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Michael began his
musical career twenty years ago singing
for the pop/rock group "Ninth Line".
Several bands, guitar lessons, smoke
filled bars and years later, he decided
that recording and musical production was
the area that provided the most creative
outlet for his talent. Inspired by The
Beatles/George Martin and Todd Rundgren's
pioneering production, the studio seemed
to be an obvious place to make
music.
In the
mid-eighties Michael began "paying his
dues" as an assistant engineer at Para
Sound Studios, and as a member of the
technical crew for Liberty Silver, the
Juno award winning singer. The tour took
him across Canada stopping in most major
cities.
In 1987, Michael
bought Para Sound and changed the name to
Sessions Recordings. It was at this
sixteen track facility in Newmarket,
Ontario where he developed his
engineering/producing skills with Glass
Tiger, Jim Creggan of the Rod Stewart
Band, Dan MacMaster of Bonham,
Brotherhood, as well as hundreds of other
independent acts.
Sessions was sold
in 1991, and Michael began to concentrate
on his freelance career. He began working
in several Toronto studios and eventually
settled in as staff engineer at Pizazzudio
(now Phase One). He also had the
opportunity to complete James Owen Bush's
debut cd in Nashville. In 1994 Michael
returned to the live stage for three years
with the folk/vocal duo "Young Americans".
Michael travelled
to Calgary for Country Music Week '98
where he recorded a show for CMT
Television. "The Songwriter's Cafe"
featured performances by Lisa Brokop,
Farmer's Daughter, Prairie Oyster, Charlie
Major, Gary Fellgaard, Tom Jackson, Gil
Grand, Chris Cummings, Cindy Church,
Duanne Steel, Beverly Mahood, Kim Ritchie
and more. In 2001 he travelled to Miami
for a live recording of a 24 piece
orchestra.
In the past few years Michael has engineered
sessions for; Rush, The Trews, Jann Arden, Billy Ray Cyrus,
Kardinal Offishal, Sass Jordan, Leahy, Big Sugar, Anne Murray,
Default, John Mcdermott, Canadian Idol, Ryan Malcolm, Canadian
Country Music Awards, Paul Gross/Men With Brooms Soundtrack,
Somerset Ent, Simon Wilcox and Jesse Cook. As
a record producer Michael has worked with many great artists
such as; Lifted, Aiti Maa, Jonny Atomic, Peter Murray, The
New Black, The Rails, The Itch, In Blue River, Kirk Elliott,
Steve Middleton, Big Beat Collective and Special Ed &
the Musically Challenged to name a few.
Michael is able
to utilize an extensive array of recording
formats. He can easily make the transition
from analog- two inch, Protools, Nuendo,
Adat (both Alesis and Studer versions),
Tascam DA-98,88,38 and 5.1 Surround Mixing
plus numerous automation systems by; SSL,
Audiomate (moving fader), Amek Supertrue
and Optifile. Along with the 72 input SSL,
64 input A.P.I and the largest vintage
Neve console in Canada plus three
HD Protools systems, Michael and
Phase One will be able to achieve the
highest sonic and creative standards for
your next CD project.
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