Red Rockets Glare


Red Rockets Glare is a Los Angeles recording studio, founded by musician, producer, and engineer Raymond Richards in 2003. The associated record label, Red Rockets Glare Records, has signed bands such as Frankel and the Leviathan Brothers, while artists that have recorded at the studio include The Broken West,
Chapin Sisters, The Fling, The Monolators and My Own Holiday. Richards frequently produces albums at the studio, including Catch the Brass Ring by
Ferraby Lionheart and Gorilla Manor by Local Natives.

History

Founding

Before founding the studio in 2003, producer and musician Raymond Richards began working as a touring pedal steel guitarist in 2001. He toured with artists including Mojave 3, Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions, Lisa Germano and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, while also attending the Academy of Art University in San Francisco from 2001 to 2004. He began collecting vintage gear and building his own microphones and pre-amplifiers, and started working as a producer at Red Rockets Glare in April 2003, founding the studio in the residential Rancho Park section of Los Angeles. The Studio was founded partly to help record the music of his own band, The Idaho Falls.

Early releases

recorded their 2005 album Our Tears Have Wings at the studio, and stated in 2006, "Red Rockets Glare was a converted garage. Unlike our garage, though, it's nice and comfortable and sound-treated inside, and, oh, it doesn't leak when it rains and form large patches of mold on the floor. That is fortunate."
, an LA power pop band, recorded their debut at RRG.Los Angeles power pop band Broken West recorded their debut album I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On at the studio over the course of a year with Richards engineering. The Parson Red Heads' King Giraffe was recorded at the studio, and Richards worked with Ferraby Lionheart to record 2007's Catch the Brass Ring. "Making this album was a real adventure," Lionheart said in a press release. "I met a guy with a cool little garage studio in West L.A. The place was packed with instruments and vintage gear; I tried to use it all."
Frankel, the folk pop solo recording project of Michael Orendy, has released an album on the Red Rockets Glare record label, Lullaby for the Passersby in 2007. Group Leviathan Brothers recorded their second jazz EP "The Man Who Lost His Shadow" at the studio and released it on Red Rockets Glare Records. Their third EP, "Short Stories", was released in 2008 and recorded by Richards at Hot Pie Studios in Pasadena, California.
Don’t Dance by The Monolators was produced, recorded and engineered by Richards at the studio, and released in October 2008. The Sweet Hurt works with Richards at the studio. About her experience first recording Everyday Mistakes over three days at the studio, "It was the most polished-sounding thing I'd done. I learned a lot from that recording process. It was inspiring. Raymond really encouraged me to keep doing the music thing, so I recorded another batch of songs at the studio and that's how the new EP came about." In June 2008 The Sweet Hurt released In The Shade of Dreams, their new EP, on Red Rockets Glare Records.

''Gorilla Manor'' (2008)

stated in a 2009 interview, "To record Gorilla Manor, we stumbled upon a gentlemen by the name of Raymond Richards who runs a little studio in Rancho Park called Red Rockets Glare." "We contacted him and he had a really great vibe... we clicked right away. We did everything you heard on Gorilla Manor with him." "All of out prior recording experiences had been very stiff and stale so one of our biggest goals going in was to get more of a natural and more relaxed sound."
According to a 2010 review, "Local Natives'... self-funded album Gorilla Manor, produced by the excellent Raymond Richards here in LA, maintains everything I love about their live shows – a controlled ruckus filled with passionate percussion and beautiful melodies."

Recent recordings

Bands that Richards produced in 2009 included Salt Petal and The Fling. In 2010 Richards recorded one of the songs on the new Henry Clay People album The Fall Trees, and that year Produced country rockers Honey Honey, and A House For Lions. Miles Kurosky's solo debut, The Desert of Shallow Effects, was recorded at Red Rockets Glare, and according to a review the album "works the same vein of melodic, intelligent pop that deemed so much of his former group’s catalog essential listening." A version of the Kurosky session for Aquarium Drunkard recorded at the studio in February 2010, was played on SIRIUS XMU in April of that year.
In 2011 Richards produced records for Count Fleet, Salt Petal, Will Courtney and Warships. Richards played bass on and produced the new record by Marvelous Toy. The Parson Red Heads have included Richards as an occasional band member, and he produced their 2011 album Yearling, released on Arena Rock Records. The first part of Yearling was recorded over several months at the studio. Artists that Richards produced at the studio in early 2013 included John Isaac Watters, Jody Glenham, The Picture & The Frame, The Blank Tapes, and Local Natives. Staff band Young Creatures also records at the studio.

Equipment

Much of the gear is vintage, related to equipment used by The Beatles in their London studios, or is hand-crafted by Richards. Starting in 2009, the following equipment has been added to the studio:
;Computing
;Organs
;Recording
;Compressors
;Instruments
;Other instruments
Artists who have recorded at Red Rockets Glare include:
*
The following albums were recorded at the studio:
YearTitleArtistFounders roleLabel
2003
King GiraffeThe Parson Red HeadsYukon Records
2005Concrete PrairieThe Idaho FallsVocals, instruments, productionSelf-released
2005MagnitudeIcebirdEngineeringFlying Squirrel Records
2005Man and the CousinThe Harpeth TraceMixingRobert Barry Construction
2006Everyday Mistakes EPThe Sweet HurtProductionDigitalpressure/Wendy Wang
2006Praise is PoisonThe Clean ProphetsEngineeringTuff Penguin
2006Our Tears Have WingsThe MonolatorsMonolator Music
2006I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go OnBroken WestEngineeringMerge Records
2007Catch the Brass RingFerraby LionheartInstruments, engineering, photographyNettwerk Records
2007By Night On My BedThe Grizzly OwlsEngineering, mastering,
mixing, instruments		Self-released
2007Lullaby for the PassersbyFrankelRed Rockets Glare
2007Pancho FantasticoJohn HoskinsonEngineeringTallboy Records
2007The Man Who Lost His ShadowLeviathan BrothersRed Rockets Glare
2008In The Shade Of Dreams EPThe Sweet HurtRed Rockets Glare
2008Short StoriesLeviathan BrothersRed Rockets Glare
2008Don't DanceThe MonolatorsEngineering, productionMonolator Music
2008On DisappearingThe Harpeth TraceProduction, guitar, mixingRed Rockets Glare
2009Chinese LeftoversSugarplum FairiesEngineering, pedal steelStarfish Records
2009Your DollLisa DouglassEngineeringBaby Taste Records
2009Gorilla ManorLocal NativesProductionFrenchkiss Records
2010The SparkThe Idaho FallsInstruments, production, mixingSelf-released
2010The Fall TreeThe Henry Clay PeopleRecording several tracks
2010Desert of Shallow EffectsMiles KuroskyShout! Factory
2010Somewhere on the Golden CoastThe Henry Clay PeopleEngineering, mixingTBD Records
2011Billy JackhoneyhoneyInstruments, productionHoneyHoney Records
2011When the Madhouses AppearThe FlingEngineering, pedal steel, productionLady Monk Records
2011YearlingThe Parson Red HeadsProductionArena Rock Records
2012MurmurationsThe Parson Red HeadsEngineering, productionTimber Carnival Records