Regina studio where artists created music closes doors
REGINA Jason Plumb saved one of the best for last.
Regina singer-songwriter Marie-claire’s debut album was the final project Plumb recorded at Studio One, his recording studio located inside the CBC Regina building.
“Every record has these magical moments that can only come along like lightning in a bottle, and they’re hard to re-create,” said Plumb.
With hers, “It’s just full from top to bottom, 13 songs of unbelievable songwriting and vocal performances and rhythm section performances. It was a perfect storm for everything to come together.”
On Tuesday, after six years, Plumb the producer closed the doors to that studio. He plans to rebuild a smaller studio this year.
“If you like to eat amazing food, it doesn’t mean you need to own a restaurant, is kind of my thinking,” said Plumb.
Studio One started out as Plumb was seeking a break from his home studio, looking for a new space to record his own album.
“It just seemed like as soon as I was in here and just doing my project, I guess word got around that I was using the space,” said Plumb.
He recorded many artists over those six years, including The Dead South, Blake Berglund, Colter Wall, and Plumb’s own band, The Willing.
Other artists used the space and equipment, like Andy Shauf, who recorded his acclaimed album The Party at Studio One.
For Regina musician Scott Pettigrew, who recorded his album Rising Tide there in 2018, the studio was “an absolutely worldclass facility and … about as good as it gets.”
He recorded with a string orchestra that included violinist Carmelle Pretzlaw.
She said Studio One had the best acoustics of all Regina recording studios.
But what she appreciated most about the place was that it didn’t feel “claustrophobic, like in some other places where it’s just like a closet.”
At 1,700 square feet, there was ample room for big groups.
“The Scott Pettigrew thing, we had nine string players in there, so that was great; you can’t do that everywhere,” said Pretzlaw.
But, said Plumb, the large size was “overkill for 90 per cent” of the projects he worked on: Most musicians didn’t need all that space.
Plumb plans to rebuild in 2019, taking a different approach.
The larger pieces of his gear, like the Neve console and Bosendorfer grand piano, will return to the leasing company, while other gear will go into storage.
“It’s partly financial, but it’s more I think just about evolution and changing and growing,” said Plumb. “And I think I’ve just finally realized after 20 years of doing this that it’s not the equipment or the environment that necessarily makes a great project. It’s more about me and the relationship I have with the artists.
“I suppose it’s partly a sign of the times,” he added. “Large studios aren’t very common any more and … it’s just a lot of stuff, it’s a lot of gear.
“To not have to carry such a massive studio sort of frees me up to travel and work in other studios and work in other cities and just downsize.”
“Like any business, people are your greatest asset, so musicians, engineers, whoever you’re working with,” said Pettigrew. “I’d rather work in a basement with a really skilled engineer than work in the best studio in the world with somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing.”
Plumb was what attracted Pettigrew to Studio One in the first place, “just working with him and kind of seeing how he did things and all that.”
But it wasn’t an inexpensive place to record.
“It’s sort of the cost-benefit analysis type situation,” said Pettigrew, who is building his own recording studio, The Blue Room, in a garage. “The studio fees become less of a factor” in a smaller studio.
CBC currently has no plans for the space and is exploring “all our options,” according to an emailed statement.