Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Kehew.
Hi Brian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been working as an audio engineer for years – making records of all kinds. I started in the days of tape recorders – and never really left. Computers came in and were accepted everywhere, but I still loved the sound and the way of working with tape. So I kept all my old tape recorders. And was even buying more of them as people considered them “obsolete”… Not here!
Over time, I came to do a lot of work for Warner Bros, as they have a huge warehouse of tapes not far from me. Decades of music, from the 50s til now. My role was to take an old tape and listen to it, see if there was any good material that could be used, and then mix it for a modern release. Usually, this meant for an old classic record – like Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Van Halen, Alice Cooper, Madonna, Talking Heads, Black Sabbath, Hendrix – Warners has the ultimate catalog of artists, So years later, we all look back and wish there was more from those great records. So on the artist’s original session tapes, there may be other versions, early demos, outtakes, and even unheard songs. So we make new versions that fit and sound “right” alongside the old record – and it becomes a box set or some kind of reissue project.
Meanwhile, my good friend Curt Anderson also had a lot of old tape machines; we decided to combine our machines into a service for the community, not just Warner Bros and record labels. So we started Round And Wound and offered the option to normal people. “Mom and Pop” folks who have family recordings, or an old band recording, lectures, churches – all those old tapes that you generally can’t play anymore. So that’s what we do now – transfer thousands of tapes of all kinds.
We’ve had NASA moon-landing tapes, National Hot Rod Association, messages from a long-dead relative, or video clips that helped someone prove a court case. It’s always varied, and we have no idea what’s coming in or why. But we love most of our customers, and they love to come visit and tell us about their “old tapes”: We always laugh about that – if you have a tape, it’s probably OLD no matter what!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We have great return-business clients, like Warner Bros. But it sometimes gets very quiet. We run ads and drop business cards, targeted Google ads, and so on. But it’s up to each individual customer’s timing and needs to come find us. Currently, it’s insanely busy, but it wasn’t so earlier this year…
Someone suggested doing something more “public” in our place – a party or gathering or something. But that won’t work if we have Joni Mitchell’s tapes here or Sly Stone stuff on the desk. So instead, we filmed a podcast called “Rather Have the Story” to talk to some of our musical friends IN the studio. We’ve had Stewart Copeland, Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Matt Fink (Prince), Steve Porcaro (Toto), and many more to come. It’s great to chat with them and hear stories – but it’s also a nice subtle way to let people know we exist and what we do here.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I started out making pop/rock records, which I still enjoy. It keeps me creative. But along the way, I developed other “irons in the fire”. One of them is writing books – so I wrote a big book on The Beatles’ studio side – how they made their records. That was very successful, a big hit, but it’s really a sideline of what I do in the studio. We all love The Beatles, and the book helped people connect to what they were doing. Our next book is for Sir George Martin – their producer – of his orchestral scores. Tricky project, but we loved being asked to do it.
Still, although the tape transfers is “the business” that keeps things rolling, making new music and mixing is my favorite thing ever. I never got stuck in that world as a 9-to-5 job though, as I vary all my music jobs so it never gets boring. This week, I’m mixing unheard Grateful Dead tracks from the vault, which we’ve done before. But also recording two young new artists who I think are incredible. Making their records from scratch, mentoring them, and helping them to find contacts and paths out into their own career in the musical world…
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Our goal is to help people either save or archive those old recordings. Don’t be scared – your tapes are NOT falling apart! They last for many, many decades. But over time, we do worry about the machines – HOW to play those old tapes might get harder and harder. So maybe now’s the time.
Pricing:
- 24 16 and 12 track master tapes are $100 a reel
- 8 track master tapes are $75 each
Contact Info:
- Website: www.roundandwound.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roundandwoundtransfers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Round-and-Wound-Tape-Transfers-100064153383926/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@roundandwoundtapetransfers9054
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/round-and-wound-north-hollywood-2?override_cta=Request+a+Quote
