.: Welcome to our Leo Wiess Productions page!

Presenting the latest and best of our works, some still in progress! Please let us know what you think artist run on the comment they recieve and if you like we'll be posting your comments here as well!

.: Our Roots

My name is Kerry Spencer (AKA Leo Wiess) I have been a budding artist,musician and sound engineer for over 35 years. I have been living with my family here in east central Minnesota for about 24 of those years maybe more. Before Living here I was living and working in Minneapolis. my interest in music and sound I believe came out of work I did in the theater scene for many years as a tech person at the instutute of arts Childrens Theater company and many other theaters around town. While in high school I enrolled in tech theater classes with a very high intestest, I helped with the sound and lights, special effects I believe I was and am now considered pretty good at what I do for the most part, and I also worked as a volunteer on many productions around town!

I drove cab and school buses for awhile in the twin cities and outer reaches and played bars like the Artist Quarter and other venues while I lived in south Mpls. with my friend roommate and mentor Albert Vasicek.

We did a many gigs around town during our time together, notablly we preformed a few return lunch time Gigs in the then IDS court and on the then new mall area in down town Minneapolis I met my wife at the age of 19 and a few months later everything changed, kids on the way, new job ect..ect...

I decided A few years back that I was not going to make my first million playing street corners and bars so I went back to school at the then Duluth tech. inst. for a couple of years taking as a major Arch drafting and design however I found my timing was bad or the schools was, at that time everyone was switching over to computer added drafting (CAD) and no one was hiring the "older" type of draftsman that draws by hand and figures in his head, that of course was how they trained me! and in fact was the reason I took the course in the first place! I have alway been an artists first above all! drawing my surroundings as I see my enviroment has alway been my thing, I do remember going for a job interveiw at one point and hearing a guy in the next room argue that "it might be a good thing to have a guy here who know what the computer is doing!" guess that about some it up right there!

Well anyway I opened a small drafting studio on my own after looking for drafting work for over a year in my home Called Limelight Studios and actually did pretty well but had some legal and family problems that pretty much shut us down! (see the song Hold On Baby for more info and details)

I still do drafting from time to time and I have been involved with a lot of local and outer state, large and small projects over those 20 some years including work for DAKA corp of pine city for over 2 years as a sturctural steel detailer Then I again found myself saying "no way is this going to work either!"

Well I guess it was about the time that my mother died and left me a little cash, she was a very hard working gal but even so I don't know how she managed to leave all us kids anything at all it was a very nice surprise! That said it was the first time in my life that money was not an issue and for a short time it was real nice too!

Anyway I managed to pull together a nice custom made computer system, buy a BR-8, kinda a 64 track digital recorder (new) and a roland 20 channel digital mixer (used), along with a few cheap mics (but they sound good) and with the help of a few local pawn shops and friends got some pretty good deals too! so I started a recording studio called Westwind Studios and after 5 years or so we are still up and running in spite of the odds against us,

Did you know that 9.5 out of 10 recording studios close down there first year! Well we are that half (or 0.5) a studio left I guess! But that fact dose works in our favor at the pawn shops! I am still buying stuff used! no point in buying new with our studios "lower income" track record and I usually get better stuff then I can buy new with the same amount of cash anyway!

We have been adjusting to our local areas needs for services here in east central Minnesota and as much as I would like to record the music of local artists, there are not many around here I would or could work with even on a good day, very slim pick' ins! and I am kind of picky about who I'll record too!

I have concluded that if you live out here in the wood the way I do and play any kind of music you are pretty much on your own! so I do nature and weddings and other event videos, web sites, teach guitar once in awhile! as a side line! I try to stay open minded about most projects the come along.

I work on my own stuff as I am able too! I keep my ears and eyes open to artists in this area and around the world that might need some help, I still think it's important keep looking for that "diamond in the ruff" sorta speak! just waiting to be found!

After putting out 3 albums; for myself "Outer Spaces" for my old band Elevation "Last Call" and then a live album for my friend John Allen aka Ten Horses "Wolf Tracks" we took a break to do some re-thinking and some remodeling, which is what we are doing now here in the fall of 2006

I'll keep you posted on the progress on our web site and it would be great to hear from you about how we are looking to you and how you think we could do better! hey and if you need some help too?, just give us a shot I am sure that we can!

Contact us

.: Our Music Projects

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Written by Gordon Lightfoot

At the time it was launched in 1958, the 729-foot long, 75-foot wide freighter S. S. Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship to ply the Great Lakes. On November 10, 1975 the Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin carrying 26,000 tons of iron ore pellets, bound for Detroit. Though the day was bright, in her path lay a terrible storm with 60 MPH winds and waves in excess of 15 feet. As the storm built, her experienced Captain Ernest McSorley bore north across Lake Superior, seeking the relative shelter of the Canadian shore and Whitefish Bay.

This track not only contains the song by Mr Lightfoot But also recounts the story by experts on the subject and the radio calls for help the coast guard received that fateful night!

Read More

Download MP3: Wreck Of the Ed. Fitz.

Learning to fly

A song recorded in 1991 by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. A cover that in many way relates the ups and downs of recording and producing this first album!

Read More

Download MP3: Learning to Fly

You Guys Just Kill Me

This song was written in response to artistic differences encounter with a local band I started but later left called Wolf Creek, Leo Wiess Was said to be the " Pete Best" of the group till the "Outer Spaces" solo album was produced in 2003

Download MP3:You Guys Just Kill Me

Hold On Baby

This song recounts my "adventures" with the Pine county and W.I.N.D.O.W.S justice system!

A few years ago I was tossed in jail for six mouths for making phone calls I never made! turns out they were just gunning for someone I was there scrape goat or flavor of the month you might say for awhile and for other reasons these false charges were all they could come up with at the time, "A year later after jail time" was over and most of the fines imposed paid the Minnesota state supreme court sided with me and over turned the convection completely! Siting Pine Counties notorious judicial misconduct. Pine County nor W.I.N.D.O.W.S did not show up for this hearing at all! interesting fact I think!

The original statement "Hold On Baby" came out of a ride to Horton's sawmill to get firewood slabs at I took with my daughter Mandy many years back in our old 1950 one ton dump truck! In which I have to "pump those breaks" to get them to work!

Seemed at the time to be very relative statement to how our justice system is not working, so out of any of our control and really in my opinion has become no more then a control mechanism the upper cases use over the lower cases, it is no longer about justice but power and money it's really out of control with no brakes left at all in my opinion! and this first hand experience of my own has shown this to be true! if it can happen to me it can happen to you too!

So Hold On Baby!

Download MP3: Hold on Baby

Outer spaces IMG review

International Marketing Group

A review By Mr Bill Wells, Director of marketing and reviews for IMG dated March 3rd, 2003,"We have found your material to be above average and quite enjoyable". Also in his hand written notes he states of our four song demo, "Good Work!,Very original sounding material, Good overall production! good mix! Strong vocals well presented, MARKETABLE!" he goes on to say "we have found your material to be very well written both musically and lyrically!" also in the reviews check list for his recommendations comments include: "your material is great, your work is suitable for commercial use", "we feel you've got what it takes!" "Production quality, instrumentation and vocal quality were all very good!" Over all a very very "good" review we think!

Elevations- "Last Call" 2002 Album

This album "Last call" was what really got Westwind Studios (now Westwind Multimedia) going in 2002.

Tim and Marty Nelson, Leo Wiess and Steve Bein, and a few others produced this first studio album in august of 2002!Then as often happens with bands, Elevation broke up about 2 months before the albums release.

Last Call

is the title track of that album! and really was the last call for this band too!

Download MP3: Last call

Way Alright

Was written by the composer artist Stephen Bein of the band Elevation in 2002 and was originally part of the Last Call album with vocals by Marty Nelson, Here Leo Wiess sings with the Elevation track from that album!

Download MP3: Way Alright

Important note:

These music downloads are offered for personal use only, and distribution is strictly prohibited.

.: Our Video Projects

Video download page

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea posts project clips check'em out! featured now on our video download page!

.: Our Graphics projects

Comming soon!