POLLUTEME/POLLUTED EZINE/The Man Behind The Music John Breglia
written by: Jacob Robison
Check this out: you're playing in a local band, slaving over the material that will comprise the album that gets the ball rolling towards your band's inevitable signing with a major label. Every detail has been perfected, from the opening chords of the first song down to the artwork that will adorn the inside sleeve of the CD. The long months spent working on your masterpiece are getting ready to pay off with the release of the band's artistic vision upon the unsuspecting masses. The only thing holding your breakthrough up is the actual recording process. When you get into the studio it's like you're trying to follow the plot in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". All the knobs and levels on the three or four mixing boards have you reaching a whole new level of confusion. You need some serious help, and you need it now. That's when you turn to a seasoned producer; someone who knows more tricks of the trade than an aging prostitute on the verge of retiring (bringing up another one of life's little mysteries: do pimps offer 401k?). Enter John Breglia, Clarksville's leading authority on the magic behind the music. What began 20 years ago in another country has found John toiling away in the heartland of America, lending his tremendous musical knowledge and ability to the few musicians who dare to dream big.
John left his hometown in Toronto, Canada in 1981, crossing the border into The States with every intention of making it to the West Coast. He made it as far west as Boston and New York before getting sidetracked by friends. His love for music and the vibrant New England scene were a perfect match. He spent approximately twelve years playing in area bands and working as a staff engineer at a commercial recording studio. He layed down tracks for a wide variety of projects; everything from books on tape to commercials for Coca-Cola to full scale orchestrations had a little bit of Breglia in them. In addition to that, he estimates that he logged thousands of hours recording tracks for countless bands in multiple genres. The days spent turning a knob here and adjusting a level there also gave him the oppurtunity to observe the production process firsthand. During his last few years in the area John made the move to the producer's chair under the tutelage of Brendan O'Brien and Steve Van Atta (his boss in Boston), who taught him the basics of being a producer.
Somewhere along the way, John managed to meet up with his eventual better-half in Claudia. She was a waitress/bartender; he had friends in a band that played her bar every Wednesday night. One thing lead to another and they got together. The rest, as they say, is history. In July of '93 the itch to head out west reared up again, and John and Claudia started scratching. They packed up their belongings and said goodbye to their friends and the scene that they had come to call home, and headed out towards California. They made it as far as Tennessee before they managed to get sidetracked again. That was seven years ago this July; the new millenium finds John's career and personal life at a high-point. Not only has John established himself as a first-rate producer, his home has also been blessed with the birth of their five-year old son, Gabriel.
