I am working on a project that I need some input on. I am trying to find out how the internet has impacted the local music scene (whatever is local to you). If you have any thoughts on this please send me a message about it. I have also created a poll on the topic that I would love to have you take if you have a couple of minutes.

The link to the poll is here    http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/458519

I see so many bands using MySpace as a tool for promoting their music that I have become curious about how well it is working.   Please feel free to get a hold of me on here if you have an opinion on the matter.

Thanks,

Dave Runyan

It has been a long time since a I posted a new blog entery. There are many changes going on here and in my life right now. The studio work has slowed down quit a bit. Like any other business in Michigan we have seen a big drop in work. Bands want to record but just don't have the money to do so. I always do what I can to keep costs down but I have tons of money invested in the studio and have bills to pay. From here on out I am limiting the number of bands/artists that I will work with. Anyone that I have previously done a complete CD for will always be able to get into the studio with me as the engineer. If you are a band that I have not worked with, and are interested in having me work on your next CD, then please get a hold of me. If it is a project that I dig, and want to be involved in, then we can work it out.

The reason for this change is that I am going back to school. With all of the changes in the music business over the last few years, and the fact that money for music is tough thing to do these days, I will be persuing a different career. It involves me going to school for 5-6 years and I am starting this fall. I will keep the studio up and running as a part time gig from now on. Get a hold of me if you want more details.

This may sound like a bummer but it surely is not. I am very excited about what I am doing next and will never loose my love for recording or music. Some of us have come a long way together!

Right now I am finishing up the Galactic Sherpa's new CD. I am almost done mixing it. Dreams Scar Reality is in the middle of their full length CD. This is one super high energy project! I am still playing with Abandinus. Check us out if you get a chance. I have also released my own solo CD. You can check it out here.

Enjoy your summer!

Dave

The Abandinus CD is finally done and in our hands!  This is the band that evolved out of the Chandra LaPointe project. I am honored and thrilled to be the bass player in this band. You can go to our website (http://www.abandinus.com/) to place an order or to find more information on the project. We are all very happy with the CD in every way and are proud to present it to you.

We are still working on the Page 66 CD. I am very happy with the sounds we are getting for their new CD. These guys are from Grand Rapids and they know how to rock! Catch their live shows if you get a chance to. You will not regret it!

Lionheart is in the studio working on some new tracks as well as having me mix some work he did in another studio.  Members of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra are on these tracks. It is fun to mix real strings for a change of pace.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year! Lets keep making music out there!

Dave

Page 66 was up from Grand Rapids for the weekend to lay down the tracks for their upcoming full CD.  If you love metal you will love these guys. I am excited for them. They are doing some pretty big shows now and it looks like good things are happening for them.  Check out their myspace page for shows.

Michael Lee Seiler had his CD released this week that he recorded here with me. It has been a pleasure working with him and I wish him much success. His CD release party is at Short's Brewery on Dec. 6^th.  I will be there to wish him well.

Here is the biggest news of all………..The Chandra LaPointe CD has been CANCELLED!!!!  Not gonna happen………………. We got almost done and we just got too tired to finish.   Just kidding!  Her solo CD turned into a band CD. In the spirit of collaboration and creativity the 4 players that played on the project decided to form a band. I am very happy to be one of the 4 musicians involved. Chandra is of course our lead singer and pianist. Jen Harrison is our drummer. Gregg Trudeau is our guitarist. I am playing bass and occasional piano.  The CD has 12 original songs written by Chandra and my self with some help from my old writing partner Brian Whitecell. More important than the writing is the incredible input from Gregg and Jen. They are two of the best musicians that I know and am proud to be in a band with them. The arrangements they helped cultivate truly make this CD work. The tracking is finished. Most of the mixes are done. Mastering is ready. My good friends at Disc Makers are waiting for the files. I cannot wait to start sharing this music with people. We will begin rehearsing for live shows right away.  The new band Name is Abandinus.  

Hey It's been a long time since I took the time to let my friends know what I have been doing with my time……………..time.  The fourth dimension? Or is it just the best our human minds can come up with to cope with the movement of physical matter???? Whatever it is I have a hard time finding enough of it. I have consciously scaled back my work load a bit over the past few weeks trying to find the time to take better care of myself. It seems to be working.

It has been a nice late summer here at the studio. Some of the acts that I have been working with have had some success and that makes me smile big time. Page 66 out of Grand Rapids did a nice demo here a while back and is now playing out and being very well received. As they should be in my opinion.  Check their page to see where and when.  Pinky Lee has their new CD in the hands of the manufacturer now and will have a great product for everyone to have in the next couple of weeks. Holly and Jen deserve all the credit and success that I know they will receive when it is released.  Dreams Scar Reality have booked more time to work on new tunes.  They are out playing a lot now and have a very cool sound. Check them out if you like bands that ROCK! If you don't like bands that rock I cannot imagine that you would be reading this to begin with. Plowshare is another local band that makes a big noise in an awesome way to look at. We just finished mixing and mastering their latest work.  We were lucky enough to have Reggie Smith And The Afterparty here Friday night…………….damn!  We were up till 6 am being stupid and having a ball.  We did manage to crawl out to the studio before they left and make the final changes to their CD. We have been working on it almost exactly a year now. They have had some roadblocks and a couple of ditches on the way but it is done and it sounds fantastic! Some of Detroit's best players are on this disc and I am very proud to be involved in it. I very much appreciate them coming all the way up here to Bellaire to work with me. There are hundreds of studios down there and still chose to make the trips needed to get this done. These guys are truly my brothers.

 Projects still under way here are Zonnie, Mike Seiler, Walkin' Bob Griffith, Jake Slater, Chandra LaPointe (yes……….we are almost done), Jill Penell, Lionheart, Ryan Younce and a mastering job for Josh Hall. There are always new things happening here and I am as always grateful for each and every one.

On another note. I have been working on the studio quite a bit lately. I have a nice storage room for all the gear now and that has helped me make room in the live room for some new projects.  There is an old Hammond M-3 here that needs some love that I hope to get working this winter. Some new preamps are on the way as well. There is a new United Audio mic (710 Twin-Finity) pre that has both a tube and solid state sides to it that is on it's way this week. I can't wait to play with that when it gets here. I am always trying to find what gear works best on certain instruments and voices. I hope to be adding many new gadgets over the next few months.

Thanks for reading all of this. Keep on making music and living life. Neither one is worth a shit without the other!

Dave

I just got done mastering a project that I recorded for an awesome group out of Grand Rapids called Page 66.  I had a total blast working on this one. They have a ton of energy and some of the best riffs I have heard in a long time. You will find them in my top friends. Check them out live too if you ever get a chance.

I also started recording a project for my good friend Todd. He used to be in a band called Act Of Confession.  They were one of the first bands that I recorded when I first started Runyan Media.  Those were fun times for sure. Todd has a new project called Dreams Scar Reality. Be sure to check them out in my friends area as well.  This is another very creative project and I am looking forward to the next session. 

It sounds like reunion time around here but I also started a new project for some friends that had a band called Arming The Amish.  The new band is called Plowshare.  It is kind of a a punk, rock and metal mixed with faith kind of thing…. Very cool.  My buddy Jeremy is in this band. He is also the hero that rescued my daughter Miranda  from her first car accident  which just happed to take place in his front yard! Don't EVEN ask if I ever wrecked a car………..or several…………….Too many of you reading this knew me when I was young and already know what I am talking about.

A local band of brothers called Kearny Township layed down some tracks for what I think is a very solid start. They have catchy hook laden songs that could easily catch on.

Another band that was in and did a demo  is called The Seal Clubbers.  Yes I said Seal Clubbers…………  Maybe it has something to do with water mammals at a dance club? Check them out on my top friends and find out. They are all very young and just getting started at the whole music business thing. They have a healthy good start and I am sure will be rocking for some time to come.

I am still working on projects for Pinky Lee, Pat Rider, Lionheart, Chandra LaPointe and Reggie Smith and the Afterparty and Zonni.  Tomorrow Ryan Younce is coming out to get started on his CD. Ryan has become a good friend since doing some of the guitar leads for Rose Fraser's CD.  I consider him to be one of the best guitarists that I know and am excited to be part of his recording career.  I have many new projects coming up this fall and will post them here as they evolve.

As always I am thankful that all of these good people have let me be a part of their creative process. 

Until next time………………………………

Monique and I just got back from our two week vacation to Florida. On the way down we spent a weekend in St Louis and caught a Cardinals game in the new stadium.  That place is unbelievable! We had a great time with Monique's brothers and Dad.  We were able to skirt all of the bad weather on our way down but we got nailed our first night in St Louis. There was one last bad thunderstorm that came through and decided to hail like hell.  Many of you that have been to the studio have seen our nice red Dodge Charger….well it has dimples now!  It got pounded by the hail. I have to say it held up pretty good to one inch hail but that is just too much for most cars. From there we went to Panama City Beach. We had 10 days there in a condo right on the beach. We were on the 17^th floor with a cool balcony to chill on.  The weather was perfect and we did very little more than sit on the beach and drink margaritas.  Our good friends Jeff and Kelly were in Florida finishing up the deal on their new sailboat so they stopped by for a couple of days.  All in all it was a wonderful trip but we are also glad to be back.

I would like to thank the several projects that I had to leave in the middle of.  I was right in the middle of mixing three complete CDs that I was hoping to get done before I left. It all worked out though. It gave people time to get their artwork figured out and to do that duck lining up thing we need to do sometimes. There is nothing worse than chasing those damn ducks around when they are not in rows……………..

I have several new bands that will start recording this month. Most of them are pretty heavy and that makes me smile. I have been recording a lot of folk and acoustic type music lately. That is very cool and I love doing it but I like to work with rock bands as well. The energy and sheer volume is exciting to me. I love working on drum sounds and getting those in your face power crunch guitar tones working. Soon we will sense the smell of tube amps that have been on for days and getting drumstick slivers in our eyes as new songs evolve from the mayhem.  Hopefully nobody gets hurt and my studio glass will stay in the walls!  Bring it ON!

Latest Stuff

We have wrapped up recording for Pinky Lee and Dwain Martin and Reggie Smith and the Aferparty this week.  I will be doing the final mixes in the next two weeks and then they will be in the hands of the manufacturer. All of the writers, singers and players have worked hard and long on each of these projects. Every single one of these CDs has evolved into extremely interesting and cool albums. I hope everyone reading this will follow up and get copies when they are available. Michigan talent and magic at it's best.

We also started some new projects recently. Failing Yesterday was in last weekend to record their first song with me. Things went well and I had a lot of fun. They have a very cool heavy rock thing going on.

Michael Seiler's CD has taken a turn for the bigger. Michael is a great songwriter and his first CD was going to be a guitar singer kind of thing when we started. The material is strong and I am excited about taking it to the next level with him. We are going to go full blown with drums, bass, guitars, harp, keys and whatever else sings to us while we work on it.

Monique and I went to see Alterbridge at the Machine Shop in Flint last week with Gregg and Amy Trudeau.  DAMN that was one cool show. Sometimes I just stare in disbelief when I watch certain people play their instruments. Mark Tremonti is one of those guys. Their new album Blackbird is one of the finest Rock CDs ever in my opinion. I was totally impressed with how they covered all of those parts live. I mean NOTHING was missing in their performances.  One note to remember……..wear ear protection in that place!!! I always do anymore. I have to really watch my hearing for obvious reasons. Everyone needs to really. I had surgery last year and regained the full range of hearing in my left ear and I intend to keep it.

Last Saturday I had the privilege of recording a live benefit for the ISLAND folks.  I am just taking a break right now from the mixing process. We had 10-12 different musicians on and off of the stage at Short's Brewing Company all evening long. I never knew what person was going to do what with what mic or when or why for that matter!  It was a challenge for sure but as always with the Earthwork and Fox On A Hill people it was a blast.  I will try to list everyone but I am sure I will miss one or two because I was running the live sound as well as recording…………so forgive me if I do.  The performers were- Laura Bates and Brandon Foote, Seth Bernard and May Erlewine, Susan Fawcett, Darlene, Luke Winslow-King, Chris Dorman, Micah Middaugh and I noticed several other guests jump up at times.  These names are all very familiar to us in the Michigan music scene. They are all world class writers, musicians and performers. You will find many of them on my friends list here on My Space. Check them out if you get the chance. You will find some great music and even nicer people. I just wanted to drop this little note on the blog while I was mixing things down and hearing all the great talent that was there that night.

Dave

It has been way too long!

I haven't had time to write a new blog entry for quite a while. Things have been crazy here at the studio. We have been recording lots of terrific music by many Northern Michigan musicians.  Pinky Lee is about half way through their CD. Dwain Martin is almost ready for mixing on his. Michael Lee Seiler is about half way through his first CD. Jetty Rae's project has been sent to the mastering house and manufacturer. Eric Kess came in to do some original tracks. I just finished mastering 45^th Parallel's songs tonight and they ROCK! I have also been workin with Jeff from Lionheart on mixing and mastering his newest work.  As you can see things are busy as hell and even more fun!

We have been doing some remodeling on the studio as well as all of the recording. A new room just for instrument/equipment storage and repair is being added. A small bar was also added for convenience.

Lately I have been playing bass a lot. That is the first "cool"instrument I started playing when I was 14 years old. I got a Sears Global 4 string bass for Christmas and was playing in band 2 weeks later. In two months I was jamming with dudes in their 20s. My grades went from A's to C's almost overnight! I managed to balance that back out but I remember playing for over 4 hours a day. All evening long and then get up early to get another hour  in before I had to go to school. I lived music and little else really mattered to me. It felt good to be that focused on something that was also fun.  Now at 44 years of age I am experiencing some of that again.  Chandra LaPointe is one of my very best friends as well as an incredible singer/songwriter/musician. I have been working with her now for a couple of years. A couple of months ago we re-examined her CD project and made some changes in direction. Jen Harrison (drummer) came on board the project and shot a shitload of life right into the heart of it. I play bass in this project and Jen has caused me to go back to the woodshed! I have had to PRACTICE!!!!  Damn! There is that word………………  Anyway it has done me a world of good on many levels. I have fallen in love with the bass again. I just love having that job in a band.

My favorite band for the past 3 years has been Alterbridge. They are playing in Flint next month and I wouldn't miss it.  Their new CD Blackbird is a total work of art. The songs, the arrangements, the performances and the engineering is perfect in my opinion. Check out their My Space from my friends area.  Listening to this has also been an inspiration for me to get back to my roots as a bassist.  Chandra's project has taken a notably heavy edge so now is the perfect time for me to rediscover and embrace this side of myself.

Thanks for listening to my rants and shit. Keep on making noise!!!!