Jeff Tamelier Interview

Co-Producer of "Bumped Up to First Class"

We were able to get Jeff to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule as music producer for Strokeland Records and House of Hansen, LLC and as President of NetMusicMakers.com, to answer a few questions about his thoughts on the new Strokeland Superband release "Bumped Up to First Class".

 

As we arrive at the finish line on "Bumped Up to First Class", what are your thoughts on doing this project with Doc Kupka?

The best one yet. All the records we do together are a very easy process.  Most of the songs for this record we wrote on the road the last ten years. Hard to believe “Kick it up a Step” is ten years old.  That was always my favorite, but I really do like this one better.

Being off the road and able to work on this record daily I think has helped me a lot, but the material, the different style singers and the overall pace of this record, I personally like better. It’s very cool having a lot of new alumni on the record for the first time like C.T. (Chester Thompson), Lee Thornburg, Ron E. Beck and Mick Mestek.

Stylistically, how does it compare to the previous Strokeland Superband releases?

I think this one has more different styles meshed in with the classic East Bay sound and vibe. There are flashes of Latin, rock, hip-hop and blues along with East Bay funk.

Who are some of the artists that you got to work with on this project?

Besides the alumni I already mentioned, Dave, Rocco, Lenny Pickett, Mic Gillette, Huey Lewis and John Sanders are back from “Kick it up a Step”.  Strokeland artist Fred Ross sings the title cut.  Newcomers Mike Finnigan (a killer), one of my childhood idols Edgar Winter, and East Bay legend Lydia Pense round out a killer line up.

Did you record most of the tracks in your own studio?

Most of it yes, but we did work in L.A. with engineer Johnny Lee Schell (former Bonnie Raitt guitarist), whom I have really enjoyed working with.

What have you been up to as president of NetMusicMakers.com?

Playing, producing and discovering new undiscovered talent via the Internet. The company is moving forward daily. We have about 12,000 bands already submitting sessions (or songs) to our site for Internet radio play on one of our twelve different station genres. Very exciting cutting edge stuff.