| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Carl |
Posted - 09/22/2007 : 16:53:19
The Register-Guard.
Sprout City gives thanks with a party
BY SERENA MARKSTROM
The Register-Guard
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007
Working to salvage some homemade beats, Thaddeus Moore
sat at his soundboard with two hip-hop artists behind him.
Mike Schmidt hovered over his portable production station,
playing back his beats as Roman Rocha rapped live. They
wanted to hear how the lyrics and the beats ultimately would
mesh once Moore had the beats properly balanced.
"Bring it, like, way down first," Moore told Schmidt. "Try that,
and now let me hear the kick drum with it.
"That's way better."
Moore still had four hours left on his 12-hour work day. As the owner
and sole remaining founder of Sprout City Studios, Moore, 30, has
patched together a livelihood around music.
He's a studio engineer and producer. He teaches a sound engineering
class at his studio through Lane Community College. He mixes sound
for live shows around the state. And he rents rehearsal space to bands.
Now, his humble studio is
celebrating a benchmark by hosting
10 concerts to mark 10 years in
business. The first show was a late
addition to the series: the Rock 'n'
Roll Soldiers' appearance Sept. 14 at
the McDonald Theatre.
You also could call it the Five Years
in the Black concert series.
"I kind of Forrest Gumped my way
through it," Moore said of his early
days, when he and a couple of
partners decided to lease a
deteriorated West Eugene
warehouse space. "For the first five
years, I didn't know if it was going to
be here from week to week."
The partners' first task was to repair
extensive water damage from the
sprout-growing operation that had
occupied the building before it
became a headquarters for local
bands.
"We signed the lease and started
tearing out walls," said Moore, 20 at the time. It soon became clear his partners had different
ideas for how to use their improved space.
Eventually, Moore said he was the only Sprout City pioneer still involved in the project.
"I've had a lot of really amazing things happen to keep me going."
Today, the business pays for itself and contributes to Moore's ability to buy a home with his
wife, Emily Downing-Moore. The concerts, he said, are a way to thank the hundreds of people
who have recorded, rehearsed or used Sprout City's engineering ser- vices.
Engineer becomes a producer
At the 10-year mark, Sprout City has captured the sounds of such greats as Eugene residents
Thomas Mapfumo, the Zimbabwean national treasure, and Frank Black from the Pixies.
In addition to Moore, three other recording engineers work with artists.
Moore has gained a reputation as a solid engineer with a good ear. And although he has done
some production work already, he is interested in becoming more of a producer.
"I enjoy watching an artist become the artist they can be," he said. "It's one of those invisible,
thankless jobs, and I am glad for it."
Four-year Eugene resident Charles Thompson, who is best known as Pixies frontman Frank
Black, started working at Moore's studio after being caught behind a vehicle at a stoplight that
was marked with Sprout City logos.
"I started there first, and I was happy so I haven't continued my investigation," Thompson
said of his short quest to find a local studio to work on some tracks for "Bluefinger," which he
released Sept. 11 as Black Francis.
Thompson will be billed as Black Francis when he performs as
part of the Sprout City series on Oct. 5 at the WOW Hall.
"He is a good engineer," he said. "He has good ears, and I like
the way the tracks have been recorded.
"I haven't even involved myself in that aspect of it that much.
When you trust the engineer (you don't have to), which is good for me
because I don't want to think about technical things."
Thompson said working with Moore is pleasant. And while Sprout City
is not cheap, he said the rates are reasonable.
"The biggest surprise for me working
in his studio is how booked it is," said
Thompson, who came from Los
Angeles. "We are not exactly in the
middle of music central here in
Eugene.
"Sometimes, I book studio time
when I don't even have anything
planned and just hope I have my
artistic thoughts in order when I get
there."
Master music mixer
Moore figures he's been able to
succeed where others have failed by
being completely dedicated to the
studio and getting more savvy with
the business side of things.
He is passionate about music, and his
artist list shows he has no genre
boundaries. Moore works with folk
and hip-hop artists with equal
attention to detail.
Local singer-songwriter Tyler
Fortier moved to Eugene in 2003 to study sound engineering at LCC. He met Moore soon
after, and when he was ready to work on his first studio product, Fortier tapped him to
produce and engineer the album: "When the Sun Hits the Water."
"As a producer, every song he hears he has at least five different parts that he hears on top of it
that's not being played," Fortier said. "He's got all these lines figured out on top of acoustic
guitar. ... A bass or cello player would come in and he would kind of hum the parts."
Moore, who plans to stay in Eugene, is always reinvesting in his business, acquiring more gear
and tinkering with studio acoustics. But it seems it's his personal touch, as much as his
technical one, that keeps his schedule packed.
"I think the main thing is people like to be comfortable when they are trying to express
themselves musically," he said.
Click to expand:
Thaddeus Moore may be only
30, but he's been the driving
force behind Sprout City
recording studio since its
beginning 10 years ago in a
dilapidated west Eugene
warehouse.
THOMAS BOYD
The Register-Guard |
|
|
