Mick Guzauski
engineer
l mixer l producer
History: Multi-Platinum engineer/mixer Mick Guzauski's
love for both music and technology called him when he was in high
school. Growing up in Rochester, NY where there were no commercial
studios, Mick put together his own studio in parents' basement with
equipment that he had begged, borrowed, built, repaired and modified.
You could say Mick had one of the first home or project studios!
"I met Chuck Mangione, an up and coming composer in Rochester
and engineered his recordings as well as mixed his live sound. When
Chuck signed with A&M records in 1975, he asked me if I'd like
to go to Los Angeles with him to engineer his new album," says
Mick.
 
 
Enter
Mick's first experience in the "big time" recording: A
45 piece orchestra with rhythm section and soloists at A&M studios!
"It was trial by fire but it worked out ok and everyone was
happy. I engineered several albums for Chuck in the next few years
and filally relocated to Los Angeles in 1978," says Guzauski.
Early '80s , Mick worked with Maurice White and Earth, Wind and
Fire at the Complex (then George Massenburg Studios). "Being
around George was a great learning experience in both the art of
recording and in audio technology," adds Mick.
Conway Studios in L.A became Mick's home base in the mid 80's where
he engineered and mixed projects for Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick,
Mister Mister, Madonna, Talking Heads, Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini,
Patti LaBelle, Stanley Clarke, Georgr Duke, Quiny Jones, Michael
Bolton, Cher, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Michael Jackson,
Daft Punk, Mariah Carey, Talking Heads and Eric Clapton.
"In
1991 I received a call from Walter Afanasieff, asking me to mix
a Michael Bolton record he was working on. It's a great relationship
with Walter and Michael, I still do work for both of them. Walter
hired me to mix a Mariah Carey album in 1993. Tommy Mottola, then
CEO of Sony, liked my mixes and asked me if I'd like to relocate
to New York and work for him at Sony Studios. At the time, I sort
of wanted to, but I still enjoyed being in L.A," adds Mick.
I
accepted Tommy Mottola's offer later and moved back to NY.
"This made my wife happy who was shaken by the '94 L.A.
earthquake and created great opportunity for me to work
on some time-less albums with Tommy at Sony and at Mariah
Carey's home studio. I was mixing projects for Mariah, David Foster,
Babyface, Boyz to Men, All 4 One and many others," says Mick.
 
Mick who build his private studio, Barking Doctor Recording
in Mount Kisco, NY, is relocating back to Los Angeles in 2013. BDR
sported a Sony OXF-R3 Oxford console and Pro-Tools
HD Xcel 3 system with 96 IO's and tudio B is built around a Yamaha
DM-2000 console and all the standard mixing outboard that he preferes
(Eventide SP-2016's, Manley and GML EQ's, AMS's, EMP Plates and
even the Sony 3348HR). "I'm
looking forward to living in Southern California again," says
Guzauski. Mick has mixed projects for Brian McKnight, Michael Jackson,
Leann Rimes, Eric Clapton, The Corrs, BB King, Brandy , Marc Anthony,
J Lo, Michael McDonald, Mariah Carey and many others.
Current
Credits: When
Daft Punk started looking for an engineer/mixer to team up with
on their fourth studio album - and first in eight years - the recommendation
of mutual friend Chris Caswell, the album's keyboardist and arranger,
led them to Mick Guzauski (Michael Jackson, Earth Wind and Fire,
Natalie Cole, Kenny G, and Christina Aguilera). Guzauski was actually
only vaguely familiar with Daft Punk's work when the band came calling
in 2011, but the experience he says has made him a better engineer.
Unlike most dance albums, the sound is organic and not overly processed.
Guzauski credits the conwayduo
of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo for their musical
sensibility. The basic tracks and select overdubs were cut and mixed
at Conway Studio C in Los Angeles. Conway's live room was the perfect
tracking space for Daft Punk and the Neve 88R-equipped Studio C
proved an ideal mix HQ for Guzauski. Recent work includes: mixes
for Paddy Casey (Sony/Ireland), R. Kelly single, "Rise Up,"
for (Zomba/Jive) and Michael
McDonald's Universal album and completed mixing Breaking Benjamin's
single, "Breath," and Evans Blue's "Q", both
radio remixes for Hollywood Records.
The
new Guzauski-Swist GS-3a Studio Monitor System is distibuted by
GcPro
and already in use at countless major recording studios around the
globe, such as Blackbird Studios in Nashville, TN, and by songwriters
and producers including Robert Marvin and Espen Lind. Founders Mick
Guzauski and Larry Swist met some 40 years ago and have been working
with audio gear ever since. Guzauski-Swist LLC formed from their
desire to create studio monitors that offered no compromise with
most exciting to listen to near-field/mid-field system they could
design given the present technology available. The result is the
Guzauski-Swist GS-3a Studio Monitor System, which is comprised of
a 3-way 12” active system at 28Hz-20Hz+/-2dB with less than
.05% distortion and 3.5 kilowatts of amplification per stereo pair.
Contact: Mic
Guzauski or [email protected]
copyright
2004 studioexpresso
|
