Hi-Res Records Launches With Focus On Analog Recording

When producer and engineer Matt Linesch (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Lauren Ruth Ward, Mika) bought the studio beside David Swartz’s California Vintage Guitar in Sherman Oaks, CA, five years ago he had no plans to go into business with his neighbor, but that’s exactly what happened. Swartz, whose store has been a mainstay in the community for more than 20 years, and Linesch instantly bonded over their mutual love of gear and quality recording. That kinship became the foundation of analog-focused label, Hi-Res Records.

The pair met Calling Cadence’s Oscar Bugarin at California Vintage Guitar where the singer was playing guitar. Impressed at his talent and songwriting partner Rae Cole, the music industry veterans teamed up to produce the band at Linesch’s Infinitespin Studios next door. Calling Cadence’s self-titled debut, available today, was recorded, mixed and mastered straight to analog tape at the studio. Computers were only used for streaming prep and CD replication.

Instant fans of Calling Cadence’s talent and wanting to get the band’s music to the masses, Linesch and Swartz brainstormed the idea of a label that focused solely on analog recording. With the world shut down due to Covid-19, the men decided to put a team in place to release the music themselves.

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“It wasn’t just a production deal, it wasn’t just a glorified demo, this was going to be something different and special,” Swartz tells me of signing Calling Cadence as Hi-Res’ first act. “With the technology and with the Internet giving people the power to distribute and get things out [we decided], ‘Let’s go ahead and put a team together and get this thing going.’”

Before the idea of a label came together, Linesch and Swartz decided that Calling Cadence was going to be an analog project because “it served the music,” Swartz says. “In this context, in an artistic sense, the project lent itself to it and analog provided something that digital wouldn’t have.”

Linesch notes that recording in analog kept the record honest. “It’s clearly capturing a moment,” he says. “The analog recording really captures that energy much differently than if we had pieced it altogether in the digital world.”

Linesch assembled the musicians to play on the project, mostly friends and former clients, while Swartz locked in Elusive Disc, Inc. as a distributor. They found a radio rep, hired a marketing team and publicist, and with the distributor as the final piece of the puzzle, Hi-Res’ label team was in place.

The initial goal for Hi-Res was to be an imprint of a major, Swartz says. While that hasn’t happened quite yet, he hopes the label becomes a tastemaker and helps other artists embrace analog. The pair are already looking to sign another act, but right now their focus is on Calling Cadence and sharing the benefits of analog recording.

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“It’s still a superior quality as far as content of the sound itself,” Linesch says. “Dave and I are noticing when people hear the products, hear the songs, hear the talent, it really stands apart. It has a strength to it, and you really connect emotionally with it, and I think a lot of that is the ability to take time on a production and take time building a career.”

Adds Swartz: “We did it because it served the music. We could have done this digitally, but it would have sounded and felt different.”

Both Linesch and Swartz say launching a label in a pandemic was a blessing. When the world shut down, they were mixing Calling Cadence’s record. The added down time helped the men lay the foundation for the company and make decisions on the label with no outside distractions.

Swartz says there was no pressure to create or finish the record. The biggest challenge, however, was the unknown. The men had the tools to finalize the project and market the talent but at the time couldn’t predict the future of music in a post-Covid world.

Now, the pair is ready to see what the rest of the world has to say about Calling Cadence with the label’s first release.

“We’re taking a shot and putting this thing out,” Swartz says. “I think there is a place for it in the world and for people to get enjoyment out of it. We believe in the music.”

Adds Linesch: “We don’t give up on anything that we put our minds to. I think it’s something we recognized in each other a long time ago. [We don’t] cut corners and do everything with intention. … I’m really excited to see this next chapter.”