Hoboken hifi
Creating the Hudson Soul Sound
Hoboken HiFi was started by Jim the Boss in 2013 at the famed Neumann Leather Building in Hoboken NJ. The idea was to build a sound that was unique unto itself and set the productions apart from any other recording studio. Jim found and employed the best of the best reggae musicians from the NJ/NY area.
Teaming up with friend Steve Capecci, who serves as arranger and bassist, they found themselves spending countless hours miking drums, cabinets and making the necessary adjustments to make “that sound.” After a brief move to Brooklyn and finally finding their true home in Secaucus NJ. This is when things really took off for the group.
They found that their sounds were reaching across the globe thanks in part to labels such as Boom One Records. Soon, artists and producers from various states in the US, Argentina, France, England were traveling to the little NJ town to record and get the sound that they had created. One person had dubbed it “the Hudson Soul sound” which led to the 2016 dub compilation compiled by Jim. This album “Hudson Soul” released on Boom One Records was the golden ticket and opened up even more doors. It gained two best album nominations from Independent Music Awards and France Press and Radio. It topped charts on iTunes, Beatport and found itself being featured in numerous publications and making it into the ears of new fans via radio and podcast.
In 2017, deciding that they didn’t want to exclusively do reggae, they started to build sounds for other genres. Studying and employing techniques made by old jazz recordings on Blue Note, Jim found a sound for Jazz that rivals many other current productions. Working with jazz saxophonist Ned Goold and jazz bassist Ian Kenselaar proved this sound as their styles match the old state of mind.
Since Hudson Soul, Jim put together a label that is called, you guessed it, Hudson Records. This label only releases productions made by Jim, recorded at Hoboken HiFi and by the house band, now known as The HiFi Rockers. The group’s list of collaborations have grown considerably. Some artists include Victor Rice, David Hillyard, Cornel Campbell, King Tappa, Alex Tea and many many more.
Jim has also lent his techniques to various music and sound effects for TV, Film and other media. He has worked with delta Bravo who did sound design and music production for hit Youtube Kids show "Found Home Farms" as well as Artifact Audio which did various tv commercials for NBA, Dove Soap, iPhone, Verizon and many more.
This image was famously used for Major Mackerals' 2020 release, Prince Priests & Prophets.