Being at Red Bull Studios in Santa Monica is an audiophile’s dream.  Perfect acoustics, the best gear available, and all the Red Bull you could drink.  It is especially fun when a studio like that gets put to use at the highest level, recording a full band “live.”

I walked into Friday’s session not knowing what to expect and was delighted to learn that Tutu and his gang of artist friends would be tracking the session “live.”

As the studio engineers set up the microphones and EQ the instruments, Te’Amir Sweeney (Tutu’s older brother) eases into a tasty groove.  Tutu and friends join in. Tutu’s tunes are arranged, but as guitar player Michael McTaggert tells me, “They come out different every time.”  The band is young, most of them circa 20 years old, but by their casual demeanor, I can tell this is probably not their first rodeo.

It is no surprise that the Sweeney brothers (Tutu and Te’Amir) are such naturals; they eat, sleep, and breathe music, and have grown up in a home that has nurtured their talents and fostered their creativity.  The Sweeney parents met while touring once upon a time and have always maintained a home where music and community are center stage.

While in the studio, I got to share some conversation with the brothers and the following is what they had to say:

How does it feel to be here in the Red Bull studios?

Tutu: Amazing. The last time we were here was 2 years ago recording with Aloe Blacc but to do my own stuff feels oh so good.

So, you’ve been a trumpeter until recently…

Tutu: Yep, that’s what I really do, I’m a trumpet player, but I started writing songs in the 12^th grade, and recently I’ve been working a lot on that, but I still play trumpet, but here we are and we’re doing our music.

Your house is a hub of music and creativity, with instruments everywhere and people coming through all the time to play, what’s it like over at the Sweeney House?

Te’Amir: Well, we call I the Panama house.  We never really had a living room, it’s always been a music room.  Music has been at the center of our home and for that I’m so thankful because it really got us into music.  Our mom is a really talented folk singer…

Tutu: Yea, both our parents are musicians and they’ve both released music and traveled and played.  Our dad is from Ethiopia and our mom is Irish American, They met each other doing that here in the States, and the rest was history.  All of our houses have been musical houses.  That’s it. That’s what we do.  There are no couches or chairs, just instruments, and friends and jams.  We just shot a music video for the group Quadron there and yea, its definitely a musical hub and that’s what we strive for.

How’s it been working with Red Bull?

Tutu: Red Bull has been so good to us.  My brother (Te’Amir) went to Barcelona for the Red Bull Music Academy in 2008, and I went to the London Red Bull Music Academy this year.  It was heaven.  It was awesome.

What’s it like at Red Bull Music Academy?

Tutu: Well there are 2 terms each year and each session has 30 people from all around the world, so it’s a lot of different sounds and a lot of different people.  I was the only person from the United States at my session, but everyone speaks English so you can communicate.

Te’Amir: You wake up and eat breakfast together. Then you go to a lecture and it could be anyone from a music producer to Sly and Robbie to someone like ?uestlove and you just sit down and have a chat, and then they have studios where you can work on your stuff, and jam sessions, and there are shows set up in the evening, and its just a musician’s dream.

You guys are here in the studio until the 31^st and what I think is so cool is the community of musicians you have and how you guys play on each other’s music and work together.  What’s your game plan while you are here in the studio?

Te’Amir: We are working on Tutu’s music right now.  Later we will do some music that Dustin and I have been working on and we are going to do a Curtis Mayfield cover “Gimme Your Love” and we might even do a Michael Jackson joint if we have time, but its all fun.

Do you have any specific intentions with these sessions?

Tutu: I’m going to do 8 songs.  I was planning on them being demos but its sounding like a record.  These players are just so good. They are brilliant. I want to say thank you to Michael McTaggart on guitar, Aroyn Davis on bass, Te’Amir Sweeney on drums.  I’m just really grateful that they are doing it and I’m only 20 and I feel like I’m just getting started.

You just recorded a mellow tune, I can’t wait to hear the heavy stuff.

Tutu: Yea, we’ve got some rock and reggae and disco coming up next.

Te’Amir: Yea, music is like food, you can’t eat the same thing every day.

Thanks a bunch guys.

Te’Amir: Any time, come by the Panama house some time for a jam.

Tutu and Te’Amir will be leaving on tour in support of Aloe Blacc and his upcoming album Good Things coming out end of September.

Words by Mike Bucher.  Photos by Dustin Downing