Jim Diamond (music producer)
Encyclopedia
Jim Diamond is a music producer, studio engineer, and bass guitar
player based in Detroit, Michigan
. He worked on the first two White Stripes albums and played bass with The Dirtbombs
.
In 1983 Diamond graduated from Trenton High School, in Trenton, MI. In 1988 he went on to get a Telecommunications degree (with a minor in music) from Michigan State University. During his college years he sang and played guitar in the "speed gold" band, "The Wayouts". In 1995, after college, Diamond started working at Harvest Music and Sound Design in Lansing, MI. At Harvest Music Diamond worked on "car commercials and Christian metal," he later remembered.
He then moved to Austin, TX and started playing guitar and bass with such bands as the Beatosonics, Herman the German and Das Cowboy. Diamond returned to Detroit and started Ghetto Recorders in the fall of 1996. Diamond was also a longtime member of the popular Detroit band The Dirtbombs
. Diamond wrote and performed the vocals on the tune "I'm Through With White Girls." The song appears on the Dirtbombs studio album Dangerous Magical Noise
and the compilation CD Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit
, which was recorded by Jack White
.
Ghetto Recorders first release was by the spazzy, garage-punk duo Bantam Rooster
, fronted by Diamond's long time friend, Thomas J. Potter
.
performers, including The High Strung
, The Dirtbombs, The Fleshtones
, Electric Six
, The Laundronauts
, The Legendary Tigerman
, The Witches
, Bantam Rooster
, Rockfour
, The Gore Gore Girls
, The Mooney Suzuki
, The Compulsive Gamblers, The Dirtys, Lost Kids, The Ponys, The Silencers
, The Go, The Hentchmen, Screamray, Thee Emergency, Outrageous Cherry
, Paik
, The Clone Defects, They Come In Threes, The Sights
, The Volebeats, and The White Stripes
.
/lead vocalist
Jack White
cited the legal battle with Diamond as one of his reasons for moving to Nashville
, Tennessee
.
's capital city Buenos Aires
to produce the third album of the well-known Argentinian percussionist-drummer Andrea Álvarez. Along that month they recorded on a MCI analogic machine what would become on "Doble A," which counted with the participation of various Argentinian musicians, such as Ricardo Mollo. The album was released on October and received very positive reviews.
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player based in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. He worked on the first two White Stripes albums and played bass with The Dirtbombs
The Dirtbombs
The Dirtbombs are an American garage rock band based in Detroit, Michigan, notable for blending diverse influences such as punk rock and soul while featuring a dual bass guitar, dual drum and guitar lineup...
.
Background
Jim Diamond started playing saxophone and classical guitar at 10 years old. By 13 years old he was playing bass guitar in a rock band called Inferno. Later in high school he also played guitar and sang in a band called The Neo Plastics.In 1983 Diamond graduated from Trenton High School, in Trenton, MI. In 1988 he went on to get a Telecommunications degree (with a minor in music) from Michigan State University. During his college years he sang and played guitar in the "speed gold" band, "The Wayouts". In 1995, after college, Diamond started working at Harvest Music and Sound Design in Lansing, MI. At Harvest Music Diamond worked on "car commercials and Christian metal," he later remembered.
He then moved to Austin, TX and started playing guitar and bass with such bands as the Beatosonics, Herman the German and Das Cowboy. Diamond returned to Detroit and started Ghetto Recorders in the fall of 1996. Diamond was also a longtime member of the popular Detroit band The Dirtbombs
The Dirtbombs
The Dirtbombs are an American garage rock band based in Detroit, Michigan, notable for blending diverse influences such as punk rock and soul while featuring a dual bass guitar, dual drum and guitar lineup...
. Diamond wrote and performed the vocals on the tune "I'm Through With White Girls." The song appears on the Dirtbombs studio album Dangerous Magical Noise
Dangerous Magical Noise
Dangerous Magical Noise is an album by the American rock music group The Dirtbombs.As every Dirtbombs album sounds different, this one was chosen to have a more pop-rock sound.- Track listing :# "Start the Party" – 1:41# "Get It While You Can" – 2:25...
and the compilation CD Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit
Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit
Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit was a compilation album of American garage rock and punk bands from Detroit, released in 2001. Put together by Jack White of The White Stripes, it featured bands such as The Von Bondies, The Dirtbombs, and The Detroit Cobras...
, which was recorded by Jack White
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
.
Ghetto Recorders
Jim Diamond runs Ghetto Recorders, an analog recording studio in a loft and apartment space in downtown Detroit, taking over the recording site and equipment from John Linardos, who went on to help start up the first microbrewery in Detroit. The studio contains equipment that is at least 20 years-old. He uses a 2" 24-track tape machine among other mixing boards and various equipment.History of Ghetto Recorders
Ghetto Recorders studio was originally a chicken processing factory in the 1920s and 30s. The control room (where the recording equipment is) used to be the freezer where the factory stored the chickens.Ghetto Recorders first release was by the spazzy, garage-punk duo Bantam Rooster
Bantam Rooster
Bantam Rooster was an American garage punk band, formed in 1994 in Lansing, Michigan and disbanded in 2003. Bantam Rooster was a duo composed of vocalist and guitarist Thomas Jackson Potter and drummer Eric Cook with later members Mike Alonso and Nick Lloyd filling in on drums.Known for their...
, fronted by Diamond's long time friend, Thomas J. Potter
Thomas J. Potter
Thomas J. Potter was vice-president and general manager of the Union Pacific Railroad. Charles Francis Adams, Jr.requested that he accept this job in 1887.-Railroad career:...
.
Collaborations
On the Motorcity Brewing Works' live compilation "GhettoBlaster," Diamond appeared as the front man for "Jim Diamond's Pop Monsoon." As proprietor and chief engineer at Ghetto Recorders, Diamond has worked with, and in some cases helped launch the careers of, several well-known indie rockIndie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
performers, including The High Strung
The High Strung
The High Strung are a band from Detroit, Michigan. The band comprises lead singer and guitarist Josh Malerman, bassist Chad Stocker, and drummer Derek Berk. Malerman and Berk attended Michigan State University in the late 1990s before moving to New York City...
, The Dirtbombs, The Fleshtones
The Fleshtones
The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng and Marek Pakulski The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The...
, Electric Six
Electric Six
Electric Six is a six-piece metro Detroit-based band that plays what has been described as a brand of rock music infused with elements of "garage, disco, punk, new wave, and metal." The band met recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar", and subsequently recorded...
, The Laundronauts
The Laundronauts
The Laundronauts are a Canadian indie rock music trio formed in late 2007 from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Founded by Gareth Wynne and Stephen J...
, The Legendary Tigerman
The Legendary Tigerman
The Legendary Tigerman is the artistic name of Paulo Furtado, a Portuguese blues performer in a one-man-band style. With a singular style, Furtado plays guitar, harmonica and drums alone on stage....
, The Witches
The Witches
The Witches is a children's book by Roald Dahl, first published in London in 1983 by Jonathan Cape. The book, like many of Dahl's works, is illustrated by Quentin Blake. Its content has made the book the frequent target of censors. It appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most...
, Bantam Rooster
Bantam Rooster
Bantam Rooster was an American garage punk band, formed in 1994 in Lansing, Michigan and disbanded in 2003. Bantam Rooster was a duo composed of vocalist and guitarist Thomas Jackson Potter and drummer Eric Cook with later members Mike Alonso and Nick Lloyd filling in on drums.Known for their...
, Rockfour
Rockfour
Rockfour is a Psychedelic rock band, formed in 1988 in Holon, Israel. Most of their catalog is in English, and they regularly tour the United States.-Early years:...
, The Gore Gore Girls
Gore Gore Girls
Gore Gore Girls are an all female garage rock band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1997 by singer/songwriter Amy Gore. The band's name comes from The Gore Gore Girls, a 1972 B-movie by Herschell Gordon Lewis, which is a parody of the term Go Go Girls....
, The Mooney Suzuki
The Mooney Suzuki
The Mooney Suzuki is an American garage rock band that formed in New York City in 1996. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Sammy James, Jr., guitarist Graham Tyler, bassist John Paul Ribas and drummer Will Rockwell-Scott, the band has released four studio albums – People Get Ready ,...
, The Compulsive Gamblers, The Dirtys, Lost Kids, The Ponys, The Silencers
The Silencers
The Silencers is the title of a 1962 spy novel by Donald Hamilton, the fourth in a series of books featuring assassin Matt Helm.-Plot summary:...
, The Go, The Hentchmen, Screamray, Thee Emergency, Outrageous Cherry
Outrageous Cherry
-History:Outrageous Cherry formed in 1992 as a solo project for Matthew Smith, but soon expanded to a four-piece after he began performing live in 1993...
, Paik
Paik
Paik is a post-rock/space rock outfit originally from Toledo, United States, currently living in Detroit, Michigan, United States, that includes Rob Smith and Ryan Pritts. Bassist Ali Clegg left the band in 2005, and has since been replaced by San Francisco native Anthony Petrovic...
, The Clone Defects, They Come In Threes, The Sights
The Sights
The Sights are a rock and roll band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1998. Members include Eddie Baranek , Dave Tick Talkin Lawson , Gordon Smith and Skip Denomme . Former members include Mike Trombley, Mark Leahey, Nate Cavalieri, Matt Hatch, Bobby Emmett and Dave Knepp...
, The Volebeats, and The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
.
- Diamond also composed and performed songs for the 2005 horror/comedy movie Santa's SlaySanta's SlaySanta's Slay is a 2005 Christmas Black comedy horror film that stars former professional wrestler Bill Goldberg as Santa Claus. The movie was written and directed by David Steiman, a former assistant to Brett Ratner....
which is distributed by Lion's Gate. He also composed and performed the theme music for Detroit Metropolitan Airport's "123Park" campaign.
Legal dispute with The White Stripes
From 2004 to 2006, Diamond was involved in a legal battle with The White Stripes over royalty payments. Diamond claimed joint authorship of the master recordings he and the White Stripes created at Ghetto Recorders in 1999. Diamond lost the lawsuit, with the jury returning a verdict against his claim after deliberating for less than an hour. In 2006, White Stripes guitaristGuitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
/lead vocalist
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
Jack White
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
cited the legal battle with Diamond as one of his reasons for moving to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Work with Andrea Álvarez
On June 2008 he travelled to ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
's capital city Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
to produce the third album of the well-known Argentinian percussionist-drummer Andrea Álvarez. Along that month they recorded on a MCI analogic machine what would become on "Doble A," which counted with the participation of various Argentinian musicians, such as Ricardo Mollo. The album was released on October and received very positive reviews.
External links
- Turn It Down Interview with Jim Diamond Turn It Down Interviews
- Motorcityrocks.com Jim Diamond bio
- Ghetto Recorders