Reed Lover over at Counterparts found this old interview podcast with Nick Raskulinecz over at the Budda amplifiers site. It's from around 5 years ago just after he produced the Foo Fighters One by One album. There is of course no mention of Rush but he talks very candidly about how he goes about producing a record and all of his various influences. It gives a lot of insight into what we might expect from the new Rush album. You can access the interview directly at this link or use the player above.

Also, Nick was at last week's NAMM Show in Anaheim and a couple of fans were lucky enough to speak with him. I've dug up 2 separate reports from different messageboards.

Presto-digitation over at TNMS had this to report:

I was at this seminar and this is what I posted on another board for those that are interested:

He (Nick) talked mostly about mics, compressors and pre-amps which was all a bit too technical for me. He did reveal that he liked the recording process to be like a 'camping trip', ie you all sit around a big fire and sing songs (the fire being the Neve mixing desk), how he became a 4th member of the band for the duration, he's the first US producer they've ever worked with, he now tends towards getting a big guitar sound with mics rather than layering, he hates over-compression in the mastering stage, how his entire focus is on the 'song' and how he likes the recording process to be performance oriented and organic - rather than multitracked. This is a complete turnaround to how they recorded Vapor Trails so could be interesting...

Finally someone asked him directly how it was working with them and he said that he still can't believe he worked with his heroes, indicated a fondness for the Moving Pictures stage of their career, said that he and his wife listened to the new mixes over breakfast and that he can't wait for people to hear the album.

He was a really nice, funny guy....not unlike Alex in his demeanour but considerably younger (about 35) and he seemed really genuinely enthusiastic about the album.

Humble Trio over at Counterparts had this to say:

Went to a music producers seminar Grammy Sound Table at this weekends NAMM show in Anaheim, CA. All I can say is what Nick told me floored me! First question I asked him was what is it like working with all three in the same room recording new tracks, his reply was "I am the luckiest guy, its a dream come true". He said to me also he can't wait for the masses to hear it. On Sat. morning before the show he told me he was listening to the new album, so I believe that means its done and said he couldn't believe the way its sounding. He told everybody at the seminar when asked to produce for RUSH he had to maintain his composure as one would imagine. I gave him a bootleg of an early RUSH gig and he said he would watch it with them on Sunday! That made my day I'll tell ya! Best thing he said was RUSH is a class act when working and the best possible musicians ever hands down. Class act band with class act producer! Heres the link to see who else was on that panel, 4th paragraph down.

I must say, the more I find out about this guy the more I like him. Is it April yet?

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