Dubway West records production audio for Sephora

Makeup giant Sephora recently released an involved piece of advertising featuring a slate of talented musicians & performers, and Dubway West was proud to be on-set to record the production audio. Engineering was headed by Luke Gerard Webb, with Maja Sazdic assisting.

Performances featured in the shoot included Jai'len Josey doing "She Got It", Symphani Soto performing "Energy", Kari Faux’s "Color Theory", and Leven Kali with "Smile". Check it out above, and see some behind-the-scenes shots below.

"Making Menendez" films at LionTV with Dubway sound support

Lyle and Erik Menendez in court during their infamous 1996 trial.

A new true-crime-style documentary covering the Menendez brothers is in the works, with Dubway contributing to the series’ production audio / location recording during principal shooting. One of our favorite longterm clients, Lion TV, is producing the series, and we were delighted to be brought in for sound. Studio engineer Mark Tully tracked production audio on-site at the Lion TV offices near our headquarters in downtown Manhattan, bringing along our production rig loaded with a Sound Devices 800-series portable mixer-recorder and all the bells and whistles needed to ensure a smooth shoot and record.

This project is truly in the works, so you may not see a completed piece for some time, but we’ll be thrilled to see the finished product when it’s released!

Dubway transfers unreleased sounds from the legendary SOB's

Sounds of Brazil (aka SOB’s), the celebrated Hudson Square venue that has long been a storied part of the history of hip-hop (among other genres and styles), has been at Dubway’s Manhattan studios recently to transfer tapes of recordings made at the venue and with associated artists. Dubway engineer Marc Frongillo assisted SOB’s rep Le’Roy Benros in carefully converting the tapes to digital files for safekeeping, future release, or any other purpose. The stash included unreleased music from many of SOB’s star performers, including artists like Kanye West.

Dubway engineer records on-site for Malka Media, IBM

Charley Shealy at Dubway.

Staff engineer Charley Shealy attended an on-site video shoot for tech giant IBM recently, recording the shoot’s audio component with production company Malka Media. Shealy ran the recording from one of our mobile production rigs, which are customizable, suitable for all types of media recording projects, and able to be loaded-in and run by a single engineer. Shooting took place at IBM’s New York research facility at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center just north of the city. The facility has conducted some of IBM’s most cutting-edge research, including the development of the famously Jeopardy-winning Watson AI supercomputer.

"Chasing Ghislaine" drops today on Discovery+

Discovery Channel’s content platform Discovery+ just released Chasing Ghislaine–a new original investigative piece from Blackfin, in partnership with Discovery+–for streaming. Dubway’s lead engineer Nathaniel Reichman mixed the show as part of Dubway’s regular work with Blackfin, whose shows and movies we’ve been lucky to mix many of over the years.

The series follows the investigations surrounding Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, with new and exclusive interview audio and footage from some of the key players in the investigation. For fans of true crime, or those following this particular story, this will be a must-watch.

You can find Chasing Ghislaine streaming on Discovery+, or view it Investigation Discovery on 12/3 at 8pm ET.

"Fizzle" named as official selection at Studio City International Film Festival

Fizzle, a narrative comedic short film from director Jeremiah Kipp and writer Gilbert Girion, has been named an official selection of the Studio City International Film Festival, held annually in Los Angeles. Dubway engineer Zac Suskevitch was on-location as the production sound mixer (also called an A1 or location mixer) for the shoot, which took place all the way back in 2018.

This placement comes on the heels of several other festival showings for the movie, including the Vancouver Independent Film Festival, the Chain Film Festival, the Independent Shorts Awards, the Big Apple Film Festival, the Chicago Indie Film Awards, and more.

You can find tickets for the screening here if you’re local to LA, or follow them on their socials for more. Congratulations to Zac and the rest of the cast and crew!

Dubway's Nathaniel Reichman presents at AES Immersive Audio Academy 3

Industry group AES is currently hosting Dubway’s lead engineer Nathaniel Reichman in a discussion panel on the design of immersive audio studio systems, titled “Making Immersive Designs and Workflows Work For You”. You can find the panel streaming here (with a registration to the event) for the next hour, including a Q&A session to close.

Reichman has specialized increasingly in immersive audio format mixing, working with many of Dubway’s major post production clients as well as with leading musicians in the format. In particular, composer John Luther Adams and Reichman have worked together on a number of immersive albums, most recently on Lines Made By Walking and Arctic Dreams, both on Cold Blue Music.

Dipsea records new content in Dubway's Sand Room

One of our favorite companies to work with, Dipsea, has been back in our Sand Room recently recording new material. We’ve enjoyed being able to work safely with the production company during the pandemic, and have recorded a fair amount of content for them previously.

Sessions have been with studio engineer Charley Shealy at the controls, and producer Angela Sarakan directing the recordings remotely over an AoIP connection.

If you’d like to check out the service, you can register for a free trial here.

"Operator" podcast announces release

Operator, a podcast that Dubway recorded all the way back in 2019, has finished production and is rolling out in the next two weeks. The podcast tells an ambitious history of American Telnet, the company at the center of the 90’s phone sex industry. Wondery produced (and will distribute) the podcast, alongside its other original podcast offerings Dr. Death and The Shrink Next Door.

The podcast was recorded by engineer Zac Suskevich and hosted by Tina Horn, who also hosts Why Are People Into That?. The production staff includes executive producers Daryl Freimark, Michael Connors, Michael Gottwald, and Chloe Prasinos; and Wondery producers Erin O’Flaherty, Marshall Lewy, and Jen Sargent.

You can get Operator early (starting yesterday!) by becoming a Wondery+ member; for everyone else, episodes drop on November 8th on all iHeartRadio affiliate podcasting platforms.

iHeartRadio's "13 Days of Halloween" podcast records in the Blue Room

iHeartRadio brought their seasonally appropriate podcast, 13 Days of Halloween, to our Blue Room studio this past month for a 3D audio recording with actor Kathy Najimy (Sister Act, Hocus Pocus, Rat Race). The recording was recorded by studio engineer Violette Furton, using traditional methods and a specialized spatial microphone array, courtesy of the production, which helps to give the episodes their trademark immersive sound.

You can enjoy the podcast here, or on most major podcasting platforms.

Studio engineer Violette Furton (left) with talent Kathy Najimy in our studio lobby after the session.

Veteran actor, performer, cabaret star Alan Cumming records audiobook at Dubway

Actor Alan Cumming, courtesy Wikipedia.

Multi-hyphenate, superlative performer Alan Cumming (Eyes Wide Shut, Spice World, Spy Kids, Macbeth, and many more) joined studio engineer Keenan DuBois in-studio recently for a recording session of an upcoming audiobook novel. The novel and publisher will have to stay under wraps for now–check back later for more!–but we can share that Cumming, no stranger to audiobook recording, performed the novel with his trademark skill and character work, nailing a diverse set of accents and working with remarkable speed. DuBois, who engineered, produced, and directed the recording, worked closely with the actor over a jam-packed series of days to capture a full read of the novel in nearly no time at all.

We’ll have more info about this project as public details become available; you can also follow Cumming on his website and various social media pages to keep up with his whirlwind life (he has a book of his own coming out as we speak). We’re excited to see this one come out!

#TBT: Q Lazzarus transfers archive of reel-to-reel tapes

This week, a fun piece of #TBT news we’ve been waiting to share for over a year–we were honored to host enigmatic NYC artist Q Lazzarus at our Manhattan facility in August of last year to transfer some of the band’s reel-to-reel 1/4” tapes to digital.

After being the subject of a small media frenzy in 2019 when a cryptic Twitter post resurfaced the long-quiet artist, Dazed reporters were able to confirm that she is still alive and well, but beyond that, weren’t able to initiate further contact with her, seemingly at her request for privacy.

As with all things Q Lazzarus, there was an air of mystery to the session, and we don’t know if the transfers are destined for a future re-release, for archival purposes, or for some other ends, but we do know that it was very special to have Q in studio. Dubway staff engineer Caleb Addy assisted with the transfer, ensuring no technical or physical issues with the tapes during the transfer process.

Check out Goodbye Horses below, and the rest of the (limited) Q Lazzarus discography here.

Author and professor David Damrosch records for "Around The World In 80 Books"

Engineer Louis Fisher (left) and professor David Damrosch (right) in the Dubway lobby after wrapping recording.

As part of a project borne out of COVID-19 related travel restrictions, author and professor David Damrosch’s Around The World In 80 Books explores authors and titles that are distinctly tied to place. As the chair of Harvard University’s Comparative Literature Department and the founder of Harvard’s Institute for World Literature, Damrosch is uniquely positioned to build a compelling list and connect the titles–which span about as wide a range as one can imagine–with insight, contextualization, and an adventurous sense of exploration.

Damrosch worked with studio engineers Sydney Fuqua and Louis Fisher to record the audiobook, which will be available through the book’s publisher, PenguinRandomHouse. Director and producer Nithya Rajendran, who we’ve worked with on a number of other Penguin titles, joined in remotely to help produce the recording.

Find the hardcopy at the publisher’s site, and watch the same space for the audiobook, coming soon.

Jerry Wonda Duplessis edits bounces of original "The Score" recordings

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On the heel of announcing the Fugees reunion tour, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of The Score, Jerry Wonda is back at Dubway editing our digitized transfers of the album’s original 2” tape masters. You can read about our previous transfer and restoration work with Wonda, including careful baking of the original tapes, at our last post about these sessions.

Dubway staff engineer Marc Frongillo has been assisting with the editing process; Louis Fisher contributed additional engineering during the original tape transferring process.

Check out the promo video for the Fugees reunion tour above, and follow Jerry Wonda on IG for more updates on the group’s next moves.

iHeartRadio's "Here's The Thing" records at Dubway

Radio giant iHeartRadio brought their long-running interview show Here’s The Thing into Dubway recently, tracking voice-over and interview recordings with the show’s host Alec Baldwin and studio engineer Marc Frongillo.

The podcast, which has been running for a decade, gives intimate looks at the work and lives of notable cultural figures–musicians, politicians, artists, and performers of all stripes–largely through interviews and conversations between the episode’s subject and Baldwin. Previous guests have included Thom Yorke and Michael Stipe, David Letterman, Barbra Streisand, and Ira Glass.

You can find episodes of Here’s The Thing here, or on all major podcasting platforms.

Panopticon NYC's horror short "Still Together" gets in-person premiere at Brooklyn Horror Fest

Writer/director/producer/multi-hyphenate Chris Piazza and his production company Panopticon NYC’s most recent horror project, a short narrative piece titled Still Together, is being screened next month as part of New York’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. The film, which Dubway did the audio post-production for, has had several screenings over the pandemic, but this appearance will mark its first official in-person premiere.

Check out our previous post about the film here, and find tickets to the premiere here! The screening will be on October 16th at 2pm at Williamsburg Cinemas; each ticket gets you access to the festival’s full screening of the collection of short works, including pieces from eight other filmmakers.

"What Was The Harlem Renaissance?" tracks on the Main Floor

Our second Who Was / Who Is audiobook, the Harlem Renaissance entry titled What Was The Harlem Renaissance? by Sherri L Smith, recorded on our Main Floor studios this week. The sessions follow up recordings for another entry, Who Is Bono?, which wrapped up recording at the end of last week. Engineer Violette Furton recorded both books for publisher Penguin Random House, with this installment recording in our Sandbox recording suite within our Main Floor space.

What Was The Harlem Renaissance? was read by performer Tashi Thomas for the recording, a talented NYC-area actor and playwright who helped to bring the book’s historical survey to life. Thomas recorded locally in our studios with producer Nithya Rajendran, while director Allen Towbin reviewed takes and offered direction through a remote audio connection.

You can find our previous entry about the Who Is / Who Was? series here.

Kara Swisher's "Sway" podcast records in the Blue Room

Violette Furton and Kara Swisher (left to right) in the studio lobby.

Journalist and prolific podcaster Kara Swisher joined Dubway engineer Violette Furton in our Blue Room and Main Floor Studios sound booth this month to record for her Sway podcast. The show, which follows a loose interview-style format and focuses on power in Silicon Valley, is produced by The New York Times. Furton and Swisher made use of our remote recording capabilities to record a phone interview between Swisher, in-studio, and a guest in California, with production-quality audio fidelity on both ends of the call.

Swisher has written for many major publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, her own publication Recode (later picked up by Vox Media), and New York Magazine. Her podcasts have included shows like Recode Decode and Pivot.

You can find Sway on all major podcast platforms; new episodes come out weekly!

"Who Is Bono", by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso, records at Dubway

Longtime young-readers series Who Was / Who Is is producing a set of audiobooks at Dubway, with the first installment voiced by actor Tatiana Grey, directed by Joe Ward, and produced by Nithya Rajendran. The book chronicles the life of Bono (the title, fittingly: Who Is Bono?) of U2, and is being recorded by studio engineer Violette Furton–pictured above in the studio lobby, with talent Tatiana Grey.

Who Is Bono? is part of a series with over 200 installments, detailing the lives of significant cultural and historical figures in digestible language for younger readers. Other recent editions include Who Was Ponce de Leon?, Who Is RuPaul?, and Who Was Charles Shultz?. The breadth of topics in the series is wide, and many authors have contributed installments; the Bono installment, like a number of recent editions, was written by authors Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso.

Once released, you’ll find Who Is Bono? available to download on all major audiobook platforms. Next to be recorded is Sherri L. Smith’s contribution to the series, What Was The Harlem Rennaissance? – check back for more next week!

#TBT: Ken Leung with Marc Frongillo

This Thursday, we’re excited to share a photo from this summer’s recording sessions with actor Ken Leung. Dubway engineer Marc Frongillo recorded the superstar actor’s dialogue for the recently released M. Night Shyamalan film OLD, which premiered in theaters in late July with #1 opening weekend sales at the box office.

Dubway has been proud to be one of a select few studios in New York with SAG-AFTRA-approved COVID-19 safety standards, which has allowed us to continue working with actors and productions who are represented by the union during the pandemic.

You can find a previous write-up of this session with a trailer for the film here, and a short blurb about the release here.