Frau Karo – Breaking Clouds

PRODUCTION & MIX

INDIE POP WITH GRAND VOCALS AND A UNIQUE SOUND

Frau Karo is an incredibly talented singer and songwriter from Cologne, Germany. I had the great pleasure of working with her on her debut album „Breaking Clouds“, which I ended up producing, recording, and mixing.

Cologne-based singer/songwriter Frau Karo approached me when I was still living and working in Los Angeles, so the entire preproduction and mixing processes took place remotely with us exchanging files via DropBox and email notes. Karo would send me vocal & guitar (or vocal & piano) demos that I would then flesh out to a full production including string arrangements. Check out the SoundCloud player below to hear the elaborate preproduction of the song “Breaking Clouds”. Then compare that to the final release on Apple Music or Spotify! We also co-wrote on one of the songs with songwriter/guitarist Anders Mouridsen, which was a fantastic experience. The album recording sessions then took place during a three-week chunk at the amazing Maarwegstudio 2 in Cologne owned by producer and colleague Wolfgang Stach (Jupiter Jones, BAP, Tonbandgerät).

The sonic vision of the album was to shape unique and organic soundscapes similar to sound of records by Florence & the Machine and Daughter that set a counterpoint to Karo’s clear and expressive vocals. This sort of sound is almost impossible to create strictly in the box (i.e. the computer) so we tried to capture as much of real performances and actual analog gear at the studio right away. Maarwegstudio 2 has a fantastic sounding live room that works well for this kind of music, and the studio comes with world-class microphones to capture it all. So we really dug ourselves in during the recording sessions pushing to craft the best possible sounds right away. Spending the time during tracking also meant that very little had to be done mixing the album since most of the sounds were already there. The other advantage is that it really is a very gratifying process to commit to sounds right when you’re recording them. If everybody agrees on a sound and a sonic vision, why hold off making decisions? When doing this kind of stuff it’s super important that everybody agrees on a sonic vision between the music producer and the band/artist.

When it was to time to start mixing, all the hard work from the tracking dates really paid off. I actually mixed the recording with a very simple setup in my living room in Los Angeles. Even so, I feel like it’s one of the best sounding records I’ve done so far. My dear colleague Alex Kloss took charge of mastering the album and he once again did a wonderful job that really made it shine.

In the end, we came up with a fantastic sounding debut album for Frau Karo that was released on the small indie label Hey!blau Records in Cologne, Germany. Several tracks from the record got radio airplay and the album garned some great reviews in the press. Karo also shot music videos for the songs “Pride” (mixed by my good friend Niko Faust) and “The Root”, which you can check out in the slider above. Have a listen and let me know what you think about it!

 

kundenzitat

WORKING ON SONGS AND PRODUCTIONS WITH JULIAN MEANS FRIENDSHIP FOR ME - NO MATTER IF THERE ARE 6000 MILES BETWEEN US OR IF WE'RE IN THE TRENCHES IN HIS STUDIO. NOBODY MANAGES TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM AS WELL AS HE DOES. HE PUSHES AND HOLDS ME BACK IN JUST THE RIGHT MOMENTS.

FRAU KARO

featured skills:

behind the scenes

Skills & Services

Songwriting by Julian David
  • Songwriting

  • Lyrics (German & English)
  • Melody & Toplines
  • Arrangement
  • Co-Writing
  • Song Consulting
  • More >
Producing by Julian David
  • Producing

  • Band-Producing
  • Solo Artists
  • Beats
  • Sound Design
  • Artist Development
  • More >
Recording by Julian David
  • Recording

  • Band Recording
  • Overdubs
  • Vocals & Voice-Over
  • Synth-Lab
  • Live-Recording
  • More >
Mixing by Julian David
  • Mixing

  • Singles, EPs and Albums
  • Hybrid Mixing
  • Sound Sweetening
  • Mix Consulting
  • Analog SSL Mix
  • Remixing
  • More >