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Audio Media - June 2000

Production Profile



S. Husky Höskulds talks to Mattie Gallagher about the Wallflowers' upcoming album.


Though Iceland is not typically thought of as a breeding ground for recording engineers (in fact it is doubtful many even think of Iceland at all, unless you happen to be from there), it is where S. Husky Höskulds was born and raised until nine years ago, when he moved to Los Angeles to become a recording engineer.

Like many hard working individuals in the recording industry, Höskulds started at the bottom answering phones 'and doing that bit' in an L.A. studio. But circumstances didn't keep him on the bottom for long, and Höskulds considders himself lucky: "I kindof got pushed into moving on sooner than I was ready to. I think people generally have a tendency, because it's easier somehow, to stay put. But the studio I was working at got sold, so I decided to go out and try to get a job as an engineer or assistant engineer, and I've been working ever since."

Höskulds has obviously been working hard with various tracking, overdubbing and mixing credits on projects for artists such as Fiona Apple (single, Someone to Love), Vonda Sheppard (By 7:30), Los Lobos (This Time), Sheryl Crow (The Globe Sessions) and Michael Penn (MP4).

However, it was Höskulds' work with producer Andy Slater on Fiona Apple's track that led him to his work with Michael Penn and, subsequently, the Wallflowers. Höskulds explains: "Andy had recomended me to Michael, so we got together and seemed to click. We were going for the same things sonically and got along well. We started out for what were supposed to be about three days of work. That turned into recording and mixing Michael's whole album, which Penn produced, and then recording the whole Wallflowers record, which Michael co-produced with Andy."

The majority of the new Wallflowers record, set to be released this summer, was recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles. Husky elaborates: "About 90% of the Wallflowers record was done there. For a couple of weeks we went to The Sound Factory, which is right up the street. Then for a few days toward the end we did some vocals at The Village. It was kindof the same thing with Michael. We did a couple of weeks over at The Sound Factory, but 90% of it was at Sunset.

Tracking for both records was done on a custom API console in Sunset's Studio Three, which, according to Höskulds, may be one of the best tracking rooms in town. Höskulds: "It's just one of those few great consoles; it's tiny, really easy to use and it sounds amazing - a mic pre, eq, one bell and one whistle. Perfect for me. I also think it's a great match for that tracking room. That's where all the tracking for The Wallflowers was done and a considerable amount of the overdubs." The second half of the overdubs were done over in Sunset's Studio One, which also has a custom API, but is more flexible and has more inputs.

"We recorded to Basf 900 2" tape, but I also have a Pro Tools rig and the Nord Modular, which I use for loops and weird sounds when that's called for."




According to Höskulds, even though a decent amount of pre-production was done by Jacob and Michael, they were still able to do a certain amount of exploring in the studio: "Having had the success of the previous record gave us some flexibility in the studio to be able to explore different things as far as sounds and arrangements. There were a couple of songs that came together literally in a couple of takes. One song we did pretty much live; there were maybe a couple of vocal fixes and then we put a horn section on it later and that was it for that one. On the opposite end of the spectrum we tracked a song and then started layering overdubs and started experimenting."

Höskulds, who has a myriad of gear that he carries with him, strives to make his recordings unique: "I have a lot of drum stuff. Probably a dozen snares and a couple of trunks of percussion which I think is quite unusual. I usually try to get an interesting sound out in the room before anything, so I don't have to rely on a piece of gear for that; the end product tends to be more unique that way. I was lucky enough to work with Matt on the Wallflowers record and Vic on Michael's record, and both of them are open to trying different things. If Matt wanted to do a shaker part and I handed him a glass jar with some bolts in it, he would at least see what it sounded like. I like that. I'm so sick of that crap Guitar Center percussion."

For the recording of the drums Höskulds used the RE-20 on the kick, SM57 on the snare and a Neuman KM84 on the hat. Höskulds: "I have a stereo mic made by Calrec that I used for overheads. It has four capsules and you can electronically change the balance btw. them from the control room. That way you have a lot of options. You can go tight and narrow or super wide and ambient without leaving your chair (god forbid you'd get some excersise while in the studio...). I have an RCA 44 that gets put somewhere as a close mono track mic and then there's usually the $100.- track, where the mic / compressor costs about that. I have a toy surveilance mic and some Radio Shack mics that are good for that stuff. They usually distort pretty easily, and often have a built in compressor which you know can't be bad. They have a neat sound and add a lot of character when blended in with the drums recorded with the expensive mics - you keep the punch and attack of the drums, but hear a bit of distortion on the decay of things, as opposed to having a clean decay or room sound. I think it adds a vibe you don't get with a pair of 87's or whatever. Also, if you're in a smaller room, that kindof compression and distortion can add a depth or ambience you don't get otherwise. Of course it helps to work with talented drummers too. I mean, if you're working with someone like Pete Thomas, as long as there's a mic somewhere in the room, chances are it's going to sound pretty good."

Höskulds recorded all of the guitars with the RCA 44. He also had the opportunity to try Monster Cable about halfway through recording and found a ' startling difference' and has used them ever since.

A Telefunken 251 was used on vocals for The Wallflowers, and Höskulds went back and forth between a Neve 1073 and his Hardy M-1 preamp, which in his opinion is a pretty great sounding 'pre. He used the Urei 176 compressor for most of the record and adds: "A couple of the vocals might have had the Distressor in there as well for some extra squash."

The new Wallflowers album, which was mixed by Tom Lord Alge, is still in the mastering stages (at press time) and has not yet been titled. Since Höskulds did not follow the album through the mixing stages, even he is unsure of the final outcome, though he can speculate: "I wasn't around for the mixing, so I don't know how much of the 'outness' they kept. I do think it is a bit different sounding than the last one but clearly it would have been more 'out' if I mixed it. I have a feeling Tom turned off some of the weird sounding drum mics and funky compressed channels and put up more of the straight ones, because that's more his style.

"Jacob is a pretty great writer and there are some amazing songs on this album, regardless of what you think of the commercial aspect. It's more mainstream and 'shiny' than say, Michael's album which I'm pretty happy with. That one has more of those different colors I was talking about, but it is really pointless to try to force those things onto the wrong artist - you just make them available, but in the end it's up to them and the producer to decide. Overall though, the album is a move forward for The Wallflowers. It's a pretty great team, btw. the guys in the band and Andy and Michael. They know how to bring the best out in everyone involved.