After spending decades behind the boards helping shape records from some of rock and metal’s biggest names, Grammy winning producer Nick Raskulinecz is stepping into a new role: label boss.
The producer, whose sprawling résumé includes work with Foo Fighters, Deftones, Alice in Chains, Korn, Mastodon, Rush and countless others, has officially launched Hiss Recordings, a new independent label built largely around an increasingly old school concept: singles you can actually hold in your hands.
Hiss Recordings will primarily focus on releasing seven inch singles from artists that catch Raskulinecz’s ear, giving the veteran producer an outlet to champion music he believes deserves to be heard.
Raskulinecz introduced the label with his own solo track, “Bonfire,” a collaborative recording that found him working alongside members of Korn and Big Wreck. Now Hiss has announced its first outside signing with shoegaze outfit Doom Mutual.
The band arrives with a pair of new songs, “Static Planet” and “Crowbar,” both produced and mixed by Raskulinecz. Doom Mutual have also released a music video for “Static Planet,” offering the first real glimpse at the kind of artists Hiss Recordings could provide a home for.
Built around dense guitars and a wall of atmospheric noise, “Static Planet” finds Doom Mutual digging into the isolation that can come with trying to connect in an increasingly disconnected world.
“It’s about searching for connection in a world that feels distant and artificial,” the band says of the track. “We wanted the music to feel like a blanket of sound — massive and overwhelming — like trying to find a signal through endless noise.”
It is a fitting first signing for a producer whose career has repeatedly found him operating at the intersection of heaviness and melody.
Raskulinecz first became widely known through his work with Foo Fighters, producing the band’s 2002 album One by One and later In Your Honor. His fingerprints have since appeared across some of modern heavy music’s most recognizable records, including albums by Deftones, Alice in Chains, Mastodon and Korn.
Hiss Recordings gives Raskulinecz something different: a platform where his role doesn’t have to end when the final mix is finished.
Rather than attempting to build another sprawling traditional label, Hiss appears to be leaning into curation, with Raskulinecz using the seven inch format to spotlight songs and artists that personally excite him. In an era dominated by algorithms, playlists and an endless stream of digital releases, there is something refreshingly deliberate about the idea.
For Doom Mutual, that means being the first band through the door. For Raskulinecz, Hiss Recordings represents another way to do what he’s been doing from behind the console for decades: find loud, interesting music and make sure people hear it.
