Genres Americana Years active 1997-present | Associated acts Geneseo Name Mike Brown | |
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Born October 20, 1980 (age 43) ( 1980-10-20 ) Occupation(s) Producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Instruments Guitar, Vocals, Lap Steel Guitar Fiddle, Banjo, Mandolin, Keys, Percussion, Drums | ||
Mike Brown (born October 20, 1980) is an American Grammy-nominated producer, engineer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and founder of Temperamental Recordings.
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Brown, along with childhood friend, Zac Decamp, formed the group Geneseo, whose record Automatic Music Can Be Fun was Grammy-nominated in 2014 for Best Recording Package. His debut record, American Hotel, was self-recorded in all 50 American states and features 75 guest musicians spanning the last 60 years of recorded music. In 2009 Brown bought and renovated an 1828 country church into a recording studio named Temperamental Recordings and has produced and/or recorded music with artists including Augustines, Lowlight, Thieving Irons, Son of the Sun, David Knopfler, Tom VandenAvond, Chase Pagan, Caitlin Cary, and Hinkley. He is currently working on a new record featuring members of Sparklehorse, The National, Band of Horses, Larry and His Flask, Eels and others. Brown is also a musical instrument appraiser recognized on the History Channel show American Pickers.
Temperamental Recordings
Temperamental Recordings has been a mobile studio, having a total of 5 spaces since 2002. It is currently housed in a former Methodist church in Geneseo that was built in 1828. The space has an impressive number of instruments that Brown collected from all 50 states, and houses recording equipment that spans the entire history of recording. The instruments that are in the studio all come with a story attached, they are gifts from past teachers, friends, and people that have recorded with Brown. In 2011 the studio was featured on American Pickers on the History Channel.
Geneseo
Geneseo is a band composed of Mike Brown and his childhood friend Zac Decamp. Their album Automatic Music Can Be Fun was nominated for Best Recording Package at the 2014 Grammy Awards. The album was recorded while Decamp was living in Montreal and Brown was traveling recording American Hotel. While they were both home the two recorded the album. The recording took roughly a month and was completed at Brown's studio while Decamp was away in Canada. The album caught the attention of Brian Grunert, who owns White Bicycle Design Firm and has done the artwork for several musicians including Ani DiFranco. Grunert (6 time Grammy Nominee), who was working on the design for American Hotel at the time, was given half finished tracks for Automatic Music Can Be Fun, which at the time was not meant to be released. Grunert and his design partner Annie Stoll found a hidden theme and poem in the lyrics for the album, which led to the inspiration for the scratch off packaging. The packaging was the first of its kind, hiding the lyrics behind silver scratch off material only leaving a series of words exposed. Those words make up a poem which led to a hidden track which is downloadable online. The album was released on September 24, 2013 with only 1,000 copies pressed.
American Hotel
The inception for Brown's premiere solo record, American Hotel, was in September 2002 while he was in Richmond, Virginia, recording tracks at Sound of Music Recording Studios. While recording with producer David Lowery, Brown jokingly brainstormed a list of 150 possible guests to appear on the record. After heading back to his residence in Boston, Brown decided to make the wish list a reality and spent the next 8 years on the road recording various tracks. The finished product is a 22 track album recorded all 50 American states with 75 contributing artists. The record was a "sleeper record," says Brown, as it was only released for online download and never released in physical form.
Guests on American Hotel :