Altered State Records

"With our powers combined, we are behind the scenes, putting forth the effort to retain our independence from the outer influence of big business and corporate scumbags."

Who are we?

Altered State Records is an independent record label that prides itself in being what we can be in this, current moment of uncertain, unstable and unexplainable situation of life.

What do we do?

We are a label that promotes experimental sound waves with various formations of past, present and future musical foundations, that provides inspiration and support to those who are willing to put themselves on the line to expand and affect change.

Why do we do it?

To abandon the superficial elements of commercial music business. To re-establish the simplicity of music, to have fun, because there is so much more out there than imaginable, and to be able to promote music and reach out to things with an explorative consciousness just fills us with an unbelievable joy.

Our Beliefs.

We believe that music is about the music, not about all the other concerns that are currently eating away at, what is not so important. We believe in freedom and expression, that there are no limits to the creative realm.

Our Goal?

To keep things simple and honest, to bring real music back into the mainstream, by taking over the airwaves with music that is made for music's sake not for mass profit . We want to help those who are zombitized with some corporation's idea of what popular music is and bring them back around to music that is other than "pretty people singing to prearranged-musical-like sequences".

O.K. What we really do, is this...

We take new and exciting things to smaller areas where we make music and have fun doing it. We set out to make friends and be friends to all those we meet.

Strawbale Studio

Strawbale Studio is a solar powered, completely off the grid recording studio. It was built with, you guessed it... straw bales. Because of its unique construction and location in the middle of the forest, there is a very special atmosphere here. This is a place where the rules can be bent, broken, or rewritten. The studio was built inexpensively as a way to capture music for music's sake- not to have to record commercial projects to pay the bills. Hopefully, the projects recorded here will do well in the marketplace, but that is not the highest priority...

The real magic of the studio, though, is a great room in an amazingly beautiful place. It's a peaceful and relaxed place to create and capture music. Another reason it is so relaxed is because it's inexpensive- inexpensive to run and so inexpensive for our clients. You might get 5-7 days recording time here for what you'd spend on one day at a bigger studio. The vibe here is musical rather than technical, we realize, though, that recording is a technical process and we have enough technical savvy to insure that what is recorded here is, in fact, musical.

Location:

Northwestern Montana, although it's surrounded by woods, it's still an easy hour drive from Glacier Park International Airport or 45 minutes from the Whitefish Amtrak/Greyhound stations.

Recorders and Mixing Boards:

Alesis HD24 24-track 24-bit/96kHz hard disk recorder, 16 track Yamaha AW4416 hard disc recorder, Tascam CD-RW4U, Tascam CDRW 2000, Tascam PORTASTUDIO 424mkll, Behringer 3242X, Eurodesk MX9000, XENYX 1204FX

Monitors:

Alesis M1A M2, Roland MA 8, AKG K66

Microphone Preamplifiers/ Effects / Processors:

Symetrix 302, Presonus Blue Tube, Presonus Digitube, Sansamp, Reamp, Lexicon Jam Man, Gibson Oberheimer Echoplex, T.C. Electronics D2 digital tap delay, T.C. Electronics Gmajor, Fatman Tube Compressor, Empirical Labs EL7 Fatso jr, T.C. Electronics M3000 Studio Reverb, Virtulizer Pro DSP2024P, Ultra-Graph Pro Dual 31 Band EQ, Ultra Gain Pro Tube Pre Amp, Composer Pro Dynamic Processor, Ultra Curve Pro 24bit Dual DSP, Nady Dual Graphic Equalizer, Sansi RA-500 (reverberation amplifier), Lexicon MPX 100 Reverb Unit, Re

Microphones:

AKG C414B-ULS, Blue- Blueberry, Earthworks Tc 30s, Shure 57s and 58s, Audix D1, Audio-Technica drum mics, Nady Large Diaphragm condenser mics

In the arsenal:

A few didgeridoos, guitars, guitar tube amps, a healthy dose of drums and percussion instruments, a Hammond chord organ, various keyboards, double bass, an accordion as well as a few other musical things lurking around the studio.

The Sound Company

We love making music and part of music is making it sound good. We keep things simple, being musicians ourselves we keep our prices as low as we can with the understanding that most musicians don't make that much money from making music. We work mostly with singer/songwriters, duos, trios, and smaller bands, but we do have tons of experience working with larger bands 10+ members.

Prices may vary depending on how far we have to travel, how much time you need us for and how much equipment you need to use. For availibilty and price list call us (406)882-4613

Past Clients Include:
Amy Martin
Amy Rigby
Andre Floyd & David Griffith
Big Daddy and the Blue Notes
Blue Smoke and Love
Bruce Anfinson
Buddy Mondlock
Buds of May
Buffalo Bill Boycott
Charlie's Place
Cheryl Wheeler
Chuck Pyle
Cocinando
Cup of Tea w/ Bill Rossiter
Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer
Depot Park Summer Concert Series
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Don Lawrence Orchestra
Eden Atwood
Edie Carey
Eric "fingers" Ray
Erica Wheeler
First Night- Great Falls
Flathead Freshwater Festival
Frank O'brien
Global Funk Council
Greg Trooper
Hockaday Museum's Arts in the Park
Jack Gladstone
Jack Straw Band
Jack Waller
Jenn Adams
Jim Hurst and His Fine Band
Joan Zen
John Floridis
John Herman
John Reischman & The Jaybirds
Just Us Girls
Kate Barclay
Keith Greeniger & Dayan Quai
Lang Creek Blue Grass Band
Laurie Lewis & Nina Gerber
Left Over Biscuits
Lucy Kaplansky
Moses Guest
Montana Tunessmith
Mountainaire Music Series
Natty Nation
One Less Karen
Open Road
Peter Mulvey
Pop Wagner
Rob Quist
Robin and Linda Williams
Rockin for Ravenwood
Rock-a-Billy Trio
Salt Creek
Secret Powers
Shapeshifter Trio
Snake Oil Medicine Show
Stacey Board
Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart
The California Guitar Trio
The Community Band
The Drum Brothers
The Gourds
The Tom Catmull Band
Tim Torgerson
Tish Hinojosa
T.R. Richie
Tra Le Gael
Traveler
Tropical Montana Marimba Ensemble
Umojah
Valley Voices Choir
Von Trapp Children
Wayne Hancock
Wild Horse Winds
Wilson and Mckee