dec 29, 2011
2010. Wow… you know, in a perfect world I’d have some really great things to say here. I produced the whole thing… all but two of the tracks were either entirely mine or partially mine. This was supposed to be a big deal for me. Honestly, though, I don’t have many positive things to say here. It’s taught me that you have to watch out who you put into your circle of friends. It’s taught me that if someone calls themselves a musician, they better be able to actually play something in front of you. It’s taught me not to trust anyone who goes out of their way to tell you how trustworthy they are. It’s taught me so much about the worst that mankind can offer. It should have been a joyous occasion, but instead it was a collection of pablum that has been rushed through to make someone else attempt to live out their childhood fantasies of being some kind of superstar. It’s a point in time for me, and a spot that I most certainly want to move from. Maybe in time I’ll have a different feeling about this album, but for now, it’s just a bitter piece of disappointment that could have done so much more.
Genitorturers – Blackheart Revolution
Dec 29, 2011
2009. Before I left Tampa Bay for St. Louis I had reconnected with David and Gen Vincent of the Genitorturers. Just dabbling in the studio here and there. Unlike the times recording for Sin City / Machine Love… these times were much easier and in a way, fun. Two of my best friends at the time, Angel and “Biz”, were playing drums and guitar for them. A number of those studio sessions were enjoyable. For a short while, Biz and I helped a baby squirrel grow to adulthood. Long story, but his name was “Charlie”. Anyway, years have passed and next thing you know, some of my tracks (specifically elements in “Vampire Lover”) have made it to this album. Gotta love technology.
Murder Happens – Dead Worlds and Dying Suns
Dec 29, 2011
2008. A few mixes of mine can be found here. “Anchor” and “Dead and Spun” along with a few extra loops in “Teardrop Garden”. Paul Wood is a brilliant musician to work with. Plus sharing credits with artists like Mike Scaicca of Ministry fame helps, too!
Team Cybergeist – How to Destroy Something Beautiful
Dec 29, 2011
2008? I’m on a few tracks here. I’ve got some keyboards aside Raymond Watts of PIG/KMFDM fame, and I also wrote the music behind “On Broken Wings” sung by adult film star, Lexi Love. Angel has collaborated with SO many people, from Adema, Kittie, Morbid Angel, and countless others to list here. Check out his site.
V1rtual D3scent – Darkened Skies
Dec 29, 2011
2007. I remember hearing these guys from Carterville, Illinois. I was SO taken aback by them. Just the idea of this very European Metropolitan sound coming from a small town in southern Illinois. To this day, Scott (the keyboardist and principal instrumentalist in the duo) remains one of my favorite musicians to work with. In the short tenure I’ve known them they went from not being known beyond a few mid-western folks to having all of their material easily downloadable for a price on a few illegal Russian websites. Seriously, though, their music has hit dance floors all over, and I look forward to what the next album will bring.
Team Cybergeist – Radiation Romance
Dec 29, 2011
You know… the release dates are starting to be a big blur for me. I think it was 2006. This one was for a project my friend, Angel, had put together. Through the massive tubes we call the internet, we get to collaborate online. In this case, I remember the vocalist telling me how beautiful I’ve made her sound. Aww, shucks! Thanks! That’s one of my favorite compliments.
The Secret Meeting – Shooting Laser Beams
Dec 29, 2011
2005. Just like before when working with Collide, I had the opportunity to mix them again… this time with Dean Garcia (formerly of Curve). Or should I say it this way, DEAN GARCIA, MY FAVORITE GUITARIST OF ALL TIME!!! I GOT TO REMIX A TRACK WITH DEAN GARCIA PLAYING GUITAR!
Retard-O-Bot – I don’t think you Really Mean It
Dec 29, 2011
2005. My first track done in St. Louis, MO. Peter Pepper and his gang on miscreants were up in my place on tour, and next thing you know, my “Devoid of Science” mix made it to Hot Topic stores throughout the country.
Mediawhore – Hello my Name is Mediawhore
Dec 29, 2011
2005 I think. The most memorable part about this was that I wrote all the tracks from guitar as opposed to keyboards. I have to do that again some time.
Animosity – Zero
Dec 29, 2011
This was a local release in Tampa for a metal band called Animosity that I did with Angel of Genitorturers / Undead / Dope / Team Cybergeist fame. I just remember this woman’s Zack De La Rocha style delivery against the overly electronic mix. Good times, my friend, good times.
End of the Rope – Through Callow Eyes
Dec 29, 2011
Mid 2004. What began as a chance meeting running into this metal band while running sound at a Tampa bar turned into one of the most exhaustive but otherwise worthwhile experience in recording. We’ve discovered that in order to minimize the squeaking sound guitar strings made when repositioning hands you can rub hush puppies on the strings before recording. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS!
The Last Dance – Reflections of Rage
Dec 28, 2011
2003. I met these guys running sound for them during my tenure at the Masquerade in Tampa, Florida. (Now the Ritz Theater). I was excited that I finally had a band to run sound for that was in my genre. The show may have been (as I call it) “intimately attended”, but I was given the chance to remix one of their tracks, and after bumping the tempo up about 8-10 bpm, I got on their album. I remember that they asked me what I went by, and I said at the time, “Well, my friends call me Vinnie.” We tried getting some “marquee value” by originally having me listed as a former member of the Genitorturers, but Gen didn’t want every band I worked with to have her name associated with their album. So I think I went down as “Vinnie Saletto, whose remix credits include Collide’s VORTEX album…”, I still laugh at that idea.
Collide – Vortex
Dec 28, 2011
2004. I had created a remix for a track called “Crushed”. At the time, I had shared a recording studio with some other artists I knew. I doubled the tempo and kept the vocals at the original speed. I was fortunate as a friend by the name of Bob had this idea of getting a number of producers to remix artists he enjoyed listening to, and I was the only one who could handle the SD2 files that they had provided. Turns out they liked what I did enough to give me the ability to share an album with the likes of Rhys Fulber and Charlie Clouser. I called it my “fragment mix” because some of the tracks I’ve used were parts of other ideas of mine that didn’t really stand on their own, but together with kaRIN’s vocals, they worked perfectly.
Various Artists – Black Sunshine
Dec 28, 2011
2002. It featured a great number of Tampa Bay artists, and really was a good end cap to that time in my life. I realize now that listening to these tracks over and over while trying to master them was a bit taxing. On one hand, people gave me tracks that were professionally mixed, and on the other, people gave me cassette tapes. Somehow I had to make it all work, and then go through the criticisms of the artists, who all did not believe that their tracks was properly represented. Yep… it was the end of an era for me. Time to move on.
Hell on Earth – All things Disturbingly Sassy
Dec 28, 2011
2000. My first time working in the main studio room of Morrissound Studios. It came from a computer using Cakewalk, and ended up flying through an SSL mixing console. Fun stuff. I eventually brought the Ashes’ tracks to Morrissound after our “guerilla” sessions, and mixed and mastered there.
Oh, and of note, this was the band that became infamous around the world for supposedly having an on-stage suicide. Jeb Bush and his cronies eventually passed a law in Florida making it illegal to perform a show where a suicide would be performed. I wonder if any of these politicians ever thought that the lead singer actually knew a thing about stage special effects? Perhaps? I mean let’s face it, we were in the state where Walt Disney created the “Haunted Mansion”… you’re riding with dead people there! Oh, I digress again!
Betty X – The Bad Side of Love
Dec 28, 2011
2000. I know that thanks to Mr. Temple of The Ashes of Grisum I had grown a taste for all things that were Angelo Badalamenti, Diamanda Galas and crazy stuff in between. I worked with Betty on a number of tracks, and in this case, it was an interesting twist, in that I had gone back to the concept of writing the material from a DAW while recording. When sampling another drummer here and there, in my head I would secretly say that they were performing a “guest spot” on the album. To this day, these were some of the most fun tracks to record. I love working with freer artists who aren’t necessarily confined to being just musicians. The whole concept, to me, is much more important than just the notes.
the Ashes of Grisum – Completed Works Volume 1
Dec 28, 2011
2000. And NOW for something COMPLETELY different. I was waffling after my exit from the Genitorturers when a friend and roommate turned me on the voice of Chris Temple. It was stellar. He had a soulful quality that I never heard in a musician before, and I jumped at the chance. It was such an odd combination, because he knew music from a hollow body guitar plugged into a Roland Jazz Chorus amplifier and his throat. I came from the world of Mac computers and plug ins and doing SO MUCH with the click of a mouse. Personally, I think that the combination of a soulful singer/songwriter with a nerd like me was a wonderful combination. This was one of the first examples of “Guerilla Recording” that I’ve done. The drums were recorded in the middle of the daytime in a nightclub called “The Castle” that I used to frequent. The vocals were recorded in a friend’s walk in closet, and when we were done with a mix, we would jump down to the restaurant next door on their off hours to listen to the track on their speakers just to hear how it sounded.
Later recordings we would take an ADAT recorder into the music rooms at USF late at night to play their Steinway through Neumann microphones when no one else was around. Volume 2 never saw the light of day, but possibly somewhere around I have those recordings, and I’ll ask the singer if I can post them.
Various Artists – The Black Bible
Dec 28, 2011
Somewhere in 1998. The track, “Crucified” made it to this compilation album, and surprisingly became one of the biggest albums I’ve been a part of. This was one of many albums that tried to chronicle the “goth” movement, but in my opinion became one of the nails in the coffin for that movement. Sorry about that, guys. Hot Topic now has Rhianna T-Shirts, but I digress.
Genitorturers – Sin City (Japanese Edition)
Dec 28, 2011
Early 1998. Music I’ve written now has something in common with the British Empire in its heyday. The sun never sets on it now. Between Japan, Eastern Europe and America, I’ve got it covered. This version included tracks from both Sin City and Machine Love previously.
Genitorturers – Machine Love
Dec 28, 2011
1998 I think. Truth be told, some of the recording on this album was done earlier. I had left the band in 1997, but some of the tracks were still partly mine, including the title track co-written by David Vincent and myself. The thing I liked about these tracks were that they were written using the DAW as a medium. It wasn’t about getting people in a sweaty room together and then trying to capture the magic. We were grabbing the soul of the music as we were writing it, combining the writing, recording and production at the same time. To me, this is still the way to do things.
Genitorturers – Sin City
Dec 28, 2011
Early 1997. WHOA! THIS IS IT! Oh man! To be in a signed band, and to have your stuff out all around the globe! OK, so it wasn’t all moonbeams, dreams and starlight, but I have to say, I learned such a great deal from these guys. This was the first time I used a DAW (in this case, Digital Performer) and even though it was grueling work, it was worth it. I listen to these songs from time to time. I’m proud of them.
Shadowcraft
Dec 28, 2011
October 1996. My first band that ever really did anything. We started playing in local places, and had around 700 people attend our last show. Why did it end? Ego on my behalf, mostly. A poor temper fueled by diabetes and bad decisions. Who knows? I’m still proud of this one because the music of the songs were written by me, and the lyrics and vocals by the singer, Kim. Some of these tracks were written with purely MIDI on to two channels of a 4 track cassette deck, and I don’t think it sounded that bad at all. There was something magical about riding the Tascam Portastudio as hotly as I did while keeping the speed up as high as possible.
Electric Hellfire Club – Unholy Roller
Dec 28, 2011
Somewhere in 1996. We had just begun working with Tascam DA-88 decks and I had helped “Chains” (the guitarist of the Genitorturers who had just come off of a recording stint with the Electric Hellfire Club) record this re-interpretation of “Book of Lies” for this album. The fun part about this is that it was really experimental. Just go ahead with the feeling of the track, and not worry about a “hook” that “the kids will just love!”
Covered in Black – A High Voltage Tribute to ACDC
Dec 28, 2011
My First Nationally Available Recording
Somewhere in 1996. This was my first nationally available recording, when I became a member of the Genitorturers. We recorded in a studio whose name I forget that was housed in one of those multiple garage unit storage facilities. The engineer was one of the greatest engineers I’ve worked with called Greg “Super G” Marchak. He’s taught me a little bit about how the engineering process is a little bit about the psychology behind working with the artists just as much as it was about getting the right sound. This was on Cleopatra records, and in the mid 90s they were THE resource for the industrial and gothic sound. Who would have known that this was the start of them going “cover album crazy” and eventually finding their way to obscurity while labels like Metropolis began taking over.