Adam Schlesinger: Tinted Windows, Big Screens And Stratosphere Sound

CHELSEA, MANHATTAN: Is Adam Schlesinger really A Golden God? Or does he just play one on TV? The answer, of course, is neither of the above. But what’s true is this: There are few in New York City who know what it takes to make it in music – and can deliver the goods – like this multimedia operator.

A songwriter’s songwriter, Schlesinger first made his mark on planetary ears by penning the theme song for Tom Hanks’ 1996 vehicle That Thing You Do. From then on, it was Schlesinger doing the driving with the bands Ivy and Fountains of Wayne (“Stacy’s Mom”, “All Kinds of Time”), and co-founding Stratosphere Sound in 2001, one of NYC’s most resilient tracking/mixing studios. TV composing work with his mentor Steven Gold has always been in the mix, as well. As Flava Flav would say, it all adds up to a funky situation.

TINTED WINDOWS ROLL UP
Schlesinger’s latest baby is his new band, Tinted Windows. A joint venture with some people you may have heard of – vocalist Taylor Hanson (Hanson), guitarist James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins/co-founder of Stratosphere), and drummer Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) – Tinted Windows hears Schlesinger wielding his bass and pop sensibilities in evolved fashion. The songs on the self-titled S-Curve Records debut are raw, rockin’, and explode out of the speakers for track after hugely satisfying track.

“For this band,” Schlesinger explains, “my motivation was to write songs that were as direct and simple as possible, especially lyrically, and get away from the character stuff that I do with Fountains of Wayne.

“It’s very traditional, lyrically speaking. It can be difficult to write that way, but for me it was kind of a breath of fresh air, because I spent so many years trying to write other kinds of songs. Most of these songs were written by me just picking up the guitar and messing around, which is not how I usually write. Usually I write lyrics first, but with Tinted Windows I started bashing on the guitar, trying to come up with something with energy and melody that I liked.”

Started along with longtime collaborators/friends Iha and Hanson, TW was completed when the three brainstormed tediously to think of a drummer who could play just like Carlos, the same man responsible for the urgent pulse of “I Want You to Want Me”.

It finally occurred to them they were all rock stars who knew the legendary drummer personally, and they should just call and put him on speakerphone. “The light bulb came on,” Schlesinger says. “Bun E.’s the best power pop drummer of all time. But he’s also still, after all these years, unbelievably enthusiastic. He still loves to play, and he loves to listen to music. He’s just an inspiring guy to be involved with.”

TW IN THE STUDIO
To record the record, TW naturally chose Stratosphere, which sports an extremely comfortable vibe, spacious tracking rooms, and one of NYC’s best consoles: an amazing-sounding-and-looking 32- channel Neve 8068 with GML automation. True to the fast-and-loose sound of the record, the recording style, facilitated by longtime Stratosphere engineer Geoff Sanoff was shoot first, ask questions later.

“I don’t really know if I had a recording philosophy,” recalls Schlesinger, who has done well to depend on his instincts up to this point. “The hardest part of this record was the scheduling. Once we got into the studio, the recording was really fast. It was actually done slightly backwards. We started working on some of the songs with drum machines, demoing them. Then the demos evolved into masters, and then we replaced the drum machines with Bun E.

“John Holbrook mixed the record, and Tom Lord-Alge mixed ‘Kind of a Girl’ and ‘Back with You.’ It’s almost a tradition for him to do a couple. John is a great mixer, but they just wanted to give Tom a couple for good luck.”

Schlesinger notes that demand for the rooms at Stratosphere Sound remain strong as ever. “Stratosphere has luckily been busy lately, because I think it’s a place that’s grown very organically, and most of our clients come from an ever-expanding circle of friends. Unfortunately, a lot of the studios have closed, but the flipside is that it’s been good for us. There’s just fewer choices in NYC now.”

HE WRITES THE SONGS THAT MAKE THE ACTORS SING
Think about this: When Hollywood has a movie where the song plays a starring role as big as any of the actors, a top choice for that critical mission today is Adam Schlesinger. He did it for That Thing You Do, and again for 2007’s Music and Lyrics, that yummy brain candy nugget where Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore sing his clever pop duet “Way Back Into Love” again and again.

What’s the key to this perilous task, where the composer has to create a catchy and satisfying song strong enough to plausibly power the plot, without fatiguing the listener after multiple plays? “That’s an assignment, and the assignment is usually very specific,” Schlesinger explains. “It’s not just what you feel like writing that day. Ultimately, you have to bend to the will of the director and everyone else in the movie. You’re just one of hundreds of people trying to piece something together.

“’Way Back Into Love’ was kind of tricky. It had to be sung by different characters. It had to be a love song, but not an ‘I love you’-type love song. It wouldn’t make sense for the older and younger characters to look into each other’s eyes and say that so soon after they had met. So it had to be a lot of different things.”

IF Y’ALL COULD BE LIKE SCHLESINGER
“Advice is always tough,” Adam Schlesinger admits when pressed for a juicy nugget o’wisdom. “I think the main thing is: as much as you can, do stuff that you’re interested in doing. People respond to music that comes from a place of real enthusiasm. Your work will be better because of it. That will lead to other good things.” – David Weiss

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