Inflicting Taste in Art

Memphis' Easley McCain Recording, where Pavement, Alex Chilton, Palace Bros., Sonic Youth, Wilco, Guided By Voices and just about every other band you like--as well as some you don't--have spent sweaty hours holed up in underlit rooms making noise, caught fire last week.

The studio was just featured in the November/December '04 issue of Tape Op, including an interview with co-founder Doug Easley, who grew up in Memphis "watching his friend's older brothers playing in the Box Tops."

Easley and McCain moved into the studio, built by the legendary Chips Moman from the ground up--the first such studio in Memphis, as opposed to converted buildings--in 1990. It had a famously sweet echo chamber--a big empty room used to get actual reverb sounds, instead of canned digital effects--which apparently survived the fire, as did the master tapes housed at the studio, according to Done Waiting.

Easley's recording philosophy, according to the Tape Op Q-and-A: "You try to inflict taste in art and good decision in it, you know?" That pretty much sums it up.

Here's hoping they were over-insured, and rebuild fast.