— Intimate gathering was attended by top pros in the world of immersive audio, including Bob Clearmountain, Dave Way, Jack Joseph Puig, Rafa Sardina, Warren Huart, Nathaniel Kunkel, Julian Frampton and more —
LOS ANGELES, CA — A Bad Think, a musical project led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Marquart, recently held an exclusive listening event at Studio A of Capitol Studios in Los Angeles on the evening of September 24, playing through the entirety of the artist’s latest LP The Savior in its 5.1 surround sound mix by multi-platinum award-winning producer/engineer Bob Clearmountain.
The event was attended by top professionals and journalists in the worlds of recording and immersive audio, including the artist Michael Marquart as well as Bob Clearmountain, Dave Way, Jack Joseph Puig, Rafa Sardina, Warren Huart, Nathaniel Kunkel, Julian Frampton (Peter Frampton’s son), and others. All enjoyed beverages and hors d’oeuvres while the 5.1 mix of the album played through the state-of-the-art PMC monitoring system in the control room of Studio A.
The album is available as a 5.1 Blu-ray from CDBaby.com, as well as in lossless 5.1 digital files from online immersive audio stores.
The album was produced by Marquart and multi-GRAMMY®-winning producer/engineer Dave Way (Fiona Apple, Echo In The Canyon, Ringo Starr, Michael Jackson, Macy Gray) at The Barn in Malibu, CA, Windmark Recording in Santa Monica, and Waystation Studio in Hollywood. The album was mixed in both stereo and 5.1 surround by Clearmountain (Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Bryan Adams, The Cure, INXS) and mastered by multi-GRAMMY-winner Bob Ludwig (Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix).
Cinematic in scope with a narrative through-line, “the album tells a story of the rise and fall of a reluctant king,” states Marquart. The album’s style shifts from classical to Americana, from lo-fi acoustic to hard rock.
The surround mix was actually Clearmountain’s idea. Marquart recalls, “When Bob Clearmountain began work on the stereo mixes, he called and asked, ‘Do you want a 5.1 mix?’ It hadn’t been part of the plan at first, but he called Dave Way and me down to the studio to show us something, and we were sold immediately. I thought, ‘This is an album that needs to be listened to in an immersive setup!’ It’s encouraging that someone like Bob Clearmountain is a fan of this project, to the point where he goes out of his way to propose a 5.1 mix. He has some of the greatest ears in the business, and he’s a very deep listener. I’m blessed that he decided to really dig in with the mixing process for The Savior.”
Clearmountain added, “When working on the 5.1 mix, there were so many fascinating elements to use, and the arrangements were very open with lots of space for me to add environmental effects and reverbs. All these elements together create a feeling of depth and width in stereo, and in 5.1, where it’s spread out in all directions, it’s simply stunning.”
Read a review and breakdown of The Savior by Ben Jacklin on the IAA Immersive Audio Album site here: https://immersiveaudioalbum.com/2019/08/a-bad-think-is-entirely-good-with-its-latest-surround-sound-album/.
About A Bad Think
A Bad Think is a one-man project driven by Michael Marquart, record producer and multi-instrumentalist who writes and performs all of his tracks with help from the industry’s top studio musicians. His latest release, The Savior, is a beautifully 5.1 mastered double album consisting of 18 songs of modern progressive rock. Produced by Marquart with Dave Way (Fiona Apple, Michael Jackson), and mixed by Bob Clearmountain (Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi), the album was recorded in Los Angeles and is distributed by The Orchard.
Photo Caption: On September 24, 2019, Studio A of Capitol Studios was the place to be as the artist A Bad Think, held an exclusive 5.1 surround sound listening event for his latest LP release The Savior. Shown L-R are members involved in the production of the album The Savior, including Bob Clearmountain (mixer), Dave Way (co-producer), Michael Marquart (A Bad Think/co-producer), Craig Eastman (violins & cellos), Phil Shenale (keyboards), Jacob Bunton (guitars) and Fernando Perdomo (guitars). Photo by Chris Schmitt Photography. © 2019
