CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY Ford Cortina.” In 1979 he signed with Arista Records and recorded Water Sign, which sold nearly .100,000 copies nationally. “ I consider myself fortunate to have gotten as far as 1 have, based in this area,” continues Lorber. “ Exceptional personnel is hard to find, INTERNATIONAL TIES ■............. .. ........................... - . , no local booking agencies book nationally, and the music business is just not concentrated here. It’s damn hard to make connections. About the only advantage living in Portland is that local clubs, to a pretty good extent, support live original music.” Conversely, Jay Webster stresses the advantages of making a record locally. “ 1 think Portland facilities can cover 95 percent of the recording capabilities of million-dollar studios in L.A. or New York,” he states. “ There’s no doubt in my mind that Portland studios can create hits.” “ There are several important considerations that affect sound quality,” adds Bob Stoutenburg, also an engineer at Recording Associates. “ How much money an artist can spend making a record determines a lot. Also, the personal attention.an artist receives is important.” Kevin Mullay, a Portland rock musician who plans to release an album of original music in the near future, illustrates a similar point of view. “ I was paying $120 an hour for studio time in Seattle, plus making 1 the drive up there on weekends to record,” he relates. “ But Heart was in one studio next io me and Elton John was in the o th e r . . .and since 1 was nobody special, I received very little personal attention or support. “ After spending nearly $10,000, 1 checked out Desitrek here in Portland and found the sound quality to be just as good and the personal attention far belter,” Mullay continues. “ A local recording situation is real suitable for m e?’ Bob Jeniker, producer of the Wipe rs’ first album and founder of Park Avenue Records, comments, “ Despite some technical limitations, there is a variety of adequate studios locally which are designed to meet different budgets and needs.” “ A few years ago, there was a big difference between studios in Portland and L.A., but now the equipment is getting better and the engineers are more skilled,” says Allan Wachs, a Portland musician who recorded his album of original music, entitled, Mountain Roads and City Streets, in Los Angeles in 1979. Roger Sause, leader of the group Shock, likes the “ relaxed atmosphere” he finds recording locally. “ We care about making our recording sessions the best possible,” h says. ‘‘We can easily do without pressure situations one finds in the larger recording capitals.” Recorded at Desitrek, Electro- phonic Funk is Shock’s first album and is slated for a March release. The cost of making an album depends on several main factors. Recording time is the most variable. “ If a group is prepared and efficient, they can save a couple thousand dollars right off the top,” estimates Jay Webster. “ The complexity of the material being recorded is also reflected in the studio cost.” “ Some musicians, particularly those inexperienced in studio recording, will try so hard to get everything exactly right that they’ll lose the energy they want in the recording,” adds Greg Smith, sound engineer at Sound Smith Studio. “ Also, some performers will overdub a lot, and that takes extra time and increases cost.” In addition to recording costs, the process of “ pressing” — transferring the recording from tape to vinyl — poses a major expense. Artwork and printing for the record covers are also costly items. While recording time rates vary from studio to studio, pressing and cover cost charges appear to be more 'regular. Most Portland studios offer an approximate pressing charge of $2,000 for 1,000 albums or $450 of 1,000 singles, depending upon the cost of cover printing. Since there are no large pressing plants in Portland, records are processed in other locations. Although total costs vary, the average locally made album rarely exceeds $5,000, a regional record maker says. He adds that albums recorded by popular national acts frequently cost over $100,000 to make. After a record is completed, it has to be vigorously marketed to sell successfully. While some local record distributors will assist, most artists with records to sell say they do most of the marketing work themselves. Paul Chasman, a Portland guitarist who is putting final touches on his second album. Modern Art, recorded at Rex Studios, prefers to direct his own marketing procedure. “ I go to the record stores to make sure my albums are displayed, 1 sell records at my gigs and through mail order, and generally make sure the albums are available to people who want them,” he says. Furthermore, Chasman promoted good reviews in music magazines like Guitar Player and Frets — reviews that attracted mail orders from around the country. Record distributors can facilitate sales by making the product easily available to record stores. However, most local albums do not sell enough records to excite distributing companies, which make most profits from top-selling national acts; “ If we really think that a local group or artist is commercially promising, we’ll stock their records and take them on consignment,” says Bruce Chisholm, vice president of Downpour Distributing. “ But we’re not in the promotion business. We’re interested in helping .selected local acts, but we’re not planning to make much profit from their record sales.” Bob O ’Neal, with Lieberman Enterprises distributing firm, offers similar services. “ If we really believe that a regional album can sell well, we’ll promote it,” he adds. The Portland band Howling Gael is an exception among local bands. Recorded at Grass Roots Studio in 1978, the group’s Rant and Roar album has sold nearly 5,000 units. “ We did most of the promotion work ourselves,” explains Howling Gael founder Bob Kotta. “ And we were quite successful at it. < “ We found the financial backing we needed and chose to make the record in Portland because it was easier, less expensive, and less intense than in L.A.,” he adds. Radio airplay can assist record sales tremendously, but many local album makers are frankly disappointed that area stations play little “ homemade” music. “ Portland radio stations rarely support local recording bands with airplay,” says one. “ They’re fond of saying that it’s not what people want to hear. But if they played the stuff, they might find out differently.” Responding to that charge, KGW station manager Larry Campbell says, “We’re a commercial station and our business is playing the hits. We have a very limited playlist and our research inclines us to play popular, highly publicized national acts. Even though a local act may be every bit as good as those we play on the radio, they are still unknowns.” “ As long as the music is good, we’ll play it,” offers Les Sarnoff, music programmer for KINK Radio. “Whether the music is national, international, or local makes no real difference. It’s how it sounds and how it appeals to our listeners.” “ We definitely are interested in locally recorded music and will go out p f our way to play i t ,” says Michael ’Wells, station manager for KBOO. “ We have more freedom and flexibility in our programming than do the commercial stations.” Pleasure, the nationally successful Portland band, receives “ far more” airplay in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. than they do in their home town. “ I fs hard to figure out why,” muses Pleasure leader McClia McClain. “ I guess we just have more support elsewhere.” Pleasure made their first album in 1974 for Fantasy Records at an approximate cost of $15,000. The band’s fifth album, Future Now, cost about $70,000 to make and has sold over 300,000 copies. “ 1 suppose the best advice I could give to aspiring regional recording groups is to stick together, make the best music you can, and make contacts whenever possible.” offers McClain. “ I remember taking demo tapes to national acts when they came to Portland, trying to get them to listen to our material.” he recalls. “ That’s how it happened for us. The Crusaders heard our stuff and liked it and eventually we got a recording contract.” “ The music business is tough and competitive almost anywhere you go,” confirms Jeff Lorber. “ You just make the best music you can under the circumstances, work hard, and keep on pushing.” UPEPO April 30th - May 3rd • Earth May 13th - 17th • Euphoria 18th • Saks Front Ave. 22 - 24 • Grand Illusions - Eug. 28th - 31st June 12th - 14th 18th-21st 25th - 28th July 3rd - 5th • • The Faucet • Buffalo Tavern Seattle • Saks Front Ave. • Earth Troutlake vitamins, supplements good earth foods natural food s f products appliances, cosmetics - / M---— 808 S.W. 10th 221-1794 right across from the library lunch counter.- “ chef’s choice” daily soup, salads, sandwiches, desserts 42
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz