Westbeach Recorders

Last updated
Westbeach Recorders
IndustryMusic (recording)
GenrePunk rock
Founded1985 in Culver City, California
Founder Brett Gurewitz
DefunctMay 12, 2010 (2010-05-12)
FateDissolved
Headquarters6035 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California
,
United States [1]

Westbeach Recorders was a recording studio in Hollywood, California famous for recording punk rock groups, such as Bad Religion, Avenged Sevenfold, [2] NOFX, Rancid, The Offspring and Pennywise.

History

It was established in 1985 by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz in Culver City, California after he attended recording school, [3] and re-located to Hollywood, California in February 1987. They moved for the final time in 1991 to the former location of Seymour Heller's Producer's Workshop studios on Hollywood Boulevard. [4] In a back room closet at this location, Epitaph Records had its first office. [3] [5]

Donnell Cameron became a partner in 1988 and was the studio owner/engineer until May 12, 2010, when Westbeach Recorders went out of business.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Religion</span> American punk rock band

Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and extensive use of three-part vocal harmonies. The band has experienced multiple line-up changes, with singer Greg Graffin being the band's only constant member, though fellow founding members Jay Bentley and Brett Gurewitz have also been with the band for most of their history while guitarist Brian Baker has been a member of the group since 1994. Guitarist Mike Dimkich and drummer Jamie Miller have been members of the band since 2013 and 2015 respectively. To date, Bad Religion has released seventeen studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, three EPs, and two live DVDs. They are considered to be one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time, having sold over five million albums worldwide.

<i>Ignition</i> (The Offspring album) 1992 studio album by the Offspring

Ignition is the second studio album by American punk rock band the Offspring, released on October 16, 1992, by Epitaph Records. Issued during the alternative rock and grunge era, the album brought the band small success in Southern California as they started to gather a following. This success would continue to grow with their next album, Smash (1994).

<i>Cheshire Cat</i> (Blink-182 album) 1995 studio album by Blink

Cheshire Cat is the debut studio album by American rock band Blink-182, released on February 17, 1995, by Cargo Music. The trio, composed of guitarist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor, formed in 1992 and recorded three demos that impressed the San Diego–based Cargo label. In addition, their reputation as an irreverent local live act at venues such as SOMA alerted the label, who was seeking to expand into different genres.

<i>Generator</i> (Bad Religion album) 1992 studio album by Bad Religion

Generator is the sixth studio album by the punk rock band Bad Religion. Although the album was completed in the spring of 1991, it was not released until 1992; the band was not happy with the artwork and packaging, and went through several ideas that were eventually scrapped. Generator was the band's first release with drummer Bobby Schayer, who replaced Pete Finestone during the Against the Grain tour.

<i>Suffer</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Bad Religion

Suffer is the third album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on the Californian independent record label Epitaph Records on September 8, 1988. It was the first album that was both released and distributed by the label. Following the release of the EP Back to the Known (1985), Bad Religion went on a temporary hiatus, then reunited with its original members and went to work on their first full-length studio album in five years.

<i>No Control</i> (Bad Religion album) 1989 studio album by Bad Religion

No Control is the fourth album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on November 2, 1989, through Epitaph Records. Bad Religion began work on the album while touring in support of their previous album, Suffer (1988). No Control is stylistically faster than its predecessor, owing more to hardcore punk. Additionally, it was the first Bad Religion album not to feature a lineup change from the previous album.

<i>Recipe for Hate</i> 1993 studio album by Bad Religion

Recipe for Hate is the seventh studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on June 4, 1993. It was their last album on Epitaph Records for nine years and the band had switched to Atlantic Records, who re-released the album several months after its release.

<i>Pennywise</i> (album) 1991 studio album by Pennywise

Pennywise is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Pennywise, released on Epitaph Records on October 22, 1991.

<i>S&M Airlines</i> 1989 studio album by NOFX

S&M Airlines is the second studio album by the American punk rock band NOFX. It was released on September 5, 1989, through Epitaph Records. It was also the group's first release on Epitaph. A music video was made for the title track. The album was recorded and mixed in only six days at Westbeach Recorders. Bad Religion's Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz appear on the final track, a cover of the Fleetwood Mac song "Go Your Own Way". They also did harmonies on a few other songs. Bassist/singer, Fat Mike considers it to be the first real NOFX album. It was heavily inspired by Bad Religion and Rich Kids on LSD, and showed the band moving more towards a melodic and metallic sound. The album sold 3,500 copies upon its release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avenged Sevenfold</span> American heavy metal band

Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, bassist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.

<i>How Could Hell Be Any Worse?</i> 1982 studio album by Bad Religion

How Could Hell Be Any Worse? is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on January 19, 1982 by Epitaph Records. Released almost a year after their self-titled EP, it was financed from the sales of the self titled EP and partly by a $1,000 loan by guitarist Brett Gurewitz's father. Its success surprised the band when it sold 10,000 copies in under a year.

<i>Unknown Road</i> 1993 studio album by Pennywise

Unknown Road is the second studio album by American punk rock band Pennywise, released on August 17, 1993, through Epitaph Records. After frontman Jim Lindberg briefly left the band during touring in support of its previous album, Pennywise (1991), Pennywise began the recording sessions for their second album. Released a year before the success of punk rock in California, Unknown Road gained Pennywise supporting slots on national and world tours with bands such as The Offspring. Some archived footage of the Unknown Road tour dates can be seen on the band's 1995 documentary Home Movies.

<i>Blue</i> (Down by Law album) Studio album by Down by Law

Blue is the second studio album by American punk rock band Down by Law. It was released on September 25, 1992, by Epitaph Records on compact disc, compact cassette and phonograph record. The release was their second to be recorded at Westbeach Recorders studio in Culver City, California and produced by Epitaph Records owner Brett Gurewitz; co-produced by Donnell Cameron.

<i>Something Green and Leafy This Way Comes</i> 1993 studio album by SNFU

Something Green and Leafy This Way Comes is the fourth studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. It was released in 1993 on Epitaph Records, the first of three SNFU releases on this label. Despite being released during the height of the third wave of punk rock by the revival's best-selling independent label and selling modestly well, the album was not commercially successful.

Jughead's Revenge is an American punk rock band. They originally formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1989. To date, Jughead's Revenge has released six studio albums. After 12 years of recording and touring extensively, Jughead's Revenge disbanded in 2001 due to a lawsuit with Archie Comics who owned the rights to fictional character Jughead Jones. The band reformed in 2009 and has continued to perform at a number of live shows since 2010, and as of 2018 the band is working on a new album.

Donnell Cameron is a record producer known for his work with Sublime, Blink-182, and Avenged Sevenfold. He owned a recording studio, Westbeach Recorders, in Hollywood, California.

<i>More Songs About Anger, Fear, Sex & Death</i> 1992 compilation album

The compilation More Songs About Anger, Fear, Sex & Death was released in 1992 through Epitaph Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Kravac</span> Canadian musician

Steven B. Kravac, is a Canadian-born RIAA gold-accredited record producer, recording engineer, musician and composer. He is the owner of the music label Porterhouse Records and its sub-labels Porterhouse Prime Vinyl and Porterhouse 101.

Boulevard Recording is a recording studio in Hollywood, California that was opened in 2010 under the ownership of producer Clay Blair.

References

  1. Recording Industry Sourcebook, Ascona Communications, 1998, ISBN   9780918371249
  2. "Avenged Sevenfold – Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (CD)". Discogs .
  3. 1 2 Buhrmester, Jason (November 1, 2010), "Against the Grain: the oral history of Epitaph Records", Spin , archived from the original on March 29, 2015
  4. "Rothrock and Schnapf find dual purpose as producers, label owners", Billboard, p. 41, May 4, 1996
  5. Diehl, Matt (2013), My So-Called Punk: Green Day, Fall Out Boy, The Distillers, Bad Religion—How Neo-Punk Stage-Dived into the Mainstream, St. Martin's Griffin, p. 171, ISBN   9781466853065