My take on Thrice's "Robot Soft Exorcism" for their remix contest. All content was used with permission of Epitaph Records or is original content. Please give this a heart so I can win a silly contest.

One of my favorite live shows ever was seeing Thrice in Atlanta in 2004. I blacked out in the pit and woke up in the bathroom while they were playing Artist in the Ambulance. 

#RobotSoftExorcismRemix

Robot Soft Exorcism

Thrice - Robot Soft Exorcism #RobotSoftExorcismRemix

"Yotzeir" is part of Ben Pagliaro's upcoming album "Ashrei" which will be released on 2/2/22! I was lucky enough to produce this record at MonkeyCat Studios. If you enjoyed this track, please consider sponsoring the album: https://www.jewcer.org/project/ashrei/

Additional Performances:
Nick Renner - Guitar
Jack Kwait-Blank - Bass & Guitar
Garrett Clagett - Drums
Desmond Blank - Additional Clapping Support

Produced & Mixed by Jack Kwait-Blank (MonkeyCat Studios, Rockville, MD)
Mastered by Mat Leffler-Schulman (Mobtown Studios, Baltimore, MD)

Ashrei

Yotzeir

Ben Pagliaro - Yotzeir

"Ki Simachteni" is part of Ben Pagliaro's upcoming album "Ashrei" which will be released on 2/2/22! I was lucky enough to produce this record at MonkeyCat Studios. 

Thank you so much for sponsoring this album! www.jewcer.org/project/ashrei/

Produced & Mixed by Jack Kwait-Blank (MonkeyCat Studios, Rockville, MD)
Mastered by Mat Leffler-Schulman (Mobtown Studios, Baltimore, MD)

Ki Simachteni

Ben Pagliaro - Ki Simachteni

All new track from Whoa Bundy!
Whoa Bundy! Indie Folk Electronic Rock to make you happy!

Recorded at MonkeyCat Studios (Rockville, MD)
Engineered, Produced, Mixed by Jack Kwait-Blank
Written by Alicia Kwait-Blank
Vocals, Guitar, and Flute by Alicia Kwait-Blank
Programming by Jack Kwait-Blank

Whoa Bundy! - Real Enough

As made famous during the torture of Daryl on AMC's The Walking Dead, Whoa Bundy! presents their cover of "Easy Street." 

Whoa Bundy! is:
Alicia - vocals, flute
Jack - guitars, bass, vocals, toy piano, percussion

Recorded and Mixed at MonkeyCat Studios (Rockville, MD) by Jack Kwait-Blank

Whoa Bundy! - Easy Street (WALKING DEAD The Collapsable Hearts Club)

Alicia's "Quincy Quackeroos" came in dead last in the 2016/17 fantasy football season and she wrote a song about it. Want to hear it? Here it goes.

Whoa Bundy! - Watermelon Dance (Feat MCKB)

Steve wanted to do a fun song for his girlfriend.  He decided to do a parody of Ballroom Blitz (by The Sweet, also seen on Wayne's World... remember Cassandra's band?). 

This was Steve's first time singing in a studio.

Steve worked hard on the lyrics and I sent him a backtrack that I bought from "Karaoke Version" so he could practice.  

I made some EQ changes and production tweaks on the track to make it fit better for what we were doing.

Steve came by and we rocked the vocal tracks out.  He also secretly recorded Leslie--which I spruced up and added to the track.

Gear used:  

Interface: Apogee Ensemble
Mics: AKG C214
Monitors: Focal CMS
Mixed in Protools 9

Steve Hertz - Leslie Blitz (The Sweet - Ballroom Blitz Parody)

TEN is coming to DC (Jammin Java) in October and I'm a little excited.  Check out my take on their acoustic version of their song "Every Night's Another Story."

Recorded at MonkeyCat Studios (Silver Spring, MD):

Engineered, Mixed, Mastered: Jack Kwait-Blank
Performances:
Vocals: Jack Kwait-Blank, Alicia Peters
Guitars: Jack Kwait-Blank
Gear:
Microphones: Shure SM57, AKG C-214
Guitar: Takamine EN-10C
DAW: Protools 9
Interface: Apogee Ensemble
Monitors: Focal CMS40

Jack KB - Every Night's Another Story (The Early November)

The much anticipated new track from Glitter Squad's seminal release--Sparkle Patrol. With Cockfighting, you dive deep into the dangerous, sexy, and loud world of underground chicken battle. Put on your protection and jump into the pit! 

Recorded at Perilous Studios (Fairfax, VA) and mixed at MonkeyCat Studios (Rockville, MD).

Sparkle Patrol

Glitter Squad - Cockfighting

Whoa Bundy! Indie Folk Electronic Rock to make you happy!

Recorded at MonkeyCat Studios (Silver Spring, MD)
Engineered, Produced, Mixed by Jack Kwait-Blank
Written by Alicia Peters
Vocals by Alicia Peters
Guitars by Jack Kwait-Blank
Additional Guitars by Alicia Peters

Gear:
Apogee Ensemble interface
Mac Pro
Pro Tools 9
Akai LPK25 keyboard
Korg Nano2 Mixer
Takamine EN10C
Gibson SG Special
AKG C214
Focal CMS40 monitors
JBL LSR sub

Whoa Bundy! - Sometimes (Bah Bah Bah)

This is my favorite Yellowcard song. It was always a standard performance at my house parties back in college. Ah the memories!

Recorded at MonkeyCat Studios (Silver Spring, MD)
Engineered and Mixed: Jack Kwait-Blank
Production Assistant: Jonathan Brand

Performances: Jack Kwait-Blank

Gear:
Takamine EN10C
AKG C214 stereo pair
Apogee Ensemble
Mac Pro
Pro Tools 9
Focal CMS monitors


Jack KB - Cigarette (Yellowcard)

For the second year in a row, I did a songwriting clinic with some talented campers at Camp Airy in Thurmont, MD. In a matter of a few hours we wrote, arranged, practiced, and recorded an original song! All performances by the campers. Special thanks to Music Head Ben Kohn and Director Marty Rochlin for setting up this special program!

Recorded at Camp Airy's brand new recording studio facilities.

Edited and mixed at MonkeyCat Studios by Jack Kwait-Blank.

Airy Song Clinic - Still Here

My guitar student's band came through the studio with a throwback to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. We recorded this using a lot of the same strategies from the bands of that era, including: a modified recorderman drum technique, skipping the click track (against my wishes), and big tube guitar amps! These teens were really talented and put together a well-crafted song.

Bees

Old hard drive explorations are the best! The year is 2014. I'm a couple years out of being in NoCo and still in communication with some of our old friends and fans. One day, I saw that one of fan-friends had a band that needed some lead vocals. Well, did that sound like fun or what? I got their backing tracks and did my best to sing their song for them. Here's their song, "Forever & Counting."

Waiting On Wednesday - Forever & Counting (Feat JKB)

Pulled up from the NoCo archives, this is an 8-year old acoustic demo of the NoCo single, Sugarcoated. You may have seen the music video of this song where Jack and Justin travel throughout Silver Spring, Maryland dressed as superheroes looking for the missing drummer. This acoustic arrangement was performed throughout the NoCo Hot Topic Acoustic Tour in the late '00s.

NoCo - Sugarcoated (Acoustic Demo)

Less can be more with drum recording. I did a set up using "Glynn Johns" and "Recorderman" principles. Two overhead mics in stereo. Close mic on the kick. Close mic on the snare. Here it is. Yonotan on the drums.

Recorderman Drum Demo

Nearly one year from the release of the smashing single, "Cockfighting," Glitter Squad returns with a banger. "Butter Me Up" asks the vital question: "Am I more than just breakfast?" I sure hope so. 

Recorded at Perilous Studios (Fairfax, VA and San Francisco, CA) and mixed at MonkeyCat Studios (Rockville, MD).

Glitter Squad - Butter Me Up

Recorded at MonkeyCat Studios (Rockville, MD) March - July 2020
Produced by Jack Kwait-Blank
Music & Lyrics by Jack Kwait-Blank 
Drums by Garrett Clagett
Vocals, Guitar, Bass by Jack Kwait-Blank

Please vote November 3rd. 

Lyrics:
Empty purpose 
Lack of interest 
There’s nothing we can say 
No one’s listening  
They don’t care, you don’t care 

What’s the purpose? 
What’s the meaning? 
What are we meant to do? 
What’s the purpose? 
What’s the present? 
There’s no precedent 

Die alone 
As you say 
“I alone can fix this all” 
And “what do you have to lose?” 
It’s up to you 

So transparent 
So deluded 
Soon enough they all will turn on you 
When will it come? 
What would you do? 
No one would miss you at all.  
If we can’t breathe 
Then you won’t either. 

Die alone 
As you say 
“I alone can fix this all” 
And “what do you have to lose?” 
It’s up to you 

And as the people die, it’s because of you 
What would you do? Do you? 
It’s because of you.

I Alone

Jack KB - I Alone

Flash back to the year 2010, where NoCo thought they were on top of the world and perhaps playing a cover of Michael Jackson would be that last little push to fame and fortune. Here's Jack & Justin doing a live cover of "Billie Jean" at Austin Grill in Silver Spring, MD.

Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)

Music Producer, YouTuber, Songwriter, Guitar Player, Guitar Player Who Plays Bass, Classically Trained Vocalist, Podcast Producer, Engineer. 
Enjoy.

Jack Kwait-Blank

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