Day At The Park

When pressed to point out places on the map known for contributing recognized, high-end recording studios, Orland Park probably fails to make the short list. Yet, tucked within the vast span of suburbia, complete with Bar Louie chains and Borders and Barnes & Noble vying with each other for the same pool of book browsing, latte-deprived customers, is Passionworks Studio.

Owner Mike Kawka cites convenience and a lack of competition as reasons for settling down in the area known for raising families more than raising a ruckus. “This area’s really booming. [Interstate] 355 was just extended down so it’s just minutes away . . . from 355 to go up north, so the access is really easy,” Kawka explains. “There’s a number of studios that are out of a house or a garage or something like that, but not really the same caliber that [we are]. The studios we think are comparable are much more in the city.”

However, so are the bands.

“There’s certainly a lot more groups in the city, but there are groups out this way, too, and that would be a disadvantage for them to drive into the city and have to deal with parking and going outside every two hours to feed meters – whereas they don’t have to deal with [that] here,” Kawka counters.

As a full-service facility, Passionworks boasts the use of a Digidesign Icon D-Control console, which, according to studio manager Bill Collins, levels the playing field between the studio and the big boys on both coasts. “A lot of people are doing work strictly in Pro Tools, from composition through record[ing] through mix[ing]. Essentially we’re offering the control surface which allows people to mix more with their ears, more with their hands,” Collins says. “It’s definitely becoming an industry standard.”

To help facilitate the transition from more traditional methods of recording to the Pro Tools age where just about anyone can set up shop at home, Passionworks hosts seminars to train both professionals and would-be engineers on the console. (“The Icon’s very new and it’s complicated,” Kawka offers.) The first session took place March 25th with Jeff Komar from Digidesign; more day-long events will follow.

While it may seem counterproductive to the studio’s bottom line to not only promote home recording, but essentially host lessons in the process, Kawka disagrees on the basis of the studio’s mixing capabilities. “It’s a compromise between being able to record on your own and save that money, but being able to mix on a great console where you could make it sound really good,” he explains.

True, Kawka concedes, the demand for studio time has lessened to a degree, but he’s adamant the need still exists. “The problem with bands that are recording on their own – they don’t have the good mics. It’s quite common for us to have a band come in and talk about a project, but have a limited budget. Usually it’s quite common that we’ll actually bring them in to record drums and then allow them to do a lot of the overdubs on their own because you’re not gonna get the drums,” Kawka says. “We’ve got a great sounding live room for drums and great mics. So, once you start with that base of having great drum tracks, it’s more practical to sit there at home doing guitar overdubs and even sometimes vocals at home and then coming back into the studio and mixing in the studio.”

Passionworks also operates as a “micro” record label, offering artists production deals. In exchange for waived recording fees, Kawka retains ownership of the recorded material. “It’s much like a record label does – they own your masters. That gives us the right to approach larger labels for distribution and so forth of that product, but without taking any of the artistic rights from the songwriter or the group,” Kawka explains. “They still own their material; they still have the rights to go and sign with another label or go and record their songs somewhere else.”

Kawka usually works with just one or two artists at a time in this fashion. It’s really about helping an artist he believes in, rather than turning someone into the next Britney Spears. “We’re not at the point where we could just sign a band. We can’t take them to the top – put it that way,” Kawka says. “Primarily, we’re much more interested in working with exceptional talent than trying to make rent and trying to . . . push big-budget stuff all the time. I think we’re geared towards working with developing exceptional talent whether it’s taking songs from good songwriters and placing them with artists that we feel have the potential to get noticed and survive in this business through just being unique in their presentation and having a good attitude.”

Call it a labor of love.

In the end, Collins points to the package deal Passionworks offers musicians as the impetus for continued success. “We have a lot of the basics – we have a great room, but I think what it really gets down to is people. I think a lot of times you work with engineers for the engineer, if not necessarily the studio, and you want somebody who is experienced, easy going,” Collins says. “Really, what we offer is, for the price, a good room and just easy-going, easy-to-work-with engineers. That’s what I think is the most important thing.”

Coming soon – “Soundstage” guru Frank Pappalardo and Bob Kearney join the Passionworks team on a contract basis.

Passionworks is located at 17101 S. Wolf Rd. in Orland Park. Call (708) 326-1512 or visit www.passionworksrecords.com for more information.

At BOTA STUDIOS in Lake In The Hills, Glass Records artist First Step To Glory began work on new material . . . Vicious will start work on a new full-length CD in June . . . Bota is a new studio specializing in extreme metal. For more info check out www.myspace.com/botastudio.

At Gravity Studios in Chicago, Rise Against recorded their latest album, This Is Noise, with legendary drummer Bill Stevenson (Descendants, Black Flag) . . . Sean O’Keefe mixed Company Of Thieves‘ new album, Ordinary Riches . . . Dave Riley has been recording with both Robot Lounge and Nick Young . . . Gravity owner Doug McBride produced, recorded, and mixed four songs for Silversun Pickups‘ upcoming album . . . McBride also tracked Atlanta Records artist Matthew Santos; Jim Tullio produced . . . McBride served as the mixing engineer for Augustana and The Silents . . . Most recently McBride recorded Filligar for an upcoming Podcast and mastered The Aluminum Group‘s latest album.

Local band King Moxy started recording their second album with engineer/producer Nate Oberman at GROOVE MASTER STUDIO and ARTISAN SOUNDS in Chicago. The album is due early summer.

At LINDER AVENUE RECORDING in Roselle, Michael Riser finished tracking and mixing the first five songs for his debut release . . . Also, blues/soul artist Vince Tybor spent time tracking vocals for his promotional demo . . . Dom Palmisano engineered and produced both sessions.

At PRAGMA STUDIOS in Chicago, Hired Goons recorded and mixed their new full-length with Adam Newman . . . Jazz trio GMG worked on their first album with Dan Wean producing and engineering . . . Straight Jack worked with Aidas Narbutaitis on new material; additional engineering was done by Wean . . . Jay O’Malley worked with Wean on his new album.

TOP PRIORITY SOURCE RECORDS’ grand opening is in June. They specialize in artist development and production work. They also have hip-hop, R&B, and alternative tracks for sale starting at $250. For more info call Isaac Ali at (773) 559-5042.

At UP ON THE ROOF RECORDING in Lombard, Machine Gun Kelly started tracking with producer Mark Blas . . . R&B/hip-hop producer Marc Taylor also tracked . . . Blas mixed the latest recordings from The Mike Michalak Band and Mark Walters.

Chicago hip-hop artist Zeek recorded new material at ARTISAN SOUNDS in Chicago with engineer Nate Obrman. The project will be released by mid summer.

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 June issue is May 15th.

– Janine Schaults

Category: Columns, Monthly, Studiophile