Native New Yorkers: collaboration is key at this new commercial music studio - Audio Today & Tomorrow - Native Music, New York, New York

Post, Oct, 2002 by Christine Bunish

NEW YORK -- Something that is native suits its environment perfectly. Native (www. nativemusic.net) is one of New York City's newest music houses and the name encapsulates what founders David Logan, Craig Chang and Mike Pandolfo strive for in every project that comes through the doors of the company they launched July 1.

At the core of the studio is the partners' collaborative process. "The power of Native is the three of us working together -- bouncing ideas off each other," Pandolfo says. "At Native you deal with the people who are going to write the music."

Although one takes the lead, all of them bring their experience to bear on every project. "Before, we were always pigeonholed: 'If it's this kind of music, give it to Mike,'" Pandolfo remarks. "Now there are no musical boundaries. Although we all have diverse backgrounds -- Dave from rock, Craig from R&B, soul and hip-hop and myself from classical to electronica -- together we're amazing."

The Native partners don't just collaborate among themselves, they also team with the agency or client to "come up with a direction... what works to picture," notes Logan.

Logan, Chang and Pandolfo have very different roots. Logan, a guitar player from the New York area, studied jazz and bluegrass and "played in groups from punk rock to Latin." While a broadcast producer at Goodby Silverstein & Partners/SF, he began writing music for commercials. "I was exposed to the best talent out there," he says. "So it took a leap of faith for me to do it myself."

Logan cut his teeth writing demos for clients like Polaroid, BMW Motorcycles and Norwegian Cruise Lines, and in '99 someone suggested he quit his day job and "do music for real." He moved back to New York and was a freelance composer until joining Amber Music. There he met Pandolfo.

Most of Chang's formal music education stems from his days as a student at the Brooklyn Boys Chorus School where music theory and instruction mixed with choral performance. In high school, Chang moved into audio engineering, met Bang Music's Lyle Greenfield and Chris Joanou, and began working with them on a regular basis.

Chang first met Logan when they teamed on several projects at Amber. When the two discussed the prospect of going out on their own they considered a third partner and called Pandolfo, who had also been "investigating other possibilities" for his writing talents.

Pandolfo is a classically trained musician. After graduating from the University of Buffalo, he returned to New York and began working in spot music. He spent five years at tomandandy and another five at Amber Music. After that he was with JSM for a year:

Joining the partners at Native is producer Michele Whitman who formerly served as a producer at the MCY Music Company. Recently, she's been busy reintroducing the advertising community to the partners and their new enterprise.

THE ROOMS

Within the 2,500-square-foot loft space, each partner has his own digital studio/production suite. All are similarly equipped for easy compatibility and collaboration. The roams are Mac-based with Logic sequencers for recording and programming. The sampler within Logic, which enables the partners to share a huge sample database, works in tandem with an array of traditional synthesizers and outboard gear, giving the partners "the best of both worlds," says Logan. The studios also run Digidesign ProTools\24 Mix Plus hardware and Yamaha 02R boards with digital I/O cards.

Two rooms accommodate live recording. The smaller for single instruments; the larger for a drum set or horns. Since Logan, Chang and Pandolfo designed the facility themselves, they've left room for expansion and for easy conversion to 5.1 surround. "The 02Rs have surround mixing capabilities when the time comes," says Pandolfo. time may be later rather than sooner: "We haven't seen a call for anything other than the stereo format," Chang reports.

Since Native opened just a few months ago, a look at the partners' previous credits reflects well on the trio's potential.

When Logan was at Amber he teamed with Chang on the Mercedes spot Timeless From Merkley Newman & Harty/NY. The commercial traces the timeless elegance of Mercedes over the decades as we hear The Righteous Brothers "Unchained Melody" evolve from a ballad to a swinging '60s song to a disco tune to a hip-hop track.

At JSM, Pandolfo composed the music for Ikea's Billy Idol spot, which featured a performance by the rocker. The spot was from Palmer Jarvis DDB Downtown/Toronto.

Pandolfo traveled to Brazil to "pick up on the vibe" of the fashion photography-style shoot for Bacardi's Memorias spot from Amster Yard/NY, which aired in Mexico and South America. He crafted a throbbing, sexy Latin beat with guitars which accompanied red-washed images of the club scene.

RECENT WORK

Under their own Native banner the partners have created three different tracks -- electronica dance, big band swing and "almost ska punk" -- for three spots in a new Swanson's campaign from FCB/NY.

They've also written an anthemic electronic rock track for a World Cup commercial for the US Soccer Federation, from Union/NY, and done sound design on Baby Invasion for the anti-tobacco Truth campaign from Hill Holliday/Boston. For the latter, the partners tapped Reactor Soft Synth to build an eerie soundscape. At press time Native was about to begin some spots for BBDO/NY.