Phoenix Tap Michael Jackson’s Recording Console for New Album

2013-02-11

Story by Charles Ken

Alternative rockers Phoenix purchased Michael Jackson’s recording console to finish recording their upcoming album, ‘Bankrupt!’

Phoenix’s alternative rock jams may sound nothing like Michael Jackson’s music, but that’s not stopping the band from channeling Jackson a bit on their upcoming album. The band has dropped the news that they bought and mixed their new album — “Bankrupt!” — on the same Harrison 4032 solid-state recording console Jackson employed to make his 1982 breakthrough album, “Thriller.”

Moreover, the guys found the console on eBay. According to frontman Thomas Mars, Phoenix purchased the piece when guitarist Laurent Brancowitz discovered the console up for sale on eBay by Clayton Rose, who owns a recording studio in Fullerton, Calif.

“The most mysterious part to me was that no one else — no nerd or music engineer or memorabilia freak — seemed to want it,” Mars explained to The New Yorker. “There was something a little spooky about [Rose]. He was very pushy. It seemed like a scam.”

Of course, it wasn’t a scam, and Phoenix purchased the console for $17,000. The piece was originally listed for $32,000, so it was quite the steal. The band went on to use the console to wrap up recording sessions for “Bankrupt!”

Phoenix has yet to announce a release date for “Bankrupt!” but they’re expected to pin down an exact date in the coming weeks.




Charles Ken
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Posted by Charles Ken | Alternative, Music, Rock News