About

“The studio is an extension of my participation in the music scene as a peer and not as a robber baron, not as someone who's trying to extract (money) from the music scene but as someone who's trying to participate on every level” - Steve Albini

When I was in high school, I was in a barbershop quartet with three of my best friends. We were definitely the cool guys. We never got paid and it was a ton of hard work. We'd sing anywhere, one day on the street corner or at the mall and the next in a packed 350 person theater. It was so much fun to sing together, to entertain people making something as a group that none of us could have created on our own. I think we were even good, but sadly there's no way to know for sure; it was 2004, and the process of recording anything was expensive and cumbersome. This was a just before the iPhone, so while today anyone can record a voice memo or shoot a TikTok video, back then the height of cell phone technology was taking lo-res pictures and playing Snake. The only evidence I have that we even existed is in my memories.

I've been a musician my whole life and I have arguably been way more successful since then, but the fact that something really important to my life as a musician is just gone and can never be recreated makes me sad. Because of that experience, it has become really important to me that every artist, no matter their budget, has the opportunity to record their music professionally. Making a record ensures that your music doesn't simply disappear, and having something you are proud to share with your friends is how we create the culture.

I spent a lot of time and effort building Shattered Glass Records into a legitimate studio in an era when anyone with a few hundred dollars and some spare time can figure out how to record themselves. As far as investments go, probably not a great one on my part. I think it's generally true that if you got into music because you wanted to become rich you are probably wasting your time, but that doesn't mean that our music isn't valuable (PHILOSOPHY LINK), and that's not really the reason why I did it. Music is a team sport, and it comes out of a specific culture and community, rooted in a particular time and place. I am here to provide a service to the music community around me, to handle the technical part so you can let loose and be the artist. I am sure you didn't become a musician so that you could ultimately learn how to be an audio engineer (or a social media influencer, or a business manager, or a music lawyer, or a booking agent, or...); with me in your corner, all you have to do is play.

It means more to me than I can say when a friend, old or new, trusts me enough with their music to let me record it. So, let's be friends.