HYBRID HOPES
Echoplant Recording Studios ’ Fresh Workflow for a Familiar Space
By Andrew King
Ryan Worsley spent the first 10-plus years of his recording career proving the point that you don ’ t necessarily need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a large-scale studio packed with expensive equipment to make a great-sounding record .
A humble and understated fellow , he wasn ’ t doing it by shouting from a figurative soapbox , militantly debating the point on recording forums ; instead , he just let the quality of the work he was doing at Echoplant Studios – his home-based home base – speak for itself , slowly but steadily building a body of work that would rival the output of any recording facility , large format or otherwise , on the west coast .
As the profile of some of his earliest collaborators grew to the national level , so too did the demand for his services . By the second half of 2015 , after working out of his home studio for over a decade , his schedule and workspace were teeming – with gear , with people , and with potential .
As the adage goes , you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good .
So as luck would have it , in December 2015 , Worsley got a call from Jonathan Fluevog , a fellow engineer and the namesake of Vogville Recording . Located in Port Coquitlam , BC , about 30 km east of Vancouver , Vogville was a soughtafter destination that welcomed the likes of Drake , Sarah McLachlan , and k-os through its doors during its 17 years of operation . Fluevog was looking to lease and possibly sell the studio , and presumably wanted to continue its legacy with someone ambitious , reliable , and talented at the helm .
After some due diligence and with plenty of encouragement from his wife , Alana , Worsley took over the renowned studio at 2250 Tyner in Port Coquitlam , bringing his fresh and finely tuned workflow to a large-scale commercial recording space .
Worsley ’ s journey in the creative arts to this point has spanned over two decades . Having studied classical music at the post-secondary level , he spent much of his teen and early adult years writing , recording , and touring with a number of bands in the Pacific Northwest . One of those bands was B . C . - based Maplewood Lane , which Worsley joined on lead guitar ahead of the
30 • PROFESSIONAL SOUND