Producer
As a producer, Tony has collaborated with many multi platinum selling recording artists such as Colin Hay, Enrique, Nena, No Angels, Mandy Moore, Joan Jett and others. “The songs usually tell you what they want to be. It’s a mistake to try to force them into a particular lane. That was the story with the song Daylight. It was written as a Goo Goo Dolls type track but in my head the song was screaming for the dance floor!”
Colin Hay
“My dear friend Colin Hay (Men At Work) and I wrote this song about Colin’s life. He handed my a series of poems he had written. This one, “Are You Looking at Me” really stood out as narration rather than singing. So I gave it a bit of an urban swagger and let Colin take it the next step. He’s a natural storyteller (like me) so it was a no brainer. We wrote and recorded it together in his studio in his house in Topanga. Working with Colin in the studio is a great experience. because he is quite musical. He knows about twice as many chord inversions as I do!! Playing live is also a great experience because his singing is iconic, especially when he hits all those classic Men At Work songs. It really brings you back.”
Joan Jett
Joan Jett played Columbia in the Broadway hit show The Rock Picture Show. Tony Bruno produced this version of Science Fiction in the studio with Joan Jett and Daphne Rubin-Vega together with dear friend and German DJ/producer Ulf Sommer (Rosenstolz).
Brendan James
“Taking Brendan from a struggling singer/songwriter to getting him signed with Columbia Records took exactly 5 weeks from the time they met I was living in LA and Brendan wanted to do this demo there. But his music really sounded “North East” to me so I suggested we take over the living room in the house in Woodstock. I brought on my friend/engineer/producer Wally Gagle and the three of us holed up in Woodstock for three weeks. We booked a showcase at the Living Room in the Lower East Side and hoped anyone would show up. I guess I must have played the demo for the right people because when we got to the venue, it was sold out. A week later, we were in Andy Slaters (Columbia) office signing the deal. Things don’t work like that anymore but it was right out of a Disney Movie.” Music video by Brendan James performing Green.
No Angels
“This is still my favorite story. Tommy Byrnes and I wrote this for a male artist we were producing. It was a very Goo Goo Dolls kind of song. But I knew in my heart it wanted to be a dance track. A few months later myself and my wife Karin along with our German producer buds Ulf Sommer and Peter Plate (Rosenstolz) were on vacation together and we were discussing goals for the year that we would do together. Mine, produce a Joan Jett record which later resulted in the Rocky Horror soundtrack. Theirs, find a female American artist and get her signed in Germany. Three months later we are all in Berlin producing Victoria Faiella, the artist we got signed to Sony. I pitched Daylight to them as a possible song for her and they were like “ This is a HIT!!” Unfortunately, Victoria crashed and burned before the record was ever released. About two months after that I get a call from this German publisher saying he was submitting the song to a German TV singing show called Pop Stars and that there were about 500 other submissions. Then another call saying it was accepted into the top 50, then the top 25. Next thing I know its going to be sung by a band called No Angels and it might be their first single. I was still not that thrilled because who knew, right? Turns out Pop Stars was the show that would later become known in America as American Idol. The next phone call I got was from Ulf. “The song is #1 here in Germany!!” It became (at that time) the biggest selling song in German history. Like I said, WHO KNEW?”
Tony Bruno produced Nena’s studio album Wenn alles richtig ist, dann stimmt was nich (together with Lukas Hilert & Phillip Palm) in Germany and Brussels (Polydor, 1998)
NENA
“Producing this record was a great experience for me. It was indeed a time of change. I had just left working with Joan Jett and now thrown into full on German culture. Not only did I not speak the language but theres also a certain pulse to German music thats quite different from American pop. What Nena wanted from me was the American edge. But we couldn’t abandon where she came from. The studio was in the lower level of her 4 floor home. I was living on the top floor. Her two twins Sakia and Larrissa were about 4 or 5 years old at the time and would hang out with me in the studio and we would try to communicate. I realized that I needed a German tutor if I wanted to really enjoy this experience so there I was starting my day with German lessons. I would take the 4 hour train ride to go visit my future wife Karin in Koln on the weekends. The icing on the cake to this amazing experience was we decided to mix at the iconic ICP studios in Brussels. ICP, an old vinyl record packaging plant is really one of the true great studios in the world. The owner is actually from Brooklyn! The night I was taking the overnight rail there, I went to a party first with Karin and her friends. I was drinking some really sweet, really potent concoction and by the time I got to the train I was kind of lit. My bed on the night train was (of course) the top one, three beds up. Not fun in my current condition. I get to Brussels and the station is under construction and absolutely freezing. My driver is late and I am so done. Finally, I arrive at the studio and boy did things turn around. I am greeted by a french chef asking what I would like for breakfast and a copy of that days New York Post. It was going to be a great trip! During the mix, we decided to add a string arrangement to “Dann fiel mir auf” and I got to write and conduct my first orchestration. Good times!”
Tony Bruno co-wrote, co-produced and played guitar on the new studio album Wenn alles richtig ist, dann stimm was nicht. Tony also toured with Nena to promote the new album. Nena and band are performing at the TV show of the German auditions for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Tony Bruno playing guitar with Nena, RTL Night Fever (Dann Fiel Mir Auf ), co-written & produced by Tony Bruno
Mandy Moore
Tony Bruno co-wrote & produced this Mandy Moore song with Tommy Byrnes. - It's gonna be love (It was also featured in the movie A Walk To Remember) “Mandy was 16 when we recorded this but what a pro. She really trusted me and Tommy. We cut vocals and drums (Shawn Pelton) at Right Track Studios in NYC. I remember there was a Hip Hop artist in studio A and they were partying pretty hard with the music blasting. We couldn’t cut vocals with all that bleed through. None of us wanted to be the one to walk in there and ask them to turn it down. So Mandy went!