Lij has 15 years of experience working as a recording producer and engineer, in a wide variety of genres. Some of his discography includes:
Leo Connellan’s "Crossing America", Rosco Gordon’s "No Dark in America", Autumn Defense’s "The Green Hour" and "Circles", Will Kimbrough’s "Home Away" and "Americanitis", Living Things’ "Dark Skies in Broad Daylight" and "Ahead of the Lions", Steff Mahan’s "42.50", Amy Loftus’ "Straight to Amy" and "Better", Fluid Ounces’ "Big Notebook for Easy Piano" and "In the New Old Fashioned Way", and The Spinto Band’s "Nice and Nicely Done", and K.S. Rhoads' "Dead Language", and The Plastic Rulers (with Warren Pash) "Plastic Rulers", and Jeff Finlin's "Angel's in Disguise", "Epinonymous", (and his latest as yet unreleased record).
The Toy Box Studio began as a studio within a house. It was more about the man behind the curtain, if you will, than fancy rooms and a big name. Lij’s studio was his home, where every room was wired for sound. The grand piano was the centerpiece of the dining room, where it sat surrounded by three or four organs. While recording the Autumn Defense’s Circles record, Pat Sansone (Wilco) coined the name “Toy Box”, because of the odd collection of toys Lij used for decorating. Although many artists would attest to the studio’s great vibe, ever the perfectionist, Lij wanted to create a space that would truly provide him with the best sound possible. After getting married and starting a family in 2005, he took the opportunity to do just that.
The new Toy Box Studio offers all the amenities of a pro-studio, in an artistic space. The grand piano now sits in the live room, below vaulted ceilings. A spiral staircase leads to the upper level where a comfortable lounge area rests surrounded by a slew of organs and guitar amp booths. In addition to the live room, there is a constructed anechoic room (dead drum room) and another small isolated room, with line of sight between all rooms. The studio offers 24 channels of Pro-Tools and 16-24 tracks of Analog Tape, all run through a one of a kind, prototype, hand-built 44 Channel MCI Console. The studio also offers an assortment of modern and vintage microphones, instruments, and outboard gear.
No wonder so many studios have tech. problems: they don't even put their tech on their top 16....or even though they could have 24, they don't, so that they don't have to let anyone know they didn't put their tech on the top 24 either. Hmmm, it makes a tech wonder about who they tech for.
Lij-the place really sounds great. I can't wait to continue working on the This Modern Station record with you at The Toy Box. You should feel proud of what you have there as it is obvious how much energy you've put into the place. It will only get better. Cheers! Ditto to Dave's comment...
looking at the pictures of the Toy Box brings memories of looking through high heel shoe catalogs when i was little. should i save this for therapy? anyway it's a feelin of sheer magic enthusiasm for the next project. lij rules!! and joy looks like a supermodel in that picture!!
Love seeing our credits prominent on your list. I gave Rosco recently to a chancellor in the U Missouri system who dabbles in jazz piano and he loved it. Make some money so we can take off some time and finish Water Bread & Beer.
hey, thanks for the add! how did you first come to hear our music? have you seen us live?
if you want more of our music, we have podcasts, videos, and 5 live soundboard recordings available for free download on the music page of our website.
in addition, we have posted an ecard with music and video from our new CD & DVD.
if you want updates on what we are up to, make sure you sign up for our e-mail newsletter on either our hompage or our myspace profile so we can stay in touch with you.
also, remember to check our calendar early and often for upcoming dates.
