Fred Gillen Jr got the recording bug early in his musical life. As a teenager he would make sound on sound recordings by recording to cassette using the built in microphone on a Realistic tape recorder, and then playing that back on its tiny speaker while playing along, and recording that onto a separate cassette machine. His first four-track cassette recorder o ... [more >>]

      Fred Gillen Jr got the recording bug early in his musical life. As a teenager he would make sound on sound recordings by recording to cassette using the built in microphone on a Realistic tape recorder, and then playing that back on its tiny speaker while playing along, and recording that onto a separate cassette machine. His first four-track cassette recorder opened a new world to him, and he read books about the Beatles bouncing tracks and distorting tape. In his twenties he recorded a handful of artists on an 8-track 1/2" tape machine and early digital on DA-88's. Once digital improved in quality to 24 bit he got into the MacIntosh computer. Throughout all of it he was constantly collecting gear and learning. From 2005 to 2021 he recorded, mixed, and produced most of the artists listed on this homepage, along with a bunch of his own albums. The majority of the work was done at his Croton-on-Hudson studio Woody's House, with occasional forays into other studios. In the winter of 2020/ 2021, after moving to Athens, NY he built his new space, "Esperanza Recording Studio." In May of 2021 his friend and music collaborator John Banrock helped him move all of the gear to the new studio and he set it up. The room features two large windows and during the day it is possible to record with these windows uncovered, creating a bright and cheery environment unusual for a recording studio. The new room has a different sound than the old studio, and so far this has been a nice surprise! Athens is a couple of hours from New York City and Fred and Peg have a guest room in case a client needs to stay over, or there are some beautiful Air BnB's in the area, which is a busy tourist destination because of proximity to the Catskills and Hudson River. The beat goes on! [<<less]