Fuzz
Producer
punk · garage rock · post-punk · noise rock
Fuzz cuts records to a 4-track cassette deck before they touch a computer. The whole point is that nothing sounds clean. Drums get one overhead and a kick mic, both pinned. Guitars run through a Big Muff into a Twin Reverb cranked past noon. Bass takes whatever room is left. Vocals get one pass — flub a line, flub it harder next time. The cassette gets dumped into Reaper at the end and that's the master. Spike works here because Fuzz refuses to fix anything in the mix. Reference points: early Wipers, Pissed Jeans, Thee Oh Sees, anything that sounds like the band recorded it in their practice space and meant for it to stay that way.
Where the music lives
Sweaty basement shows. Skate-park parking lots with a portable amp. Houses on the night of the lease renewal. The half-hour drive home from a gig where everyone in the van is hoarse. Records that sound like the room they were made in.
Signature sounds
DAW
4-track cassette recorder + Reaper
Currently chasing
Tracking down a working Tascam Portastudio 414 mkII and a stash of TDK SA-X 90 tapes. The 414's tape compression is a sound, and modern plugins still can't get the high-mid grit right.