While the award committee typically gives the prize to the most commercial friendly nomination (remember when Macklemore beat out Kendrick Lamar two years ago?), it’s still exciting to see August Burns Red hit one of the highest achievements in modern music. Best of luck, guys.
The Modern Producer Troy Glessner Interview:
I could never really relate to the desire to become a mastering engineer. Why did you get into mastering, and what was the journey that lead there?
In junior high we used to play in my parents’ garage. The way we recorded was bouncing back and fourth between cassette decks with RCA cables that allowed us to add one track at a time. It was very crude, but once we had the song tracked I would play it in my car and think something was missing. I had no idea what mastering was, or even that it existed at the time. I just knew that when I bought a commercial release, it had a different aspect to it that my crappy cassette deck bounces didn’t have. It was an aspect beyond my format limitations. So I would bring our final cassette mix into the house and run it through the Technics 30 band graphic EQ on my parents’ home stereo to even it out, control low end, make sure the mids would be pokey but not too pokey. I didn’t know it, but I was mastering. It was a VERY natural step of the recording process for me. I was doing it on my own before I knew the job really existed.
Devin Townsend/ Strapping Young Lad Metal-fi interview:
It seems these days, Devin Townsend can do no wrong. If he is not crushing our eardrums with existential meanderings about the meaning of the universe, he is helping us find peace within it. Either way, HevyDevy is one of the most versatile and talented artists in metal today.
Recently, Blood Music released The Complete Works, an incredible retrospective box set that contains all of Devin’s early work when he was the creative driving force behind Strapping Young Lad. Not only does it contain their complete discography, but also comes with a gorgeous 40 page book, alternative artwork, collectible paraphernalia, and tons of never before released demo material, all remastered on high quality vinyl. Check out the full specs of this amazing set here.
The Fader, Ep 5: Troy Glessner Explains What A Mastering Engineer Looks For:
August Burns Red earns Grammy nomination
DECEMBER 7, 2015 BY SEAN HUNCHERICK
August Burns Red is wrapping up their year with some of the biggest news they have received in their career: a Grammy nomination. Their song “Identity” off of Found in Far Away Places is nominated for best metal performance alongside Ghost, Lamb of God, Sevendust and Slipknot.