CJ Vanston on Recording Derek Smalls

The bassist of Spinal Tap gathers an all-star cast to record his solo magnum opus

Session keyboardist, film composer, and engineer/producer CJ Vanston went from bar bands to recording thousands of jingles in Chicago to a successful career as a songwriter and composer in LA. He got the call to work with Spinal Tap for a concert in 1991, and loved the experience so much that he “decided right then that nobody else was ever going to get that gig!” After 27 years, he’s still touring with and recording Tap, and he was the obvious choice for the first solo album by bassist Derek Smalls. CJ shared his views on production, mixing, and the making of Smalls Change (Meditations On Ageing).