On April 23, Deluxe Mastering celebrated 10 years since opening its doors. Our sincere thanks all clients who’ve helped make it happen.
Marking the Deluxe Mastering studios’ 10 year anniversary: Adam Dempsey, Tony “Jack the Bear” Mantz and Andrei Eremin.
Jack the Bear recently mastered EPs for You Am I (for digital and vinyl release), Eat The Damn Orange, Them Bruins, singles for Lama (produced by Jonathan Dreyfus), El Colosso (mixed by Jez Giddings at Hothouse), Smoke Stack Rhino, US act Street Rock Mafia, and new album for Daniel Tooze. Music workshops have been held to support new artists, inspirational videos are now on his new You Tube channel, along with a new video podcast series “Melbourne UNreal”.
In May, Adam Dempsey marked 30 years in audio and 21 years of mastering professionally “with more thanks than I can verbalise, to all who create the music and generate the goosebumps in the first place”. Recent projects include releases for Alex Watts (mixed by Jez Giddings), Andy McGarvie (mixed by Sam Lowe), Big Smoke (7 inch vinyl for Record Store Day), The Earthmen, Frida, In Capital, Justin Yap Band, On Diamond (Lisa Salvo and band), Masco Sound System (vinyl), The Sand Dollars, The Settlement, Slim Dime (produced by Matt Walker), and Tetrahedra.
Sincere condolences to family and friends of Adrian Slattery of Big Smoke, who tragically passed away in May from cancer.
Adam Dempsey marked 21 years of mastering professionally.
Andrei Eremin has found himself mastering releases for Sticky Fingers, Cleopold, Tiny Little Houses, GL, Foreign/National, Anatole, Ara Koufax, Rainbow Chan, Audego, Brightly, Darts, Buoy and Alba, as well as many debut releases for new artists.
Kicking off 2016, and with the Deluxe Mastering facility’s 10 year anniversary coming up in April, Jack the Bear has mastered projects for Eat The Damn Orange, HeadtorcH, Daniel Kirkland, Speedracer, Cog, Disco Is Dead, From Oslo, and Freeza Push Start Battle of the Bands winner The Bean Project.
Adam Dempsey has been flat out mastering singles for Dear Plastic, Baby Blue, Burrowing (Norway), Eilish Gilligan, Tetrahedra, and Demi Louise (entering the AMRAP regional airplay charts Top 10), remixes by Yeo for Emma Louise, and Jack Stirling, EP’s for Hoodlem (see below), LN3WLF, and Tanzer (for digital and vinyl), and albums for Daniel Champagne (recorded live in the studio by Duke David Sparks, mixed by Sam Hannan), Amistat (engineered and mixed by Matt Neighbour at Sing Sing), The Weeping Willows (engineered and mixed by Ryan Freeland in LA), a fourth album for Way Out West (mixed by Myles Mumford), Jane McArthur’s debut album of soulful tunes from various studios and engineers recorded throughout 2015, and an Elissa Goodrich contemporary jazz percussion album as part of an installation at Heide Museum of Modern Art sculpture park – the album getting great feedback from ABC Radio National, PBS, 3MBS, and Triple R (and yet again proving that natural dynamic range over “loudness” translates well to airplay).
This time around, when not mixing, Andrei Eremin has been mastering new releases for LANKS, Fortunes, Luboku, Albert Sorenson and Annie Bass.
Tony “Jack the Bear” Mantz has been staying out of mischief mastering tracks for Citizen Kay, US act The Blancos, YouTube sensation Trevor Moran, re-mastering Shihad’s “Shihad” for digital and vinyl release (which subsequently achieved Gold status in NZ), Japam, Madboots, psy-trance kids Khatapillah, Sydney rockers 5-way Addiction, Tommy Luck, Long Holiday & KIng Mungi, as well as the usual charity raising for The Jack the Bear Foundation raising $1,000 for The Big Umbrella to aid Nepal’s rebuilding program after the recent earthquakes. With many thanks to all who contributed.
Adam Dempsey has mastered releases for Mick Daley (produced by Matt Walker and featuring Suzannah Espie), Jimmy Dowling (also produced by Matt Walker and featuring the late James Cruikshank), Nervous Doll Dancing (Francesca Mountfort), Rattlers (Norway), Sex On Toast, Summer Flake, Taylor Project, this year’s Down To The River compilation for Melbourne Polytechnic Bachelor of Music students (produced by Andy White), and new single and long-awaited album for Yeo including for 12″ vinyl.
Also, huge congrats to Raised By Eagles in taking out two gongs at The Age Music Victoria Awards: for Best Emerging Artist and Best Country Album (produced and engineered by Roger Bergodaz, and mastered for digital and 12″ LP release). Well deserved, guys!
Tony “Jack the Bear” Mantz has been keeping himself out of trouble mastering records for Fuck The Fitzroy Doom Scene, Stella Angelico, US rapper Yah Supreme, British India, The Captives EP for vinyl (produced by Tom Larkin), Ghostloft, Cheeky Goose, Dave Wright, Chris Cavell, Soulenikoes, Weekend People, Kinetic, Ali Ferrier (produced by Jef Lang), American electronic outfit Watercolors, Let’s Not Pretend, amongst many others.
Adam Dempsey has been head down, ears up, mastering releases for Alma Mater, Amy Alex, Blackwood Jack, Cabbages and Kings, Crayon King, Emma Chalmers, Dreamcoat, Jimmy Dowling, The Guilts, Hey Frankie, Jukai Forest, Lisa Salvo, Mayfair Kytes, Pepperjack, Porcelain Pill, Raised By Eagles (for CD, digital & vinyl), Sleepy Dreamers, Simon Hudson, James Teague, Thelma Plum remixes, Tora (CD, digital & vinyl), Udays Tiger, Voix D’or, Yeo, and Youngs.
This time round Andrei Eremin has been busy mastering a Vevo special for Chet Faker, as well as new releases for Loon Lake, LUCIANBLOMKAMP, Rat & Co, I’lls, Klo, Montgomery, LANKS, Leaks, Kalacoma, Sunbeam Sound Machine, Tiger Choir, Wayfarer and many more. The vinyl resurgence is alive and well – at least a third of these specifically mastered for the medium.
Here at Deluxe Mastering we found ourselves EQ’ing with two hands again using the Sontec MES-432 mastering EQ while the stereo-ganged 6-band Sontec MES-462 EQ was out for a week being serviced. The 432 was formerly owned by US mastering engineer Joe Gastwirt, and the 462 from Frankford Wayne Mastering, NYC – both are original units used extensively on countless hit records.
While collecting his US double platinum plaque for The Neighbourhood, Tony “Jack the Bear” Mantz has also been finishing off projects for My Old Dutch, Sidewalk Diamonds, The Moonmen, Buck Yeah, Stray Melodics, La Mar, Captive, Spencer P Jones, Myyth, Headclouds and a double mix CD for international DJ / producer Hernan Cattaneo for the on-going Balance series.
Adam Dempsey has been mastering releases for Tiny Little Houses (getting TripleJ love and debuting at No. 10 on the AMRAP AirIt Charts), Les Thomas, harlequin., Suzanne Kinsella, Kirsty Moore, Linus Wilson, Michael Plater, Patches, Elephant Ego, From Trees, The Harlots, Jarred Doueal, Vexed City, and preparing vinyl premasters for Sticky Fingers’ album ‘Caress Your Soul’ that he mastered last year.
June/July has been especially packed for Andrei Eremin, mastering new releases for Miami Horror, Millions, Klo, Closure In Moscow, Japanese Wallpaper, Rat & Co, Leaks, Ali Barter, Lower Spectrum, Brightly, Planète, Super Magic Hats, CastleRays, Skyways Are Highways, plus a remix album for Tomcat and a demonstration video for Sam Hirschfelder, Chet Faker’s very talented drummer.
Tony “Jack the Bear” Mantz has been polishing off new projects for L.A production team 4e, Cairo Knife Fight, Pretty City, Super Zero Monkey, Jim Keays (R.I.P.), The Neighbourhood (now sold 2 million copies), Contagious, Clockwork, Dead Bear, Head Clouds, House of Honeys, Sunset Blush, and Lemonberry.
Adam Dempsey has been editing and mastering a live album from Xavier Rudd (mixed at Sing Sing by Simon Keet), and mastering releases from La Rumba, Jack On Fire, the long-awaited sophomore second album from post-rock instrumental trio The Boats, Bronwyn Rose, Freedom (formerly the Merri Creek Pickers), The Perfections, Damon Smith, Matt Glass, Dear Plastic, Big Smoke, Noah Earp, Smiles.Rifles, Tinsmoke and a Philemon/ZedEppelin remix.
Andrei Eremin broke out the resident Ampex ATR-102 for transfer of an experimental 2-track vinyl by Melbourne electronic act I’lls. The standard polish was given to new music from Oscar Key Sung & Guerre, Leisure Suite, SMILE, Lower Spectrum, JP Klipspringer, Naminé, Martin King and Telling, as well as remixes and promos from regulars Rat & Co and Milwaukee Banks.
