Darryl Neudorf (born June 7, 1964 in
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...
,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
) is a Canadian musician, record producer and
audio engineer.
He was the drummer for
54-40 from 1982 to 1986. He is best known during this time for co-writing the hit song "
I Go Blind
"I Go Blind" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group 54-40. The song was released in Canada as the second single from the band's 1986 self-titled album, '' 54-40''. It has since become one of the band's most popular songs.
Hootie & the Blow ...
", a Canadian hit which was later
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
by U.S. rock group
Hootie and the Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band ...
.
He has also worked as a producer for a number of other recording artists, including
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is '' Surfacing'', for which she won two Grammy Awards (ou ...
,
Neko Case
Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cr ...
,
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock band, formed in 1997 in Vancouver. Presented as a musical collective of singer-songwriters and musicians from multiple projects, the band has released eight studio albums to critical acclaim for th ...
,
Kevin Kane,
Kinnie Starr
Alida Kinnie Starr (born 1970) is a Canadian multidisciplinary recording artist.
Early life
Starr was born and raised in Calgary, where she attended Western Canada High School. Her ancestry is French, German, Irish and indigenous, specificall ...
,
Twilight Circus Dub Sound System,
Dead Voices on Air
Dead Voices on Air is Mark Spybey's experimental and industrial project formed after his departure from Zoviet France.Lengel, Kerry (December 2, 1999). "Dead Voices' Music Comes Alive", ''The Arizona Republic'', p. 47. Dead Voices on Air has col ...
,
Justin Rutledge
Justin Rutledge (born January 3, 1979) is a Toronto-based Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter signed to Outside Music.
Rutledge's musical style is often compared to that of American alt-country singer Ryan Adams. His influences, both ...
,
Jim Bryson
Jim Bryson is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Briefly a founding member of the band Punchbuggy, he moved to a musical life under his own name with the release of his debut album, ''The Occasionals'', in 2000.
A member of singer-songwriter Kat ...
,
Jim Cuddy
James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo.
Early life and education
Cuddy was born in Toronto, Ontario. His Mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch Par ...
,
Bob Egan,
The Sadies
The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Dallas Good, Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret and Bruce Good, and nephews of Bria ...
, and
Blue Rodeo.
Neudorf continues to produce music at his residential recording studio, located about an hour north of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Ontario. His studio is called Operation Northwoods and is located in The Hills of Headwaters.
Biography
Early life
Darryl Neudorf grew up in
Kelowna,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, where his parents bought him a drum kit for Christmas when he was ten years old.
Throughout his teens Neudorf picked fruit in
orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...
s, worked at The Pop Shop,
skateboard
A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks.
The skateboarder ...
ed around Kelowna and formed the band Empty Set with his sister Adele Neudorf,
Kevin Kane and Jon Brotherton.
54-40
At 18, Darryl Neudorf joined the band
54-40 as their drummer. They recorded two albums,
toured extensively in North America and at the time of his departure, 54-40 had signed a deal with Warner/Reprise. The songs that Neudorf performed, co-composed and produced with 54-40 helped to catapult their career, achieving
gold and platinum status in Canada. In 1986, after four years in the band, Neudorf left 54-40 to pursue a career in music production.
Recording work
In 1987, Darryl Neudorf was asked to work on a project for
Nettwerk Productions involving a newly signed artist in their repertoire named
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is '' Surfacing'', for which she won two Grammy Awards (ou ...
. This recording, the album ''
Touch
In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It ...
'', resulted in garnering the interest of
Arista Records. She signed a multi-album contract with them and two of the songs that Neudorf worked on with her became commercial hits in Canada. In 1991, Neudorf was invited back to work with McLachlan on her second album, ''
Solace
Consolation, consolement, and solace are terms referring to psychological comfort given to someone who has suffered severe, upsetting loss, such as the death of a loved one. It is typically provided by expressing shared regret for that loss and ...
''.
In 1993, he filed a lawsuit against McLachlan and her label,
Nettwerk
Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing.
Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...
, alleging that he had made a significant and uncredited contribution to the songwriting on ''Touch'', and alleging that he wasn't paid properly for work done on ''Solace''. The judge in this suit eventually ruled in McLachlan's favour on the songs; though Neudorf may have contributed to the songwriting, neither regarded each other as joint authors. The judge ruled in Neudorf's favour on the payment issue.
Miller Block
In 1994, in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside
The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homele ...
, Darryl Neudorf and Tracy Pillsworth met with Tom Anselmi of the band
Copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
. The three met on the top floor of a building that was built in 1948 through Jim Carrico who had found the
Hastings Street space for lease. An artists'
co-operative was about to burgeon and become home to a group of people generating dozens of CDs and vinyl representing Vancouver's
eclectic
Eclectic may refer to:
Music
* ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014
* ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996
* Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act
* Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
underground. Neudorf and Pillsworth lent Anselmi their recording equipment to record what was to become Copyright's second CD, Love Story. The building of a recording studio that was
soundproofed and secure followed. The studio was named after the arched words painted in gold on the front of the building's black and green tiled facade; Miller Block was born.
Throughout the 1990s, Neudorf designed, managed, owned and operated Miller Block with Tracy Pillsworth (aka Sugarpill), where he did much of his recording and production. This work resulted in scores of releases in a wide variety of
genres
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
from
underground rock
Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...
to
roots rock
Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...
to
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
to
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
electronica. Among others, this list includes
Cub, Duotang,
Neko Case
Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cr ...
,
Kinnie Starr
Alida Kinnie Starr (born 1970) is a Canadian multidisciplinary recording artist.
Early life
Starr was born and raised in Calgary, where she attended Western Canada High School. Her ancestry is French, German, Irish and indigenous, specificall ...
, Herald Nix,
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock band, formed in 1997 in Vancouver. Presented as a musical collective of singer-songwriters and musicians from multiple projects, the band has released eight studio albums to critical acclaim for th ...
,
Superconductor,
Kevin Kane,
I Am Spoonbender
I Am Spoonbender is an American/Canadian multimedia group formed in San Francisco in early 1997 by composer/multi-instrumentalist/producer Dustin Donaldson, with Brian Jackson and cub guitarist Robynn Iwata (a.k.a. 'Cup', who joined halfway thro ...
,
Twilight Circus Dub Sound System,
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540).
The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...
and
Dead Voices on Air
Dead Voices on Air is Mark Spybey's experimental and industrial project formed after his departure from Zoviet France.Lengel, Kerry (December 2, 1999). "Dead Voices' Music Comes Alive", ''The Arizona Republic'', p. 47. Dead Voices on Air has col ...
. The merging of equipment, space and trust surrounding Miller Block resulted in a creative studio environment that flourished for six years, until the Fall of 2000.
Relocation
In 2001, Darryl Neudorf, Tracy Pillsworth and the boxed up studio moved to Toronto, Ontario. Once in Toronto, Neudorf continued to produce and engineer successful recordings, among others,
Americana
Americana may refer to:
*Americana (music), a genre or style of American music
*Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States
Film, radio and television
* ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...
singer Neko Case.
The Audio Recording Academy
During 2002 Darryl Neudorf was asked by Shannon Murray to become the head instructor at, and design the curriculum for, a new audio production school located in downtown Toronto called The Audio Recording Academy. Neudorf remained head teacher until 2008 when during an indefinite leave, producer / engineer Damon de Szegheo took over head instructor duties.
Operation Northwoods Recording Services
In November 2004, after looking for a
resort-styled location to set up a recording studio, Darryl Neudorf and Tracy Pillsworth found a creative
retreat.
The studio is called Operation Northwoods Recording Services where musicians have produced recordings with Neudorf at the
helm
Helm may refer to:
Common meanings
* a ship's steering mechanism; see tiller and ship's wheel
* another term for helmsman
* an archaic term for a helmet, used as armor
Arts and entertainment
* Matt Helm, a character created by Donald Hamilton
* ...
, with him either producing,
mixing, engineering, drumming and
mastering. Among others, these musicians include
The Sadies
The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Dallas Good, Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret and Bruce Good, and nephews of Bria ...
,
Jim Cuddy
James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo.
Early life and education
Cuddy was born in Toronto, Ontario. His Mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch Par ...
,
Justin Rutledge
Justin Rutledge (born January 3, 1979) is a Toronto-based Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter signed to Outside Music.
Rutledge's musical style is often compared to that of American alt-country singer Ryan Adams. His influences, both ...
,
Bob Egan,
The Mohawk Lodge,
Jim Bryson
Jim Bryson is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Briefly a founding member of the band Punchbuggy, he moved to a musical life under his own name with the release of his debut album, ''The Occasionals'', in 2000.
A member of singer-songwriter Kat ...
,
Neko Case
Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cr ...
,
Two Hours Traffic
Two Hours Traffic was a Canadian indie rock band, based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. They are named after a line in the prologue to Shakespeare’s ''Romeo and Juliet''. Critics have drawn comparisons to 1970s power pop band Big Star ( ...
,
The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...
,
Brementown Players,
Robyn Cage,
Lily Frost and Lost Cousins.
Neudorf continues to produce music amidst the
Oak Ridges Moraine
The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough. One of the most sign ...
, along the shores of one of South-central Ontario's
kettle lake
A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating g ...
s, just north of Toronto, Ontario.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neudorf, Darryl
1964 births
Living people
Musicians from Kelowna
Musicians from Saskatoon
Musicians from Vancouver
Canadian rock musicians
Canadian record producers
Canadian songwriters
Writers from Saskatoon
Writers from Vancouver