"John Custer:
Machine Dreams"
Ross Grady,
The Independent
John Custer is a musical genius, a man whose brain
can store more music, more accurately, than whole
reels of magnetic tape. Since returning home to
the triangle in the late '80s, he's also become
the most successful record producer in the region,
producing major releases by Raleigh's Corrosion
Of Conformity and Cry Of Love and wrangling a deal
for his own virtually unknown songwriting and production
project, Dag.
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"Producer
John Custer Has Found His Groove"
from an interview in Metal Maniacs
Standing in the control room of Raleigh's JAG Studios,
producer John Custer gives a brief lesson in recording
technique. The song is a demo of "Sweet Little Lass"
by Dag, Custer's handpicked funk band. Custer tinkers
with the studio console, demonstrating how he put
the song together one piece at a time: basic drum
track first followed by percussion, bass, wah-wah
pedal guitar, "plinky" guitar (he often uses similar
descriptive adjectives), keyboards and vocal.
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| "Custer's
Latest Stand"
by Mark W. Hornburg from Lather magazine Feb.
2003
"Look, before the '80s, it was just [about]
pure talent," Custer says matter-of-factly. "Then
came MTV, and it was all about how you looked."
This rap, coming from one of the most successful
producers the Triangle has ever produced, has its
ironic edge. For starters, the tall, almost Mephistophelean
Custer looks every bit the part of the rock star
himself, from the languid posture forced on him
by height, to the long hair topped by a cowboy hat,
to the open shirt, jewelry and boots. This is not
a man you'll spot at the grocery store sporting
shorts and flip-flops. You might even call this
his rock star drag.
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| "Raleigh's
Wiz Kid"
by Leo Kishore from Raleigh Music.com 2005
Few people can claim to have the broad musical talents
that John Custer possesses. From raw technical guitar
prowess to genius knob twisting producer skills,
from the funkiest R&B sounds to the most raw metal
tracks, this guy has a knack for satiating the audio
taste buds. His latest effort In the Arms of God
with Corrosion of Conformity has already received
critical acclaim worldwide, so I jumped at the opportunity
to give the man a couple of questions to answer.
As I met with him, I was in awe of how down to earth
and open he was, and how inspiring it was just to
hear him talk of his days. Here is what he had to
say about COC, the scene today, and other tidbits
of the local and national music scene.
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Music
produced, written, co-written, engineered and mixed
by Custer. Click Here
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"What
stands out most about Custer is his incredible diversity.
He does it all. He's produced super-slick Pop songs
that stayed in the top ten charts for months, right
along side the biggest Pop songs in the country,
but then he's produced totally raw, astonishingly
convincing funk and rock tracks. He's produced hardcore
metal tracks that set the "heavy" standard for a
decade, he's done "low-fi" alternative rock stuff,
and then he's done high-polished jazz recordings.
He's done folk/acoustic and Alt-country tracks,
and then he's done hilarious comedy recordings and
children's music that sounds like it was produced
in Disney's hey-day. He's done soundtracks, TV commercials,
and experimental tracks and in every one of his
recordings, Custer makes his artists shine, their
strong points are pushed to the forefront. He makes
them all sound like they did one amazing take and
that was it. He's nailed Southern Rock sensibilities,
British rock, Punk rock and Modern rock. He's produced
Jam bands, Gospel bands and Hip-Hop, and he's nailed
all of them."
Chris Hill
producer and founder, Jam Pain Society
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"Both
Keenan and Mullin point to producer John Custer
as the catalyst for the band's intensity on WISEBLOOD.
"The kudos all go to John. He's responsible for
making us run through the mill. None of us would
have accomplished what we've accomplished without
him. He's been a part of our vision for a long time."
Pepper Keenan and Reed Mullin
from corrosivecabaal.com
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"John
Custer is best known for his production work with
Capital City natives Cry of Love, Corrosion Of Conformity
and Dag. He wrote the rock radio smash "Bad Thing"
with Cry of Love. And his work with COC secured
a Grammy nomination. Yet one of the most successful
fixtures of the Raleigh rock scene is someone you
probably wouldn't know if he stood next to you at
the Brewery. And that's the way he likes it."
Brian O'Neill
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"We
didn't even know what a single was until we worked
with Custer"
Steve Levitin
and San Kofa, The Applejuice Orchestra
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"He's
just awesome. I couldn't see doing another record
without him."
Woody Weatherman,
guitarist, C.O.C.
from an interview in Metal Edge magazine
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"Nothing
really amazing. Some black artists, some country
artists, some disco. Nothing amazing except for
the fact that it's all Custer. His music, all original,
runs the gamut from roots-style R&B to very uptown,
high polish jazz. From eastern-sounding instrumentals,
complete with sitars and gong, to borderline offensive
funk and rock. And everything, absolutely everything,
in between. There are classical tunes there are
rap tunes, there are complete orchestral movements.
"If he's heard it, he's played it." A friend remarks.
"He's like a musical sponge. It's amazing." And
it is amazing."
F. Levie,
Live! Magazine
from John Custer: Musical Sponge |
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