Thomas “Doc” Cavalier

AH When did Trod Nossel open?

DC (It) opened in 1966 (as a) part time studio since the front of the building was occupied by Syncron Corp, a condenser microphone manufacturer. I bought the back portion of the physical layout which housed the studio. We were known as Syncron Recording Stduios Inc. and our address was 10 George St. Rear.

AH Who were some of the local bands that recorded there??

DC 1960s: Six Packs (Wildweeds), Shags, Bram Rigg Set, North Atlantic Invasion Force, Pulse (a combination of Bram Risgg Set and Shags), U.S. ‘69’, Boss Blues, Down Beats, Pygs, Chosen Few, Strawbed, The Satins, Freddy Parris, Blue Beats, Detroit Soul, Tommy and the Rivieras. 1970s-Fancy, The Scratch Band, Incredible Broadside Brass Bed Band, Bone, Tension, Johnny Parris (lead singer of Tension), Eclipse, Marble Collection, Tumble Weed, The Dogs, Berets, Variations, Tap Rock, Penny Back, Stonehedge, Erica.

AH How many tracks was it when it opened, and how did it progress technologically during the late 60s?

DC (It started with) 3 tracks, an ampex machine. (It progressed) rather rapidly actually. Went to a Scully 4 track machine and used the film dubbers that were already here when I purchased the studio. Sold the existing equipment to a Long Island studio, Sound View, and purchased an 8 track machine (with funds from the sale of a 31’ Betram [boat]) and a new Electrodyne console the name of which slipped me, so I had to query Richard (G. Robinson—the head engineer). I wasn’t very geared to type and name of equipment, but more to what I could or could not achieve with what I had or wanted! Although I am much more familiar with it these days, basically by osmosis, I still operate on the discipline that “Structure follws Function”, not the reverse.

AH Was the room the same as it is now?

DC In 1971 we proceeded to go 16 track and bought the API console. (We) moved the control room from the isolation booth to it’s present location after taking out a cinder block wall. By the way, we were able to do this since the Syncron Corp microphone company was purchased by Vega on the west coast and we expanded into the front of the building and were no longer “rear” but simply 10 George St.x Currently we are 24 tracks with a Sony 24 Track and a Sony MXP 3036 Console which was recently installed.

AHWas the Kayden label directly associated with Trod Nossel?

DCThe Kayden label was not associated with Trod Nossel. It was owned and operated by Kathy Dennis and her husband Peter Paull out of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. They were known as a Philadelphia label. I believe that Kathy had performed under that name. Peter was a cop in Cherry Hill. These were sweet people.

AHA number of New Haven bands released records on Kayden. How many records came out and how many of each were pressed?

DCEach title was pressed in a quantity of 5000 copies. To my knowlege, nothing ever went into a second pressing.

AHHow did they sell and were any of the records local hits?

DCRather poorly, as I recall. Bram Rigg went #1 in Brazil. Practically all of the releases were local hits because of the fans that knew, loved and followed the acts.

AHWhat was the biggest hit for a local band that was recorded at Trod Nossel?

DC“No Good to Cry” by the Wildweeds.

AHIs Trod Nossel a person, or did “Produced by Trod Nossel” on the label of many local 45s mean that it was produced by the studio?

DCThat’s me. I wrote all of my music under that name. Whenever it showed up on a label it was reference to Trod Nossel, the being; the studio had not been named that as yet—it was still Syncron. At that point Richard (P. Robinson-chief engineer well into the ’80s) suggested the name change to Trod Nossel Recording Studios.

AHWhat was the recording scene like for the New Haven area in the mid-sixties?

DCIt was great! Everyone seemed to be having a fantastically fun period in their lives. The bands loved each other and hated each other. They were striving to create the kind of things that one would in later years be termed “timeless”. None realized that, but in looking back, they certainly gave up a lot to do what they were doing…an awful lot.

AH Were there a lot of recording studios in the New Haven area during the mid-sixties?

DCNot really. I had been cutting all my stuff in New York, when a local DJ called and told me about this great studio in Wallingford, CT. When I got here I was dismayed; after all I had been doing all of this great four track stuff in New York and Philly, when suddenly I was demoted to three tracks. Now that doesn’t sound devastating, but that’s 25% of your recording medium. Today if you lose a track or two, you simply relegate your non-essential type of program source to another track. There weren’t really any other studios. I cut as a customer, and 1-1/2 years later, in a somewhat bizarre maze of events, which I won’t elaborate on here, I owned it!!

AHThere were many bands from New Haven, did they record locally or did they go to New York?

DCThey were plentiful, and they all wanted to record, because that was the thing to do. The live scene was minimal, it only came about when the local and regional acts started getting product out. In those days, some of it even got played, because your local DJ’s and radio stations supported the local talent. I basically was responsible for the state’s live scene. I convinced the club owners to run live R ’n’ R. Most did reluctantly, one night a week, their slowest night was allocated. But when the lines at the door showed up, they quickly expanded it to eight days a week!! Then the teen clubs showed up in abundance and thrived for quite awhile. This phenomenon was simply a case of pent up demand.

The bands had for the most part been recording in New York—there just wasn’t a facility here. Besides, everybody operated under the idea that you had to record in NYC to be discovered; and in many ways this was true. Studio owners would call record labels whenever they felt something hot had come through their doors. It doesn’t really happen that way much anymore. Today, acts literally have to beg for an outlet for their product.

AHDo you have any story about a band doing something fantastic or outlandish while recording in the studio?? Any outrageous 24 hour session?

DCI wouldn’t know where to begin! Yes there were sessions that lasted in excess of 24 hours. The one I recall was with Fancy, a band that used to be fronted by Christine Ohlman, from the Scratch Band, who now has a group called Rebel Montez. I was exasperated about a cut that the band simply wasn’t getting. I decided to let it go until they at least were VERY close. That happened 72 takes into the tune.

Another incident involved the Shags. They weren’t getting a cut, and it seemed as if they weren’t really trying to get on top of it—my viewpoint, their’s I’m sure was very different. Well, I had everybody in the band strip and we did the whole thing naked; in the middle of winter. Two takes later, we had it!

Another instance was the Chosen Few covering Hey Joe. Getting the gunshot at the end was accomplished by calling the Wallingford Police Department and having an officer shoot his rovolver, aimed at a stump in the rear of the studio, while we miked it. We also did a film spot for the State of Connecticut featuring Henry Winkler. We had to dump garbage on him from the rafters.

Using the New Haven and Hartford Symphony string players was always an experience. They would come in and bring their lunch boxes and take very disciplined union dicatated breaks right in the middle of some ferocious R ’n’ R takes. Once I got used to it, I found a great deal of humor in it and would actually mock-up things with them in mind such as flowers for the ladies and carnations for the men.

AHDid bands come from western Massachusetts or Rhode Island to record at Trod Nossel?

DCMy recollection was that they came from points much farther also. Many did come in from those two states though; we had become the place to record for new and emerging bands.

AHAre there many unreleased tracks by bands in your vaults? If so, by who?

DCThere are so many that it would probably be a full time job just to compile them in written form for three or four people for a year!

AHOf all the bands who recorded at Trod Nossel, the Bram Rigg Set is probably my favorite. With such a hot 45, what happened?? Why did they never make another record??

DCAs I stated, it went #1 in Brazil. There simply wasn’t enough of marketing savvy to find out whether it truly was a hit or not. Yes we definitely cut other stuff and it’s in the vaults. Some of it is stuff that I wrote, such as the B-side of “I Can Only Give You Everything.” Damon Roby (Bobby Schlossher) wanted out of the business at a pretty young age—shortly after we did a TV pilot for King Features which I believe was conceptually taken and later appeared as the Monkees. He moved to Westerly, Rhode Island and became a DJ; all the while still commuting for gigs and recording sessions. But that soon became a hardship and we started to use a helicopter. But even that was stressful. He moved to the Carolinas and became an extremely strong radio personality for WBT.

AHWhy didn’t the Shags record an LP?

DCYou must remember, these were the days when an LP was not the marketable choice and singles were the rage. The idea was to get as much product out as fast as you were able, and the 45 was the way to do this.

AH The Shags made a lot of records. As did the North Atlantic Invasion Force and the Wildweeds. What happened to these bands? What were some of their triumphs and/or flaws?

DCThe most major flaw with these groups, and others that I have observed is frustration. When they think that they haven’t succeeded in overcoming the barriers that are inherent in the music business, they introvert within their own group and start to create problems between themselves that really have nothing to do with their failed purpose up to that point! And then this just continues to maginify, even though it’s not based on reality, until they destroy themselves. This then becomes their justifier for not having made it!

AHDid any of the following bands record at Trod Nossel? Blue Beats, The Creations, Batallion Tweed, The Bone, Marble Collection, Mystic Five, the Stains.

DCThe Blue Beats, Bone and Marble Collection did.

AHThe LP Connecticut’s Greatest Hits on Co-Op Records was recorded or at least sequenced Syncron. What’s the story on this one??

DCThe record was compiled at Syncron and many of the cuts were recorded here, but I can’t really recall which.

AHHow did Poison Ring Records come about? When did it start and end?

DCI wanted a label that could be offered to the regional talent that needed an artistic outlet. Neil Bogart from Buddah-Kama Sutra encouraged me to get it going, and stated that if I got hot, he’d take the label under his umbrella. It ended about $200,000 to $300,000 later. I simply couldn’t support it any longer. I had extended myself both financially and administratively.

AHWho recorded for Poison Ring?

DCThe artists who recorded were Fancy, Pulse and Johhny Parris. Then the others followed. The qualifications were nothing more than talent and need. The first bands were Fancy and Pulse. Both were started simultaneously.

AHHow did the band Pulse come about?

DCI set this up. I simply weeded out the individuals who weren’t committed to R ’n’ R. It was easy-if they thought their laundry was a priority over rehearsing, they were gone. The highly talented people were the ones I chose to continue working with.

AHWhat were the other active labels for garage bands in Connecticut that Trod Nossel either worked with or knew about?

DCI was familiar with just about everything that was happening in Connecticut, but my recall on exact labels isn’t great at this point. I really try to stay in present time. There is a book out titiled The New Haven Sound which has a great deal of early info in it.

AH Are there any records that you worked on with local bands of this era that you particularly liked or are proud of??

DCI have always operated on the principle that it was my job to enhance the intention of what the artist was attempting to communicate. Because of this, I have to admit that I truly enjoyed every record or project I was involved in. That my sound improbable, but it’s true! I adore what I do, and that makes it both enjoyable and frustrating—a perfect balance for such an industry. So I can only state that I liked them all (for the experience if nothing else) and I was proud always of what I worked on.