Beatroute (December write up)

    Hey Everyone! Pick up this months copy of Beatroute, a western canadian street magazine that features local musicians and artists, This month Sarah Kitteringham wrote a very nice article on Electric Parks Ian Dillon. Check it out!

IAN DILLON

Recording, engineering, mixing and producing are in Ian Dillon’s blood. At the tender age of 12, he was already spending his free time at Blue Room Studios in Edmonton, where he’d wrap up chords and “helped record… albums as much as a 12-year-old could” with his musician father.

“So I was born into it, really. And then when I was in high school, the school I was attending bought a recording studio but didn’t know how to set it up,” recalls the Calgary-based owner of Electric Park Studio. “I got in trouble in class and [it] came out [that] I came from a recording family, and so I actually set up the studio and helped them work on their curriculum. It was pretty cool. So I’ve just been doing stuff like that my whole life.”

Dillon’s business just celebrated its two-year anniversary in September and has been continuously gaining momentum due to its owner’s impressive skills and resume, based on a lifelong passion for the art. Aside from his work as a studio head, Dillon works as a sound technician at live shows, most notably working the boards for September’s Noctis Metal Festival. He works via contract for the Distillery and engineered your eardrum experience for all of the Sled Island shows at the venue in June. He’s continuously seen success throughout his career, despite dropping out of recording school. Undeterred, he went straight to work at Calgary’s Music Center Canada (MCC) Studio. Under the tutelage of Johnny Gasparic, the engineer/producer who worked with Saskatchewan metal act Into Eternity (as well as Snoop Dogg, Gord Bamford and Static in the Stars) he “really got to see how metal production was really done.” Dillon’s own experience as a musician – he fronted local metal acts Adverse Reaction, War Eagle Rising and Cerberus – gave him contacts and, with some experience and a potential client list, he opened Electric Park. Located at 2115 30 Ave. N.E., the studio boasts an impressive array of boutique instruments.

“I have a nice collection of Gibson guitars,” says Dillon. This includes two Gibson Super Jumbo acoustics, a Chet Atkins SST, an SG and others. Also available are an American made Fender Telecaster, an Ibanez RG, several basses, a drum kit and some retro, ‘70s-era amplifiers, along more modern, solid state amps.

“You need good instruments and you need good recording equipment” to make a strong recording, says Dillon. “What I really stress that’s really important is you need good talent. All three of those things if they’re added together, it’s a step in the right direction.”

Correspondingly, Dillon’s recorded output is varied, though his crystalline recording techniques – done with Pro Tools and a “clean signal chain” – ensure they have one major thing in common: rich, dense sound with no muddling. His clients include Attack Addict, Black Mountain Outlaws, Scorched Banditos, Lordosis, Bloated Pig, The Promethean Labyrinth and The Electric Revival. His role on each record varies.

“I like to provide good quality recordings for bands, whether it be a small demo where the band already has their tracks together and written and they just want to get out to their audience. I want to help them sound good so they can build their fan base… so that’s one part of it,” he describes. “Or, the production part is kind of what I do for Bloated Pig. We work together on their albums and it’s about a six-month process. We scratch record everything and get the tracks down and do all that kind of stuff. That’s more of a director/producer based role.”

Whether you require your music be recorded crystal clear, or need some advice on how to perfect your band’s sound, Dillon will provide. With his rates being available on a siding scale, he’ll likely accommodate your budget.

If you’re interested in having Ian Dillon record your album, or mix your live show, check him out online at www.iandillon.com. You can also email him atelectricparkstudio@gmail.com.

By Sarah Kitteringham

    This month we were pleased to wrap up the mixes for attack addict and we look forward to a release very soon! We also have Blades Of Steel returning to track for an upcoming single. Keep posted for some crazy news in the new year including the start of production for the upcoming Bloated Pig sessions in January! And There is still time available to get your sessions recorded before the new year, give Ian Dillon @ Electric Park Studio a shout! 587-888-5453 or www.IANDILLON.COM

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ELECTRIC PARK STUDIO

CHEERS!

November @ E.P.S

HEY! this month we have some great bands at Electric Park Studio! This week we are working with the Scorched Banditos. Remixing some tracks for their upcoming west coast tour! Pick your copy up very soon and check them out live! its totally awesome, the face paint, fire breathing and  the total rock n roll explosion of the Scorched Banditos are a guaranteed good time!

This weekend we have local legends Attack Addict tracking with producer Ian Dillon! Their in Calgary for "A Stoner Rock Extravaganja!" at The Distillery this Saturday with the ever so popular Bloated Pig! Check this show out!

  We are also proud to announce the digital release date for The Electric Revival's debut album, November 15 2012 you will be able to pick up your digital copy of Presenting: The Electric Revival at any iTunes store! And come out and party on November 10th with The Electric Revival at The Blind Beggar in Calgary!

HEY! If you don't know about the massive Raised Fist show coming up in Calgary get your details HERE!  Ill me mixing the 3 rd show at The Distillery! Don't miss this one, too many great bands!

We will also be working with Burning Daisy on a 3 song E.P near the end of November! Keep your ears open and check these guys out as they explode onto the scene! 

WWW.IANDILLON.COM

NOCTS V - Western Canada's Best Heavy Metal Festival

Hi everyone, well I am now fully recovered from the Noctis 5 after party, I would like to share with you some of the very awesome bands I had the pleasure of working with last weekend. This year Scarab Productions held their annual Noctis festival, showcasing some of the worlds best heavy metal talent. I was brought on board as the FOH engineer for the Distillery shows. First off I would like to say that the Scarab staff was very well organized, behind the scenes the festival couldn't have ran as smoothly as it did. The first night we seen some great bands, Blood Ceremony and Speedwolf  were the highlight in my opinion, with Hoopsnake, Epi-Demic, and the Contortionist delivering solid sets as well . The second night the crowd was intense, as the show was sold out I believe. Vancouver's own Anciients started the show off with a killer set, Phantom Limb, Archspire and Kataplexis followed with no disappointment.  It was my first time seeing Psychostick and I highly recommend checking this band out, they bring a hilarious comedy act along with a tightly delivered music performance. As always Midnight ripped it up again with Manilla Road following with some classic power metal. Pig Destroyer closed the show and they were insane. What a great festival to work for! my personal highlight was mixing Pig Destroyer, Manilla Road, Psychostick and Speedwolf's first Canadian shows! Till next year! Thanks to Sarah Kitteringham for the photos!

 Pig Destroyer 

 Blood Ceremony 

 using every channel on the LS9!

 Pig Destroyer from the mixing desk!

 Psypchostick

 Manilla Road

2 Year Anniversary of Electric Park Studio

     Hi Everyone, this month Electric Park Studio celebrates 2 years of providing great productions for Calgary's independent music scene! It has been a great experience to work with so many awesome artists! Big thanks to Adverse Reaction, Bloated Pig, Lowell Van Carroll & Insufficient Funds, Lordosis, The Perfect Water Band, Turnbull, Closer To Breakdown, Cowpuncher, Blind Army, TAO, The Promethean Labyrinth, Ten Cent Pistols, Don Castro, AfterEarth, Faint Awakening, Oh Shit, Shrapnal, The Whorehouse Massacre, and The Electric Revival as well as the many talented individual artists, engineers, session players and techs that we have had the pleasure of working with. We are planning a great "Customer Appreciation" party very soon at a local club here in Calgary with plenty of great bands, keep posted for information very soon!

     Recently we have had the extremely talented engineer/producer Nate Reno at Electric Park, working with Calgary's own Oh Shit and Vile Insignia. Keep an eye out for these releases  from 2 great bands!

    August seen the release of 2 amazing albums produced by EPS house engineer Ian Dillon, Bloated Pig's "Made For Hell" and Lordosis's self titled debut album. If you haven't picked up a copy of either of these albums I highly encourage it, check out their show and support this great scene!

 Here are some pics of clients crushing it at E.P.S

    

    

The Electric Summer!

Hi everyone! Wow these blogs have really been getting away on us, we have been so busy this summer that we are very behind and we have lots of updates, releases and events to share with you all.
I am proud to share with you that the mixing is now complete on the debut Closer To Breakdown album, which should be available for download on iTunes in the coming weeks. This record was great to be apart of, once again big thanks to Shawn Oates, Russ G, Brett Duncan, RJ Killinger and every one else involved with casting, rentals and support.
We are also wrapping up the final overdubs for Turnbull and the early mixes are sounding great, we look forward to wrapping this record up by late June so they can unleash this heavy driving riff rock album onto the scene, you can catch these guys in Black Diamond on Canada Day.
The Bloated Pig Album release show is scheduled for Friday August 24th at The Distillery, with Thrones of Vengeance and guests, make sure you get out to this show, you will receive a copy of Bloated Pig's newest album with cover! Cheap drinks and a great party are guaranteed. The Album is currently being mastered at Electric Park after some awesome tracking sessions in early May. If you are a fan of Bloated Pig you will enjoy this latest release .
Another project I am very excited about is Lordosis's debut album, we are currently tracking guitars after solid drum tracking sessions. Ian Dillon is co producing the album with the group, using some very experimental studio techniques, taking this project "Into The Further". Catch these guys on tour in late August and pick up their album.
Also huge thanks to Big Nate for his Calgary Metal Fest last weekend! There is some truly amazing talent in this city that I believe to be one of the best underground hardcore/metal scenes in all of Canada. And don't forget that Noctis will be just around the corner bringing some great international bands to the city, I look forward to being apart of it again this year, and check out some of the bands on the bill!
Keep it real!
Electric Park Studio

Spring @ E.P.S

This week we had some very cool sessions at Electric Park, just this past weekend we had Blind Army in the house laying down the drum tracks for their next album. The band will be self producing their record mostly at home so keep an eye out for the release date, it was a pleasure to have them in, and they rocked it! I also got the chance to demo some new gear on this session, a 2 channel Crane Song Preamp and a Yahmaha sub kick. The crane song was truly amazing, definitely worth all the hype you hear about them, it also had some very cool source coloration options which I found very groovy in some applications, definitely worth checking this bad boy out. I also found the sub kick to be very useful as well, in small doses it can definitely save a step in drum sampling for the right project, I didn't really have the time to properly experiment with it but very impressive non the less, I think E.P.S will be picking one up very soon.
Also this past week Jason Turnbull was hard at work wrapping up the remaining overdubs on his upcoming album before we get down to vocals, This project is coming along very nicely as I look forward to this summers release.
The Electric Revival (who's release I am currently producing) will be releasing a single every Sunday, all summer long, the group has also decided that their 16+ track album will be a "Free Release" available online as a complementary download, this is something rarely unheard of but the group is trusting their fans will appreciate the gesture and share it with their friends. Here is the first single they put out just this week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mffiokvweM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Hope you all enjoyed the update! As we look forward to a very exciting summer here in Calgary! Keep posted for all the latest news from Electric Park Studio and stay real!

Thanks
E.P.S
587 888 5453

Calgary Indie News! Contests and Music!

Hi everyone, this week I would like to focus on some upcoming opportunities available for independent bands this summer, online there are many contests offering great prizes and opportunities for local talent. This year X92.9 is having their 6th annual Exposure contest, you have 6 weeks from today to submit to win $25,000 at www.x929.ca There are also plenty of online battle of the band type contests that are worth looking into with prizes that could get you a spot on some of the hottest local festivals this summer including Boonstock, Summer Slaughter, and many more, a simple google search can have you competing for all this summers big events.
Electric Park has some great recording packages aimed at getting high quality product in your hands for such opportunities, we are currently offering a great 3 song package which allows for the proper mixing and mastering time to give your songs that extra advantage over the competition.
We are offering a 3 day session with mixing and mastering for $1,500! This package will be gone by May!
I would also like to give a shout out to The Electric Revival, this great local indie band has been working hard on a lengthy album scheduled to be released this summer, the group plans to release a track every week until the
The full release later in the summer, with upwards of 16 plus tracks you will have the opportunity to sample a wide selection of the great tunes this local band has to offer before the actual release.
Thanks to all the great local talent, venues and promoters that make this city a very exciting place to make music!

Electric Park Studio
www.electricparkstudio.com
587 888 5453