A continuing conversation with accomplished musician Bruce Turgon, who has After Hours Recorders in Redding…
You totally captured a Redding family’s homegrown bluegrass music on a particular project here. It sounds utterly fantastic. How is it that you can apply your craft to so many different music genres?
I appreciate good music and the talent of the artist performing it, so regardless of the genre, I do my best to get the most out of their recording experience. Like everything, I learn from being exposed to so many styles and approaches. Again this is also a case of having grown with the industry/technology, and I find there is a creative synergy between all this different information that I can draw on for inspiration. Case in point, “The Wintons” are, as you mention, a very talented family of bluegrass musicians who just recently finished their first CD at After Hours Recorders. While I had no personal experience performing bluegrass, I have played and recorded many different acoustic instruments over the years and applied those lessons to this project, as well as taking some time to research how other engineers approached recording the instruments used in this genre. A lot of the process is listening and microphone position as I try to equalize very little when tracking. Of course, talent is the main ingredient, which in their case is considerable, so it turned out very good.
(Click the triangle buttons to play.)
How long have you been operating here?
After Hours Recorders has been operating as a business for about a year.
I know you don’t emphasize this fact, but I happen to know that among other things, you played bass and helped co-write some music for years with a little band named Foreigner.
How did you wind up in Redding?
I have family here and had been coming to Redding for many years. While I always thought it would be a great place to live, I was a touring musician and it was just simply too difficult to get back and forth to a major airport as often as I had to. However, after my last major tour in 2003, I decided to spend more time being creative and less on the road, so I spent a couple of years developing different projects including my first solo album. As time and technology went by, I realized I didn’t have to be anywhere in particular to make music. In fact, all I really needed was high speed Internet and FedEx to communicate, so I eventually decided to move here.
I know you also played with several major rock bands that all helped define the music of the pre-grunge rock era. The list of people you collaborated and played with is like a Who’s-Who of the day. But for me, Foreigner is a really big deal. I still hear so many Foreigner tunes on the radio, and for that matter, in my head. Tunes like “Cold As Ice,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “Double Vision,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Midnight Blue,” “Until the End of Time,” … the catalog goes on and on. You guys were not just some one-hit-wonder band. What was it like to tour with a mega-band during the time rock bands strode the earth like giants? (grins)
Foreigner was a great experience both musically and from a heritage standpoint. The catalog is so deep, it’s nonstop hits from show beginning to end, and the intensity of the live shows was very special, around the world. I was also fortunate to have contributed material to the last studio album Foreigner had, which was “Mr. Moonlight.” As you mention, “Until The End Of Time” did quite well and was one of the pieces that I brought to the band. It was a great 10-year part of my ongoing musical journey.
When you were in Foreigner, you played all over the world, and in front of huge audiences. Give me some sense of that. Can you describe the feeling of being onstage with a tight band and a heated audience, and the chords to “Urgent” begin (or whatever was the biggest adrenaline rush song to begin)?
I don’t know if there’s a particular song or moment that was more special than others, but to me, from the opening riff of “Long, Long Way From Home,” to the final bombast of “Hot Blooded,” the momentum of the show was enormous. As you mentioned, I’ve participated in a lot of bands, but none with such a wealth of recognizable material to draw on as Foreigner. Coupled with the intense musicianship in the band, it was great fun to perform every night.
You told me you sometimes worked on your own projects on the Foreigner tour bus, using a laptop to help score a PBS documentary. I found that incredible, but you made it sound like it was all just a day’s work. Are you working on any scores now?
I scored the PBS documentary “Breast Cancer – Strength & Courage” while on tour. I did the lion’s share of the recording in my Powerbook using mostly virtual instruments and some acoustic guitar that I could record straight off the pickup, and yes, it was mostly done in the back lounge of the bus. I don’t sleep very well on the bus, so I took that time to get my ideas together, and then when we had a couple of days off, it was all mixed in a hotel room.
As far as new scores, in the last few month’s I’ve done two which have either aired or will soon on PBS. The first is entitled “Salt Of The Earth,” the second, “Brain Emergency.” I’m fortunate to work with producers who develop works of substance, often dealing with universal social issues as well as some regional topics. I’m currently beginning the score for a full length documentary on the history of whitewater rafting, which will air sometime this year on the Discovery Channel, I believe.
After Hours Recorders, in South Redding, can be reached at (530) 229-0703 or afterhoursrecorders@yahoo.com.
All music presented here with permission from the artists.
PART 3 COMING SOON…
Part One can be found here.
When Skip Murphy is not making electronic music, he can be found working alongside his daughter Erin, as the Peak Performer agent team at Coldwell Banker C&C Properties in Redding. Skip’s blog can be found here.