GodCity Studios
| Kurt Ballou | |
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Kurt Ballou performing live with Converge at the Eurockéennes festival in 2007
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| Background information | |
| Born | February 1, 1974 |
| Origin | Massachusetts, United States |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | Deathwish |
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Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and producer, best known as the guitarist from Massachusetts-based band Converge. Aside from his role in Converge, Ballou is a prolific producer, recording and producing out of his own GodCity Studio.
He is a vegan and follows a straight edge lifestyle.
Since 1990 Kurt Ballou plays in the metalcore band Converge. From 1996 to 2000 Ballou played in the punk rock band The Huguenots. From 1996 to 1999 Ballou and Stephen Brodsky played in the rock band Kid Kilowatt. In 1998 Ballou established GodCity Studio. From 1999 to 2002 Ballou and Ben Koller played in the punk rock band Blue/Green Heart.
In the late 1990s, Kurt Ballou was working as a biomedical engineer when his then project got cancelled. Instead of selecting a different position within the same company that he had worked with for six years, Ballou opted to receive a severance package which he used to build his own recording studio. His experiences and knowledge in engineering carry over to his recording work. In regards to Ballou's technical precision as a producer Bannon has stated, "nothing gets by him—it is inspiring to watch him work."
Established in 1998, GodCity Studio is located in Ballou's home state of Massachusetts. One of the earliest recordings from the studio was Cave In's Until Your Heart Stops. In the production of album Ballou deals with all production, engineering, and mastering.
Ballou has stated that making Jane Doe was huge learning experience for him in terms of engineering and producing due to working with Ellard. Ellard jokingly stated Ballou "watched him like a hawk" during the engineering and producing process.
In 2005 Ballou remixed and remastered Converge's Petitioning the Empty Sky and When Forever Comes Crashing. Ballou has stated that because of the quality of [Converge's] recordings has improved so much that the original recordings were "becoming distracting". Ballou has also produced and co-produced several Converge albums, including 2001's Jane Doe, 2004's You Fail Me and 2006's No Heroes. He has also produced a number of independent metal and hardcore bands, including Genghis Tron's Board Up the House, Torche's Meanderthal, Disfear's Live the Storm and Darkest Hour's "Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora".
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