Three Lessons I Learned Touring With Van Halen by Stevie Adamek

[Guest blog post by Stevie on Hellhound Music]

“Van Halen’s first album had just come out in early 1978, and they had two huge hits, Running with the Devil and You Really Got Me. I was in a band called Bighorn, a five-man group based out of Seattle that sounded like a cross between Elton John and Queen. We had just been signed to CBS Canada and USA. I had been a producer for five years at Seattle West studios, which produced Heart, Foghat, Shyanne, and other bands. Based on some studio work I had done with a couple of the other band members, Bighorn’s management had asked me to join the band in August 1977 to write songs for the group as well as play drums. Then Bighorn was recruited to open for Van Halen.

This was our first big tour. We had toured the Pacific Northwest for about a year, but we were excited because this was our first national tour, and it was with one of the biggest rock bands in the world at the time.

The tour ended up being five dates, or two and a half weeks, with Van Halen. Then we switched over to opening for Boston and Journey after that. I was on the road with Bighorn for a total of about a year, on and off, as we would get signed on to the national tours and then come back for a while and play regional shows.

Looking back on those days, I can see there are a few very important lessons I learned early on from this experience that have served me well over my music career.” [Read more here]

Indiemunity Review of Zombie Lover

“Overall, Solveig and Stevie have an established sound that is further defined and perfected through the release of Zombie Lover.  Smoothly combining a diverse mixture of thematic structures, genre influences and strong vocals, the band’s debut EP has not only created a unique blend to explore in the future, but has defined their talents for a growing fan-base to enjoy.”

Read more of this excellent review of Zombie Lover by Australian music blog, Indiemunity.

Recording Vocalists Guest Post on Recording Hacks

RecordingHacks, run by Matt McGlynn, is an online magazine about recording gear and techniques and arguably the world’s best microphone database and search engine. Stevie was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to guest blog recently for RecordingHacks. Here’s a preview:

“Any recorded track lives or dies on the vocal: how it was recorded, how the emotion was portrayed by the singer and how the vocal sits in the track. Let’s explore how a producer, engineer and/or band can best serve the singer for maximum effect!

Preparation

Vocals are usually the last, and most important step in recording a song, as the lead vocal is usually prominent in the mix. Before you record a vocalist, make sure you are familiar with the material to be recorded. Have the musician play the song live, send you a demo or rough recording, or even just a backing track. It is also very important that they send you the lyrics to the song, so you know what the song is about and where drama will be created within the song. Every song has an emotional and dynamic arc: introduction, establishment of the theme, climax, sometimes bridge, return to theme, and ending. The vocals are the primary way to convey this arc… [Read more here]