Illinois Entertainer June 2019 | Page 49

JUNE STUDIO REPORT Paul and Austin Walters at APRADIO.NET Our June studio profile features Paul Walters from APRadio.net in Northwest Indiana IE: You've been involved in the studio business in the past what brought you to open your studio in ears NW Indiana? PW: My youngest says I was having a midlife crisis [laughs], but I saw a Behringer Eurodesk MX2442A at Billy O's Dynamite Music in mint condition and I bought it. I had no use for it, but it stirred something old and nostalgic in me from my recording days in Hollywood. I did a lot of work in between labeled sessions doing the A&R development recording for newly signed bands at a 16 track 1/2 tape studio called The Annex back in the mid-'80s to early '90s. So I went on Reverb and searched for the MSR-16 1/2" 16 track deck, and I found one near Waukegan. It pretty much snowballed from there doing everything from what I could remember from a lifetime ago. I'm a near-empty nester, so I have a lot of open rooms. So I took out a closet, added doors and soundproofing and turned part of my house to an analog recording studio. IE: You're not traditional recording stu- dio though. You're supplying radio and podcasting content online too. PW: The radio station came first that was something I've wanted to do for the past year. I talked about it with a friend of mine in early 2018, but it never went anywhere. I had a board, so when I was forming the studio in my head, the radio station thought came back to the front burner. I had everything I needed so I signed up with Live365 and Austin brought on a couple of friends that were excited to have a radio show and it sort of took off. We are still building the brand we are half talk shows and half music shows and aren't broadcasting 24/7 yet, but it's growing. We just start- ed a daily morning drive show, and I'm really excited about it. All of our talks shows have podcasts on all the popular services. I have a show called The Independent House where I play all local and independent artists and try to talk them up and profile them. We are going to start bringing bands in for interviews, which is exciting. The radio station is really a lot of fun, and I think once we get our content built-up, our audience will grow because we'll offer things you can't get in our area. IE: After 30 years, the trend in the recording industry that was all digital and pro tools seems to be shifting. Some studios are going back to their roots, using analog recording not only to limit the number of tracks - but to bring more discipline to their recording sessions where the live performance is critical, and the additional tracks are just a way to sweeten a song, great live band or artist. How does APRadio.net fit into that philosophy? PW: I was right there at the beginning of the digital transition back in 1989. I saw the first Macintosh computer come into the control room; I saw Pro Tools 1; direct to disk recording; and the horrid ADAT. I didn't like it; I found digital thinned the sound and sounded artifi- cial. Fast forward 30 years and music is too clean, too perfect. While technology has improved the low end and artificial sound, there is no breath in it. Musicians aren't as neat or disciplined today because they don't have to be. The com- puter will fix it, which homogenizes the music because of an over-reliance on the computer to fix everything, so the end product sounds the same. In my journey building our studio, I discovered an entire industry that charges hundreds or thousands of dollars for plug-ins or 500 series carts that simulate analog noise. Think about that; the industry wants to offer simulated analog tape hiss. To me that makes no sense - just record on tape. So the philosophy of AP Radio and Continued on page 52 ALL ANALOG RECORDING!  2" 24-Track Analog Tape  1/2" 16-Track Analog Tape  Digital Audio Workstation  Vintage and Modern FX Processing  EP Packages Available (tape included, 1/2" 16-track)  Available for bands, solo artists, mix downs, jingles.  Schedule an appointment. BOOKING NOW! (219) 595-5632 APRadio.net  Twitter Facebook Instagram: @apradio2  [email protected] june 2019 illinoisentertainer.com 49