PHONE:
Joe Markert, Management (415) 962-1585
Gordon Brislawn, Studio (415) 710-4862

EMAIL:
joe@badhabitrecordings.com gordon@badhabitrecordings.com

USPS, FedEx & UPS:
Bad Habit Recordings
c/o Gordon Brislawn
4100-10 Redwood Rd.
PMB 246
Oakland  CA  94619

THE STUDIO

Bad Habit Recordings was originally Syklopps Studios and was built by Herbie Herbert.  After selling over a hundred million records while working with artists such as Santana, Journey, Mr. Big, Roxette, Steve Miller and Bryan Adams, Herbie decided to retire.

What do you do when you've sold that many records and laid a course in the Music Business that can only be described as historic?  Well if your Herbie Herbert you become a Blues singer named Sy Klopps.

The studio was originally installed in 1995 to support the Syklopps Blues band.  While the studio is deliberately very "homey" it has always been a "nothing but the best" world class facility.  In addition to supporting the Syklopps Blues band, the studio has been at the leading edge of the internet many times.  Some of the earliest live music broadcasts on the internet featuring some of the biggest talents in the business were performed and recorded here.

Given the history of the studio it really does not seem too surprising that it has been so prominently featured on the front page of iTunes.

In 2006 the studio passed to Gordon Brislawn and was renamed Bad Habit Recordings.  While we are very proud of our history we hope that you will become a part of our future!

GORDON BRISLAWN

Gordon has been making records as a full time professional for nearly twenty years.  Before that he spent a good deal of time entertaining his music teachers.  This went on through college and includes a Bachelors in Music Composition with an emphasis in Piano and Voice.

Born and raised in the international melting pot of Oakland California, Gordon is very capable in a number of styles from Hip Hop to Classical and everywhere in between.  All music is a spectrum but no matter where your project lives Gordon has probably spent a good deal of time at your end of the block.

Gordon and Bad Habit Recordings have had over fifty iTunes front page Exclusives in the last two years alone!

LIVE IN THE STUDIO RECORDINGS

There is a qualitative difference in the level of musical production between a true "one-off" such as a live show with the band (or a broadcast of a live show on a radio station) and something that the fan purchases and then can play at will.

With the live show the fan has a single opportunity, at a given time, to hear the performance only once.  With a download purchase the fan is buying something that they will listen to repeatedly for many years.  With these repeated listenings the flaws in the performance and the recording become more and more obvious.  If there are too many "blips" on the radar then the whole performance starts to feel cheap and the performer is devalued in the mind of the fan.

Although the iTunes exclusives are labeled "Live" they are nonetheless studio productions that are intended for repeated listening and therefore become fixtures on the individual fan's musical landscape for years to come.  The quality of these studio productions reflects on the perceived quality of the artist as much as any other studio recordings.

The difference is that with the iTunes "Live" sessions we're trying to capture a snap shot of the energy and sound of the band on tour.  We do this in a four hour tracking session (that accommodates the band's touring schedule).  After the band leaves the studio, I continue to produce the tracks to the highest level that my nearly two decades of record production, advanced training as a musician and the budget will allow.

Having an excellent room, a lot of high end gear, tons of experience and a rock solid musical sense, I can often produce these recordings to the level of the original studio recordings but with the feel of the live tour.  This takes a fair amount of work, however the results are very satisfying and will stand the test of time.

THE PROCEDURE

The process in the studio is focused on getting at least two good takes of each song.  We do very little overdubbing (usually just BVs) but rather have the band track just like they were playing it live.

Once the tracking is done the band comes in and reviews the mix that was prepared during tracking.  After cleaning up any mix details that the band is concerned with, I'll spend some time getting any performance issues cleaned up (Flubs, Tuning, Timing, etc.)  From there the production goes out to be Mastered the very same day it was recorded!

When the Mastering is done, I then send the final 16 bit, 44.1kHz Masters out as a standard Audio CD (slow) or deliver those same files online (fast).

If you have any questions please call or email

Gordon Brislawn
Music Producer
Bad Habit Recordings
(415) 710-4862
gordon@badhabitrecordings.com