While Matthew Crowley has had many fantastic music experiences, some of his fondest memories are of working in London at an intimate recording studio called Snake Ranch Studios (owned by Nick Glennie Smith and Richard Harvey). He was an assistant engineer, which entailed a variety of tasks from working the console to assisting artists and session musicians (and making lots of tea). The studio was a favorite spot for British television and film projects, but had the occasional rock star pop through (Roger Waters, Elvis Costello). The studio was also a hidden work retreat for the late Academy Award winner Stanley Myers (“The Deer Hunter”), Harry Gregson-Williams (“Spy Game”, “Crimson Tide”, “Shrek”) and Hans Zimmer (“The Lion King”, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean”). As a bonus, Matthew also had the opportunity to work with the legendary engineer/producer John Timperly (Yes).
Back in Chicago, after being bitten by the studio bug, Crowley launched Bubblehaus Studios in a small industrial garage which - with the help of friends and fellow musicians – was converted into a studio. It was always a small operation with the most visible personnel being Matthew, producer/drummer Earl Talbot, Jr. (Nomads, Poi Dog Pondering) and a talented engineer by the name of Andrew Twiss. For the next several years the studio became the staging ground for hundreds of recording projects ranging from Rock/Pop, Jazz, Hip-Hop, R&B, Reggae, African, Folk, documentaries, commercials, PSAs and classical music (Zeleke, Peven Everett, Terry Collier, Dirty, Sugar Blue, Voodoo Kings, Kevin Lee, Ronnie Ron). The space was also used for rehearsals and showcases. In addition to in-house recording, Matthew went into the field for numerous mobile recording projects which included bands, choirs, brass ensembles, but probably the most noteworthy was an ongoing production called “Live From 435” sponsored by Metromix.com (Chicago Tribune). This was a monthly hour long live concert and interview broadcast featuring a wide variety of artists ranging from Jon Langford, The Smoking Popes, Califone, Robbie Fulks, Aluminum Group, Malachi Thompson, The Pulsars, NRG Ensemble, The Handsome Family and many other talented local artists.
Over the years, some of Matthew Crowley’s music has found its way into television and film projects, including segments for the Travel Channel, MTV Productions, ABC’s “Making the Band”, several Japanese T.V. commercials, industrial demos, animated shorts, movie trailers and the most recent full length feature film “Second Moon” from internationally recognized director Masahiro Sugano (Eye From the Sky Productions). Matthew enjoys composing and producing with fellow musicians and has collaborated on productions and remixes with many local and international musicians and producers such as Grammy Award Winning remixer Maurice Joshua, Norwegian producer Pål Jansen (Celsius Recording), Handel Tucker (The Fugees), Preston Klik (DivaNation, My Scarlet Life), David Niari (Malik), Steve Rodby (The Pat Metheny Group), Lawrence Cottle (Seal), Chris Cameron (Sonia Dada), Chris Nicholson (Gullibanque), Johnny Rutledge (R. Kelly, The Doodlebops), Bob Palmieri and Ajax (Liquid Soul) to name a few. Some of Matthew’s closest composing partnerships include working with the artist Simone (daughter of jazz legend Nina Simone – star of Broadway’s “Rent” and “Aida”; Liquid Soul), Chezeré (previous release “Where Does Your Mind Go”; currently with the band Whut4), Sonny Jakobs, Terry Stylz, Rob Laforte, BVX, Earl Talbot., D. Bayne and Michelle Cross. Several of these collaborative efforts took Matthew to some great locations – like back to London with Simone for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall where she and her mother performed and, on a couple of occasions, to Mumbai, India with Sonny Jakobs for a music video shoot in true Bollywood fashion complete with elephants and fire-breathers!
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