Tool & Die
page 32
By
Tom Carpenter
of www.TomAroundTheWorld.com
Tucked away in a place you
would never suspect, some-
where off the beaten path, in
the Eastwood area of Syracuse
is one of the area's newest, and
most comfortable, recording
studios. Moletrax is a studio
with 24 track analog capabil-
ity and a full-service rehearsal
space/showcase room. The
studio is run by Jeff Moleski,
(aka "The Mole") and local
music legend Jeff Jones. I re-
cently sat down with The Mole
to discuss the studio.
Tom: Tell me a little bit about the studio.
What kind of equipment are you running
on?
Jeff:
It's a 2 inch 24 track analog tape.
Dolby SR, Pro Tools LE system that syncs the
tape. That's the basis. I have a quarter inch
tape machine, a Studer A807, that I like to mix
to and it all sounds very wonderful when you
mix to such a machine. The tape brings out
or does something to the mix. I like that ma-
chine. It adds a nice sheen to the top end.
Tom: Oh, yeah. I personally prefer an an-
alog recording. I think it has a warmer sound
than the digital.
Jeff:
And the mixing console is a Sony JH
636...30 channels, 36 inputs, and all automat-
ed faders.
Tom: How long have you guys been here?
Jeff:
Almost two years now.
Tom: I know Undergang was your fi rst
band you guys had in here. You've done The
Legendary Jones Gang, and you are did the
demo for your band Amerikan Primitive too,
right?
Jeff:
Yeah. The new Amerikan Primitive
record we are going to start soon.
Tom: Who else have you guys had in
here?
Jeff:
We had Augustine, a young band.
We had a gentleman named Sean Woolridge,
and we are doing some pop stuff with him. A
band called Counsel was one of the fi rst bands
through here.
Tom: So you are doing all styles of music,
it's not just hard rock, it's not just punk. It is
a little bit of everything that you have going
on here?
Jeff:
Mainly rock. I mean that's what I do,
you know.
Tom: So you aren't mixing hip hop beats
up in here?
Jeff:
No, not doing too much of that. I've
done a couple rap guys that came in with
some tracks that they had worked on, and
they wanted to drop vocals on it. I've done a
couple of those things.
Tom: So if that question came up, you
could handle something like that here.
Jeff:
Absolutely. We can build beats, we
can do anything here really. We have MIDI
capabilities, we've got a Kurzweil K200, (the
same type used to record Queen's Jazz al-
bum), MIDI on the Pro Tools. I have a bunch
of other samplers and modules.
Tom: I know you have done a lot of work
in Chicago and out in LA at Moletrax West,
and we are glad to have you here in Central
New York. What's it like working with bands
out there as opposed to bands here?
Jeff:
Well, in bands out there people are
playing on a way faster pace. It's a different
playing fi eld. It's more career-oriented out
there. It is what people are doing. Whereas
here, most people have day jobs. Most people
are not actually career musicians here. But out
in LA, there is also the same demographic of
people that are trying to do the same thing...
that do have jobs. They are trying to make it
as artists, to become that career musician.
Tom: You worked with a lot of bands
out there. Anybody we might recognize the
names of?
Jeff:
Cathy Valentine, I've worked with
the drummer from Local H, and the singer
from the Dashboard Prophets, a band called
The Black Panels, Gregg Dulli from the Af-
ghan Whigs... worked out a song for the Low-
Fidelity All stars third record. I've got a copy
of that around here somewhere, I could play
you that track. You know, I got to play syn-
thesizer in that song. That was kind of cool.
Tom: You've had some pretty good names,
and you are doing some great stuff with the
local bands around here. I mentioned you did
Undergang, and two of their songs placed in
the top 10 on OurStage.com out of all of the
bands in the nation- thousands of bands sub-
mitted and they made top 5 and number 9 in
the country so kudos to you for that.
Jeff:
That's one of those things I never
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