Michael Chambers

Marcone EP release Saturday, October 2 at the Casbah

by michael on October 1, 2010 · 0 comments

Marcone has been busy working on his second album. Hamilton music journalist Ric Taylor had this to say in View Magazine:

Music fans have been able to see Mike Marcone playing as keyboardist for hire in a variety of projects over the last two years and musicians have been able to enlist his recording services for even longer than that – but to actually have a Marcone disc in your hand from a Marcone show has been a rarity. This weekend, Marcone finally offers a new EP, Vinyls From The Flood, with the promise of much more to come… While he’s recorded a variety of other musicians in the studio working with the likes of Nick Blagona, Catherine North’s Dan Achen and Michael Chambers, Marcone now comes out with the Chambers/Marcone co–production that showcases his own music. With influences as far ranging as Elton John, David Bowie, Prince and Nine Inch Nails… read the rest

Marcone plays Saturday October 2 at The Casbah with Royal Tea, Jonny Debt, and Matty P. Doors are at 10:30pm and $10 cover includes CD.

Catherine North remains a place ‘for the artist’

by michael on July 14, 2010 · 0 comments

Nice piece in the Hamilton Spectator by Graham Rockingham today.

The Hamilton SpectatorThe music continues at Catherine North Studios despite the death of owner Dan Achen.

Two key sound engineers at the Hamilton recording studio — Duke Foster and Michael Chambers — have maintained operations at the studio since Achen’s death in March.

“We ended up setting up a new business to take over the lease,” Chambers said yesterday. “We’ve worked out a deal with the (Achen) family to keep things running …

“I remember thinking if we don’t keep this thing running Dan would be really ticked off.”

The first new project Foster and Chambers embarked on was a tribute to their former boss. Called Passing Trains, the song was written by Ian Smith shortly after Achen suffered a fatal heart attack. Smith had recorded extensively in Catherine North with his bands Spirits and The Miniatures.

Yesterday — on what would have been Achen’s 52nd birthday — the song was posted for free download on the studio’s website, catherinenorth.com.

“It’s quite an uplifting song and something we wanted to share with everyone,” Chambers said. “Ian wrote it as a way to get his feelings together. Dan was such an important person in our lives.”

Achen, former lead guitarist for the Hamilton band Junkhouse, had built up a national reputation for Catherine North, attracting top talent such as City and Colour, Feist and Broken Social Scene. The studio, housed in a converted church in the city’s North End, was known as an artist-friendly environment.

“It was about creating something for the artist and we intend to continue with that,” said Chambers.

Chambers said the studio expects to be working with several acts in the coming months including local bands The Rest and The Kents.

Count to Fire record new full-length with Colin Cripps

by michael on September 2, 2009 · 1 comment

Count to Fire

Hailing from Exeter, UK, Count to Fire made the trip across the Atlantic to record their new album at Catherine North Studios with Hamilton-based producer/guitarist Colin Cripps. Engineer Michael Chambers and assistant Dan Hoshoian spent the past two weeks tracking their upcoming full-length. We also had the chance to see the Pixies/Spirits show at the Casbah on August 28. Unfortunately, the band didn’t have a chance to finish the 4kg of spaghetti or 2kg of peanut butter they bought while they were here.

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