MICHAEL WINGER – Producer, Engineer, Songwriter, Musician
In his rare free time, Winger can be found playing bass, keyboards (often simultaneously) and singing alongside drummer/keyboardist Jake Wood in the power duo Super Adventure Club. As Guitar Player editor Michael Molenda describes them, they play a keyboard-driven blend informed by “’60s film soundtracks and Esquivel-inspired lounge melodies,” spiced up with “dashes of whimsical humor.” Of their decision to multi-task both on stage and in the studio, Winger says, “I wanted to do something challenging that involved taking on way more than you might think possible.” That tendency to push conventional boundaries not only drives Michael Winger’s latest musical endeavor, but has also led him to become one of the Bay Area’s most promising and versatile producers.
His ability to wear a number of hats (producer, engineer, musician, songwriter, arranger, sound designer) allows him to accommodate a wide range of projects, from the DIY singer-songwriter to the major label rock band. His discography includes Bay Area luminaries such as Kronos Quartet, Beth Waters, Forest Sun and AJ Roach, as well as roots rock troubadours Four Year Bender. He’s currently producing a new album for Waters, as well as a project for Francesca Lee and the New Believers, on which he also plays bass and keyboards.
A musician in his own right—he spent most of the 1990s fronting Athens, GA band, Dayroom as lead singer and guitarist—Winger takes a creative approach to his productions, emphasizing personality and character rather than absolute technical precision. “I try to get a sense of an artist’s vision and draw that out,” he says.
From his mix room located in San Francisco’s Broken Radio Studios, formerly known as the historic Coast Recorders, Winger not only offers his production and engineering skills, but also access to one of the largest tracking rooms in the city. “Having a great space like Broken Radio makes it so much easier to be creative,” says Winger. “Whatever vision an artist has, we have the means for it to be realized.”
Winger also has several live albums to his credit, including Regina Spektor’s Live in California 2006 and Volumes 12 through 15 of San Francisco rock radio station KFOG’s popular Live from the Archives series. His skills as a live engineer come from extensive work through his mobile recording company, Flying Kitchen Productions, formed in 2003 with engineer/business partner Boone Spooner. Together, they record everything from live concerts to outdoor festivals and other events, with artists such as The Shins, Tom Petty, Feist, The Pretenders, Los Lonely Boys, Corinne Bailey Rae, Keane, and numerous others benefiting from their experience behind the mixing console.
As a studio engineer, Winger has held posts at both Studio D Recording in Sausalito and San Francisco Soundworks, working with notables such as the Von Bondies (with producer Jerry Harrison), Zakir Hussain, and Alanis Morisette, among others.
Winger currently serves on the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy’s Board of Governors and was elected to both Chapter secretary and Advocacy Committee chair positions in 2008. He also serves on The Academy’s Producers & Engineers Wing.
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