Notes From The Den 8-18-08 Hey Den-ziens, If you missed Lazlo's Den last week, here's just some of what you missed: - New Music Tuesday featured new music from Evestus, The Pink Spiders, Beth Wimmer, and The South Jersey Seashore Lifeguard Convention Band. - An interview with Eric Zala, director of Raiders Of The Lost Ark: The Adaptation (this interview is now available to be streamed from our Interview Archive at LazlosDen.com) - A memorial for Jerry Finn, influential mixer and producer, who died last week after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage last month. - An interview with Alan Tepper, organizer of the Black River Music & Art Fest - And Lazlo's Dance Party?!?!? Don't miss out on the cool stuff Lazlo's Den has this week: - New Music Tuesday, featuring new music from What Made Milwaukee Famous, Kira Fontana, Jim Boggia, Ramzi, and Brett Harris. - Wednesday special in-studio guests Alter Ego. They'll be rocking the Den performing live and talking about their upcoming BlowUpRadio.com Free Concert Series gig at Buddie's Tavern on August 29th. ~~~ Speaking of BlowUpRadio.com & Lazlo’s Den’s Free Concert Series at Buddie’s Tavern, we have two shows this month. The first is this Saturday Aug. 23rd with New Day Dawn, Zigman Bird, and the Brixton Riot. And then we’ll be doing a special show the Friday after, Aug. 29th, with the band who put out my favorite album of last year, The Winter Sounds! Also on that bill will be Kosmic Daydream, and Alter Ego. Both shows will be broadcasted live on BlowUpRadio.com, but come out and experience the shows live. ~~~ And now it's time for this week's Pissed Off! It pains me that once again this column is bringing up someone who has passed away, but this week it's in talking about something much larger. Jerry Finn was not a household name. Many of you reading his name right now probably don't recognize the name (or you're wondering if he's one of the Finn Brothers from Crowded House, he's not.) Jerry Finn was a producer and mixer, and worked on albums for Rancid, Bad Religion, Green Day, Superdrag, The Living End, Morrissey...the list goes on and on. Undoubtedly, you have heard his work. Last month Jerry Finn suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. Last week, after never regaining consciousness, he was taken off of life support. It was a very sad day for people like me who enjoyed his work. People always give credit to the band for an album that is great, but little or no credit usually goes to the producer or mixer of the album (unless his name is Rick Rubin). I am guilty of this too, as I rarely mention the producer or mixer in my reviews of albums, but that doesn't mean they are not important. We've all at some point seen a band live that sounded great only to be disappointed at how lackluster an album they have. At least part of the blame for that is the people behind the scenes like the producer and mixer. I've seen bands put out terrible albums, only to re-record some of those songs with a new producer and the songs sound amazing. Local bands take note, do not just go with the cheapest producer for your album. Listen to the other albums the producer has done. Do they sound good to you? If the answer isn't a resounding yes, then that producer is probably not who you want working on your album. The world has lost a great producer and mixer in Jerry Finn, but let his passing remind us that not all producers and mixers are created equal. ~~~ That's all for this week. Thanks for reading. Peace, Lazlo www.LazlosDen.com