Category:Albums produced by Kurt Ballou. Synthesizer, saxophone, guitar, slide guitarĪwards and nominations Heavy Music Awards Year Effects commonly used: Providence Stampede Distortion, Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer, Akai Headrush, Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run, Boss PS-3 Pitch Shifter/Delay, Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal, TC Electronic Polytune, Boss Noise Suppressor, TC Electronic Mimiq.Īs an additional/guest musician Year.Speaker Enclosures commonly used: Emperor 6x12 cabinet (2), Marshall customized 4x12 cabinet w/ four "Eminence vintage 30 clone" 12-inch speakers, Marshall 8x10 cabinet w/ stock 15-watt Celestions.Amps commonly used: Orange OR50 head, Sparrows Sons overdrive std (aka Sparrow amp), Bad Cat Black Cat head, Bad Cat Lynx head, Marshall 1987x Plexi Reissue, 1978 Marshall 50-watt JMP 2204, Ampeg V-4 head, Guild Thunderbass.Guitars commonly used: GodCity Instruments guitars, Wild Customs The Savage One w/ EMG P85 bridge pickup, First Act Custom Sheena Guitar w/ EMG 81 bridge pickup, Warmoth Custom Jazzmaster W/ EMG 89 bridge pickup, First Act Custom Offset-Horns Double-Cutaway, Rickenbacker 650A w/ EMG 81 bridge pickup.One reason that motivated Ballou to get in to the studio side of music was to have "maximum control over Converge's music." He further stated, "When we were starting out, no one wanted to help us anyway, so if we didn't take control, nothing was going to get done." Ballou has claimed to admire producers such as Ken Andrews, Martin Bisi, Fred Drake, Steve Albini, and Don Zientara. He has also produced a number of independent metal and hardcore bands, including Genghis Tron's Board Up the House, Torche's Meanderthal, Disfear's Live the Storm and Darkest Hour's Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora. Ballou has also produced and co-produced several Converge albums, including 2001's Jane Doe, 2004's You Fail Me and 2006's No Heroes. Ballou has stated that because of the quality of recordings has improved so much that the original recordings were "becoming distracting". In 2005 Ballou remixed and remastered Converge's Petitioning the Empty Sky and When Forever Comes Crashing. Ellard jokingly stated Ballou "watched him like a hawk" during the engineering and producing process. Ballou handled all production, engineering, and mastering for the record.īallou has stated that collaborating on Jane Doe with co-producer Matthew Ellard was a huge learning experience for him as an engineer and producer. One of the earliest recordings from the studio was Cave In's Until Your Heart Stops. In regards to Ballou's technical precision as a producer, Jacob Bannon (of Converge) has stated, "Nothing gets by him-it is inspiring to watch him work." Įstablished in 1998, God City Studio is located in Ballou's home state of Massachusetts. His experiences and knowledge in engineering carry over to his recording work. Instead of selecting a different position within the same company that he had worked with for six years, Ballou opted to receive a severance package which he used to build his own recording studio. In the late 1990s, Kurt Ballou was working as a biomedical engineer when his then-project got cancelled. From 1999 to 2002 Ballou and Ben Koller played in the hardcore punk band Blue/Green Heart. In 1998 Ballou established GodCity Studio. From 1996 to 1999 Ballou and Stephen Brodsky played in the rock band Kid Kilowatt. From 1996 to 2000 Ballou played in the hardcore punk band The Huguenots. Since 1990, Kurt Ballou has played in the metalcore band Converge. He is a vegan and follows a straight edge lifestyle. His father used to have a guitar that Ballou played occasionally, but it did not interest him until a school friend gave him Slayer tapes around the age of sixteen. Ballou was accepted to join the Hartford School of Music, but he opted to study aerospace engineering instead. He performed in jazz band, concert band and orchestra, dabbling between baritone saxophone, bassoon and bass clarinet. Kurt Ballou started playing saxophone in elementary school. Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for hardcore punk band Converge and for his prolific recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio.
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