A year or so ago, my friend Steve asked me if I had ever heard of this book. I hadn't, so he lent it to me and I tore through it in about two days. Granted, this book is an easy read, but it is also one of those books you'll find hard to put down. The book is basically a diary kept by a major label recording engineer as he works with a famous producer on the debut album of an unknown band that is supposed to be 'the next big thing'. All the names, including the author, are replaced with nicknames so as not to reveal their true identities, and this has lead to much speculation over the years as to who the characters are in real life. Anyway, although the topic may sound dry, Mixeman's snarky sense of humor and the drama that surrounds the band (their guitarist is a raging alcoholic... their drummer can't drum to save his life and has to be overdubbed when he is out of the studio...), make for a hilarious, and at times, a bit depressing look at the stuff that goes on behind the scenes in the music industry. You may notice that I haven't provided a link to buy a copy. That's because, for some reason, the book is no longer available to buy new. Used copies of this go anywhere from $450 - $1595 (don't believe me? Check Amazon), which is freaking ridiculous even for a book as good as this. Instead, I will refer you to the website for the book, which I believe actually features the entire diaries for you to read there if you have the patience to do that sort of thing on a computer. So CHECK IT OUT. This should be required reading at every audio engineering school.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Book Recommendation: The Daily Adventures of Mixerman
A year or so ago, my friend Steve asked me if I had ever heard of this book. I hadn't, so he lent it to me and I tore through it in about two days. Granted, this book is an easy read, but it is also one of those books you'll find hard to put down. The book is basically a diary kept by a major label recording engineer as he works with a famous producer on the debut album of an unknown band that is supposed to be 'the next big thing'. All the names, including the author, are replaced with nicknames so as not to reveal their true identities, and this has lead to much speculation over the years as to who the characters are in real life. Anyway, although the topic may sound dry, Mixeman's snarky sense of humor and the drama that surrounds the band (their guitarist is a raging alcoholic... their drummer can't drum to save his life and has to be overdubbed when he is out of the studio...), make for a hilarious, and at times, a bit depressing look at the stuff that goes on behind the scenes in the music industry. You may notice that I haven't provided a link to buy a copy. That's because, for some reason, the book is no longer available to buy new. Used copies of this go anywhere from $450 - $1595 (don't believe me? Check Amazon), which is freaking ridiculous even for a book as good as this. Instead, I will refer you to the website for the book, which I believe actually features the entire diaries for you to read there if you have the patience to do that sort of thing on a computer. So CHECK IT OUT. This should be required reading at every audio engineering school.
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3 comments:
I did not authorize this book but it is about us.
-Andy, Combichrist
I thought this was the book that was about you? ; )
The book includes some additional entries as well for a short time beyond the time where the web version ends. I seem to remember that Mixerman had one final entry at some point where he revealed that Marv had secretly been reading the posts for a good portion of the time and was even supportive(as he believed that his wife and other girlfriends weren't internet savvy enough to ever find out about it). The hard copy book was a different matter however and Marv quickly "negotiated the rights" to the book (it wasn't clear if it was a friendly deal or a threat of "do this or you won't work in this industry ever again" discussion)so that it would never be republished :(.
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