Artist Spotlight: TJ Fox
This was one of my more memorable Spotlight shows. This was the first on-location interview I did, hauling a portable rig into Manhattan and broadcasting from an "undisclosed location". We made reference to the "concrete cell" we were in because it was exactly that; a concrete cell with acoustic treatment on the walls and no circulation. Regardless of the space, which also brought on other problems with the internet connection, everything went off without a hitch and it turned out to be a great show.
TJ Fox can be found on twitter @tjfoxmusic - his website is in the works, but definitely keep a lookout he may be playing in your area soon. He's got an incredible voice, lots of power and soul, and is a terrific songwriter.
The setup for this show was definitely interesting; being an on-location broadcast, I brought in the bare essentials to conduct an internet radio show. The Mackie Onyx 1640i mixer being at the center of it all was very pleasant to work with. Very flexible routing, and great sounding pre's. I used a Neumann KMS105 on TJ's Voice, and a mix of 2 KM 184's on his guitar with the DI signal. I was short on mic stands, so I set up a T-bar and did a stereo configuration for the guitar. It came out pretty decently, and I used an RE20 on my own voice (my backup trusty VO mic, can't go wrong there...).
Aside from the mics, stands, and mixer, I also had two laptops (one running broadcast and the other running Logic to multitrack the session), an iPad mini providing the internet connection (thank you AT&T for your strong signal) and my iPhone with the pre-recorded tunes to open and close the show.
The reason I mentioned all of that... was because I managed to get that entire setup into one suitcase, a backpack, and a guitar case. Other than the table that was in the room, I'd brought everything - I was amazed at how portable all of that stuff wound up being. I really am excited to do the next show.
So, artists, singers, songwriters, who's next? Let's do this! Shoot me an e-mail if you're interested in being featured on JBRecording Radio.
~JB