Anti Social Camp 2024 was AMAZING!
Anti Social Camp is the world's largest songwriting camp, bringing together over 200 artists [out of thousands of applicants] from all over the world in the spirit of collaboration. ASC is a yearly part of New York Music Month in June and serves to reinvigorate the NYC music production scene by bringing together producers, musicians and songwriters to create new bangers inside local studios. This was Cloud Microphones' second year sponsoring the camp. After last year's experience, we knew we had to return.
At Cloud, we value innovation, collaboration and community as core values. Unsurprisingly, we found the camp to be a natural fit. In an increasingly digital world, people are rediscovering the magic of analog equipment and techniques, and are increasingly fascinated by them. ASC has been an invigorating platform for us to meet burgeoning artists and also to share the art of ribbons.
Camp is an absolute marathon event. By the end of the week, everyone is exhausted, but also the best of friends. Here is a brief rundown of what a week of ASC camp looked like for Cloud:
Sunday Anti Social Camp Pre-camp kick off:
As a sponsor, we were invited to the VIP reception presented by Grayson Music for camp at singer-songwriter Pete Muller's Power Station studio. We were treated to a beautiful rooftop garden and got to shake hands with the wonderful crew who put together the camp. The logistics of organizing 200 artists in over 30 studios across the busiest city in the world must be insane, but they pull it off gracefully. Shout out to organizer Danny Ross and his team for the incredible work they do.
Monday Day 1: Opening Ceremony Presented by Sound Royalties and Spotify Industry Showcase Presented by Illegal Mezcal
Day one the campers were treated to Q&A's from songwriter Justin Tranter (Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber) and artist Jacob Collier. Tranter spoke about maintaining authenticity and having patience for your art by sharing tales of industry experience. Jacob Collier treated the audience to participation in his first Zoom audience choir. A panel for women in music spoke, including crucial contributions from artist/activist Lachi whose work as founder of Ramp’d focuses on accessibility in the music industry. There was also a live recording of The Moth where the theme of the hour was VIBES and the Campers were welcome to participate.
All of the sponsoring partners introduced themselves then it was off to races for the Spotify Showcase at Baby's Alright. 25 select artists performed live, including TT the Artist who served her hit from last year's camp, ICONIC, complete with an impromptu ballroom walk.
Tuesday Day 2: Youtube Songwriters Presents Storytellers: Writers Round and the Flux Studios Le Fabulous Rooftop Party
During the morning sessions, the Cloud crew went to the SoundExchange Artists Lounge at Invite Only Studios where Patrick Kelly (producer and partner) gave us a tour of their state-of-the-art equipment including the one-of-a-kind Slate Media Technology Raven Z3C console.
After the day's sessions, we were treated to the “Storytellers: Writers Round” in Power Station's renowned Studio A. It was the most intimate of the camp's events, as artists took turns playing acoustic versions of their songs after explaining the backstory. It's incredibly inspirational and raw.
Immediately after, we rushed to the world-famous Flux Studios for one of their fabulous rooftop parties hosted by Fab Dupont. I was personally delighted to visit the room where my favorite album, Is This It? by The Strokes (a consummate NYC album) was recorded. Everyone enjoyed champagne, gummy bears, skyline views and good conversation late into the night.
Wednesday Day 3: Cloud Sessions and The Recording Academy New York Chapter Anti Social Gala presented by Illegal Mezcal
We were honored to participate in sessions at the epic Power Station studios. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and Grammy Award-winning recordings have been made there, and you can feel the history resonating within the warm wooden walls. The first session featured David Archuleta and Jared Benjamin produced by Chris Sclafani. We showed Chris Sclafani our ribbons and gave him the rundown on how to best utilize them in the studio recording scenario in terms of blending ribbons into the mix.
Last year's camp had many performers who left lasting impressions on us and via NYC magic, we were brought together with three artists who we've had our eyes on. Josiah Bassey, Camille Trust, and Ryan Shaw all left us stunned last year, and the chemistry when they were brought together was palpable. We also met two members of the Norwegian trio Orion's Belte who were the session's musical producers.
For this session, we recorded guitar, vox and percussion on Cloud ribbons. We began by micing the acoustic guitar and the guitar cab as they laid down the tracks. The third member of Orion's Belte, the drummer, had to stay home in Norway because he was sick, so there was a need for improvised percussion. Rodger set up the mics in a mid-side configuration to capture Bassey's stomps while he played the Cabasa and Øyvind Blomstrøm played a homemade silver leather lap tambourine.
The mid-side configuration also served well for the harmonious group vocals. As someone who could not sing to save their life, watching the group work together and play with their voices was the coolest part. Anyone who has excellent command of their instrument is inspirational to watch, and the singers we worked with left me with goosebumps.
The song they created was titled “Reindeer Games”, and it's all about falling in love with yourself after falling out of love with someone else. The funky ambient instrumentals provided by Orion's Belte juxtapose the choir-like vocals in a fresh and unexpected way. It has been in my head since leaving the session.
We then went to the Anti Social Red Carpet Gala at Brooklyn Brewing where everyone showed off their finest artist attire. It was a feast for the eyes, not only because of the gorgeous outfits, but everyone was smiling and glowing.
Thursday Day 4: An Evening with Republic Records
We spent the morning visiting Bunker Studios, which had been recommended to us because of their extensive vintage ribbon and analog gear collection. Studio manager Andy Plovnick was incredibly generous with his time in showing us their facility which was designed by the same architect as Power Station. We spent the morning talking gear and sharing with them our process.
We then went back to Invite Only to have a champagne toast with organizer Danny Ross to all of the campers' hard work throughout the week. After that, Republic Records opened their doors to us and the facility was epic. You could tell everyone was excited and stressed to finish their songs for the grand finale, the Friday Playback party.
Friday Day 5: The Playback Party presented by Tidal and Grayson Music
The last day of camp is bittersweet. On one hand, you've just made incredible connections, memories and music. On the other hand, you're exhausted and a little sad to leave. This year the playback party was at a venue called National Sawdust. It's fun to see which songs the crowd responds to as they shuffle through the brand new bops. I may be biased, but the songs recorded with ribbons stood out with their warm, round, authenticity.
We love everything that Anti Social Camp represents. As a company that produces vintage-inspired technology, we often find that dipping your toes into the ribbon pool can be intimidating. Especially due to outdated rumors surrounding ribbon mics. By engaging with young artists like the attendees of the Camp, we move closer to our goal of preserving the soul of classic recording methods. ASC provides an invaluable opportunity to connect with the next generation of music creators, sharing our passion for warm, authentic sound and helping to dispel misconceptions about ribbon microphone technology.
P.S. Special shout out to all of the radical women in music I met during camp, you all inspire me! Looking at you Jenna Beaudoin and Party Nails amongst so many others!
Looked like an amazing time!!