About Flying Kitchen

Flying Kitchen Productions is a collaboration between two local music producers and engineers. Both Michael Winger and Boone Spooner have been producing, recording and mixing bands in San Francisco for the last 4 years. Their artist roster ranges from the heart aching sadness of Beth Waters to the intense anger of Death Angel.

Michael Winger

Michael Winger established the first part of his music career as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for Athens, GA based band, Dayroom. The group split up in January of 2000 after playing well over 1200 shows in their 8 year history throughout the US and in Europe. After the band’s dissolution, a year of touring solo and living out of his car he toured and travelled around California, New York, India and many points in between. In May of 2000, he finally settled down in San Francisco.

Winger began working as an engineer at Sausalito’s legendary Studio D where he learned about recording and gained experience by working on projects with Jerry Harrison, the Von Bondies, Train, Roy Rogers, the Divine Comedy, Zakir Hussein and many others.

Winger acquired some gear of his own and began to branch out as a producer and freelance engineer. He produced albums by Beth Waters, Four Year Bender, Forest Sun and Pedalsped, many of which went on to earn critical praise and were feautured on TV, film and radio.

In 2003, Winger met up with eventual business partner and close friend Boone Spooner at the newly opened SF Soundworks where Spooner was the studio manager. Together they worked on a diverse array of projects ranging from Alanis Morrisette, to Death Angel.

The next year, Winger was asked to work as the recording supervisor for San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. The annual 2 day event featured such acts as Emmy Lou Harris, Gillian Welch, Steve Earle, Dolly Parton, Roseanne Cash and many others. From this experience, Winger and Spooner joined forces to form Flying Kitchen Studios, a mobile recording entity designed primarily for live recording.

With the considerable amount of equipment they had acquired including a mobile Pro Tools HD system with 40 channels of input and remote controlled preamps, they began recording various shows around the bay area including performances by Beth Orton, Feist, John Vanderslice and others for San Francisco’s KFOG radio.

Boone Spooner

Born January 3rd 1979 to Bill "Sputnik" Spooner (Lead guitarist and main songwriter of the Tubes) and Cindi Osborn (Lead dancer for the Tubes) Boone was always surrounded by music. It turns out that babies make great living dolls - and that it was pretty fun to dress up your baby and put guitars and drumsticks on their laps (as the picture shows) because they would actually hold on! It wasn't long before Boone became so used to this that it would feel weird not to have a guitar, mini drumset or cool sunglasses on. This was the beginning of his obsession with music.

Throughout preschool, kindergarten and grade school Boone would learn to play the drums - mentored by Prairie Prince (drummer for the Tubes). Prairie gave Boone one of his first drumsets, and would surprise him with birthday gifts like crash cymbals, drumsticks and snare drums. His first band played his Fifth grade graduation as the students walked down the isle, smiling and laughing. In middle school Boone would form "YouthinAsia" a rock band intent on droney rock music, something akin to Nirvana without the agnst.

YouthinAsia would eventually breakup and reform as "Essential Tides" a three piece that did intellectual power-pop. They would record with Joe Satriani's drummer Jeff Campitelli and play Berekeley Square a few times before they broke up.

Later in high-school Boone learned to play guitar, and would completely ignore his fathers advice, teaching himself to play Beatles tunes from a well worn book. He then was brought in with "Simple" a Marin based "super group" put together by David Jonelis . Simple made a small tour of California, playing the Viper Room and the Martini Lounge in LA.

At college in Santa Barbara Boone joined a series of bands including, Gravity Willing, Orange Glow, VaronSpooner, Shades of Day and Thriving Ivory. It was here that he first started studying Engineering and Recording.

Upon moving to the Bay Area Boone would work at and manage Sparks studio in Emeryville, work with Pyramind Labs in SF and build Studio Hibiki with them. He would then go on to manage SF Soundworks and work with many major label artists. At Soundworks he would learn how to run an SSL 9000j, a Studer 827 and numerous other outboard items, giving him a vast well of knowledge to draw from.