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| Gawk >> Hen House Studios |
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Who is working on Hen House Studios? Harlan: The main person is Tucker Stilley and myself. I (Harlan Steinberger) am in charge of pre-production and production. I screen bands, and record and film them. I feel like a documentary film director at times. Tucker is in charge of postproduction, mainly editing the band’s video clips and documentary films. They are various other people who contribute: Graphic artists, web masters web designers, videographers, recording engineers, mastering engineers, mixing engineers, and a office staff. I also spend a lot of time in the office pushing our CDs and documentary films as well as maintaining our web site www.HenHouseStudios.com What's the history behind this idea? The general concept of offering free recording time to artists in exchange for being filmed. (This is bartering at it's most creative!!) Harlan: Well, at first I was a musician and record producer and then about 13 years ago I made my first documentary film 'Tibor Jankay- The Art of Survival'. For the next 7 years or so I went back and forth between working in documentary film and music. Then one day, in the shower, it hit me that it would be great fun to fuse the two mediums, so I built a recording studio/sound stage fit with digital audio and video capabilities. I created the model based on what I would deem expectable if I was a songwriter and was entering a studio that wanted to film and record me. What seemed most fair to me was that Hen House Studios would own the songs only if they were in sync with the footage that was shot in the studio that day, and the artists and or writers would maintain ownership of their songs in every other way possible. The bands could then use their recorded songs as a demo to further their career, finished their albums, license them to movies or television etc…. |
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 Trevy Wardel |
Hen House Studios in return would end up with all this great footage (1000
hours to date representing over 100 bands) that we could edit into music
documentary video clips and full length documentary films. There are
presently about 90 clips, five to fifteen minutes long on our web site free
for all to view. Then later we decided it would be really cool to release our favorite songs in Hen House Studios Anthology CDs. So to do this we went back to the bands and licensed back one song each. So far we have released 4 anthologies. The Hen House Studios concept also allowed me to meet bands that I wanted to do whole records with and also led to the creation of full length music based documentary films, the latest being 'Welcome 2 the Hen House' |
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Synopsis: In 2000 Hen House Studios opened its doors in Venice, CA, announcing they would be recording independent bands for free, well kind of, the recording time was free and in exchange the sessions along with out of the studio encounters would be filmed. CD compilations were made as well as a music doc short for each band which is posted on their frequently visited website. Welcome 2 The Hen House is a collage of the many artists who spent time there. This unique film blends these shorts with animation and super 8 footage to create a fantastical journey through the current independent Los Angeles area music scene. A blend of young, undiscovered talent collides with such legends as Fishbone and Doors' drummer, John Densmore who frequent the Hen House with various projects. What started out as an experiment evolved into over 8oo hours of footage from the 100+ bands laying eggs at the Hen House. Now, after years of incubation, co-Directors Harlan Steinberger (Hen House creator and chief) and his long time collaborator/editor Tucker Stilley have hatched this documentary feature. And another film: 'Critical Times Fishbone's Hen House Sessions' Synopsis: In 2001, the legendary, influential and voraciously eclectic band Fishbone arrived to record their newest material at Hen House Studios. The seamless blend of multi-angle cinema verite and time lapse photography turns day to night and back again as the band pleads, cajoles, threatens and uses every trick in the book to bring their music alive. The film does nothing to demystify Fishbone's potent Juju - after nearly a quarter century touring and composing together - their unique magic is still operating at it's nuttmost. Band documentaries may come and go - but this is Fishbone. Way up close. What is the selection process like? Harlan: Bands submit: http://www.henhousestudios.com/studio/, I listen to everything and listen for artistry. I know this is a very subjective process but I do the best I can. I don't care about musicianship, style or the quality or fidelity of the recordings, just artistry. |
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Tell me about the label within Hen House. Harlan: 9 CD releases, 2 documentary films. Three records to be released this summer. We work our records! We just don't push them for three months but rather we will push them as long as we are in business. Basically, like children, indie records need nurturing over a long period of time. We also, philosophically, stick with online distribution only because in our opinion store distribution died along time ago. We were recently offered in store distribution and we turned it down. What is the independent music scene in Venice like? Harlan: Lot's of bands influenced by the sun, surf, skate boarding etc…. It’s wild, filled with high-energy bands. I see a big movement back toward bands that are influenced by punk, rock, surf, reggae and ska. What role do you feel you play within that independent scene? Harlan: We want to provide a place where musicians feel that they can come hang out and not feel any pressure. After all, when bands record at the Hen House, they are not paying to be there and the Hen House is not paying the bands to be there either. When you remove that you remove the pressure and the result is beautiful relaxed recording. It's incredible fun. What do you hope to achieve with Hen House Studios? Harlan: I dream of a label where every band involved is a stockholder; their stock being the songs they have written and recorded with us. Then we could have these big board meetings/parties with all the musicians present and vote on things like where the music should be sold and for how much, what movies we should license songs to, who to record next etc... |
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 Stalking Roxy |
What are you working on now? Harlan: Finishing touched on three records: 'Floyd Red Crow Westerman – A Tribute to Johnny Cash' Red Crow is possible the most famous native American actor in the world and he approached me a while back about doing a Johnny Cash cover album with him singing. He is absolutely brilliant on it. 'Dominica Tenement Yard' – A Reggae compilation of indigenous Reggae bands from the small Caribbean Island Dominica. My good friend Trevy Felix from the international renowned reggae band Boom Shaka lived in Dominica for a year and a half and recorded the bands there on his laptop. He brought the masters to the Hen House for sweetening and we are psyched about this very special project. |
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'Sonny' – Sonny was a famous Venice Beach boardwalk figure who was
considered the 'King of Venice'. Before his recent death I recorded him
solo. Brilliant songs from a brilliant human being. Also, editing a documentary film about the L.A. based poet Michael C Ford. He was the original bass player in the Doors and left early on to pursue a career in poetry. He knows more about L.A. history then anyone I have ever met and his poems are incredible moving. A band that features doors drummer John Densmore and Iranian musician Reza Derakshani. will perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. on June 14th. They are billing themselves as 'Peaceful Sounds from the Axis of Evil'. Hen House Studios produced and released their record last year entitled 'Reza'. I have the great honor of play percussion with them that night. They will also perform in Canada: June 16th, in Toronto at the Lulu Lounge June 17th, in Montreal at the Theatre de National Also, of course I am conducting various Hen House Sessions! |
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