PRODUCERS CORNER
 
Pete Droge
Recording Artist/Songwriter/Producer
Pete Droge
From the time that he signed with Rick Rubin's American Recordings in 1993, Pete Droge has enjoyed a successful, multi-faceted career as a recording artist, songwriter, producer, and composer.

Beginning with his breakout hit “If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself),” which was featured in the blockbuster Dumb and Dumber, Pete Droge has gone on to compose and license original music for television and film, including national ad campaigns for Toyota and T-Mobile, and the ABC smash Grey's Anatomy. Academy Award winner Cameron Crowe personally asked Pete Droge to pen an original song for his film Almost Famous. Droge co-wrote (with Ex-Eurythmic Dave Stewart) and performed the Main Title theme for the Miramax film, Beautiful Girls. He has composed original scores for the feature films Tatoo, a Love Story and Catching Out as well as shorts for up and coming filmmakers John Jeffcoat and Justin Mitchell.

In addition to composing and licensing music, Pete Droge has led a successful career as a recording artist, having released five full-length albums under his own moniker. Over the years, Droge has joined forces with a number of artists, both as a producer and co-writer, including fruitful collaborations with long-time friend Stone Gossard, of Pearl Jam. In 2003, Droge teamed up with Matthew Sweet and Shawn Mullins to form their side-project harmony band, The Thorns, releasing a rootsy self-titled album on Columbia. In addition, Droge co-wrote the single, “Beautiful Wreck,” from Shawn Mullins' 2006 release, 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor, which garnered a #1 AAA radio hit. Pete Droge has mounted tours with the likes of Tom Petty and Neil Young, and appeared on numerous television and radio shows in Europe and the U.S.

Pete's Favorite Gear

1.
Empirical Labs Distressor
One simply can’t have too many Distressors.
2.
Empirical Labs Fatso Jr.
A recent purchase... after hearing it on a drum submix, I thought, “where have you been all my life?”
3.

ADAM S3A
Has been a blast listening to all of my favorite records from when i was a kid on these speakers.

4.
API 525
My pal Russ Fowler hipped me to these. He told me that it was instant ‘Kinks’ sound on acoustic guitar.
5.
API 560
I have rarely found a kick drum that was not improved with the right dose 560 graphic love.
6.
Roland RE-501 Chorus Echo
Tape echo with XLR balanced ins and out? What’s not to love?
7.
Summit MPC-100A
I rarely plug my bass into anything else. Also, an old telecaster direct thru a hilton volume pedal sounds very cool.
8.
Manley Variable Mu
Sounds as great as it looks. I’ll admit it, I am a sucker for anything that glows.
9.
DBX 160 VU
I love it for tracking vocals with an SM7. (it’s good to have a singer who can hear compression and will know to back off when it starts squeezing too much.)
10.
Apogee Big Ben
Do not ask me to explain jitter. All I know is when I got this, I liked the way it sounded. And Apogee folks answer their phones and are cool.

 

 
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