John Baccigaluppi is a Sacramento recording engineer, producer and studio owner, and the publisher of the recording-industry magazine Tape Op.[1][2] For roughly two decades he ran the Sacramento recording studio The Hangar, and he has been a central behind-the-scenes figure in the local music scene as a producer and mentor.[2][1]
At a glance
- Owner of the Sacramento studio The Hangar for over 20 years at its downtown location.[2]
- Publisher of Tape Op magazine.[1][3]
- Producer/engineer who developed and shaped the career of Sea of Bees (Julie Ann Baenziger), collaborating on every Sea of Bees release.[3]
- After closing The Hangar in 2013, built a new Sacramento studio in the historic General Produce Building with engineer Chris Woodhouse.[2][4]
- Operates Panoramic House / Panoramic Studios in Stinson Beach, CA, where The Hangar relocated as a residential studio.[2][5]
Early career and education
According to the NAMM Oral History, Baccigaluppi studied with Dr. John Chowning at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) in 1983, and subsequently developed the VDS editor/software synthesis program for Dr. T's Music Software.[6] In the 1980s and 1990s he recorded Sacramento-area punk bands including 7 Seconds and The Groovie Ghoulies, as well as jazz saxophonist John Tchicai.[6]
Heckler Magazine
After stepping back from recording in 1992, Baccigaluppi co-published Heckler Magazine, a publication that was later acquired by TransWorld/Times Mirror.[6]
Tape Op
Baccigaluppi met Tape Op founder Larry Crane while producing the final albums of Crane's band Vomit Launch; Crane subsequently mailed him a copy of issue #1 for feedback.[7] According to the Tape Op origin post, Baccigaluppi joined Tape Op as a partner within approximately three years of the magazine's April 1996 founding — around 1999.[7][8] The Tape Op offices were co-located at The Hangar, with a doorbell labeled "Tape Op."[1]
Role in the scene
Baccigaluppi works primarily as a producer and recording engineer, and as the operator of the studios where many Sacramento-area records have been made.[1][2] He is also the publisher of Tape Op, a magazine about audio recording, and the Tape Op offices were located at The Hangar.[1][3] His influence on the scene comes largely through the artists he has recorded and developed rather than as a performer.
The Hangar
The Hangar was a Sacramento recording studio housed in a downtown warehouse that had earlier been a punk venue.[1] Baccigaluppi owned the studio and operated it for "over two decades" at that location.[2] The Tape Op magazine offices shared the building, with a doorbell labeled "Tape Op."[1] Sea of Bees recorded her debut EP Bee Eee Pee in the studio's engineer room, a space that had also been used by Terra Lopez of Sister Crayon to mix parts of a record and by Rilo Kiley bassist Jonathan Wilson to record tracks.[1]
Baccigaluppi announced the studio's closing in a blog post dated Feb. 18, 2013, writing that the last band would be recorded in the space in March 2013, ending the run at that building.[2] He reflected that a large body of recordings had come out of the studio and reached a very large audience over the years, and noted "celeb type moments" including visits by Kanye West and Ian MacKaye.[2] The Hangar also hosted recording sessions by Devendra Banhart, Little Wings, Ty Segall, and Thee Oh Sees.[9] After closing, The Hangar was relocated into a house at the base of Mount Tamalpais overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Point Reyes, California, where it became a residential studio.[2]
General Produce studio
At the time of The Hangar's 2013 closure, Baccigaluppi said he and fellow engineer Chris Woodhouse were building a new studio a few blocks away from The Hangar's location, in the historic General Produce Building.[2] He described the plan as a streamlined, analog-centric room designed to record rock bands quickly and affordably, and compared the building's character to the pre-gentrification Meatpacking District in New York City.[2] By 2015 this General Produce studio in Sacramento was in use; Julie Ann Baenziger recorded portions of Build a Boat to the Sun there under Baccigaluppi's guidance.[4]
Panoramic House / Stinson Beach
Baccigaluppi is also associated with Panoramic House studios (also referred to as Panoramic Studios) in Stinson Beach, California — consistent with The Hangar's relocation to a residential studio in the Mount Tamalpais / Point Reyes area.[5][2] He mixed the four songs of Sunmonks' debut EP In a Desert of Plenty there, working as the band's producer.[5] Parts of Sea of Bees' Build a Boat to the Sun were also recorded at Panoramic Studios in Stinson Beach.[4]
According to Mix Online, Panoramic House is co-owned by Baccigaluppi and Bobby Lurie; the same partnership also operates The Dock in Sacramento and Mavericks in New York City.[10]
Work with Sea of Bees
Baccigaluppi discovered Julie Ann Baenziger (Sea of Bees) when he heard her singing in a room at The Hangar while her then-band, Find Me Fighting Them, was recording; he gave her his card and invited her to record.[1] He set her up in the studio control room and showed her how to use Pro Tools, and she completed a nearly full five-song EP, Bee Eee Pee, in a single day.[1] The two went on to record her debut full-length Songs for the Ravens (2010) at a slower pace, with Baenziger playing about 80 percent of the instruments and Baccigaluppi praising her intuitive musicianship.[1] He handled the business side, sending the mastered record to Michael Leahy of Crossbill Records in Davis, which released it after larger labels declined to move quickly; Crossbill in turn secured distribution through Burnside Distribution in Portland.[1]
Baccigaluppi collaborated on every Sea of Bees release — Bee Eee Pee (2009), Songs for the Ravens (2010), Orangefarben (2012) and Build a Boat to the Sun (2015) — described variously as her producer/engineer and longtime manager.[3][4] For Build a Boat to the Sun, released June 29, 2015 via the London label 3 Loop Music, he again served as producer/engineer, recording at General Produce in Sacramento and Panoramic Studios in Stinson Beach.[3][4]
Work with Sunmonks
Baccigaluppi produced the Auburn-rooted band Sunmonks, mixing the four songs of their debut EP In a Desert of Plenty (released Oct. 28, 2014 via Crossbill Records) at Panoramic House in Stinson Beach.[5] The article notes his dual role as the band's producer and as Tape Op publisher.[5]
Local status
Baccigaluppi's studios and central activity are based in downtown Sacramento, where he ran The Hangar for over two decades and built the General Produce studio.[2] His work is consistently framed as part of the Sacramento music scene, recording local artists such as Sea of Bees and Sunmonks.[1][3][5] The sources do not state his birthplace, so this classification reflects his long-running Sacramento base of operations rather than an explicit origin statement; confidence is high but his personal hometown is not given.[2][1]