John Custer began his
career as a studio session guitarist.
By age
23, Custer was providing guitar tracks for the #1 scoring house
in America, New York's Vision Sound Studios.
Custer
played guitar on National Television Ads for VH-1, Ford, Jovan,
Mazda, Revlon, and Coca-Cola.
At age 25, Custer
returned home to Raleigh, North Carolina to produce and develop
original artists.
Punk-metal crossover giants,
Corrosion Of Conformity hired Custer to produce their first
major label disc, 'Blind' in 1991. The disc was hailed as an
instant classic. . CREEM magazine writers chose Blind as "One
of the top 25 most influential metal recordings of the last
25 years".
MSN's Ed Rivadavia wrote, "The
album's fiercest moment, "Vote With A Bullet" is a sonic precedent
for the countless aggro-metal bands (Korn, Fear Factory, Limp
Bizkit, etc.) which dominated the late '90s. Years ahead of
its time, BLIND is simply one of the most important heavy rock
albums of the decade."
SPIN magazine raved,"Combining
the heavy groove of the 70's with the hardcore political stance
of the 80's, COC has set the metallic standard for this decade."
The success of 'Blind' brought the attention of Columbia Records,
who signed COC in 1993. Custer produced COC over the next 18
years. In that time, they received a Grammy nomination in '97
for the single, "Drowning In a Daydream," and two COC tracks
appeared in major motion pictures CLERKS and THE FAN.
By 1992, Custer landed two major label deals
for Raleigh bands he'd been developing since 1989. Cry of Love,
and Custer's own funk creation, Dag, both signed to Columbia
Records on the strength of Custer-produced demos. Cry Of Love's
first Columbia single, "Peace Pipe" went to #1 on Billboard's
Rock Radio charts. It remained at #1 as the most requested song
in the nation for an entire month, and was the 5th most played
song of that year. The next single "Bad Thing", which Custer
co-wrote with the band, went to #2 in Billboard.
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Music produced, written, co-written,
engineered and mixed by Custer here.
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Funk
band Dag was Custer's 2nd studio project to get
signed. Custer wrote three songs showcasing the
quartet's funk arsenal. They recorded. Three months
later Dag was signed to Columbia Records. They recorded
their first disc, "Righteous" in legendary Muscle
Shoals with Custer producing and writing or co-writing
the material.
Their songs, so true
to the classic funk recordings of the 70s, attracted
guest performances by legendary drummer Roger Hawkins
of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Hawkins is
known for his drum work with Aretha Franklin, Wilson
Pickett, The Staple Singers, Steve Winwood etc.
Quincy Jones's VIBE magazine hailed
'Righteous' as "… one of the best funk records since
1978. Dag's debut, 'Righteous', is definitely some
of the most ass-grinding grooves you've heard since
back in the day." A now legendary story, retold
by writer Farnum Brown, holds that VIBE Magazine
staffers didn't realize members were white until
they sent a photographer to shoot the band.
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MSN's
Andy Hinds wrote "Although the notion of white guys
playing funk is enough to make a person justifiably
skeptical, make no mistake about Dag-they are the
real deal. On 'Righteous', the band lays down some
of the dirtiest, deadliest grooves this side of
George Clinton, and do so with great restraint and
respect for the genre. Bobby Patterson possesses
a falsetto that could make Prince envious (as heard
on the gorgeous title track). Dag's strength is
their commitment to funk; unlike bands who use funk
as a gimmick or try to fuse it with other styles,
these guys play it pure. Highly recommended."
Dag songs were featured in two major
motion pictures, BAD BOYS starring Will Smith and
READY TO WEAR starring Kim Basinger. |
Custer
has produced in every genre: He produced music for
comedian Rich Hall's show on Comedy Central. He
co-wrote songs with Canadian rock star Sass Jordan.
Produced the brilliant Chris Whitley, Jazz/Hip-Hop
band San Kofa (who made it to the finals of MTV's
Best Unsigned Band In America Competition on the
strength of the Custer-produced "Suspended Animation"),
and Pop group Gran Torino (whose single "Moments
With you", co-written by Custer,
won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest as the Best
Pop Song of 2000). Moments With You was a Top 10
Most Requested Buzz Track on Pop Radio for 4 months. |
| In
2003, Custer opened John Custer Recording Studios
and continues to record and produce. |
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