Music Notes

Bicoastal audio post studio Racket Club bolsters its newly established presence in Southern California with the addition of executive producer Adrea Lavezzoli and sound designer and mixer Nathan Dubin. Since its inception in 2019, Racket Club has turned out work for such clients as Impossible Foods, Volvo, BMW, Toyota, Benjamin Moore, and Google. As Racket Club continues to grow with a new state-of-the-art studio in Culver City, Calif., Lavezzoli and Dubin bring their decades of experience to the L.A. market.

Dubin started sculpting soundwaves as a teenager, writing and recording music. His career as a sound designer and mixer began shortly after that, with a career spanning the past few decades. With a Clio Award for his work scoring commercials, Dubin’s versatile sonic style can be heard on many global spots for brands like Kia, Pepsi, Universal Studios, Toyota, Jack In The Box, and more. 

EP Lavezzoli has a diverse and storied career producing music and sound that includes thousands of commercials, collaborating with Will Ferrell on Anchorman 2, working with professional football players on EA Madden NFL games, and recording a New Orleans band in the historic United Recording Studios. Previously at Beacon Street Studios, Lavezzoli later worked at Netflix during the pandemic before joining Racket Club. Lavezzoli’s work has been nominated for AICP and Clio awards, with her work on the opening credits for the comedy series Spoils of Babylon earning an Emmy nomination.  

Racket Club creates sound for picture. Its sister company is Uppercut, a creative postproduction boutique in New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.

The Cinema Audio Society will honor award-winning sound mixer Joe Earle CAS with its 2024 Career Achievement Award. This recognition will be presented during the 60th Annual CAS Awards on Saturday, March 2, 2024.
 
“The Career Achievement Award is the Society’s highest honor,” said CAS president Peter Kurland. “Joe Earle’s skill, collaboration, and profound contributions to the art of sound in the entertainment industry make him a very fitting recipient of this prestigious award.”
 
“I am humbled to be honored by my CAS colleagues,” said Earle. “Each year at the CAS Awards, I’m moved to be part of this incredible group, so many whose work I admire. Being honored by these collaborators and friends is simply amazing. My sincere gratitude to the CAS for this remarkable honor.”
 
Earle boasts an impressive tally of nearly 40 award nominations and wins, including CAS Awards, Primetime Emmys, MPSE Golden Reels, and other industry accolades. His illustrious career features an array of top-tier projects with intricate sound demands, including Ryan Murphy series American Horror Story, American Crime Story, Pose, The Politician and Glee; acclaimed series Six Feet Under, Monk, Insecure, Dexter and Roots; and films such as Monster’s Ball, Boycott and City By The Sea, showcasing his prowess and versatility in the craft.

Earle was accepted to three of the most prestigious film schools in the country: Columbia, New York University, and University of Southern California (USC). He chose USC, recognizing that his future lay in Hollywood. After graduating from USC Film School, he pursued his passion, securing various production roles from PA to greensman, and many more in between, learning about postproduction along the way. He became adept at cutting and working with the key tools needed and took on a role in a facility cutting countless trailers, teasers, and low-budget horror films.  While still focused on cutting sound, he transitioned from running Scott Sound to working at Todd-AO and Glen Glenn Sound, where he worked for over a decade, leading a diverse sound editorial department. While at Todd-AO, Chris Jenkins offered him an opportunity at mixing.  In 2002 Earle left Todd-AO for a spot with Technicolor Creative Services.  Eventually they offered him his own stage, and he remained there until Technicolor Sound was acquired by Formosa Group, where he continues to thrive.

Earle has left an indelible mark on the field of sound. Throughout his career, he has nurtured and guided numerous sound peers, many of whom have evolved into leading artists in the industry today. 

He currently serves as a Governor of the Sound Peer Group at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
 
Earle joins an illustrious group of past CAS Career Achievement honorees including Peter J. Devlin, Anna Behlmer, Willie Burton, Tom Fleischman, Les Fresholtz, Ed Greene, Tomlinson Holman, Doc Kane, William B. Kaplan, David MacMillan, Paul Massey, Scott Millan, Mike Minkler, Walter Murch, Andy Nelson, Chris Newman, Lee Orloff, Richard Portman, John Pritchett, Don Rogers, Gary Rydstrom, Dennis Sands, Randy Thom, Jim Webb, Jeffrey S. Wexler and Charles Wilborn.

Yessian Music is expanding into the Austin and Southwest markets, and has brought Evelyn Brown back on board as executive producer. 
  
“We are thrilled to welcome Evelyn back into our Yessian teams as we expand our offerings throughout the U.S.,” said Brian Yessian, chief creative officer of Yessian Music. “In addition, this next year we will continue our global expansion through strategic partnerships with composers, producers and creative partners to facilitate creative projects that include commercials, film and immersive experiences in all corners of the world.”

Brown’s first tour of duty at Yessian was as a sr. producer in its NYC office. She worked for six-and-a-half years under the aegis of Marlene Bartos, executive producer/managing director of Yessian NY, and grew into the role of EP.

Brown felt a calling which caused her to take a sabbatical from Yessian. She explained, “Since I was a child I’ve carried around an obsession with medicine and making people feel better. It was something that always took a back seat to my other calling of music performance and then production, but it certainly never went away. As life shifted beyond COVID, I was pulled into the frame of mind of exploring this. Without expectation, I had applied to Saint Mary of The Woods College for their post graduate music therapy program to allow me to extend my already existing Bachelor’s in music into the dream of becoming an MT-BC, a board certified music therapist. Once I was accepted though, I understood that for the foreseeable future working full-time wasn’t going to yield the best results for me or for Yessian. With a heavy heart, I made the decision to part ways to spend some time studying. Having done that, perhaps the best part of it all is that I have found that my itch for music production and working alongside the team at Yessian is still very much alive and possible as I continue this journey.”

Brown continued, “On a basic level most people understand that there is music that helps with mood elevation, or perhaps music or sounds that when listened to might calm someone down. Beyond the tip of that iceberg, there are people that spend their lives dedicated to researching and clinically proving that not only does music offer the power above but if used in the right way and context it can aid in someone learning to speak again post a traumatic brain injury, or help a child walk whose disability otherwise wouldn’t allow.

“Music around the world and through time has been the center of our most celebrated cultural experiences - you can hear this in lullabies, hymns, battle songs, storytelling, and one of my favorite, entertainment. If organized in a certain way, music enhances feelings and experiences and this isn’t always purely random emotion, it’s science and psychology. In advertising, experiential - even the ending of the little song that plays when your dryer finishes a cycle...This combined knowledge of how music works in context allows for calculated decisions that yield best results for manipulating the emotions of consumers.” 

Brown has moved back to hometown of Austin. And Yessian has been open to tapping into her expertise in music and music therapy. “What I loved about this return to Yessian is how empowered they have allowed me to feel,” shared Brown. “There was no ‘you can’t do both’ or ‘we are worried about your capacity...’ It was ‘we know how wonderful this is for you and we are excited to see how this informs our environment.’ BUT what I am most excited about is seeing the growth of the people within the team I have missed so much. Everyone has learned new ways of working, and some people, like our associates, have grown into newer and exciting roles and they are slaying it. My managers and team have expanded with added value and new talent has given us a fresh and exciting perspective for what the future can hold. My fire is lit by the ability to believe that anything is possible with who I believe are some of the most talented people in our industry working together. The coming years are going to be no exception as we expand our horizons and continue to grow alongside this ever evolving world of music and sound.”

Brown added, “Yessian has a rich history working outside of the box, and if the last years have taught us anything there’s a strong desire and pull towards human connection on a global level. One of my focuses in the next year is to help our team continue to expand our capabilities not only here in Texas and the surrounding areas, but on a much larger scale globally where we can connect to people all around the world who share a common goal of making the best work sound the very best it can.”

Bartos related, “Timing is everything. During her previous six years at Yessian in New York, Evelyn’s talents, knowledge and enthusiasm were a winning combination that contributed immeasurably to our success. As we continue to expand into new markets and restructure internally, the timing of her move to Austin created the perfect opportunity for us to join forces again. We are a formidable team and it’s a pleasure to be working with her again after a brief hiatus.”

Taylor Swift took home the top prize at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards for her "Anti-Hero" music video on a night full of surprises.

"This is unbelievable. The fact that this is a fan-voted award means so much to me," Swift said in her acceptance speech. "I can't believe it was a year ago that I announced the 'Midnights' album."

The show, held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, was Swift's from nearly the beginning. The night's first presenters were none other than NSYNC, who reunited to hand the best pop video award to Swift.

In coordinating suits, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick and JC Chasez shared the stage with Swift. Bass handed her a friendship bracelet, just as fans do at the superstar's shows. "You're pop personified," she told the group.

The night's top nominee later returned to the stage to pick up the song of the year trophy for "Anti-Hero" and also the best direction award.

Swift took home nine of the 11 awards she was up for, including artist of the year in a category made up entirely of women nominees for the first time in VMA history.

Her "Karma (Remix)" collaborator, Ice Spice, won best new artist. "Oh my God, this is so cool," she said. "I just want to thank my munchkins."

New music was abundant throughout the show. Host Nicki Minaj performed her latest single, the dreamy "Last Time I Saw You" before jumping into a brand-new tease of a fiery new trap cut from her highly-anticipated "Pink Friday 2" album.

"I ain't nothing like you," she raps, "I'm on a whole other level."

As much as Swift dominated, the VMAs centered on music's global power. K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together and Brazilian superstar Anitta premiered their new collaboration, the glossy retro-pop of "Back for More."

Another K-pop group, Stray Kids, brought "S-Class" to the stage, regional Mexicana star Peso Pluma performed "Lady Gaga" and reggaetonera Karol G delivered "Oki Doki" and "Tá OK (remix),"

Comedian Tiffany Haddish presented the award for "Best Afrobeats" in the category's inaugural year, given to Rema and Selena Gomez for their massive hit "Calm Down."

"Africa in the house!" Rema started his acceptance speech. "Shout out to Fela (Kuti) who started Afrobeats in the first place…and I want to give a big shout out to the next generation of Afrobeats."

Gomez stood a few feet from the microphone but jumped in when Rema asked her to, telling the crowd: "I want to send all of my love to Nigeria, thank you."

Colombian icon Shakira received the Video Vanguard Award and performed an incredible bilingual medley of her decades of hits — "She Wolf," her collaboration with Rauw Alejandro "Te Felicito," the viral, record-breaking "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" with Bizarrap among them — in a set introduced by her "Hips Don't Lie" collaborator Wyclef Jean.

"MTV, thank you for being such a big part of my career since I was only 18 years old," Shakira said, also thanking her parents and her children, who she brought to the show.

"This is for you my people, my Latin American people, inside and outside this country," she said, switching to Spanish. "Thank you for inspiring me and for injecting me with so much strength and so much desire to move forward, I love you so much."

She also took home the award for best collaboration for "TQG," her song with Karol G. The duo gave their acceptance speech entirely in Spanish. "If collaborating with the legendary Shakira had been impressive, having an award with her is something from another planet," Karol G exclaimed.

Diddy received the Global Icon Award from Mary J. Blige and his daughter Chance Combs. He is third recipient of the award, following the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2022 and the Foo Fighters in 2021.

The legendary rapper also performed at the VMAs for the first time since 2005. It was an incredible collection of some of his biggest hits like "Bad Boy for Life" and "Mo Money Mo Problems," joined by some of his greatest collaborators: Yung Miami, Keyshia Cole, and sweetest of all, his son, King Combs.

"Love wins, y'all, love wins," he started his speech. "I started out as a paper boy, I didn't know I was going to be here." He then led the audience with a chant of "bad boy."

"This is for 30 years," he continued. "I pray to God that you get to do what you love for 30 years."

Lil Wayne opened the show with a performance of his new single "Kat Food." Immediately afterward, Olivia Rodrigo brought her "Vampire" music video set to the stage, before launching into her cheeky pop-punk single "Get Him Back!"

Between the two tracks, snippets of her sold singles played aloud – at the same moment, she was rushed from the staged in a pre-planned "malfunction," further mirroring the "Vampire" video and symbolizing a move from her first record to her second.

The live sets were many: Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion brought "Bongos" to life with big choreography; Demi Lovato played a rock 'n' roll medley of her biggest hits: "Heart Attack," into "Sorry Not Sorry," "Cool for the Summer" before the best K-pop award was given to Stray Kids.

Later, Anitta would win the "best Latin" award for the second year in a row, delivering one of the more endearing acceptance speeches of the night — "I wanna thank myself," she laughed. "Because I work so hard!"

French Montana used his position as best R&B presenter alongside Ashanti to draw attention to Morocco earthquake relief, spotlighting a relief fund that he said he would personally donate to. Montana grew up in Morocco.

Near the end of the show, the MTV Video Music Awards celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with a star-studded finale performance. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five started with "The Message," which led to Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's "The Show." Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J and DMC of Run-DMC closed it out — an energetic celebration of a multigenerational culture.

Maria Sherman is an AP music writer