Livingston and LHS

My family moved to Livingston from Queens when I was only a month old. How privileged was I to experience my entire childhood in such an idyllic place? Especially being a Jew – with around 30% of our population being Jewish, I almost never felt like an “other” – other than at school Christmas festivals, with the token dreidel song!

I guess Mom’s research learned that Livingston had great schools and presumably less antisemitism still common in the 50’s. How lucky was I to be able to take Wood and Metal shops, not to mention Electronics class, which prepared me so well for a lifetime of home improvements – eventually recording studio construction – and my lifetime career as a Recording Engineer? . . . But perhaps the greatest personal impact came from being a member of Rock bands, fueled by the opportunity to perform in the annual Battle Of The Bands! Idyllic indeed! The truth is that my entire life has been idyllic and incredibly blessed!

Although I think fondly of LHS, I had little engagement in extracurricular activities on campus, except for the Battle Of The Bands! Those who knew of me, I’m guessing, saw me as a Rock musician? Surely by this point in my life, which is primarily how I self-identified. And not being much into sports, I certainly didn’t feel like I was one of the “popular” kids.

Perhaps it was destiny to become a musician – my grandfather had been a professional musician and my two older brother’s had bands that rehearsed in our basement. When I was around ten, my brother Don wanted a portable electric organ for himself, so he convinced me that I should become a keyboard player to get our parents to buy me one . . . that he could use! The very first song I learned to play (by ear) was Light My Fire, the huge Doors hit with the cool organ intro. Like so many Rock musicians, I continued to learn predominantly by ear with formal instruction only now and then. . . Looking back, how lucky and privileged was I to have such supportive parents who could provide instruments, lessons, and a basement that enabled band practices? In retrospect, it was probably being a band member in high school that was so central to my self-esteem and identity. And I believe it was foundational for learning valuable life skills in collaboration and accountability, on our own and so essential when working within a team.

College and Returning to N.J.

After graduating LHS, I attended University of Miami and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Engineering. I was one of the very first graduates from this groundbreaking interdisciplinary program combining Music, Electronics, and Recording Technology. For the first time in my life, I was required to actually read and play Classical music – on pipe organ – as well as learn theory, orchestration and arranging. It was humbling to say the least, being among some of the most talented students in the country. During my first Winter break, I was told of a new recording studio being built in East Orange, where I was hired to do drywalling. . . Yup, I literally got my first big break sweeping floors! I continued working there whenever home from school, and where I eventually was interned and permanently hired.

Being in East Orange, we recorded a lot of Gospel music and one of my very first sessions was to record the vocal for a Whitney Houston demo. I can still remember the dropped jaws of all in the control room after the first take, followed by the then scrawny and shy sixteen-year-old twirling her hair and asking if she did ok. Wow! She could already sing like the passionate woman we now know, but at the time I thought she was too shy and perhaps not attractive enough to make it. Lol . . . Over thirty years later Whitney came into the L.A. studio I was working at. Would she have even remembered me? Sadly, we’ll never know – I didn’t feel comfortable dealing with her huge entourage. Tragically, she passed away only a few weeks later! . . . Bearing witness to the bookends of her iconic life, from innocent sixteen-year-old nurtured by such a supportive church-going family to what ultimately became of her life, emotionally impacted me! Although I barely knew her, it personalized the potential consequences of “success” and added to my growing disillusionment with the music industry.

Early years in L.A.

But I skipped ahead. . . I moved to Los Angeles in 1987 to explore the idea of creating a recording studio having video capabilities with our classmate Jeff Rosenman. MTV was already huge and I thought, “Wouldn’t everyone love to see actual recording sessions, as I had recently done with young Whitney?” Well, that didn’t happen – not until YouTube – the record companies weren’t even remotely prepared yet for authenticity!

While working on our business plan, I began interviewing for recording studios gigs. Having an unheard-of degree in Music Engineering, I was thought of as over-qualified for their entry level gigs. . . So, I took a courier gig, actually a great way to learn L.A.’s crazy road system. But also, for the first time I learned what it was like to be invisible – to be taken for granted, like a server or doorman – of course in L.A., these same people might be the stars of tomorrow! Lol . . . Perhaps growing up in Livingston, where practically all of us were from families with a house, it was easy to grow up believing that somehow the world owed you.

A few days after yet another studio rejection, while bored and waiting at a doughnut shop for my next courier assignment, the manager who just interviewed me came out. He actually remembered my name! . . . I guess he must have concluded, having taken a courier gig, that I’d be willing to be a “runner” and valuable knowing electronics for getting parts from the electronics store – it was a brand-new facility and they were still installing all the equipment. He asked me deferentially if I’d be willing to take such a low-level gig. . . I jumped at the opportunity!

Within the month, I was asked to be the assistant engineer for the studio’s very first session with Bob Ezrin, the producer of Pink Floyd’s The Wall! Can you believe it? I soon began assisting for all the sessions at Studio Ultimo, working 12-16 hour days and billing for over 100 hours/week. For the next eight years, I got to work on an incredible number of top records, film scores, and music for T.V.

Upon learning of my career, I’m inevitably asked what I’ve done that would be known. So, at the risk of appearing boastful, here are a few projects I was lucky enough to participate in from those Studio Ultimo days. We did many feature films, but the most famous, and my very first, was Die Hard. . . What actually excited me most was getting to work with the industry’s most talented session players, record producers, and film-scorers. . . but you’d probably be more familiar with these celebrity names:

Olivia Newton John	Brian Wilson	James Ingram
Janis Ian	Donavan	Barry Manilow
Anita Baker	Al Jarreau	Kenny Rogers
Karen White	Barry White	Earth, Wind & Fire
Kim Karnes	Johnny Mathis	Wilson Phillips

My most memorable experience was working with Brian Wilson, and practically everyone who learns of this wants to hear what it was like. . . Coincidentally, we were also recording Wilson Phillip’s debut album at the same time! As an aside, shortly after its release my wife and I spent a month in Europe, the last hurrah before having children. Hearing Wilson Philips’ Hold On blaring out of radios everywhere we went sure put some perspective on our country’s cultural reach!

1. Upon greeting Brian for the first time at the studio’s front door, he threw out his hand and says, “Hi, my name is Brian Wilson. . . I fried my brain on drugs!” Lol

2. His psychologist Dr. Landy, also unethically his producer, famously didn’t let him speak with his daughters. – I actually got to watch him wistfully staring at photos of Carnie and Wendy on our bulletin board – then, when they were in, they’d be staring at photos of him. Omg, to be at the center of this family drama!

3. In the movie Love and Mercy, there’s a scene depicting our sessions from twenty years earlier. John Cusack perfectly captured Brian’s childlike and authentic personality. But Paul Giamatti’s Dr. Landy, as good as it was, wasn’t nearly flamboyant enough!

4. My absolute favorite anecdote from working with Brian was a moment that truly showed his genius. . . We were recording the vocals for the song Love And Mercy, and Brian asked me to punch in for the second verse. No problem – I rewound and played the tape and hit record only to be met by perfect silence. Brian was distracted deep in thought, so we did it again. And again, total silence! He then requested a blank piece of tape and we recorded about a minute of singing without any music or lyrics. . . We proceeded to record additional tracks for an astoundingly complex five-part harmony composition. With absolutely no sheet music or guide track. All from his head!

Marriage and Family

Incredibly, it was during the initial 100 hour/week phase of my career at Studio Ultimo when I met my wife! On a rare day off, I went to LHS classmate Bill Kanengiser’s house to see his L.A. Guitar Quartet rehearse – anyone remember Euphoria from LHS, or Jew-4-ia as we liked to call it? . . . I met Bill’s wife Collette, who wanted to set me up with Diane, a school psychologist she worked closely with. Predictably, the night of their Christmas party where we were supposed to meet, my session went long and I didn’t show. A few days later after a last-minute session cancellation, I called her and asked her out that night on a blind date. The rest is history – we got married around six months later! As they say, “A busy man finds time!”

My life has truly been blessed! I’ve had an amazing career, married an incredible woman, had two wonderful children Sonia (34) and Noah (31), and raised two dogs. And we were able to purchase a beautiful 1931 Spanish style home in the early 90’s, when one could. . . I learned so much from Diane about her Latin culture, psychology, public education and the needs of students. Remarkably, influenced by her passion, I even found myself back in schools. Never saw that coming! At first, I just volunteered for fundraisers, but when our kids started attending high school, I upgraded the school’s mixer and started mixing school concerts and musicals. At around the same time, I also started mixing for a community theatre group that produced musicals in the same auditorium.

After thirty years of marriage with little fighting, having buried our parents and seeing our kids through college, Diane and I decided to separate. Eventually we had the least contentious divorce in history and still remain friendly. I was able to keep the house with my studio, where I live with Noah and his wife. Sonia lives with Diane. Although my parents have passed, I’m still close with my brothers and especially my 101 year old Aunt Muriel in Queens (see picture above with Noah & Natalie at 100th birthday party). Muriel is healthy, sharp as a tack, and her incredible youthful spirit is a daily inspiration!

A Career Beyond Studio Ultimo

I had worked at Studio Ultimo for around eight years and, in an effort to find a more reasonable balance between work and family, took on the more administrative roles of chief engineer, tech. and manager. The studio eventually closed, when the owner’s real estate company went bankrupt. Scrambling to maintain an income, I began providing freelance tech support, building studios, and reinvigorated my mixing career. Eventually, I created a home studio business called Mitch’s Mix’n Master, where for decades I mixed and mastered many CDs. I mixed the music for many feature films, as well as the T.V. series Babylon 5. . . Today, I continue to mix or produce projects, but only with collaborators that I actually enjoy working with. Lol

Robby Krieger and The Music Path

In 2018, I created a non-profit called The Music Path with Robby Krieger of The Doors. What a strange twist of fate, that the very first song I learned to play was the very first song Robby wrote – Light My Fire. He was only nineteen and says he used all the chords he knew. . . and that it’s been down hill ever since! Lol I was also astounded to learn that L.A. didn’t have Battle of the Bands in their schools. It just wasn’t a thing here!

I wanted The Music Path to provide high school students the same privileged opportunities that I had growing up in Livingston; having instruments, a free place for band rehearsals, and especially the opportunity to perform in Battle of the Bands, which fueled the formation of bands I found so influential in my childhood. So, we now provide students with free state-of-the-art rehearsal studios on campus, complete with instruments and after-school programming, facilitated by coaches who are themselves emerging performing artists. Students get to form their own bands, choose their own material, and prepare for the end-of-year PLAY-offs (Battle of the Bands). Through this fun and engaging process, students build self-esteem, practice responsibility and accountability to their bandmates, and learn effective language for creative collaboration.

Supporting the passions of my high school students, who so much remind me of my own LHS days – omg, they actually play and listen to the same music we did! – and to be able to provide them the alternative respectful friendships and prospectives of adults just like them, has been priceless and perhaps my greatest achievement! Being around their infectious and pure passion for music, with no regard for the painful financial path that comes with a career in the business, has completely rejuvenated my passion for the art of making music.

Please go to https://themusicpath.org to learn more or donate.

Conclusion

I hope this wasn’t too long, and I sincerely look forward to reconnecting with so many of you. Although I abandoned social media early on, please feel free to reach out through our website. I truly want to learn about your journeys, hopefully as blessed and fantastical as mine. . . Of course, I’m well too aware of how unusually lucky I’ve been and how many of us have been less fortunate . . . or are no longer with us.

Thank you so much Michael, for providing this platform – I can only imagine how much thankless work it is! . . . Looking forward to next year’s reunion, and perhaps some extended activities with everyone while in town.