Hiding In Plain Sight - Volume 2

Hiding In Plain Sight, Volume 2 is here. Mashing up Northwest music history, vintage signage, historic preservation and design via 9 recording studio profiles from the 1950s to today in a 16-age 8x8 cardstock booklet.

Featured studios: Boles Custom Recorders, Acme, Kearney Barton’s Audio Recording Inc. Camelot, Jupiter (aka Crow Recording, Earwig, THUD), Avast! (aka Ironwood) Laundry Room, Two Sticks Audio, Crackle & Pop!

Pre-orders are up on Big Cartel. Books ship early July. Along with Volume 1, these will also be available at Easy Street Records and Sonic Boom – two of Seattle’s finest record stores. Pick up a copy for your coffee table, recording studio or record shelf.

Dum Dums

One part Motorhead, one part Zeke = Dum Dums. I had the pleasure of making a record with my pal Ryan Maxwell and his longtime pals from Young Sportsmen and Muzzle, Wes and Jeff. Ryan’s one of my favorite songwriters and yet this is nothing like I’ve heard him write before. All songs are under 2 minutes. 

Recorded at Soundhouse, Seattle. Mixed by me at The Trap Shap, Edmonds, WA

Find it on Bandcamp and demand they press an LP!

Fall 2023

Hello – thanks for finding your way here!

In between my work as Production Manager at KEXP, the occasional recording project and being a dad, I’ve been working on a project chronicling recording studios of the Northwest called HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT.

You can hear my interview with Emily Fox on KEXP’s Sound & Vision podcast here:

The 16-page cardstock booklet features original illustrations, logo designs and studio profiles on: Audio Recording Inc. (Kearney Barton), Wiley-Griffith, London Bridge Studio, Reciprocal Recording, The Hall of Justice, Egg Studios, Avast!, Studio Litho, Soundhouse, Uptone.

I approached the project from a place of civic pride for these buildings. As landmarks that most wouldn’t pay attention to, but should. Volume 2, as well as a couple related writing projects are in the works. Long live these institutions and the fabulous Northwest sound!

I’ve been enjoying related design work through my moniker An/Artifact. The IG scroll below features some of this work.

Since the release of BOAT’s 7th LP “No Plans To Stick The Landing” in June of 2022, I’ve also been working with my pals HIGH PRIORS and MODEL SHOP on their latest gems. 

Say hello at hearmeshimmer [at] gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you.

Jackson

November 2021

I’m most active on IG these days, but if you’ve clicked through and are reading this here’s an update.

• Days before the pandemic hit, I moved to Edmonds leaving the West Seattle Track Shack behind.

• HMS in SODO remains a working space, mostly by Mark and Phil of Supercrush. The title of the latest Supercrush LP “Sodo Pop” immortalizes the neighborhood.

• In Summer 2020, I built a new mixing/drumming/remote work space at home called The Trap Shack (pictured).

• BOAT started released 6 months of pandemic singles (2-3 tracks monthly) on Bandcamp Friday between August 2020 and January 2021. Those tracks and others are set for release on Magic Marker Records in early 2022.

• After 18 years, Josh Goodman (BOAT/Lands Father East) and I have revived PACEY — the short-lived side project we started in Bellingham in 2003. Our debut EP was released on October 29, 2021 and can be found on Bandcamp and wherever you stream music. Tall Chris from Racetrack plays bass on the EP!

• My role as Production Manager with KEXP has kept me quite busy during the pandemic. Lots of adaptation and growth. The station has truly thrived during the past however-many-months.

• I’m not taking on tracking projects outside of my own projects, but available for mixing.
  
  Thanks for reading - hit me up at hearmeshimmer [at] gmail.com.
  Jackson
  
  
  

Thanks for stumbling in...

Welcome to the revamped HMS dot com, launched April 23, 2019. Drop me a note at hearmeshimmer@gmail.com. I’m still working on bringing in selected blog posts from the old site, but the watch page has a good selection of my mixing and production work from over the years.

Day 1

About a year ago, D. Crane and I started passing ideas back and forth between HMS and Bill Clinton Studios in Tacoma, yesterday we started laying them down for a new BOAT record. Follow along below…

Unlikely Friends - We Blast Last

(THE FABULOUS NORTHWEST SOUND) The UNLIKELY FRIENDS crew cranked out an album of all Pacific Northwest covers over the span of 10 weeks. Most of the basic tracks were recorded in one day at HMS. Very off-the-cuff, in true UF fashion. Government furloughs, snow days and the potent combination of Garage Band and Dropbox fueled fast and collaborative overdub sessions up and down the I-5 corridor. We released 2 songs week starting in February. The entire collection is now available in digital and CD-R format via Bandcamp. I’m drumming on tracks 1,7,9,10 and contributing BGV’s in lots of places.

He's Waitin'....for you.

(THE SONICS) My choice for the Unlikely Friends all-NW cover record “We Blast Last.” From the 1965 single version on Etiquette Records, it’s The Sonics “He’s Waitin’.” I’m on drums, sugary chorus BGV’s and production duties. I’ll forever be chasing the vibe of The Sonics recordings. Ethan Jones of Math & Physics Club is on lead vocals. D. Crane on Guitars. Full version at the Unlikely Friends bandcamp.

Supercrush at London Bridge

(WHY GO) SUPERCRUSH working on their record at LONDON BRIDGE in December 2018. Via my LOMO LC-A I’ve carrying around since 2001. What a thrill to work in the room where “Ten” and Temple of Dog where recorded. Best of all is getting to work on another record with Mark and Allen and Phil. A few shots…

Rudy's & UF...Unlikely Friends

(UF) RUDY’S BARBERSHOP turns 25 this year and their using Unlikely Friends “Strangest Kind” in their promo. The dudes even appear in the video. Check it out.

Crooked Numbers

(UF2) Happy release day to Unlikely Friends "Crooked Numbers," out today on Swoon Records. LINK

Featuring "that fabulous Pacific Northwest sound" created by the songwriting team of D. Crane (BOAT) and C. Bert (Math & Physics Club) with players from our respective clubs.

Making UF2 kept my production pilot light on over the course of a life-changing couple of years. We made it Soundhouse, Hear Me Shimmer, The Track Shack and Al Gore Studios. I played drums on three former BOAT demos than needed a home (8, 11, 12) and one of Charles’ songs.

“Hey Sunshine” was a Charles song that he thought would be too pretty for a UF record. I got to play drums and it remains one of my favorite tracks ont he

Supercrush - I've Been Around

(CRUSHED) One the best things about working on music with Mark Palm is his attention to detail. The attention to detail that runs through every Supercrush and Devotion recording, also carries through to the album packing and videos. The latest masterpiece is the recreation of a classic skate video for “I’ve Been Around.”

I’ve Been Around" turns the clock back to 1993 and pays homage to the classic opening sequence of one of the era’s most iconic skate videos. Shot on the same San Francisco streets as the video that inspired it, "I’ve Been Around" is the latest audiovisual collaboration between Supercrush and filmmaker Ian Shelton. 

The next Hear Me Shimmer

(TRACK SHACK) I'm very pleased to announce HMS' reliable little brother - known for now as the Track Shack. Opening May 2016 just south of HMS in West Seattle. Stay tuned - and as always reach out to hearmeshimmer [at] gmail.com to talk about recording.

Fall On Fall

(CIRCULAR SOUNDS)  About a year ago, FALL ON FALL and myself descended upon a old haunt -- Chris Walla's newly refurb'd HALL OF JUSTICE to track their fuzziest batch of songs yet. This is the third release we've collaborated on, however I've known these fellas since 2001 when I wondered into this very space on the day that THE REVOLUTIONARY HYDRA were tracking double drum sets for KNOCKOUT TO DISPENSE. A few years later, RACETRACK convinced WALLA to record our debut LP, which was then released by SKROCKI RECORDS, featuring Rev Hydra, Rat Cat Hogan and Fall on Fall drummer Robbie Skrocki.

Fall on Fall will always represent classic NW indie rock to me. But what I love about this record is that, while there are moments of tremelo'd guitar that are signature Rev Hydra, most of the songs feel like what the band would have been listening to when they first discovered punk/indie/noise-rock/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. Brian and Robbie have a killer groove. Find this on iTunes.

Recorded at the HOJ (Winter), overdubs at MRX & HMS (Spring), mixed at Casa HMS (Summer 2015).

Here Is Hiding Place

(NEW SOUNDS)  Here's the debut release from HIDING PLACE that came out on February 1. Though references to early Promise Ring or Jimmy Eat World probably aren't spot on, Hiding Place would have fit perfectly on a show from that era. Maybe a sweaty all-ages show at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago?  This is a cassette release with more to come in 2016.

Recorded at Soundhouse and HMS. Mixed at HMS. Mastered by Carl Saff in... Chicago.

Under The Needle: The KEXP Sessions

(RADIO) In my latest venture with KEXP, I'm producing a syndicated show called Under The Needle: The KEXP Sessions. The show is supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is currently heard on more than 35 college stations around the country each week. Each week, we're taking one of our favorite past in-studio performances and packaging it with an artist introduction and other production elements. It's a bit more polished than is really possible on live radio. And definitely way more slick than the in-studio sessions I started doing back at KUGS in Bellingham in 2001. Fun to make it back to college radio in a roundabout way.

Here’s our episode featuring Parquet Courts:

New Gods

(NEW) New Gods (minus Alex who was training on the East Coast at the time) at Soundhouse. August 2015. 

Death Cab for Cutie - HMS Session

(VIDEO) One of four piano and vocal only tracks recorded live at Hear Me Shimmer as bonus material for the release of DCFC's new LP,Kintsugi. These versions pop up as extras when you Shazam a DCFC track as well. 

Big Crux - Ponchito

(PREVIEW)  The long-awaited LP from long-time collaborators BIG CRUX has a release date. Bright, classic punk w/o Marshall stacks -- in the tradition of Big Boys and Minutemen.  The record is at the plant in Nashville. The test press is on my turntable. Information on where to buy will be to be announced shortly.  

Here's 1 of the 16 tracks, "Wirey." More info on BIG CRUX here.

Scriptures - The Hunters

(ALBUM RELEASE)   Here's a taste of SCRIPTURES Hunters EP. The presentation on this teaser video should give you a good idea what you're in for. I've been staring at a copy of this EP this month, while we've been working at HMS on their full length this month. Check out a live set on KEXP's Sonarchy Radio here and see them on the 17th.