Paul Simmons
Drummer for Reverend Horton Heat
We recently had a chance to chat with Paul Simmons, drummer for the popular band The Reverend Horton Heat. The Reverend Horton Heat is a three-piece "psychobilly" band — a genre known for its fusion of punk rock, rockabilly, country, big band, and swing styles. The band started in 1985, and currently includes Jim "Reverend Horton" Heath on guitar and vocals, Jimbo Wallace on upright bass, and Paul Simmons on drums. The Reverend Horton Heat has become one of the most popular underground acts in America, though near-constant touring, and their high-energy performance style.
Paul: Hey guys! This is Paul Simmons in Nashville. I just got home from yet another tour. Glad to be back in my studio.
BIAS: Good to hear from you, sounds like you've been pretty busy... You mentioned you had a great story to tell us — do you have a few minutes for that? We'd love to hear it!
Paul: Yes, I wanted to share a story with you — just recently, I was approached by a new record label here in Nashville called FNA Records. They are putting out some really cool bands from the 80s and 90s. Mostly metal bands. Let me say that again... METAL bands! Yes!!! I love that word.
BIAS: So I take it you're into metal bands? (laugh)
Paul: Back in those good old days I was in a metal band known as Simmonz. It was my two brothers Mike (guitars) and Jamie (bass), myself, and a great singer named Cash Easlo. Now FNA wants to release all our old tapes!
Paul: So I thought, COOL! I found a bunch of stuff to give them, but it was badly in need of some tweaking.
BIAS: So what kind of "stuff" did you find? What was it recorded on/with?
Paul: Well one set of tapes in particular is a live recording we did here in 1996. Recorded to two PCM800's.
BIAS: Wow, that seems pretty old-school these days, but for its time was pretty modern I guess! At least it was recorded digitally, which means the tapes should have held up pretty well, and shouldn't be too hard to work with in a DAW, right?
Paul: I transferred everything to Pro Tools and headed to my studio to see what it sounded like. I'm about three songs in, rocking out, and noticed some nasty digital pops and crackles going on. So I'm freaking out. Man, these songs are trashed! I figure out its just the second set of 8 tracks. I'm guessing the sync dropped out a few times. Bummer. Then I remembered talking to BIAS about SoundSoap Pro 2.
BIAS: I was just going to say, that sounds like a job for SoundSoap Pro! So how did you go about fixing these tracks?
Paul: I selected the bass track (which was popping the worst), and opened up SoundSoap Pro 2 as an AudioSuite plug-in. Then I adjusted the Remove Click & Crackle sliders and listened... YES! BIAS has saved this rare recording! So I hit the Process button and I'm so happy!!!
BIAS: That's awesome Paul! We love hearing stories like that. I'm glad when we developed SoundSoap Pro 2 that we tested it out with some of the worst quality recordings you can imagine — you wouldn't believe some of the noise sources that pop up in old recordings.
Paul: Well thanks, because all I did was click one button, and SoundSoap Pro 2 did the rest. AMAZING! So I processed all the tracks affected, and I'm finishing as we speak.
BIAS: Thanks for taking the time to tell us this story Paul — SoundSoap Pro 2 comes through again!
Paul: Thank you guys, and girls, so, so much! I have been using Peak Pro for years now, and I can't say enough about the hard work you all must put in to help guys like me make music sound the best it can — and now this experience with SoundSoap Pro 2. Wow! All the music production tools BIAS offers are just awesome! Thank You!
To find out more about Paul Simmons, please visit:
Paul's Studio Website: http://www.paulsimmonsdrums.com
Video of Simmonz Reunion: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2614495
Simmonz Re-released Recordings on FNA Records: http://www.fnarecords.net
Reverend Horton Heat Website: http://www.reverendhortonheat.com