I saw this on Twitter posted by Roxy.
John Rzeznik and Russ Berger to deliver Keynote address at SPARS Studio SummitBy Paul Christensen, on January 11, 2012
John Rzeznik, lead guitarist, vocalist, frontman, and primary songwriter of the Goo Goo Dolls and Russ Berger, President of the award winning Russ Berger Design Group, have been tapped to deliver the Keynote address at this year’s SPARS Studio Summit to be held in the H. O. T. Zone during the upcoming NAMM Convention.
The four hour seminar of keynotes, master classes and roundtable discussions titled, “When a Professional Studio is Needed,” will be moderated by Tom Kenny, Editor of Mix Magazine and be held on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 12:00 noon in the Anaheim Convention Center, HOT Zone room 203 A&B.
Formed in 1986 in the crumbling rust belt city of Buffalo, New York, the Goo Goo Dolls were probably started for no better reason than to kill time, make some music, and hopefully get a few free beers from the clubs where they were lucky enough to get a gig.
And then, as lead singer / guitarist John Rzeznik says, “Somewhere in there we sort of figured out how to write songs.” The band’s third album, Hold Me Up, released in 1990, showcased the sound of the band that would later be refined on their next two releases, Superstar Carwash and A Boy Named Goo. It was the latter of these two releases that landed the band their first hit song with “Name” in 1995. A Boy Named Goo went on to sell over two million copies, and the band toured extensively around the world to support their new found success.
But it was in 1998 that the Goo Goo Dolls proved that they were not destined to be a “one hit wonder.” In that year Rzeznik penned “Iris,” which originally appeared on the City Of Angels soundtrack, and was also included on the band’s sixth album Dizzy Up The Girl. “Iris” spent almost a year on the Billboard charts, including a phenomenal 18 weeks at #1.
And that, as it turned out, was just the beginning. Dizzy Up The Girl also contained the hits “Slide”, “Black Balloon” and “Broadway,” all of which were top ten hits on the Billboard charts. The band spent the next two years touring relentlessly all around the world, building a loyal following that most bands can only dream of. It became clear that the Goo Goo Dolls were not going away anytime soon.
The band has continued to build momentum. 2002 saw the release of Gutterflower, which included such hits as “Here Is Gone” and “Sympathy.” In 2004 a live DVD was released featuring an incredible July 4th show performed in the band’s hometown. Let Love In was released in 2006, and featured “Better Days” and a chart-topping cover of Supertramp’s “Give A Little Bit.” And the whole time the band has been racking up an impressive list of achievements to say the least: 4 Grammy nominations, 13 consecutive top 10 multi-format hit songs, and over 10 million albums sold. Rzeznik has also been the recipient of the Hal David Starlight Songwriter Award.
Russ Berger Design Group is a design and consulting firm that combines expertise in acoustics, architecture and interiors to create technical environments and buildings for recording and broadcast studios; facilities for entertainment and media content, audio, film and post production; technical learning environments for higher education; screening rooms and personal theaters; and corporate production spaces.
Russ’s past experience in the studio as musician, engineer and owner gives him unusual insight as a consultant into all aspects and phases of facility design. Russ is active in several professional organizations, and serves on the board of the National Council of Acoustical Consultants (NCAC).
Russ has over 2,500 designs to his credit. Representative projects include National Public Radio headquarters, Whitney Houston’s personal studio, Sweetwater, NFL Films headquarters, Sony Music, MasterMix, Paragon Studios, BiCoastal Music and Lakewood Church. In recognition of his work, the industry has presented him with eight TEC Awards for technical excellence and creativity in acoustics and studio design. Russ is one of the original licensees for performing TEF measurements, and is the 2007 recipient of the prestigious Heyser Award.
In addition, Russ has been invited to lecture nationwide on facilities planning, studio and small room acoustics, audio electronics and audio monitoring. He has published numerous articles on studio acoustics and the application of computer techniques in the design of acoustic and electroacoustic systems.
More summit and registration information…
