Kevin Gilbert
Kevin Gilbert first came to national attention in the critically acclaimed duo Toy Matinee. As half of Toy Matinee, along with producer/keyboardist Patrick Leonard, Gilbert created richly layered sonic landscapes to foil his unusual and thought-provoking lyrics. Radio stations across the country were quite taken with two of the songs, “The Ballad of Jenny Ledge” and “Last Plane Out.”
Following the disbanding of Toy Matinee, Gilbert went on to write and record in a solo capacity which yielded the absolutely stellar album, Thud. This complex yet accessible collection of material demonstrates a remarkable range as well as some incredible musicianship. While he does use additional musicians, Gilbert is a talented multi-instrumentalist and he takes a hand at virtually every instrument at some point on the record. He also engineered and produced the record at his own Pasadena studio, “Lawnmower and Garden Supplies.” This seemingly odd moniker has quite a story behind it. “Yeah, that’s actually what it was,” says Gilbert. “When I first got the place, the floor was completely covered with dirt and fertilizer...manure. We had to dig our way down to the floor.”
Cleaned up and refurbished with an incredible collection of vintage analog gear, Gilbert’s studio is now producing film and television soundtracks, as well as other people’s records. He has just finished working on a new record for ex-Bangle Suzanna Hoffs. Currently Gilbert is writing material for an upcoming record of his own. “But this time it will definitely be a band, not a solo thing.”
Unlike many digitally inclined studios, which are packed with the latest and most modern gadgets, Gilbert is still fond of acoustic instruments and analog keyboards. “I have a JV-1080 Super JV Synth, but I don’t need the Vintage Synth expansion board...I’ve got that covered.” Other Roland gear at Lawnmower and Garden Supplies includes an M-24E Line Mixer, through which all the keyboards are submixed, before channeling them to the vintage Neve console. Another well-aged Roland product which gets a frequent workout is the Vocoder Plus. “I’ll tell you one of my favorite Roland pieces,” says Gilbert, “this little blue BOSS Compressor compact pedal [the CS-3]. I never go to a guitar session without it.”
In addition to Thud, Gilbert has had his hands full as a singer, musician, songwriter and producer on a number of successful projects including guitarist Marc Bonilla and last year’s multiple Grammy winner Sheryl Crow.