Ira Skinner is a Sacramento recording engineer, producer, drummer and live-sound engineer who owns and operates Alley Avenue Recording Studios in Midtown Sacramento, where he has recorded a wide range of local bands.[1][2] He is also an active performer, having drummed in The Evening Episode and the rock duo Pets, and fronting his own electronic solo project, Paper Pistols.[3][2]
At a glance
- Recording engineer and producer; owns Alley Avenue Recording Studios in Midtown Sacramento.[3][2]
- Drummer and programmer; described by Submerge as a "drummer/programmer/recording engineer."[3]
- Played drums in Sacramento bands including The Evening Episode and Pets.[3]
- Founder of the Paper Pistols solo project, later a duo with vocalist Julie Lydell.[3][2]
- Spends most days recording bands at his studio or running sound for local venues.[2]
- Has written film scores; self-describes his musical specialty as "epic."[2]
- Production credits beyond Sacramento include Chelsea Wolfe, Death Grips, and !!! (Chk Chk Chk).[4]
Role in the Sacramento scene
Skinner works across multiple roles in the local music community. Submerge has characterized him as a "drummer/programmer/recording engineer" who owns a recording studio,[3] and reported that he spends most days either recording bands in his Midtown studio or running sound for various local venues.[2] He has recorded and produced numerous Sacramento acts at his studio, making him a recurring behind-the-board figure in the city's music output of the early 2010s. According to LocalWiki, his credits extend beyond Sacramento to include Chelsea Wolfe, Death Grips, and !!! (also known as Chk Chk Chk).[4]
Alley Avenue Recording Studios
Skinner owns and operates Alley Avenue Recording Studios (also referred to as Alley Avenue Studios) in Midtown Sacramento.[5][1][2] Bands he recorded there include the rock duo Pets, who tracked their second album Ready the Rifles with him,[5] and Prieta, who used Skinner's studio as their practice space so they could write, record, master and release material a couple of tracks at a time.[1] Sacramento musician Marc Del Chiaro recorded his first solo album, Dreams v. Reality, with Skinner at Alley Avenue.[6] Exquisite Corps recorded their sophomore album Vignettes with Skinner, choosing him specifically for his reputation with drum sounds.[7] Tel Cairo's debut album Voice of Reason was also recorded at Alley Avenue Studios, with Skinner serving as producer.[8][4]
As producer
Skinner's production work emphasizes a hands-off, trust-building approach. The New Humans self-produced their debut EP Avalanche with guidance from Skinner, using his studio space and taking his advice where they asked for it.[9] The electronic duo Tel Cairo worked with him as producer on Voice of Reason, describing him as letting them "figure out who they were" and remaining "so chill in the studio."[8] LocalWiki confirms both the producer credit and the Alley Avenue recording location for that album.[4] Exquisite Corps' Bryan Valenzuela cited Skinner's strength with drum sounds — noting that Skinner is himself a drummer and "a great drummer sound engineer" — as the reason they recorded Vignettes with him.[7]
As drummer and performer
Skinner has drummed with several local bands. He played in The Evening Episode, a band he later said was "full of people throughout the years that I could really trust musically," and which he started roughly a decade before 2013 — an early example, by his account, of a Sacramento band integrating laptops into a live rock setup.[3][2] He also played drums in Pets, though Submerge noted he was not a full-time, official member of that duo; the band hoped to book him as their drummer for future shows after he played on Ready the Rifles.[5][3] His most recently documented live performance on Concert Archives is a November 12, 2021 show at The Russ Room in Sacramento, where he shared a bill with Dusty Brown.[10]
Paper Pistols
Paper Pistols began as Skinner's solo project, consisting of him playing live drums over programmed music he composed.[3] In 2011 he was working toward a five-track, likely self-titled EP, reworking older songs he had previously recorded at various West Coast studios but felt sounded unfinished.[3] By 2013 Paper Pistols had become a duo with vocalist Julie (Juliana) Lydell, releasing the debut album Deliver Us From Chemicals.[2] Skinner said that after The Evening Episode he had no desire to start another band — citing the logistics of vans, practice spaces and tours — but that working with Lydell renewed his interest in writing music.[2] Lydell canceled a planned return to Austin, Texas, to keep working with Skinner on the project.[2] The album was released on June 14, 2013;[11] Lydell has confirmed Paper Pistols as one of her own projects alongside The Dreaded Diamond, noting she "wrote and released three records" across those projects.[12] According to the album's Bandcamp page, Deliver Us From Chemicals was conceived as being "about being human in the Information Age," and all proceeds benefited the Natural Resources Defense Council and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.[11] Deliver Us From Chemicals placed at No. 27 on Submerge's Top 30 Albums of 2013 list.[13] Lydell also sang for the band Paper Pistols' offshoots and appeared as a vocalist on Tel Cairo's Voice of Reason.[8]
Local status
Skinner is treated throughout the Submerge corpus as a fixture of the Sacramento scene — recording local bands at his Midtown studio, running sound at local venues, and playing in Sacramento bands — though the sources do not explicitly state where he is originally from.[3][2] On the strength of his deep, sustained embedding in the local scene he is classed as local; the precise origin claim carries moderate confidence given the absence of an explicit hometown statement.