| Type | Independent |
|---|---|
| Industry | Advertising, Music, Production |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Headquarters |
Additional Locations: Los Angeles, CA Stavanger, Norway |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Lyle Greenfield Brian Jones Brad Stratton Sara Iversen |
| Services | music production |
| Divisions | Bangolia (Game Audio) |
| Website | http://www.bangworld.com/ |
Bang is a music and sound production company based in New York City which creates original music, sound design and audio-post mixing for advertisers, entertainment media and television programs.
Contents |
Bang was founded in New York City in January, 1989 by former advertising agency creative director Lyle Greenfield. The company was first housed in the studios of hip-hop recording facility, Calliope Productions where artists like De La Soul, Queen Latifah, Black Sheep, A Tribe Called Quest, Brand New Heavies and Stereo MC's were recording their first records. (Bob Power, one of the engineer/musician/producers in residence, worked with The Roots, and assisted in the production of Deee-Lite’s crossover club/radio hit “Groove Is In The Heart.”) The sound of these artists and others became a key element in Bang’s early musical identity.
In 1993, Bang left Calliope and established its own studios downtown, occupying the second floor of a two-story landmarked building in New York’s Flatiron District. The building, believed to have once been a horse stable, was converted into the company’s recording and office facilities.
In the mid-1990s Bang Music ventured into the record business. Spearheaded by former Bang partner-composer Christopher Joannou, the company formed Notorious Records and put out the single “Release Me” in 1995,[1] a dance-house track that became an international club hit and reached the Top 5 position on Billboard's Dance Chart. A video for the song was filmed in Greece and the band, known as Industry,[2] was signed by MCA Records in the UK for European distribution.
In 1996 Notorious also released “I Have No Fear”, written by Bang’s Greenfield and British-born composer Gavin Spencer, and performed by singer Annette Taylor under the artist name Le Monde.[3] The song became a minor club hit and “gay anthem”, rising to #34 on Billboard’s Dance Chart.[4] Dance Hall Of Fame mixer Tom Moulton (“Disco Inferno”) was enlisted to create the “Hallelujah Journey Mix” of the song, which became a seminal DJ spin, later to be licensed by Rhino Records for their “Circuit Party Spins” CD. Notorious followed up “I Have No Fear” in 1997 with a Le Monde house remake of Phil Collins’ iconic hit “In The Air Tonight”. Billboard praised the recording, saying “Just when you think every plausible rock song has been converted into a dance track, here comes another natural selection...This New York-rooted act does a solid job of linking the song’s darkly intense lyrics with a firm house beat and ethereal keyboard.”
Also in 1997, Greenfield joined a group of nearly three dozen music production companies in New York City who were engaged in discussions concerning fair business practices and rights for those hired to create music for the commercial and entertainment industries. The following year a new trade association was incorporated—the Association of Music Producers (AMP),.[5] He was voted AMP’s first President, and is currently President of the association’s national board.[6]
That same year, Bang established offices and studios in Santa Monica, CA.[7] The operation was overseen by Joannou.
Later in 1997, musician Jane Mangini joined the company’s roster of composers. A formally trained keyboardist from the Berklee College of Music who was at the time playing in a piano bar on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, she brought a very different melodic sensibility to the Bang collective—a pronounced stylistic shift from the music of Bang’s guitar-trained composers.
In mid-2000, Greenfield and Joannou ended their partnership, leaving the Santa Monica operation to Joannou.
In 2000, Mangini recorded an album of her own compositions at Bang’s studios under the artist name O’2L (pronounced O’Toole). Mangini/O’2L was subsequently signed to a record and distribution deal with Peak Records in Los Angeles by record producer Mark Wexler. She has since recorded her third album for the label, and is a touring keyboardist with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Mangini and husband, Al Pitrelli, continues as a contributing composer to Bang.
In January, 2000, Greenfield hired Brian Jones, then working at William Morris Agency in New York, as an executive producer and composer. Jones subsequently recruited his writing partner Espen Noreger as a composer for Bang. Noreger, who maintains a studio in Stavanger, Norway, is the drummer for the Norwegian rock band The Getaway People, who were signed by Columbia Records in the U.S. in the late 1990s. Sara Iversen joined Bang as a senior producer and marketing strategist in June, 2000. She had worked previously for advertising agencies, first as account executive at DeVito/Verdi on the Seagram business, then at Lowe Worldwide on GMC.
By 2004 Jones was made a full partner in Bang Music.[8] His writing credits, together with Noreger, range from TV series such as Scrubs, Blow Out, House Wars, Shear Genius, MTV’s Summer On The Strip to dozens of national spots.
In 2005 Jones affiliated Bang with Studio 8 Sound (formerly MOD) [9] in Universal City, CA, collaborating on songwriting projects. Studio 8 Sound specializes in sound design and supervision and audio post-production for film and television. Studio 8’s film credits include Spider-Man 3, Sex And The City, Collateral.
In early 2008 Brad Stratton joined Bang Music as executive producer. Previously, Stratton helped establish Sound Lounge Music and Sound Design in New York City, was a senior producer at Fluid Post and was head of music production at D’Arcy Advertising in New York.
In August, 2008, Bang Music partnered with Cutting Edge Group/Air Adele, a London-based record label, music supervision and sound production consortium with credits in feature film, television and commercials. The companies will collaborate on international post-production projects from their facilities in Los Angeles, New York and London.
In September, 2008, Juno and Thank You for Smoking composer, Mateo Messina, joined bang as its west coast composer.[10][11]
Bang will celebrate its 20th anniversary in January, 2009.