Michael League & Nic Hard: Recording Snarky Puppy and Beyond

As the leading force behind the popular instrumental group Snarky Puppy, bassist/producer/composer Michael League has plenty on his plate simply by keeping up with the band’s prolific output. Then throw in a record label, a festival, and producing records for artists such as the late David Crosby and the amazing Susana Baca [Tape Op #32]. How does he do all this?

Working with Michael, Nic Hard has engineered much of the Snarky Puppy catalog. After starting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a DJ, he soon found himself studying recording and landing at legendary New York City studios, Unique and RPM. Besides Snarky Puppy, he’s worked with artists like The Church, The Bravery, and Aberdeen City, along with Forq, Bokanté, and other Michael League productions.

We caught up with Michael first as he was wandering a desert in Spain on a rare “day off” to find out more about his methods, as well as Snarky Puppy’s fantastic Grammy-winning album, Empire Central, which was recorded live in front of a studio audience over eight nights and featured their “musical godfather,” the late keyboardist Bernard Wright. Soon after, we found Nic at Michael League's studio [Estudi Vint] in Spain, where they were mixing a new project. With a lot of work on their plates, these two stay busy!