WMMS 100.7 FM – KICKIN IT IN THE REAL WORLD (Part 1)

For some, the real world is a 9 to 5 job. For others it’s school, part time work and trying to score a date for the weekend. As for myself, the real world sometimes consists of working until my eyes are sore and my head throbs from lack of sleep.

For Howard “Perl” Perlmuter and Lee Mars the Real world is music. And such is business. For these two, business is RealWorld Entertainment Corporation.

And business is good.

REC operates out of Beachwood Studios. Theirs was the final piece in the pie that rounded out this famed Cleveland studio into a complete entertainment facility.

Like many people in this town, I probably wouldn’t have heard of Howard and Lee if it weren’t for them stopping by WMMS with a re-mix of Filter’s “Hey Man, Nice Shot”, If you’ve ever been coming down from a tasty buzz late on Saturday night and you hear a slowed down, funked out version of “Hey Man”, then you’ve heard their work. If it wasn’t for their aggressive nature, their re-mix would ever have been heard. That can be said for the way approach the music business in general.

To understand RealWorld, you have to understand these two individuals. I recently took the opportunity to stop by Beachwood Studios and visit the home of two Cleveland producers that are making a national bang. I popped in on a Saturday afternoon when the facility is almost empty with the exception of a video engineer and someone cleaning the place up.

Although their business is aggressive by nature, you wouldn’t figure Howard and Lee as overly aggressive people. Both are very soft spoken and modest about what they have accomplished. When I arrived both are dressed as they pretty much do everyday. Howard, 22, wears and Ashland College T-shirt, one of his many former colleges. Lee, 27, sports an auto mechanic shirt that bears the me Steve.

They both give me an extended tour of the building.

The state of the art studios are incredible. Top flight equipment that I barely knew existed. They were bott more than happy to show me how everything worked and even let me turn a few knobs back and forth as we manipulated individual tracks of “Hey Man”.

It’s easy to see that this friendly nature, combined with their aggressive business sense, is a one-two punch that is already mapping our their success as a pair of Cleveland’s premier producers. Let’s not forget that a love of music, a lot of hours in the studio, dedication to themselves as well as the artists they work with have all combined to create a Cleveland music venture that is making waves in the national music ocean. Keep in mind. this company hasn’t even reached it’s second birthday yet!

Stay tuned and check out next month’s Love Vibe. I’ll fill you in on the past (did someone say Nine Inch Nails?), the present, and the future of this Cleveland company.

 

WMMS 100.7 FM – KICKIN IT IN THE REAL WORLD (Part 2)

 

Last month the Love Vibe shed some light on two local area producers that work out of Beachwood Studios. Lee Mars and Howard Perlmuter are two Individuals that want to be a part of the national recognition of the Cleveland music scene. Collectively they are known as Real World Productions.

THE PAST: For these two the past ten years have laid the foundation for what looks to be a very promising future. Howard, 22, started at WGCL when he was 10. While other kids were worrying about selling candy bars for their summer baseball league, Howard had the dilemma of getting downtown for an internship.

“I would have my mom take me to the rapid, get downtown and take the bus and walk to the radio station.” Over time, Perlmuter had various internships until eventually he graduated from Ashland with a degree in business and a minor in telecommunications. It was a natural blend of interests that has enabled Howard to handle most of the business affairs for the company. It is obvious after only a few minutes of conversation that passion and enthusiasm make this position more than just work. That’s something very few can say about their life’s endeavor.

Lee chose to jump on the opposite side of the music business fence. Mars DJ’d at what he recalls as “every single college radio station in the area. ” Most his time was spent spinning hip hop records at John Carrol™ University. He did eventually graduate with a degree in chemistry from Case Wester. Lee wound up as a member on the first Nine Inch Nails tour. When the opportunity for a new keyboard player arrived, Lee jumped on board, “(Trent) asked me to come out to Philadelphia to do a video taping * It was for a Dance Party USA. He’d probably like to forget that”

During this year long stint Mars worked alongside with future Filter frontman Richard Patrick. What’s that you say … what does he think of Trent? Hes an incredibly intelligent guy. I think he does great stuff and I thanked him for the time we had together on the road. I can say I’ve been there, done that.” nuf said!

THE PRESENT: After the two met several years ago while working on the same project, it was evident that Howard and Lee would be working together. Howard summed it up with the following:

“We both brought different things to the table…we decided we wanted to make music and that’s where we became a production company.” As Beachwood Studios looked to re-vamp their audio department, Real World Productions stepped in with a proposal to fill the void. In updating the image of Beachwood Studios, Lee adds, “We work towards hitting the streets whereas historically they were heading more towards advertising.” In little over two years Real World has put together the goods to take a band from touring the local bars to preparing them to hit record companies in the face with professional quality work.

Keeping the music industry in touch with their ongoings is a regularly published newsletter that has brought re-mix work to them on a steady basis. Currently on the Real World platter: Howard and Lee are doing some remixing work for God Lives Underwater. The producers are also working on demos with Carey Kelly, younger brother of R&B heavyweight R. Kelly.

THE FUTURE: You say Cleveland can’t compete with the national music scene? You may see yourself getting used to it folks – cause that’s just part of the Real World!

Keep the shades on boys, the sun is mighty bright.

Til next time: Out with the jive.and in with the love.