Welcome to Ear Relevant Recording
Ear Relevant is the personal recording and production studio of producer/engineer John Karr (JK47).
Located in San Francisco’s musically historic Haight Ashbury District, Ear Relevant Recording is designed to be a comfortable, affordable recording studio where you can relax and be yourself and make a kick-ass record. We do everything from pre-production, basic tracking, overdubs, final mixing, re-mixes, and pre-mastering and live concert sound. From beginner to seasoned recording artist, we can assist you to take your initial concept to a fully developed production; no project is too big or too small.
John studied analog synthesis and electronic music at Sara Laurence and the New School in New York and then onward to Berklee College of Music in Boston as a jazz arranging major and playing guitar in the prog-rock bands Meta Terra, Surgery, and Slug Bunny. While at the New School he cut his teeth engineering live shows at Inroads Art Gallery, The Pyramid Club, A7. with such artists as Jon Zorn, Sonic Youth, Fred Frith, Eugene Chadbourne, Noise R Us, Derick Baliey, Leferts Brown, and some of the downtown NYC art noise and punk bands circa 1979-80.
While at Berklee he began his recording career mixing exclusively live on location to a 2 track PCM F1. Early clients Included everything from student projects to members of John Mclaughlin, Weather Report, Pat Metheny, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Jean Luc Ponty’s bands. Some of these sessions were live radio broadcasts on WERS. This led to the opening of JK’s first studio, an analog tape/MIDI programming room, Skyline Audio in Allston Ma, in 1982.
Since moving to San Francisco in 1988, JK became the staff engineer and manager at both, Olde West and Brilliant Studios, and led a double life working live sound at such legendary venues as The Kennel Club, the Fillmore, Slims, Yoshi’s, The Great American Music Hall, Bottom of the Hill, The Justice League, Public Works, The Chapel, and Bimbos. John was also the sound department manager and head engineer of The Independent for over 7 years.
Over the years JK has engineered and mixed and recorded over 25,000 bands in concert, earning over 70 live and studio albums, DVDs, and recording credits in every genre of music you can imagine. Mixing live sound has put JK in front of some of the best bands from all over the world, learning the sounds, styles, subcultures, and the mix techniques of so many different genres. This gives him a unique ability to help you, the artist, to realize the vision of what you hear in your heart and your head to a great final product. From Speed Metal from Orange County – Dance Hall from Kingston – Hip Hop from Oakland – German Kraut Rock – Indie Rock from Iceland – Stoner Metal from Seattle – Drum and Bass from Bristol – 70’s French Prog Rock, Bossa Nova from Brazil to Shoegazer Math Rock from the Mission, you name it – John Karr has mixed it. Looking forward to making your band shine.