Welcome to Industry Feature Friday, putting the spotlight on the people behind the music! From producers, radio DJ's and radio trackers, to photographers, managers and everything in between. These are the music business professionals who work hard to help put your favourite artists (emerging, independent and hit makers) on the charts, DSP's, radio and on the map through their work behind the scenes!
In the spotlight this week is, Calgary ABs guitar picking, former heavy metal band member and now one of the best of the best producers with a super sweet recording studio - it's MCC Recording Studio's owner/operator/producer, Dave Temple! The man, the myth, the living legend! It is such an absolute pleasure to have him as a part of Studio B this week! I've never had the opportunity to work with him, but I know many many artists who do and LOVE his work! He's amazing!
Get to know more about Dave Temple here:
Sarah Scott (SS): Since it's your first time being featured with Studio B, tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved at MCC Recording Studio.
Dave Temple (DT) : First of all - I have to say thank you very much for asking me to be apart of your Cool - Bad Ass ‘Industry Feature Friday’, - Sarah, I’m a huge fan of all things you do in and for our Music Community!! THANK YOU As for myself - I’ve been a musician pretty much all my life … picked up a guitar at age 9, started playing music with my brothers at age 11 - as kids in a family band we played piles of shows and wrote and recorded music for a few years.
Rock and Roll, Pop and some Country Music - It was a lot of fun. When I was 20 I got asked to join a Heavy Metal band, we wrote songs and recorded a couple of albums for record label 'Wolfe Records' in Europe that had distribution through 'CBS Records' and I began a life of learning a different side of music - The Music Business! Hahaha!
In a nutshell it is and has been a continual journey of evolution. I started working in Music Retail when I came off the road and two years later a buddy and I opened our own Guitar Shop.
From there I spent about 25 years in MI Retail learning a whole different side and perspective of the music business. The coolest part of that whole experience is not only the great friendships and people I was fortunate to meet, work and deal with but, that side of the Music Industry is completely relevant to what has become MCC Recording Studio today.
MCC Recording Studio was ‘born’ the last week of June in 2001 - My partners and I (from the retail store Music Centre Canada) really wanted to build a ‘project based recording studio’ to work on our own music in our spare time ….. NEVER HAPPENED!!
What did happen was over the next couple of years - there was a consistent amount of interest from our local, provincial and national music communities to record music. So record music we did! It was such a pleasant surprise to see both independent and label artists from all over the country approach us about creating music. A dream come true for sure - It is now June of 2022 and we are completing our 21st year as a Recording Studio.
SS: Who are some artists you've worked with? Who would be some you'd love to work with?
DT: Man’O’Man . Such heartfelt gratitude for all the opportunities we have had through the years. Truth is, we have worked with some pretty cool artists and had the opportunity of being apart of some pretty epic projects. I mean to me, my heart is so fulfilled when we work with an Indie Artist that you watch the process of of evolution and growth happen before your eyes.
I remember meeting a young Brett Kissel and thinking to myself this dude is such a Bad Ass - TALENT and SKILLZZZ ! He was 15 or 16 at the time. He and his producer were doing up Brett's 1st record. It was Stampede Week and young Brett … charming as charming can be is recording music by day and going to the Stampede every night. We would be laughing hysterically at the energy and drive he had. He’d walk into the studio the next day with his new friend (seriously... a different friend every day) all Big Name Country Music Artists that he would convince to sing on his record with him from his Stampede hustle the night before. Shock and Awe, I knew this cat was destined to be the Country Music Superstar he is today.
I really loved the work we have done with AMY HEF, ALEE, The Wolfe Brothers (Australia), George Canyon, The Road Hammers, Loverboy, Greg Godovitz, a really fun project we did for Steve Vai’s Digital Nations label with a Calgary artist Chris Bullen as well Ryan Lindsey, Donny Lee and our great friend …. the King of Canadian Country Music - Gord Bamford. So many amazing Artists , Projects and Songs over the years, so grateful for each and every opportunity.
I think Johnny Gasparic and I would love (The Good Lord Willing) to have the opportunity to work with the amazing Sarah Scott ,NICE HORSE, Dallas Smith, Tebey, Aaron Goodvin and of course ….. Kid Rock. Hahaha!
SS: How can an artist/band/session musician prepare to get the most out of their studio sessions and get the best musical product?
DT: Great question - Being prepared, confident and comfortable saves time and money for an artist in a recording studio.
My thoughts about this are pretty simple and very uncomplicated. Work on your song to the very best of your ability,- then engage your producer to go through it with you - refine it , be comfortable and excited with the arrangement. It will be fun and painless for you as an artist when you are cutting the track and when you are in this zone.
Really work out your parts, consult with your producer so you know what your parts are going to be. Rehearse and practice the hell out of those parts, be conscious of your execution, delivery and sounds. Preparing the performance and execution of your parts in advance takes the ‘Red Light Fever’ out of the equation Passion Babaaaay ….. Passion, … the truth the feel, THAT,…. is what we look for in a performance.
Nobody really cares how cool you look in the studio playing, it really is about how your execution and delivery of performance!! That is a challenge I still struggle with -to me being a poser and posing is everything!!!! Hahaha!
Of course there are exceptions to the looking cool playing flawlessly in the studio - They are 'RokK Lordzzz' - 'RokK Godzzz’ Kinda Dudes - of notable mention and I must give SINCERE propzzz to - Johnny Gasparic, Russell Broom, Chris Byrne, Justin Kudding, Travis Switzer, Mitch Jay, Brendan Waters, Keith Floan, Chad Melchert, Ben Bradley, Brendan Lyons, Joey McIntyre, Denis Dufresne
SS: How do you prepare for a studio session?
DT: I like to get ahead of each and every session - getting as much and the right information in advance - prior to recording is key.
Learning and understanding the Artists vision, expectations and goals - what is the purpose of the recording, is it a ‘Radio Quality' single, a social media platform release, is the music a business card for gigs. I really want all the deetzzz and info so we can make great music and plan for success outcome of the artists vision.
Speaking with an artist we are looking at working with, I want to do my best to make a connection - artistically and empathetically, every project and session at MCC should be a win win for the artist and the studio - We always strive to be a good fit - Having an open, comfortable communication allows a project to come to fruition with success.
For the actual session once we have established all of the above - I usually work out the details of the timeline, budget, session players and the organizing of the schedule.
Johnny Gasparic handles all things creative and magical!!
SS: What kind of artists do you like to work with? How do you choose who you bring into MCC?
DT: We have worked with and do work with all kinds of different musical genres. Its a very diverse spectrum of Country, Rock, Metal, Alternative, Rock, Jazz, Blues, Ethnic and the list goes on.
We really try and work with artists that we all can connect, create and have a fantastic time together making the best music possible. At the end of the day we want the MCC Recording Studio experience to be something an artist will reflect on with love, great memories and a musical journey we all are crazy happy about.
If our clients - musical partners have success in what we set out to do with the goals we set out to achieve at the beginning of the project - I think we hit that WIN-WIN button we were looking for and planned for. Johnny and I are extremely open minded about music, when we are not making music - we listen, we learn and enjoy it all.
Also, here are a few of the organizations he's been recognized by (he's kind of a big deal!):
Alberta Music (AMIA)
Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA)
Country Music Alberta (CMAB)
Comments