"Necessity is the Mother..." - An interview with Jamie King, Producer and Owner of The Bas
MEET A METAL MONSTER
By: Geoff Teach
Musicians are a notoriously picky lot. They can be picky about gear, picky about where they play and who they play with, and, they are especially picky about their tone, both live and when recording. In the mid-1990’s, this fastidiousness lead to the founding of a seemly studio that has now become one of the most sought-after spots to record at in the metal industry today. “I started recording pretty much out of necessity in 1996,” says Jamie King, founder and owner of The Basement Recording NC in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and he continues, explaining precisely why he started his business, saying, “The last professional studio I recorded at was a place in Charlotte in ’96. The studio was ninety dollars an hour and was ‘state-of-the-art’, with all the top industry equipment for the time. My band was able to get somewhat of a deal, as we agreed to a third-shift recording session. We still ended up spending thirteen grand, and the record wasn’t even releasable.” Allow me to repeat that: THIRTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS, and all for an unacceptable product. Understandably, King had had enough. “I just realized that I wouldn’t be able to afford to record at any of the studios or with any of the engineers that were putting out the tones we were looking for, so I decided to spend the money to buy some gear and try to figure it all out for myself,” he explains, and despite being extremely wet behind the ears, King began using his own band as his personal guinea pigs, fine-tuning his basic skills, and cutting his teeth on starter gear of humble origins. “I decided to buy a couple 16-bit ADAT machines new, a live P.A. mixing board, and [utilized] outboard gear that I [already] had to start recording demos of my own in my parents’ basement,” says King, and from these unassuming beginnings, a legendary reputation began to quickly take shape.
“[The] first full-length, multitrack record that I did was for my band called Swift in 1998,” explains Jamie, and it was this one recording that brought immediate notoriety and instant requests for his recording services. “The record sounded listenable in a time where most local bands’ [in NC] material wasn’t,” he iterates, adding, “I had lots of other local acts asking me to record them after Swift’s album came out.” One of these burgeoning North Carolina acts that heard King’s work and was eager to work with him was none other than the now famous Between the Buried and Me. “I recorded their first demos in 2000, and their first full-length in 2001,” says King, and the moderate success of these recording once again garnered the studio even more work. Now, thirteen years later, The Basement Recording has worked with over five hundred artists of many styles and genres, but, fundamentally, The Basement was built to cater to modern rock and metal acts, and that is still the majority of their clientele. Aptly named, both locations for the business have been sublevel, first in the basement of his parents’ home, and now located in the finished basement of his own abode. “It was a basement in the beginning, and it still is a basement, just now with actual walls and ceilings, a vocal booth, and sound treatment,” quips King with a small chuckle, showing shamelessly his reminiscent amusement, and while 16-bit ADATS and cinder-block walls have now given way to H.D. rigs with premium preamps and sound-treated drywall, King has never let his own success ruin his good name. “I’ve always recorded bands at the best possible price for the quality, so my name and reputation is spread by word-of-mouth,” he says, and spread by word-of-mouth is just what occurred indeed. Just check out some of his credentials:
Between The Buried and Me – “Between the Buried and Me” (2001) (Life Force Records) – Produced, Engineered, Recorded, Mixed and Mastered
Between the Buried and Me – “Alaska” (2005) (Victory Records) – Co-produced, Recorded, and Engineered.
The Human Abstract – “Nocturne” (2006) (Hopeless Records) – Co-produced, Engineered, Recorded, and Mixed.
Between the Buried and Me – “The Great Misdirect” (2009) (Victory Records) – Co-produced, Co-engineered, Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered.
Wretched – “Beyond the Gate” (2010) (Victory Records) – Co-produced, Co-engineered, and Recorded.
White Arms of Athena – “Astrodrama” (2011) (Prosthetic Records) – Produced, Engineered, Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered.
Between the Buried and Me – “Parallax II: Future Sequence” (2012) (Metal Blade Records) – Co-produced, Engineered, Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered.
Scale the Summit – “The Migration” (2013) (Prosthetic Records) – Co-produced, Engineered, Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered.
The Contortionist – “Language” (Due out Sept. 16th, 2014) (Good Fight Records) –Produced, Engineered, Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered.
Remarkably, this is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg, and while King has unequivocally helped bring bands such as Wretched and BTBAM to the forefront of the global metal scene, there are still also far more bands on the list that he has helped garner record deals. “I’ve recorded dozens of bands either got signed after I [worked with] them, or were already signed,” he explains, adding, “I’m honored to have had the opportunity to work with artists that have become successful. I really appreciate what their success does for my name and my career, [and how it is has] enabled me to feed and shelter myself and my family, but honestly [I just] enjoy recording anyone who is cool and talented.” This relaxed and modest approach is usually well-received by his clients, as King pontificates, “A lot of my clients really enjoy the more laidback, almost band practice-like atmosphere that I have here at The Basement.” His low prices undoubtedly keep the bands at ease, but it is also King’s hands-on and no-nonsense methodologies that truly make those who work with him return again and again. “I really prefer to be sitting right in front of the drummer when he tracks, with the guitar players, and that kind of thing. It’s just not really necessary to have the traditional, large-format studio for most modern rock and metal, in my opinion. I prefer my smaller and tighter, dry, clear room for drum tracking more progressive styles of music,” explains the world-class producer, and anyone who has ever heard his boisterous and crystal-clear recordings would be hard pressed to argue with his views or methods. Not one to take all of the credit alone, though, King also taps his brother to help with much around The Basement, yet again utilizing his brainchild’s ability to aid him in taking care of his own blood. “My brother Kevin is my assistant, and he does almost all of my drum and guitar quantizing for me. His help has changed my life,” praises Jamie, mostly due to the fact that good help is always hard to find, but also because if you want something done right, you might as well do it yourself, or hire good family to help, which, in turn, severely decreases the stress loads. Summarily, the overall vibe at The Basement is one of relaxation mixed with motivation, and the usual resulting albums are pure gems of production, featuring rich, warm tones, plenty of volume, and clarity that boggles the mind.
KING’S QUOTES:
On Gear: “Standard gear is standard for a reason.”
Advice For Aspiring Producers: “Practice to learn all the standard processes for modern rock and metal production, like drum, bass, and guitar quantizing, manual melodic vocal tuning, and other things like sample blending for drums. It’s all essential.”
On Producing: “There’s a lot of technicality in it, but it truly is an art form, just like being a musician or a performer.”
With all of this information taken into consideration, it is not all surprising that The Basement remains to be a busy place all year round these days, and will even play host next month to Metal Blade tech-death shredders from Florida, Abiotic. Considering King’s track record, I expect the boys in Abiotic are going to have a great time recording at The Basement, and will be very happy with the end results, as well. King’s Basement Recording NC may not be the largest or most expensive studio on the planet, but this is just the way he wants it, as it provides his rock and metal clients with a quality, custom built studio that was designed expressly for capturing their styles of music…and it’s one that bands of all sizes can still afford to book time at, too. This balance of competence, affordability, and affability have provided Jamie King with an already solid career, but personally, I cannot help but think that his name will only grow larger with time, as some of his works are some of the best sounding metal albums I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to, and that is no bullshit, folks. Long live The Basement, and long live the King!
Keep it metal, class dismissed!
To give a listen to a couple tracks that Jamie King has produced, just press play below!
And finally, to read up more about Jamie and The Basement, just click here!