I have worked on more styles and genres of music than I would say just about anyone.
From Rock 'N" Roll and R&B to Country, Disco, Reggae, Alternative, JAZZ-FUNK and Electronica, you name it and I have delved fearlessly head first into it with the same passion and excitement that I had the first time I stepped into a studio.
It is scary, challenging and oh so very daunting when you make the decision to enter a new genre or area within your own field, which makes working on them all the more appealing to me. Who wants to be accused of playing it safe and living a life well within the boundaries where you are never really doing anything that invigorates and exhilarates you. Playing it safe and doing what you always do, just because it has proven to be successful is no way to live in a business where pushing the envelope and dealing in extremes is a way of life in this industry and it encourages and produces the wonders that people love the most. Taking the tried and true path will eventually lead to you being comfortable which leads to complacency and that is where you lose your edge and fall behind maybe never to recover.
Here is one of those let's jump in moments in my life where I was approached by Paul Stanley through my friend and keyboardist, the late, wonderfully talented, Phil Ashley, who also played on this track and I worked on the programming of the drums and keyboards with as well as all the overdubs and all sampling of sounds. Between his EMU emulator and my LM-1 Linn drum machine our collaborated efforts led to a spectacular result. Recorded and mixed at Electric Lady Studio B with the power of a lightning bolt and the drive of a herd of bison, this track met and surpassed my expectations and also those of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons!
Here to show you what you can do when you approach a project with the zeal and love of discovery is my Mental Glass of Water that is sealed with a kiss or more accurately a song sung and created by KISS. This is my mix, additional production and arrangement on the Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley effort called Let's Put the X In Sex (X-Cessive Mix)
Oh, and thankfully for me, Paul and Gene did love the final results. Good for me or Gene may have stuck his tongues down my throat and killed me!
Oh and an interesting aside is that Paul became a friend and fan of my work and we went out and double dated. I can still remember him walking into the door of my apartment on the 44th floor of 322 West 57th Street along with his date who just happened to be the UK SUN Page 3 girl and was Samantha Fox. Paul was simply wonderful, gracious and cool and he even signed a guitar that I had on my wall above my jukebox. Samantha was shy and very perky and we went on our way to catch a cab to the theater a few blocks away from Lincoln Center where we saw the premiere of Airplane. The people coming up to Paul in the line outside the theater was something to behold and his personality like his immense talent was on full display!