Claude Zdanow

Last updated
Claude Zdanow
Origin Long Island, New York, U.S.
Genres Pop, hip hop, rhythm and blues, rock
Occupation(s)Record producer
Instrument(s) Guitar, bass, piano
Years active2005–2007
LabelsWe Put Out Records
Member of Patent Pending
Website

Claude Zdanow is an American musician, composer, engineer, and entrepreneur. Active in the music industry since 2005, he toured with pop punk band Patent Pending as a bassist in 2006. He founded the Stadiumred Group, a marketing agency, in 2007.

Contents

The first Stadiumred business was a recording studio company, Stadiumred Studios, which signed producers including Omen and Just Blaze, and worked on Grammy Award-winning projects including Steven Mackey’s Dreamhouse (2010 Best Engineered Album, Classical) [1] until Stadiumred Studios ceased operations in 2015. Zdanow is also a periodic angel investor.

Music career

1990s-2006: Early years, RockIT Studios

Claude Zdanow was born in the United States and raised in Long Island, New York. He began attending Portledge School in 1992, in Locust Valley, New York. [2] By his teens he was a songwriter and musician, [3] learning instruments such as bass [2] guitar, piano, as well as audio engineering. [4]

While still attending high school, [5] he founded RockIT Studios [6] at age fifteen. [3] The one-person operation resulted from both his interest in music technology and his involvement with the music scene, as at the time he was writing, producing, and performing with several local bands. [6] He constructed the small studio [7] in his parents' basement in Long Island, [8] officially opening in December 2005. [2] Through RockIT he ended up working on several major-label projects, [8] and among his clients were Evan and Jaron, The Dear Hunter, Warner Brothers, Maybelline Cosmetics and IMG Media. [9]

2006-present: Move to Manhattan

After graduating high school [5] from Portledge School in 2006, [6] Zdanow moved to New York City to attend college, working in event promotions and as a composer for television. He was soon approached by the pop punk band Patent Pending. He joined as bass guitarist for their 2006 tour, touring the United States [5] for five months and sharing gigs with bands such as Zebrahead, Catch-22 and Authority Zero. [2]

After the tour, in 2006 he returned to attend Marymount Manhattan College. While at Marymount he was involved in college radio and student government, and also studied political science, philosophy, and business. [2] He closed RockIT Studios in June 2007, founding his next studio, Stadiumred Studios, in Manhattan just a month later. [2] He dropped out of Marymount in 2008, instead working full-time at his studio. [2]

Since his move to Manhattan Zdanow has continued to work as a record producer and engineer for artists in genres such as EDM, hip hop, blues, R&B, and rock. [6] He has also continued his work as a composer. [10] He joined back up with Patent Pending for a single concert during the 2010 CMJ Music Marathon & Film: Stadiumred and ZS Events Showcase, which he had put together in partnership with Zach Iser, now an agent at ICM Partners, to launch Stadiumred's event company Stadiumred Life. [11] In 2011 he mixed a project featuring Usher and Justin Bieber; produced by Mysto & Pizzi, the song was released on Ultra Records for the American Cancer Society. [12] As of 2013 he also personally co-manages Jeremy Carr and The Chainsmokers. [9]

Stadiumred Group

Founding and companies

In the summer of 2007, [2] Zdanow was nineteen years old [6] when he closed RockIT Studios and decided to start a new company. [3] He took over what once was Harmolodic studios in Harlem, originally used and owned by free jazz artist Ornette Coleman. Zdanow largely renovated the broken down space himself, [8] also recruiting friends and family to help. He opened the Stadiumred Group's first business Stadiumred Studios in September 2007, with himself as the only employee. [9] After dropping out of college in 2008 to work at the studio full-time, [8] he soon began hiring producers, engineers, and managers. [13] As of 2014 Stadiumred Studios was a full-service mixing, recording, and production facility, [3] associated with 24 Grammy nominations and 12 wins. [13] According to Stadiumred's website, the Stadiumred Group is now a global marketing agency holding company. [13] Zdanow is CEO of the parent company Stadiumred Inc., [14] which as of 2019 has owned and managed multiple other companies since inception, four of which are listed below: [2] [10] [13]

Stadiumred Studios

Producers and clients

"Zdanow’s energy – driven equally by his spirit of adventure and copious amounts of caffeine – was enough to convince Just Blaze to relocate to Stadium Red after closing his beloved Baseline. [Related Just Blaze],'I had known [Stadiumred engineer Ariel Borujow] from before, and [Ariel] said, ‘You should come look at this space and have a conversation with Claude. Claude explained his vision, what he wanted to build, and I said, ‘Maybe we can make something work.’ It's a win/win...That allows me to be more creative, but at the same time I have my own space.'"
— Sonic Scoop (2010) [1]

Zdanow soon expanded the company from being a one-man operation, and by early 2009 employees included rock engineer Joseph Pedulla, hip-hop engineer Ariel Borujow and classical engineer Tom Lazarus. [8] By that time Stadiumred Studios was also editing video for commercials, with video editors on staff. [8] Sidney "Omen" Brown soon joined as a record producer as well, [3] and in February 2010 it was announced that Justin "Just Blaze" Smith [3] was moving to Stadiumred Studios, after closing his own studio Baseline that month. [17] Just Blaze and Zdanow combined resources for an expansion, [1] and among other additions, a mastering suite was added in late 2010 for new mastering engineer Ricardo Gutierrez, [1] with the other producers retaining their residencies. [1] By April 2011 the Stadiumred staff included classical producer David Frost. [12]

By 2010 Stadiumred Music existed and was developing, managing and recording both DJs and recording artists. Stadiumred Studios had also recorded music for the 20th Anniversary episode of The Simpsons . [3] At that point clients had included Melinda Doolittle, Mos Def, Yo Yo Ma, and Thursday. [3] Stadiumred Studios engineer Tom Lazarus mixed at Stadiumred Studios for Oliver Stone's film W , as well as for the San Francisco Symphony. [8] The latter was filmed for Blu-ray and recorded live in San Francisco, then mixed at Stadiumred Studios. [12] In 2011 Stadiumred Studios worked on The Greatest Story Never Told, the debut album by hip hop artist Saigon. The album was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered at Stadiumred Studios, and when released it reached No. 7 on Billboard's Hip Hop Albums Chart. [12]

The company worked on four Grammy-winning projects in its first three years of operation, [6] including a 2010 win for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) for Journey to the New World by Sharon Isbin. [3] In 2010 alone they were involved in eleven Grammy-nominated projects spanning nine categories, [12] including Eminem’s Recovery (Album of the Year, Best Rap Album) produced and mixed by Just Blaze, Drake’s Thank Me Later (Best Rap Album, Best New Artist), and Steven Mackey’s Dreamhouse (Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, and Best Engineered Album, Classical). [1] By 2010 the company had several dozen gold and platinum albums and several Oscars, Emmys and Tonys, [3] and by 2014 Stadiumred Studios was associated with 24 Grammy nominations and eleven wins. [2]

Notable releases

Albums and singles recorded, produced, or mixed at Stadiumred Studios:

Equipment

Stadiumred Studios in Harlem has been renovated and expanded a number of times since it was taken over in 2007 as Harmolodic. Before March 2009 the studio underwent a renovation with consultation by Alan Fierstein of Acoustilog, retouching the 900-square-foot live room and 400-square-foot control room, with three side rooms available for recording and mixing. [8] At the time Zdanow was using his own Digidesign mixing board, specifically a "32-fader Digidesign ICON D-Control ES with 7.1 capability." [8] The ICON was integrated with Pro Tools, [8] though Stadiumred Studios also uses Logic Studio and other digital audio workstations as well. [18]

In early 2010 Zdanow commissioned Frank Comentale to design [3] a 2,500 square-foot expansion. [1] Comentale, who had previously worked on sites such as The Hit Factory, constructed two new rooms: a SSL mix studio and a mastering studio with surround sound. [1] [3] According to Zdanow, "By keeping it smaller we could keep it more affordable. Clients have the SSL, a full suite of plug-ins, Augspurgers – everything that would usually cost you $2500 or more a day, at the fraction of the cost. This place is small enough to feel like a production room, but big enough to feel like a room you can mix comfortably in." [1] The "A" room in the studio is "a big live room where people can track through the console, and mix with tons of outboard gear." The "B" room as of late 2010 was being used by Just Blaze for production, with a customized SSLAWS setup. [1] More specifically, the new B-Room was given "SSL AWS 900, Augspurger mains, and a digital/analog hybrid production/mix approach." [1] Studio C4 as of 2010 [1] is used by resident engineer Ariel Borujow, who encouraged the studio to purchase Dangerous Music equipment, [12] which as of 2011 are used in both the A and C4 studios. [12]

Investments, public speaking

Zdanow is a periodic angel investor, [2] [14] and is an advisor and investor to Quirky and DJZ Inc., both tech companies. [4] He is also an advisor for the Alzheimer's Disease Resource Center [10] and a member of the Portledge Preparatory Arts Council. [4]

He is a member of various music industry organizations as well. [2] A supporter of The Recording Academy, he is co-chair of the Grammy Camp Committee [10] and in 2013 Zdanow both helped organize the day and was also on the Grammy Camp panel at Pace University, focusing his talk on music and social media. [19] A frequent public speaker since founding Stadiumred, he has appeared as an industry expert at events such as the 2011 Winter Music Conference, [9] and has been invited to speak at the Organization of American States, [4] Pro Audio Summit, [4] [20] Amsterdam Dance Event, [2] Grammy-U, and ASCAP I Create Music Expo. [5] In April 2014 he was an industry expert at Columbia Business School’s Startup Demo Night #23, which focused on media and entertainment. [21] He has also appeared in television shows and print publications such as Bloomberg TV, Rolling Stone , MarketWatch , and MSN. [2]

Discography

Production credits

Selected production credits for Claude Zdanow
YrRelease titleArtistsNotes, role
2006 The Worst Case Scenario Stereo Skyline Drums recording
2006 Act I: The Lake South, The River North The Dear Hunter (Triple Crown Records)Mixing
2009"Stay With Me"Karmatronic (Stadiumred)Mixing

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Black Album</i> (Jay-Z album) 2003 studio album by Jay-Z

The Black Album is the eighth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was released on November 14, 2003, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. It was advertised as his final album before retiring, which is also a recurring theme throughout the songs, although Jay-Z resumed his recording career in 2005. For the album, Jay-Z wanted to enlist a different producer for each song, working with Just Blaze, Kanye West, the Neptunes, Eminem, DJ Quik, Timbaland, 9th Wonder and Rick Rubin, among others. The album also features a guest appearance by Pharrell Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Schmitt</span> American recording engineer and record producer (1930–2021)

Albert Harry Schmitt was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, and others. He also won 2 Latin Grammys, and a Trustees Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.

<i>Goodies</i> (Ciara album) 2004 studio album by Ciara

Goodies is the debut studio album by American singer Ciara. It was released on September 28, 2004, via Jazze Pha's Sho'nuff Records and LaFace Records. After writing songs for several established acts, Ciara's talents were noticed by Jazze Pha, and she began to work on what became Goodies. The album's conception came through the title track, produced by Lil Jon and created as a female crunk counterpart to other singles produced by Lil Jon such as Usher's "Yeah!" and Petey Pablo's "Freek-a-Leek". Ciara worked with additional writers and producers on the album, including Jazze Pha, Bangladesh, R. Kelly, Johntá Austin, Sean Garrett, and Keri Hilson, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Barbiero</span> American record producer

Michael Francis Barbiero is an American record producer, mixer, engineer, and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dieter Dierks</span> German record producer and music publisher

Dieter Dierks is a German record producer, sound engineer, music publisher, studio owner and musician. He became well known as producer of the rock band Scorpions who were signed to him between 1975 and 1988. Before that time, he had already successfully established Hamburg-based band Atlantis in the US. Between 1969 and 1975, numerous albums of the "Krautrock" era were produced at Dierks Studio. From 1975 onwards, more and more international artists started booking his state-of-the art sound and TV studios.

<i>From Nothin to Somethin</i> 2007 studio album by Fabolous

From Nothin' to Somethin' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Fabolous. The album was released on June 12, 2007, by Desert Storm Records, Street Family Records and Def Jam Recordings. The production on the album was handled by Akon, Timbaland, Jermaine Dupri, Just Blaze and Polow da Don, among others.

Jim Abbiss is a British music producer, best known for his work on records including the debut album of Editors, Arctic Monkeys' Mercury Music Prize winning debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Kasabian's Kasabian and Empire, Ladytron's Witching Hour and Ladytron, Sneaker Pimps' debut Becoming X, and Adele's 19, and 21.

Gerald E. "The Gov" Brown is a recording engineer, mixer and music producer based in Los Angeles, best known for his work with artists including Whitney Houston, John Legend, Earth, Wind & Fire, Madonna, Sting, Prince, Phil Collins, Marcus Miller, Wayne Shorter and Victor Wooten. He is credited on multiple RIAA Gold and Platinum certified albums.

Louis Dorren, commonly referred to as Lou Dorren, was an American sound engineer, music producer and inventor. He was also the owner of Bay Sound Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Ryckman</span> Canadian businessman

Lawrence G. Ryckman is a Canadian music industry executive known for his knowledge of audio production and mastering and the development of patented audio and video technologies used in the music and entertainment industries. He is president and CEO of AfterMaster Audio Labs and Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, part of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Aftermaster, Inc. In November 2014, recording artist Justin Timberlake joined Ryckman as a co-owner of AfterMaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Stevens (musician)</span> Musical artist

Christopher Edmund Stevens is an American record producer, mix-engineer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Marc Urselli is an Italian-Swiss freelance New York City & London-based audio engineer, music producer, mixing engineer, live sound engineer, remixer, sound designer, composer, musician, contributor, and blogger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fantasy Studios</span> Former music recording studio in Berkeley, California

Fantasy Studios was a music recording studio in Berkeley, California, at the Zaentz Media Center, known for its recording of award-winning albums including Journey's Escape and Green Day's Dookie. Built as a private recording studio for artists on the Fantasy Records label in 1971, it was opened to the public in 1980 for recording, mixing and mastering. It was permanently closed on September 15, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Paul</span> Recording engineer

Gene William Paul is an American audio recording / mixing / mastering engineer, producer and musician. He was an engineer at Atlantic Recording Studios during their famed 1960s–80s period and is currently the chief mastering engineer at G&J Audio, a mixing and mastering studio for major and independent labels focused on reissues and new recordings. He has worked on thousands of projects, and has engineered 9 Grammy Award-winning albums with 29 total nominations in 15 different categories. He has engineered many hit recordings, including 7 #1's on the Billboard National Charts, 6 #1's on the Pop Charts, 10 #1's on the Jazz Charts and 5 #1's on the R&B Charts.

Mikaelin 'Blue' Bluespruce is an American, New York City based mix engineer and record producer. He has worked with notable artists of many different genres including: Solange Knowles, Nas, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Skepta, Dev Hynes, Marsha Ambrosius, Alloe Blacc, Common, & Prince Royce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neal H Pogue</span> American record producer, engineer

Neal H Pogue is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing work on Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2004) – which won the Album of the Year category, and his audio mixing work on Tyler, the Creator's Igor & Call Me If You Get Lost – which both records won the Best Rap Album category respectively in 2020 & 2022. Pogue has also produced for artists such as M.I.A, Nelly Furtado, Earth, Wind & Fire and has mixed for artists such as TLC, Pink, Nicki Minaj, Janelle Monáe, Tyler, the Creator, and Steve Lacy. Having engineered and mixed TLC's Grammy nominated 11-time platinum single "Waterfalls", Pogue also arranged the horns on "Waterfalls" under the pseudonym "Shock". Pogue has gone on to work with many prominent names in music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cutting Room Studios</span> Recording studio in New York City

The Cutting Room Recording Studios is a recording studio in New York City, opened in 1995 by David Crafa. The company is currently located in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F. Reid Shippen</span> American record producer

F. Reid Shippen is a mixer, engineer and producer, currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has mixed a wide variety of records including "Cosmic Hallelujah" by Kenny Chesney, "Lights Out" by Ingrid Michaelson, "The Mountain" by Dierks Bentley, "When I Was Younger" by Colony House, and "Eye On It" by TobyMac. Shippen has mixed nine Grammy Award winning projects and received the Audio Engineer of the Year award at the 54th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

Paul Boutin is a French-born American music mixer, audio engineer and a long-time collaborator with producer/songwriter/artist Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

Ben H. Allen (III.) is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, mixer and songwriter, based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. He has produced and mixed records by artists such as Walk the Moon, Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley, Kaiser Chiefs, Cut Copy, Washed Out and Neon Indian.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Weiss, David (December 15, 2010). "Stadium Red Expands: Just Blaze and the Science of NYC Studios". Sonic Scoop. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Claude Zdanow". LinkedIn . Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Stadiumred and Just Blaze announce Exclusive Partnership". iStandardProducers.com. February 3, 2010. Retrieved 2014-08-20.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Claude Zdanow". Pro Audio Summit. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Claude Zdanow". Businessweek . Retrieved 2014-08-20.[ dead link ]
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Alumni Ben Kaufman and Claude Zdanow". Portledge.org. April 22, 2010. Retrieved 2014-08-20.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. "20 Year Old Founds Major Recording Studio: Reveals Story of Success". Cratekings. July 5, 2008. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Weiss, David (March 1, 2009). "New York Metro, March 2009". Mix Online . Archived from the original on November 16, 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "WMC 2011 Schedule Panelist - Claude Zdanow - Stadium Red, Inc". Winter Music Conference. March 2011. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Claude Zdanow- Founder of Stadiumred". Creative Voices. March 19, 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  11. Harvey, Alli (October 22, 2010). "Founder of Stadiumred Claude Zdanow and Joe Ragosta of Patent Pending". WireImage . Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "New York's 'Stadium Red' Is Very Dangerous". Dangerous Music. April 27, 2011. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "About". Stadiumred. Archived from the original on 2014-09-28. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  14. 1 2 "About Claude Zdanow". Stadiumred. Archived from the original on 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  15. "New York marketing firm buys Gyrosity Projects". Nashville Post. June 13, 2018.
  16. "Stadiumred Group acquires Werkshop Branding". March 15, 2019.
  17. Richter, Alexander (February 2010). "Just Blaze Moves to StadiumRed". Nahright. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  18. "Podcast: Interview with Stadiumred Owner Claude Zdanow on Zoom-In Online". Stadiumred. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  19. Coppola, Mike (May 30, 2013). "GRAMMY Camp - Basic Training". Getty Images . Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  20. "Claude Zdanow – Youngest music authority in the world". Pro Audio Summit. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  21. Clemente, Dennis (April 18, 2014). "Stream Web and Infomous stand out in startup demos at Columbia Business School". Reimagine TECH. Retrieved 2014-08-20.

Further reading