for Creativity
IAN KELLY ’ S SUNSET HILL STUDIO
By Kevin Young . | Photos by Colombine Drouin .
When I get a hold of Ian Kelly , he ’ s on his way to pick up a Rogers drum kit he found on Kijiji . “ Yeah , I ’ ve got the illness ,” Kelly says , laughing .
The “ illness ,” as any gear head will tell you , is the immediate and irresistible desire to get more instruments , recording gear , or other bits of music or production technology because , well , it ’ s there . That said , Kelly seems to have a mild form of the condition given that Sunset Hill , the studio he built adjacent to his home three years ago , though undeniably well-stocked with musical gear , avoids excess and is tailored to his specific needs as a songwriter , recording artist , and producer .
Home , incidentally , is in Morin Heights in the Laurentian Mountains , where , Kelly adds : “ It ’ s gorgeous today .” And it often is . It ’ s a well-known , all-season getaway spot roughly 45 minutes from Montreal – the kind of place where you ’ re close to the city , but feel distant . “ It ’ s a beautiful area ,” he enthuses , “ and when I spend time in Montreal and then get home , it just feels so good .”
Inevitably , any conversation about Morin Heights in audio circles brings up memories of Le Studio , a destination recording facility built in the early 1970s that hosted the likes of Rush , David Bowie , The Police , and many others over time . Although it ’ s been closed for years and the site of a suspicious fire in mid-2017 , a lot of people bring it up , Kelly says , and while undeniably a great studio , one of the main things that made it so special was the environment and the isolation .
Similarly , Sunset Hill is all about environment , designed and built primarily for Kelly ’ s personal use .
When conceptualizing the space , one of Kelly ’ s main considerations was staying close to home . “ My definition of success has changed since I started out 20-something years ago ,” the 38-year-old singer / songwriter explains . “ Now , part of my definition of success is not wearing shoes even – the studio has a heated floor . If I feel like working in my pyjamas , I can . That ’ s what I wanted . I thought about not having it attached to the house , but in the end , it was just such a luxury .”
The layout Kelly decided to go with was informed by his decidedly DIY process and that he spends much of his time working alone . “ I wanted a space that was going to sound really good , but I wanted to have a control room that was also the live room . It was a challenge because you obviously want the room dead enough that you can mix in it , but live enough that it ’ s interesting when you ’ re recording other instruments .”
One of the reasons he opted for the dual-purpose space is from past recording experiences , Kelly says , referencing one album project where the studio ’ s live room was used primarily to store dead cases . “ I thought it was a
38 • PROFESSIONAL SOUND