Brian McTernan

Brian McTernan is an American musician and record producer from Baltimore. As a musician, McTernan was the lead vocalist for the hardcore punk band Battery, guitar player for Ashes, and is currently the singer for Be Well.

Brian McTernan
McTernan performing with Battery in 1998
Background information
Origin	Baltimore
Genres	Hardcore punk youth crew straight edge
Occupation(s)	Musician, producer
Instruments	guitar
Years active	1990–present
Associated acts	Ashes Battery Biology

McTernan operates a studio called Salad Days in Baltimore, named after the Minor Threat song of the same name, and has produced albums for a number of notable artists, including Thrice, Circa Survive, Turnstile, and Hot Water Music. He was voted one of the 50 most influential people in Maryland by The Daily Record.[1]

Early life

McTernan was born in Bethesda, Maryland. Brian had a troubled youth, which he addressed on Battery's 2017 song "My Last Breath".[2] He dropped out of high-school at the age on 17 to tour with Battery.[3]

He comes from a family with many hardcore punk music ties. His brother, Mike McTernan, is the singer for Damnation A.D. and When Tigers Fight. His brother Peter played drums for Good Clean Fun for a short period of time.. Brian started attending punk and hardcore shows in the DC area when he was ten years old.

Musician

McTernan joined Ken Olden, Matt Squire, Toshi Yano and Zac Eller to form Battery in 1990. Originally called "Fury", the band released its first record in 1991 on Deadlock Records. The band broke up in 1998 but reunited briefly in 2012. In 2017, the band reunited for good, releasing a new compilation, For The Rejected By The Rejected, and embarked on a tour of Europe.[2]

McTernan was also a songwriter and guitar player for the rock band Miltown, which was signed to Warner Brothers. Miltown broke up in the studio before the first album was completed.

Producer

In 1994, McTernan moved to Boston to be near his future wife who studied at Harvard University. He started his recording studio "Salad Days", when he was 18 years old, naming it after a song by Minor Threat from their 1985 Salad Days EP, in the basement of the house he shared with six roommates.[3] The first recording produced by McTernan was the eponymous 1995 EP by the New York City based post-hardcore band Texas Is the Reason for Revelation Records.

McTernan went on to build Salad Days to be a legendary studio. He attracted artists from around the world, who traveled to Baltimore to work with him. Brian is also widely known as a mentor, who helped producers such as Matt Squire and Paul Leavitt launch their production careers.

Recordings

Year	Artist	Album Title	Notes	References
1994	Cast Iron Hike	The Salmon Drive	Big Wheel Recreation	EP
1995	Texas is the Reason	Texas is the Reason	Revelation Records	EP
1995	108	Threefold Misery	Lost And Found Records
1995	Frodus	F-letter	Double Deuce Records
1995	Walleye	Familiar Forgotten	Jade Tree Records	[4]
1996	Piebald	Sometimes Friends Fight	Point The Blame Records
1996	Battery	Until the End	Conversion Records
1996	Ten Yard Fight	Hardcore Pride	Big Wheel Recreation	EP
1996	The Promise Ring	E. Texas Ave	Jade Tree
1996	Texas Is The Reason	Blue Boy	Jade Tree
1996	108	Curse Of Instinct	Lost And Found Records
1997	The Trouble	Crime And Punishment	GMM
1997	The Ducky Boys	No Gettin Out	GMM Records
1997	30 Seconds Over Tokyo	All Ages Pie Eating Contest	Beer City Records	EP
1997	Cast Iron Hike	Watch It Burn	Victory Records
1997	Six Going On Seven	Self Made Mess	Some Records
1997	Time Flies	On Our Way	Teamwork Records
1998	In My Eyes	The Difference Between	Revelation Records
1998	Reach The Sky	Open Roads And Broken Dreams	East Coast Empire Records
1998	Battery	Whatever It Takes	Revelation Records
1998	Cave In	Beyond Hypothermia	Hydra Head
1998	The Trouble	Nobody Laughs Anymore	GMM Records
1998	Time Flies	On Our Way	Indecision Records
1998	Converge	Petitioning the Empty Sky	Equal Vision Records
1999	Reach The Sky	So Far From Home	Victory Records
1999	Six Going On Seven	Heartbreak's Got Backbeat	Some Records
1999	Snapcase	Snapcase vs. Boysetsfire	Equal Vision Records	Boysetsfire tracks produced by Morgan Walker
1999	Count Me Out	Few and Far Between	Ambassador Records
1999	Reach The Sky	So Far From Home	Victory Records
1999	The Judas Factor	Ballads In Blue China	Revelation Records
1999	Drowningman	How They Light Cigarettes In Prison	Revelation Records
1999	Piebald	When Life Hands You Lemons	Hydra Head
1999	Frodus	And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea	Fueled By Ramen
1999	The Explosion	Flash Flash Flash	Jade Tree
2000	Cave In	Jupiter	Hydra Head
2000	Drowningman	Rock and Roll Killing Machine	Revelation Records
2000	Darkest Hour	The Mark of the Judas	MIA Records
2000	Milemarker	Frigid Forms Sell	Lovitt Records
2000	The Explosion	Steal This	Jade Tree
2000	The Movielife	This Time Next Year	Revelation Records
2000	Strike Anywhere	Antidote	Fat Wreck_Chords
2000	Count Me Out	110	Indecision Records
2001	Fairweather	If They Move... Kill Them	Equal Vision
2001	Brother's Keeper	Fantasy Killer	KINGfisher
2001	Strike Anywhere	Change is a Sound	Jade Tree
2001	Striking Distance	March To Your Grave	Thorp Records
2001	Jersey	Definition	Fueled By Ramen
2001	Hot Water Music	A Flight and a Crash	Epitaph Records	[5]
2001	The Movielife	Has a Gambling Problem	Drive-Thru Records	EP
2001	Darkest Hour	So Sedated, So Secure	Victory Records
2001	New End Original	Thriller	Jade Tree
2001	Bane	Give Blood	Equal Vision Records
2001	Majority Rule	Interviews With David Frost	Magic Bullet Records
2001	Reach The Sky	Friends, Lies, And The End Of The World	Victory Records
2001	Milemarker	Anaesthetic	Jade Tree Records
2002	The Minor Times	Chris Chambers Never Misses	Hex Records	EP
2002	Thrice	The Illusion of Safety	Sub City	[3]
2002	Snapcase	End Transmission	Victory Records
2002	Count Me Out	Permanent	Indecision Records
2002	Trial By Fire	Ringing In The Dawn	Jade Tree Records
2002	Hot Water Music	Caution	No Idea
2002	The Liar's Academy	Trading My Life	Equal Vision Records
2002	Engine Down	Demure	Lovitt Records	[6]
2002	Recover	Ceci n'est pas recover	Fiddler Records	EP
2002	Hot Rod Circuit	Sorry About Tomorrow	Vagrant Records
2003	Snapcase	Bright Flashes	Victory Records
2003	Strike Anywhere	Exit English	Jade Tree	Co-produced by Strike Anywhere
2003	The Movielife	Forty Hour Train Back to Penn	Drive-Thru Records, MCA
2003	Thrice	The Artist in the Ambulance	Island Records	[3]
2004	Hot Water Music	The New What Next	Epitaph Records
2004	Moments in Grace	Moonlight Survived	Atlantic Records/Salad Days Records	[7]
2005	Thrice	If We Could Only See Us Now	Island Records	EP of b-sides and live performances, includes DVD
2005	Bane	The Note	Equal Vision Records	[8]
2005	June	If You Speak Any Faster	Victory Records
2005	Biology	Making Moves	Vagrant
2005	Scary Kids Scaring Kids	The City Sleeps In Flames	Immortal Records
2005	Circa Survive	Juturna	Equal Vision Records	[9]
2005	The Loved Ones	The Loved Ones	Jade Tree	EP
2005	With Honor	This Is Our Revenge		[10]
2006	Strike Anywhere	Dead FM	Fat Wreck Chords
2006	The Draft	In a Million Pieces	Epitaph Records
2006	The Loved Ones	Keep Your Heart	Fat Wreck Chords
2006	YouInSeries	Outside We Are Fine	Equal Vision Records
2006	Moneen	The Red Tree	Vagrant Records
2006	Roses Are Red	What Became of Me	Trustkill Records
2006	Senses Fail	Still Searching	Vagrant Records
2007	The Graduate	Anhedonia	Icon Records	[11]
2007	From Autumn to Ashes	Holding a Wolf by the Ears	Vagrant Records
2007	Circa Survive	On Letting Go	Equal Vision Records	[9]
2007	Hidden in Plain View	Resolution	Drive-Thru Records
2007	The Bled	Silent Treatment	Vagrant Records
2007	Thee Armada	EP Singles	Foundation Recordings	EP
2008	Destroy the Runner	I, Lucifer	Solid State Records
2008	Everlea	Everlea	Glassnote Records
2008	Sky Eats Airplane	Sky Eats Airplane	Equal Vision Records
2008	Senses Fail	Life Is Not a Waiting Room	Vagrant Records
2008	Irrelevant	New Guilt	Resist Records
2008	Insite	Esperando A Que Amanezca	Movic Records
2008	The Mostly Dead	Slightly/Alive	Mighty Science Records
2009	Flood of Red	Leaving Everything Behind	Dark City Records	[12]
2009	The Loved Ones	Distractions	Fat Wreck Chords	EP
2009	Darkest Hour	The Eternal Return	Victory Records
2009	The Sleeping	What It Takes	Victory Records
2009	Port Amoral	Villains	Roadrunner Records
2009	This Time Next Year	Road Maps & Heart Attacks	Equal Vision Records
2009	Harvard	The Inevitable and I	Enjoy The Ride Records
2009	Emarosa	Emarosa	Rise Records
2009	Life On Repeat	As I Grew	Equal Vision Records
2009	Strike Anywhere	Iron Front	Bridge Nine Records
2010	We Are the Ocean	Cutting Our Teeth	Hassle Records
2010	House vs. Hurricane	Perspectives	Shock Records
2010	The Graduate	Only Every Time	Razor and Tie	[11]
2010	In Fear and Faith	Imperial	Rise Records
2010	Emarosa	Emarosa	Rise Records
2010	Senses Fail	The Fire	Vagrant Records
2011	Dave Hause	Resolutions	Paper + Plastick
2011	Set Your Goals	Burning at Both Ends	Epitaph Records
2011	Balance and Composure	Separation	No Sleep Records
2011	Fireworks	Gospel	Triple Crown Records
2011	Insite	Ahora Soy Yo Contra El Mundo	Movic Records
2011	Polar Bear Club	Clash Battle Guilt Pride	Bridge 9 Records
2012	I Am Empire	Anchors	Tooth and Nail Records
2012	Sharks	No Gods	Rise Records
2012	División Minúscula	División	Universal Records
2012	Pinsky	Weekends	Sinking Ship Records
2012	ADALIE	Actions	Notlit/Vessel Recordings
2013	Senses Fail	Renacer		[13]
2013	Diamond Youth	Orange	Topshelf Records
2013	HRVRD	From The Birds Cage	Equal Vision Records
2014	FURY	Demo	Moshers Delight Records
2014	Diamond Youth	Shake	Topshelf Records
2014	Angel Du$t	A.D.	REACT! Records
2014	Emarosa	Versus	Rise Records
2014	Boardroom Heroes	New Wage	Sinking Ship Records
2014	Diamond Youth	Shake	Topshelf Records	EP[14]
2015	Turnstile	Non-Stop Feeling	Reaper Records
2017	Have Mercy	Make The Best of It	Hopeless Records
2019	Be Well	Strength For Breath	Equal Vision Records
2019	Light Beams	Self Help	Don Giovani
2019	Sunstroke	Bloom At Night	New Morality
2019	Nova Charisma	Exposition 1	Equal Vision Records
2020	Don't Sleep	Turn The Tide	Mission Two
2020	Free The Birds	Free The Birds
2020	Strike Anywhere	Nightmare's Of The West	Pure Noise Records
2020	Good Tiger	Raised In A Doomsday Cult
2020	Sharptooth	Transitional Forms	Pure Noise Records
2020	Be Well	The Weight And The Cost	Equal Vision Records

References

1. "2009 Honorees". The Daily Record. The Dolan Company. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
2. Gotrich, Lars (April 6, 2017). "Hear D.C. Hardcore Band Battery's First Song In 20 Years, 'My Last Breath'". NPR. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
3. Simon, Richard (June 5, 2009). "Two recording studios in Baltimore take different paths to success". The Daily Record. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via HighBeam.
4. Gentry, Brandon (December 14, 2012). Capitol Contingency: Post-Punk, Indie Rock, and Noise Pop in Washington, D.C., 1991-99. Garrett County Press. p. 180. ISBN 9781891053740.
5. Grubbs, Eric (2008). Post. iUniverse. p. 217. ISBN 9780595518357.
6. Fritz, Christopher (October 10, 2003). "Engine Down: Dismemberment Plan's heir apparent?". The News Journal. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Barrera, Sandra (August 17, 2004). "HEAR TODAY NEW RELEASES AND NEWS FROM THE MUSIC WORLD". Daily News. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via HighBeam.
8. Kilgore, Natalie (June 15, 2005). "Bang your head, baby". The Tennessean. Retrieved January 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Sculley, Alan (January 26, 2011). "Philadelphia's 'Circa Survive' is going strong". The Morning Call. Retrieved January 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Iwasaki, Scott (November 25, 2005). "With Honor stays true to its hard-core roots". Deseret News – via HighBeam.
11. Vorel, Jim (September 3, 2010). "Dropouts return as The Graduate". Heralds and Review. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Woodman, Chay (October 29, 2010). "Flood of Red; live reviews.(News)". Daily Record. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via HighBeam.
13. Gomez, Adrian (April 12, 2013). "Senses Fail takes "heavier", new route / Band keeps chart-topping". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Case, Wesley (February 14, 2014). "Band heads in uncertain direction with new EP". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.