For nearly 20 years, Andy Reed’s artistry has developed with a fine-tuned ear and a penchant for gear, allowing him to put his own sonic imprint of recording music on the world map.
Tackling a variety of musical projects out of his small, yet vast, basement studio, the Bay City native honed his own sound, tweaked his skill, and now is a first call from his peers in Nashville and beyond to mix, record, and/or master music.
Reed believes his stereo mindset to mix and match recording tools with each client is the special sauce that has given him a seat at the table with other legendary producers right out of his own
Reed Recording Studio.
“Brett Mitchell was one of the first, Mandy Lane and Lost Highway, and Kenny Stahl,” recalls Reed. “March of 2006 was my first real session with Brett and he hired me to make a record. It’s been over 19 years now. That was just going to be my little music room for doing demos.”
Since then, he’s collected accolades such as the Review Music Awards, an annual event recognizing musicians and bands from the Great Lakes Bay Region. Reed’s past as a member of
The Verve Pipe and his current band,
The Legal Matters, also worked magic into Reed’s list of credentials.
“It’s the trial and error of learning how to find a sound,” he shares. “There aren’t many hurdles with the space itself. Early on it was getting over the guilt of charging people money for something that I loved to do.
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Scott BakerReed spends his time searching for tools of the trade as he goes after the holy grail of pieces of gear that initially inspired him. “You want to find a way to get things to sound good. Over a period of time, you think to yourself that there’s like 10 ways I can make this acoustic, snare or kick drum sound good. And that’s where the art lies, because now you are making artistic choices. Like I want a ‘John Bonham’ or ‘Ringo Starr’ sound. You have to learn those individual things along the way.”
Reed spends his time searching for tools of the trade as he goes after holy grail of pieces of gear that initially inspired him. Simple research into studios, records, producers, and engineers, have been his bible.
“All the different options of gear and sound … You take little bits of the color palette of the things where you love the sound. It inspires you. They are like different colors in a crayon box. That’s the part that is really exciting for me. I get to try different combinations each day.”
As a newly-appointed Chapter Adviser to the Grammy Awards, as well as a long-time board voter, Reed went to enjoy this year’s show and was able to connect with a studio that gave him chills.
“I went to California and called EastWest Studios which used to be United Western,” he shares. “I went into the room that (The Beach Boys) Pet Sounds was recorded in and The Mamas and The Papas, and stuff like that. The ceilings were higher, but it was maybe 10 feet longer than my room. I asked the engineer and he said, ‘Yeah, they all just squeezed in here and that’s part of the sound.’ So you think about those massive records in those small rooms … part of the vibe was the guitar player was bleeding into the bass microphone or the drums were bleeding through the piano microphones.
“And (now) it’s like we live in this age where everything is done individually, like we do the drums first, then the bass. Some of the mojo of those old records was (sound) was just bleeding into everything and they were playing together.”
Reed isn’t afraid to step out of his studio to make great art as well. He’s recorded in an abandoned local church for bigger sounds.
“Now, with my limitations comes more exploration, so that’s awesome,” he continues. “I’ve grown to love my space a lot. I know that room inside and out, what (recording) chains to use.
“In March, I went to Colorado, we rented a cabin in the Rocky Mountains and recorded 11 songs (for) Sarah Adams. I am in the process of mixing that one. Hollow Head was the band in Colorado that was that
connection whom I’ve done two records with.”
A former Bay City vocalist also recently recorded tracks living out there as well.
“The Banana Convention did a 20th Anniversary record and vocalist Shar (Molina) did the vocal tracks in Denver,” Reed adds. “It takes me back to my fundamentals of listening as I am not in my typical space. Certain frequencies jump out at you. Colorado has turned somewhat into my second home.”
Other road trips such as to northern Michigan and Nashville to demo and record bits of the upcoming new Verve Pipe album have helped him get out of his routine as well.
“The big record that we are waiting on right now is the Verve Pipe record that I produced,” he shares. “It took about a year to make. We did pre-production up in the Cadillac area and worked on songs for a week with Randy (Sly, keyboardist), Brian (Vander Ark, vocalist), Channing (Lee, vocalist), Brad (Vander Ark, bassist) and Lou (Musa, guitarist). Brad just came back to the band. They demoed the songs, I made some drum loops and we worked on arrangements and stuff like that.”
The Verve Pipe drumming situation has been sketchy for a few years and both Reed and Brian Vander Ark came up with a game plan to track the drums with a Nashville friend.
“Brian and I were discussing drummers,” says Reed. “We thought about Ken Coomer who did Brian’s second record, “Angel Put Your Face On.” I had met Ken through Matt Ross-Spang who is a producer in the Memphis area that I became friends with over the years. Ken’s got an amazing home studio in Nashville and Brian and I were going to take the songs to him. Ken used to be the original drummer from Wilco, he played on the first four records. Now he’s a full-time producer.”
Brian Vander Ark decided to then hand production to Reed who feels “Brian may have given me the freedom to produce as he has done over the years so he can focus on his lyrics and vocals.” Reed now joins production greats such as Michael Beinhorn, Jerry Harrison, and Bill Szymczyk as a record producer for the national recording act and artists.
Reed has a few other projects in the works too.
“Legal Matter’s fourth record – it’s our most collaborative yet
– we are just bringing in parts and finishing them together, is almost done. It's been our most fun to make. Also Chapter IV, a Bay City band, and Wilder Road, a Bay City trio, are coming out this summer, and those are the ones that are coming off the top of my head. Nick Piunti and I are working on another one (as well).”
Reed accredits annual trips to Nashville for the Welcome To 1979 Recording Summit as helping him continue to raise the bar in ideas, inspiration, and rub elbows with his peers.
“When I go to recording summits and things like that, some of these people are on panels, sometimes I’m on panels, and sometimes I'm there just to learn,” he says. “Some of them are amazing, beautiful people and you end up having a couple of drinks and before you know it, you are asking ‘What did Bob Dylan use for a microphone, or did he play it live?’ Just hearing all these tremendous stories.
“I’ve become friends with some of these guys and girls that I completely respect and admire, and you end up working with them on different projects and stuff which is mind blowing. I did a Bop Harvey record last year with Chris Shaw who did a couple of Dylan records and the Weezer “Blue”
album. I mastered the record and he mixed it. It’s like, ‘What the hell do I do with this? These mixes are amazing.’”
Mastering is the final step in gluing songs together on an album or for radio/release.
“It’s like I had to take 10 songs and try to marry them together,” Reed shares.
“It’s kind of silly to think that I’m the last set of ears on something like that, but it’s flattering at the same time. You just kind of take it. I earned my spot at the table here so I’m just going to do my job.”
Reed point out his own dreams and influences have helped him achieve other artists goals due to the pedigree his touchstone choices.
“Obviously I’ll always be an “Abbey Road” nerd being a big Beatles fan,” he laughs. “That’s a big room. But Abbey Road Studio 3 is a smaller room. (The Beatles) did some “Abbey Road” there and it’s also the (Pink Floyd) “Dark Side Of The Moon” room. “Dark Side Of The Moon” has a very close, defined sound. Everything has tons of definition, everything is crystal clear. That’s, to me, probably the best recorded album, the one that hits me the most. Obviously,nMotown is a big influence, Ardent in Memphis, then so many studios in California.
“Now with technology they have these room simulators so you can have your drums sound like they are in Sound City like Nirvana, so you can get close to it. Fame, Muscle Shoals (which is a small studio), same with Stax. So much rich history and I’m a nerd for all of it. We are forever students. Go down the rabbit hole of trying things like our heroes. If anybody wants to get into this, get ahold of me at
reedrecordingco@gmail.com or visit
reedrecordingcompany.com.”