Rock Powerhouse the Kidneythives, are back on the scene releasing their new EP THE INVISIBLE PLAN on October 18th. The interesting angle is that the album was recorded completely green, even the packaging can be planted in the ground and will grow into wildflowers, how great is that…
“The Invisible Plan was once again written by the prolific duo and produced by Bruce Somers and Kidneythieves in their Undercurrent Studios in Los Angeles, which they converted to solar-power in summer 2010. “Free and I are very sensitive to the environment and we talk about it a lot,” says Bruce. “We both drive fuel efficient cars and do our part. But we felt that our carbon footprint was too big in this huge studio with all this gear. We felt like hypocrites. So we installed solar panels, point them to the sun, and get 60-70% of the electricity for the studio from solar power now. We also have a 23 SEER air conditioner in the studio, which is the most energy efficient you can have in the desert, and we put in a reverse osmosis filter system to do away with bottled water.”
Having a green studio is just one way other artists have been attracted to working at Undercurrent Studios. Having a state-of-the art ProTools rig, an extensive sound library, and 1,000-square feet of their 2,000-square foot studio as a dedicated amp room - with an eclectic mix of vintage and new - is another big draw. Among the artists who have recorded at Undercurrent are Good Charlotte, Dave Grohl, the Pussycat Dolls, Good Charlotte, Jay Gordon (Orgy), Toby Wright (Korn), Dylan McLaren (Juliette Lewis and the Licks, The Misfits), RA (Sahaj), and Sean Beavan (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson).
Kidneythieves have also found success in landing their unique style of music in movie soundtracks, on TV shows, and in video games from the day the duo started making music together. On the soundtrack front, their cover of the Willie Nelson-penned Patsy Cline hit “Crazy” was in 1998’s Bride of Chucky and “Before I’m Dead” from 2002’s Zerøspace was in Queen of the Damned starring the late Aaliyah the same year. Among their small screen credits are “Arsenal” from Zerøspace in CSI: Miami in 2003 and “Taxicab Messiah” from 1998’s Trickster in the cult favorite Warehouse 13 in 2010.
Meanwhile, five songs from Trickster were also on the 2003 video game Deus Ex: Invisible War. The songs were performed in-game by the character of NG Resonance, which is a fictional pop star voiced by Free. Most recently, the band’s “God in Fire,” a collaboration with Japanese video game composer Takeharu Ishimoto, was featured in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy in Spring 2011.
“Musicians can’t rely on record labels to do everything now so we look for other sources,” says Bruce. “For us, one of those is the video game industry, which is always looking for new things and that lines up nicely with us always staying cutting edge.” Adds Free, “We’ve been noticing that there are more 15-18-year-olds coming to shows and emailing us and I think it’s a byproduct of the exposure we’ve had in video games. We have this amazing legion of loyal fans now that is a lot more eclectic than we when we started out.”
The trajectory the band has been on with a growing sales base and rapidly expanding fan base from record-to-record continues with the release of The Invisible Plan because, as Free sings in the EP’s title track, “The art of the hustle to use the mind as a muscle is… the invisible plan.”
Welcome to their Invisible Plan.” (from their bio)
For more info on the Kidneythieves and a free download of one of their singles…
October 2nd, 2011 at 09:07 pm by bibi in Carbon Footprint, Green Business, Green Music Recording, Green Studio



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Comments
Solar power strikes again!
Congratulations to them for not only setting the studio up to produce their own album (which is pretty good by the way - I had a listen on the net) but also persuading others to use it too - and there’s some big names there like Dave Grohl and Good Charlotte and the Pussycats natch!
Only goes to show what can be achieved with natural resources.
Absolutely brilliant, Thanks for sharing.
Wow, that’s pretty cool! I’ve enjoyed Kidneythieves in the past, but had no idea that they had a new album, or that it was recorded completely green. I’ve never heard of packaging that can be planted in the ground and grow into wildflowers before: Do you have any information on the company that created it? Would love to do a story about it in the eco news section of our site, Green Global Travel!
Thanks for stopping by Bret,
I’m not sure about which company does their packaging, but I am sure if you go on their website and contact them they would give you some information on the company…http://kidneythieves.com/contact
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