Reverbose Records Workbook Studio 25 Hour Grand Prix

I've been trying to stay away from stuff that I've been directly involved in, but I would be remiss not to mention as part of the compilation album coverage the 2004 release Workbook Studio 25 Hour Grand Prix released on Reverbose Records.

From what I recall, this was the brainchild of Neal Schmitt and Jon Chinn at Workbook, and we at Reverbose were looking for release opportunities other than just our own bands. The experience itself was quite exciting - being a part of a process where each band received one hour to record and mix their songs. For the bands, they could move in and out, but for the Workbook crew, that was a long twenty-five hours.

We ended up with a pretty eclectic and interesting batch of tunes from plenty of new and lesser-known bands, as well as more established local artists like Pretty Mighty Mighty, House Of Heroes, Greenlawn Abbey, A Planet For Texas and El Jesus de Magico.

New Music From Treysuno

Back before I was a guy writing a book and a blog, I was a guy in a band. One of my favorite bands we used to play with back in the day is back together as Treysuno release a new five-song EP "...everything is fine" on 10/1/2019. You'll be able to get it at all the usual places, including Soundcloud where there will be a limited run of CDs (physical media!). The album was recorded by guitarist Preston Wagner and mastered by Jon Chinn (Pretty Mighty Mighty, Manager).

Also, the band is playing shows!

Friday, November 1 – Columbus, Ohio at The Oracle (1159 Oak St.) with The Kyle Sowashes and Billy Peake

Saturday, November 23 – Toledo, Ohio at The Ottawa Tavern (1817 Adams St.) with Violent Bloom and goLab

Columbus Underground: Kopaz Releases Final Album, Rocks Rumba Tonight (2010)

After a hiatus, Kopaz returned in 2010 to release the long-gestating Teeth Like Cities, which included a release show at Rumba Cafe. Here is an interview the Columbus Underground did with the band back in 2010:

Luckily for us, Kopaz had been writing new songs following Future Radiant Shine prior to their break in ’06. They decided to start recording them at home on their own and on their own terms. Although their interest in the music never faded, time and obligations and other projects intervened, and the emerging record remained unfinished. However, in late 2008, the band hired Jon Chinn to mix one of the recordings, and the project once again picked up steam. Fast forward to the summer of 2010. Teeth Like Cities is complete, and the band is ready to share their songs with the world. The album is a departure from the “pop urgency” of their previous efforts. Instead, Teeth is a beautiful album that “revels in the darkness and mystery of a band on the verge of collapse.”

Mixonline 2005: Workbook Studios - Columbus Spot Specializes In "High Speed Recording"

In 2005, Workbook Studio and Reverbose Records (note, I was part of this) recorded twenty five band in twenty five hours. Mixonline reported on the project, here's some of that:

Aided by chilled Red Bull, hot coffee and the buzz of a revolving door of musicians, Schmitt, Chinn and Wilburn fired up the automated Tascam 3700 24/48-channel console in the control room of their 3,000-square-foot loft space at 4 p.m. one Friday afternoon. Several mic swaps and level-checks later, they sent the last band home at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The lineup of mostly local and regional acts were recorded using Digidesign's 002 LE system (the studio also owns a few Alesis ADATs and a Tascam MS16 1-inch 16-track) with assistance from AKG, Neumann, Shure, Sennheiser and BLUE Baby Bottle mics, and the studio's large selection of guitar amps, drums and keyboards. “We had two drum kits and tons of guitar amps set up everywhere for bands to pick from,” Schmitt explains. “While one band was doing vocals and finishing their mix, the next one was setting up. We worked in two-hour blocks; the second engineer became the main engineer. We thought the hardest part would be filling the late-night slots, but some bands wanted the worst slots!”

New Additions: Nevertheless / Flower Song 7" by Pretty Mighty Mighty

I've been a fan of Pretty Mighty Mighty since around 1998 or 99 when I saw them at Bernie's, and picked up their releases whenever they came out. However, I didn't know much about the band's history prior to my move to Columbus in 1998, so their earlier material eluded me for years. I picked up the album Ugly fairly early on, but the two seven inch singles released in 1993 had never crossed my path until recently, specifically picking up the Burnt Sienna Records seven inch Nevertheless / Flower Song. You can definitely hear the chaotic but melodic beginnings of the band that would sharpen on Ugly, but it's still odd to hear them with Jon Chinn not as the main lead singer.

Know Yer Band: Pretty Mighty Mighty

Band Name: Pretty Mighty Mighty

Members
Vocals - Cori Churdar/Jon Chinn
Guitar - Jon Chinn/Billy Peake
Bass - Terry Manion/John Fitzgerald
Drums - Neal Schmitt
Violin - Noel Sayre

Releases
1993 - 7" split w/Walaroo (Simple Solution Records)
1993 - 7" single (Burnt Sienna Records)
1993 - 7" split w/Bugman, Pet UFO and Clay (Burnt Sienna Records)
1994 - Ugly album (Burnt Sienna Records)
1999 - Famous Past Lives album (Derailleur Records)
2002 - Normal ep (Derailleur Records)