The Early Attic
In 1984, we got lucky enough to share our first home with the bank and I immediately began making plans for the Attic - in the basement.
From the start, the word basement had such a dark musty sound to it. I thought Attic was much more fitting.
Besides, it confused people and there's something to be said for that.
The area that we remodeled into the studio was actual a really poorly constructed studio apartment when we moved in the house. The realtor thought that it was a selling point, but sadly, it was not.
And from the beginning, I had loads of help. Mostly from musicians and band mates anxious to have a place to record.
In the early years, the studio was 4-track and until I got the money to buy my first 1/2 inch 8-track, it really sounded bad.
I charged $15/hour, but the clients were slow to beat down the door. It really ended up being more of a rehearsal hall for the bands I was in than anything else.
Besides the Ampex 4-track the studio was outfitted with a 10-channel board that I built from scratch (really, from scratch).
One of the first sessions: Redhawk, Rusty & friends.