Video: In the Studio with Kurt Ballou

Kurt Ballou is one of our absolute most favoritest metal producers — the balance he’s consistently able to strike between a band’s raw fury and a clear, polished (but not TOO polished!) sounding mix is second to none, and he’s produced too many of our favorite albums of the past decade to list — so we were beyond elated when he agreed to engineer, produce and mix five unsigned bands as part of this year’s Converse Rubber Tracks x MetalSucks promo. Watching him work was a treat, and the tracks he created with the bands all came out fantastic.

Metal Injection’s Frank Godla sat down with Kurt at the Converse Rubber Tracks Boston studio during the September sessions for a quick chat. In the video clip that follows, Kurt talks a bit about perhaps the most important but least talked about part of recording: how he communicates and interacts with bands to make them feel comfortable and get the best performances possible.

Listen to the tracks Kurt recorded for CRTxMetalSucks that’ve been released so far, with more on the way this week and next.