DOWN TO THE WIRE

Hey gang! Welcome to the new site. Take a minute to click around and check out our new official home on the web. Lots of stuff has been going on in Mingo-land, including a couple days in the studio at Stuart Sullivan's Wire Recording in Austin, TX.

Stuart is a renowned engineer and producer with too many credits to list, but you've very likely heard his handiwork - Sublime, The Refreshments, Jimmie Vaughan, The Reverend Horton Heat & Little Joe y La Familia to name just a few. Stuart opened the doors to Wire in 2001 and the studio and the man have remained in demand ever since.

Mingo has had the luxury of owning and operating a modest studio for many years, but last fall for the first time in a long while we found ourselves without a dedicated space for making our noise travel-sized. We had a handful of new tunes to get down so before we thumbed a ride on the SBC17, so we booked a couple days with the esteemed Mr. Sullivan. The first day we had actually set aside for getting sounds and all that fairly mundane stuff. As it turns out, Stuart and his team work fast and we were up and tracking in a matter of a few hours. Vintage API console, mountains of amazing outboard gear, not to mention a select collection of guitars, one of the best sounding pianos you've ever heard, and plenty of other musical distractions to keep us occupied.

Stuart was great to work with; a funny, down to earth, audiophile freak. He doesn't BS and that's worth the price of admission alone. He actually listens carefully to what you have to say and, when appropriate, let's you know you're full of s*&t! I like that. He's knows his gear and

he hears ALL. Mingo is eight pieces and we like to record together. That's a tall order. Physically a lot of mics and whatnot, and getting everyone to the point where they can comfortably make music isn't easy. To get that done at all is a feat. To get that done AND have everyone be happy with playback is just shy of a miracle.

A big thanks to Stuart and his staff. We're looking forward to doing it again soon. You'll hear some of the fruits of that particular labor of love on the new Mingo album.

Peace & Chicken Grease,

rog