MEXICO KEEPS CALLING TO THEIR FAVORITE MUSIC PRODUCER ANGEL ALEXIS

Famous Mexican artists enlist the work of LA based producer/engineer Angel Alexis.

  Producer/Engineer Angel Alexis Rodriguez de la Parra has a successful career in the LA music industry these days. On any given day you’ll find him working with Grammy-nominated artists and those whom you’ve seen onstage performing with legends like Pink Floyd, Supertramp, and Toto. When not working with these internationally acclaimed musical talents, he’s likely recording someone new that he has discovered in LA’s artist hub known as Silverlake, where his studio is located. That’s what you’ll find in 2016 but back in 2008 he was a prominent member of the Mexico City rock music scene and was just embarking on a career as an engineer/producer. It was at this time that he worked with the band Risin Sun, recording their first EP in his Mexico City studio. Almost a decade later finds both Angel and Risin Sun having achieved many milestones in their careers…and working together once again. Other popular Mexican bands and producers have reached out to Angel to enlist his mixing skills, as is the case with Sistema Sonar and their album “Sol.” The band’s producer [Mixo] knew Angel from his days in Mexico City as well and reached out to him to enhance “Sol” with his consummate abilities. Even though Angel has immersed himself into the LA musical community, Mexico still has great affinity for this masterful engineer/producer.

  While Angel pursued the American music scene, Risin Sun created their reputation by playing over four hundred live shows in more than thirty cities, including eleven states in the US, and seven States of Mexico. The band has been spreading their music through the world appearing on TV shows, radio stations, and performing in some of the most acclaimed venues, music festivals, and non-profit events in the international scene. Risin Sun has recorded with the guidance of legendary producers like Wayne Kramer (MC5), Peter Malick, and Gordon Raphael. For their newest release, they returned to their association with Angel as mixer for their latest album which consists of 10 tracks (to be released as Singles throughout the year of 2017). In truth, the relationship was never severed. Both entities have been associated with other professionals throughout the growth of their careers but this latest endeavor sees a welcome reunion. As a fan of the band since their beginning, Angel wanted to capture the energy and magic that he had seen in their early days. He recalls, “For that first EP in 2008, I really wanted to capture that energy that Risin Sun delivers live. I recorded everyone playing at the same time but in different rooms. They could still see each other through little windows on the doors of my studio but each instrument was isolated. The only thing that we tracked separately after all the music was recorded was the Vocals. For the drums I used the Glyn Jones miking technique which consists on just using 3 microphones to capture the entire drum kit. This was the first time these guys were properly recording their music so I remember the session didn’t go that smoothly, playing in the studio is a little bit different from performing live. If you are not used to performing in the studio it can get a little bit frustrating. We took lots of breaks and did many takes. To get a great performance out of the vocalist we just kept giving him cigarettes after every take, for some reason this was getting him in the zone and making his voice sound very rock n roll.”

  With the passing of time, both Angel and Risin Sun saw a maturation of their abilities. The first two released singles, “Girl of 1,000 Hearts” and “The Ballad of Being a Man” display a band with plenty of their early drive but with greater mastery of both musicality and song crafting. Conversely, much of the studio trickery and “wet” sounds that Angel employed in his early career are replaced by a more clean and clear approach. Years of experience have honed his producer/engineer abilities to present pure and clean sounds with only the necessary effects. The work of both artist and mixing engineer give credence to the idea that as your wisdom and abilities increase you may strip away more than you add in order to achieve a masterful creation.

  Angel’s mixing work on Sistema Sonar’s “Sol” came about when the band’s producer [Mixo] reached out to him. Sistema Sonar is an Instrumental Mexican Rock band from Xalapa Veracruz.

“Sol” was released by Mexican Record Label “Toga Records” and has received many positive reviews, opening the door for the band to perform at major music festivals around Mexico like “Cumbre Tajin.” Angel considers it a great responsibility when mixing for any artist and approaches every track with respect. He states, “When you mix a song you can entirely change the feel of the track and the intension of it. Sometimes this can be really good but sometimes it’s easy to divert from the originally idea, especially if you haven’t been involved in the process as long as all the other people on the team. This is also one of the reasons many producers don’t mix their own tracks. As a producer, you want to get someone with a fresh ear into the project who can really take the whole production to the next level. One thing I’ve learned during my years is that there is no wrong or right way to doing things in music or arts in general, there is just different approaches and working like this is just a different approach that will get you to another result. It’s not wrong or right, it’s just different. Imagine you’ve been listening to the same songs for months, it’s easy to get stuck and lose perspective.”

  Juan Carlos Sardaneta, Leader of band Sistema Sonar confirms, “Our album ‘Sol’ has been a milestone in our careers. Alexis took our album to the next level! The depth and space that he added to our sound gave “Sol” a three dimensionality. This album is very conceptual and we really needed someone who could understand the concepts of time and space and translate them into sounds. From the very first mix that Alexis sent us, we knew we had found the right Mixer. Alexis has set a very high standard in terms of making a beautiful mix. Now we just keep coming back to him to because it’s hard to find someone who can really make the music feel as good. His approach to mixing adds so much to the production. He gives albums his particular sonic stamp that makes anyone’s music stand out in todays saturated music industry.”

  There’s no doubt that the ability of Angel Alexis to understand what these artists want to hear in their recordings is based on his past experiences as a musician himself, augmented by the skills as a producer and mixing engineer which he has gained through years of experience. An artistic community which hopes to prosper and grow requires those who are able to look beyond only their role and can adeptly place themselves in the vantage of others…individuals such as Angel. It is those who go beyond simply expressing themselves to help others express; these are the people who make the entire community advance.