When you think of Nirvana, your mind goes to the Seattle music scene. So what would you think if you discovered the demos for Nevermind were cut in a nondescript recording studio in Madison, Wisconsin? Well, you might be interested in finding out how many other musical secrets were contained in that recording studio. And the answer would be… a lot. In 1982, Butch Vig and Steve Marker of alt-rock band Garbage created Smart Studios, and for the next twenty-eight years, an improbable amount of music which would come to define the era, emerged from that same studio. From Nirvana, to Smashing Pumpkins, L7, Garbage, Death Cab for Cutie, Tar Babies, Killdozer, and many more, the imprint of Smart on the alternative music scene is large and deep.
Director/Producer Wendy Schneider worked at Smart Studios in the early 90s and has maintained a lasting friendship with both Vig and Marker. In 2010, after the closing of the studio, she began gathering video interviews of musicians who had recorded at Smart. With each interview it became apparent Smart Studios had touched every artist who spent time there. It also seemed the time might be right to really focus on creating a feature length film, so the entire scope of the story of Smart Studios could be documented. Schneider is now in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding for the project,
The Smart Studios Story.
I recently spoke with Wendy Schneider about the documentary, the Kickstarter campaign, and the unlikely center of music in the midwest, Madison, Wisconsin.
Check out the
full interview over at Earth Hertz Records.
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