Adding to the two Grammy nominations already to his credit for Bomba Estereo’s
Elegancia Tropical (Best Alternative Music Album at the 2013 Latin Grammys) and
Pretty Lights’ (Best Dance/Electronica Album at the 2014 Grammys), Brooklyn-
based producer, engineer, and musician Joel Hamilton now has two more Grammy
nominations. Both are related to Highly Suspect’s first full-length album, Mister
Asylum, which Hamilton produced, recorded, and mixed at his three-room facility,
Studio G Brooklyn. The album is up for Best Rock Album, and its single “Lydia’ is up
for Best Rock Song. Not coincidentally, all of Hamilton’s Grammy nominations are
for works he produced and engineered after outfitting all three control rooms at
Studio G with ATC SCM25A Pro nearfield reference monitors, which he relies on at
every stage of every project in which he involves himself.

“I came up in the punk rock world, playing at CBGB and listening to really gritty
records,’ Hamilton said. “There was the right kind of wrong on every record I
loved. It was the like the technology wasn’t up to capturing so huge an event, and
the sound of the technology failing adds excitement to the recording. You can feel
that same effect when you’re really rocking out in your friend’s car on a road trip:
you crank the stereo up just below the point at which it’s going to completely fail
and shout along with the music!’

He continued, “What’s amazing is that we now are pretty close to being able to
capture sound with virtually zero noise or distortion. We thought that was the goal,
but it turns out to be boring for most genres of music. And it also turns out that
there’s a huge range of boring at the bottom, a tiny window of beautiful distortion
near the top, and a huge range of distracting distortion above that. The goal – and
it’s not easy – is to hit that small sweet spot so that a recording sounds exciting at
any volume without being fatiguing. That’s what I’m shooting for.’

Hamilton finds that window recording the basic tracks to a 24-track Studer analog
tape machine. “With my ATC monitors, I’m able to see that tiny perfect window,
where the grit is just right, during recording,’ he said. “That’s critical, because I’m
committing to it. There’s no undo key. Now that I have ATC’s legendary midrange
clarity, I realize that I used to be half-guessing on other monitors. These days, my
intention reads more clearly in the end result.’ Music fans, some of whom are on
the Grammy nominating committee, would seem to agree with Hamilton’s
assessment.

All three of Studio G’s rooms have ATC SCM25As on the meter bridge that, in
addition to being convenient for Hamilton, are a welcomed asset for all of the
studio’s outside clients. “Strange to say, but I feel like I got a home when I
discovered ATC monitors,’ he said. “It’s the sound I want in every room, and I don’t
have to explain anything away when I tell prospective clients that we have ATC
monitors. They’re like, “oh, perfect’ and there’s no need for further discussion on
that point. When I’m working with musicians or other producers, the ATCs provide
an accurate reflection of what I’m trying to do. There’s no need to try to explain my
intensions… they can just hear them.’