Paradise Behind The Console

Michael Kolar recently took one of the biggest leaps in his five years of owning Soundscape Studios: moving from a hidden space within a factory on Fulton Street to a bustling building in the recently revitalized near South Side. Sitting in the deluxe, custom-designed Red Room of his new studio on South Wabash, the engineer admits losing two months in the moving process has been taxing. “You lose a lot of momentum,” he explains. But amid the move, Kolar held onto all of his original clientele, which includes everyone from rocker Jonny Radtke of Kill Hannah to a Grammy-winning MC, Rhymefest. Moreover, his home on Wabash has opened a whole new world of business possibilities for Soundscape.

Gone are the days when Kolar had to worry about his clients not finding their way to his studio. In this building, it’s not uncommon to see local hip-hop celebs or aspiring models coming in and out of the door. The location is a magnet for activity and akin to a co-op, where photographer Parrish Lewis works and producer Wildstyle of Crucial Conflict has his own studio. Because of these types of tenants, there are few dull moments in the day.

“There’s that type of networking that’s golden that you never get just being by yourself,” Kolar says of the community atmosphere. “There’s always strength in numbers – that whole ‘it takes a village’ mentality. And Chicago’s always been weak with banding together. [Here] we got a photographer, a producer, a recording studio, and hopefully a Web developer upstairs so they’ll all kind of get together. It’s an amazing thing.”

When you have Twista auditioning music-video models upstairs, Kolar says his clients appreciate the hubbub. “People like to see something buzzing and humming,” he says. “If there’s this little studio all by yourself and you’re the only person there – there’s some benefit to that. You have your own space, you have your own privacy, but the networking doesn’t happen as easily in that environment as it does here when you have all that good type of traffic coming through from different businesses.”

Even without the new high-profile foot traffic, for the past five years Soundscape has attracted an impressive pool of well-respected artists including Rhymefest, Radtke, Naledge and Kidz In The Hall, The Molemen, and producer Voodoo, in addition to the live concert sound work he has done for the Naked Raygun reunion DVD. For a one-man operation, Kolar must be doing something right. But good luck getting him to acknowledge his accomplishments.

“I’d like to think that I’m some cool engineer that people listen to my mixes or recordings and say they sound good, [but] I don’t think that has anything to do with it,” says a humbled Kolar. “I think they like who I work with and a lot of people like to be put in that same category.”

There’s no doubt name recognition of regular clientele like ‘Fest helps boost Sound-scape’s reputation. To Kolar’s credit, though, as a studio engineer, he puts in an extra effort for those that come through Soundscape – particularly MCs like Rhymefest who are willing to branch out and collaborate with a group like Fall Out Boy. “I work with pretty much anybody who’s willing to pay me, but the clients that I make that extra step for, that I reach out to, fall into that category of a musician.”

Kolar gushes about how ‘Fest was a celebrity judge at Lollapalooza’s battle of the bands alongside Joe Trohman of Fall Out Boy and how well the two hit it off. The mutual understanding of music led to a collaboration for ‘Fest’s upcoming album, El Che, with both Trohman and Pete Wentz. Kolar is proud to have worked that session with artists from two very different walks of life.

“A lot of what you call rappers, if they would come to celebrity judge a battle of the bands with Fall Out Boy they’d probably come up and shake hands and wouldn’t talk the rest of the night,” claims Kolar. “But a real musician, by the end of the night, they’re writing songs – ideas [are] happening. A lot of rappers couldn’t do that. But most of my hip-hop artists can. I seem to attract that type of hip-hop crowd: They’re [not just] rappers – they’re musicians.”

A musician since grammar school, this former punk rocker facilitates risk-taking. If anything, at Soundscape artists are given as much time and attention as they need, and Kolar hopes this keeps clients coming back.

“It’s not like you come here and say you book three days and every time you’re gonna have a different engineer,” Kolar says of Soundscape. “You come here and the focus is on you. When my clients come, that’s it. I’m the owner/chief engineer so that’s what people tend to like. You feel like the whole place is at your disposal.”

At this point, not being overbooked has certainly helped Kolar provide that easygoing style of service. When asked what he’ll do if business gets too hectic for one man to handle, he recoils at the thought of getting caught up in office busywork.

“I didn’t get into studio ownership to come in from 9-to-5 and run QuickBooks and call my accountant and talk to my lawyer – I got into this to be behind the console to make good music,” he proclaims. “I’ve been in both sides. On Fulton Street I had two studios, I had staff engineers, and certainly there’s a lot of benefits to that. [Now] it’s hard to get a vacation or a day off ’cause no one’s here to cover you. But conversely, I’m getting a lot more time behind the console and that’s what I got into this for.”

Given his buzzing new location, it looks like those vacation days may be even fewer and farther between. But looking at how comfortable Kolar looks in his new space sitting behind his ProTools HD rig, this is probably as close to paradise as he’s gonna get.

Soundscape Studio is located at 2010 S. Wabash in Chicago. For more information, call (312) 567-1400 or visit www.myspace.com/soundscaperecording.

At CARTERCO RECORDING in Pilsen, Remodern are finishing tracking their debut album . . . Intelligent Dennis are finishing mixing their new record . . . Roommate did some overdubs for their upcoming record.

Robert Kramer is finishing tracks for his next release, Live & Otherwise, at PRO-SOUND DIGITAL in Chicago. Kramer is also tracking vocals and keys at STUDIO CHICAGO in Chicago for local newcomers 4 Letter Words‘ debut album, 4LW. Both projects are set for an October release on new indie label Dimension One Records, a subsidiary of Pro-Sound Digital.

At PLANET10STUDIOS in Barrington, country singer-songwriter Emily Riesen, from Carbondale, worked on a four-song demo. Pre-production started in mid-July and recording in mid-August. She hopes to have the material done by the middle of December. Some area players working with Riesen include pianist #Frank Lucas (L.W.E.), guitarist Ben Abney (Randy Stonehill), bassist Barry Kleiber (L.W.E., Not The Joneses, Planet Von), drummer Vince Consolo (L.W.E., Not The Jonses), harp player Geary Smith, cellist Brent Nohl (Curbside), and Edgar Gabriel (Cirque du Soleil, String Fusion). Producing and engineering the project are Planet10 owner Jim Johnson and Harry Brotman . . . Bullet Called Life also worked on a new full-length with Johnson. The band are shooting for an early fall release . . . South Side indie rockers Paper Street Co. are finishing the mix of their debut full-length, Perfecting The Art Of Casual, with Johnson.

At SMART STUDIOS in Madison, Wisconsin, ska band Catch Of The Day were in to do some work . . . Hometown Madison boys Letter 8 also worked on new material . . . Among the other acts who have recently put in time at Smart are Hotel Lights, Punchline, and Amy Curl.

Hey Studiophiler: To get your studio or band listed in “Studiophile,” just e-mail info on whom you’re recording or who’s recording you to ed@illinoisentertainer.com, subject Studiophile, or fax (312) 930-9341. We reserve the right to edit or omit submissions for space. Deadline for the November issue is October 15th.

– Max Herman

Category: Columns, Monthly, Studiophile