COOL Cats

SubCat Studios' move next to the Redhouse ups the hipness quotient at 219 S. West St.

Trains are known for bringing business and visitors into a city. But in the case of local recording enterprise SubCat Studios, railroad tracks, specifically those that run over the West Fayette Street bridge just across the street from the once-vacant office building they now occupy, nearly derailed the move downtown.

"When a train goes by, it shakes the whole building," declares SubCat co-owner Ron Keck. "When we started thinking about it, we said no, it's not going to work because of the train."

But Keck, studio co-owner Jeremy Johnston and building owner and longtime collaborator Scott Allyn weren't ready to give up on moving in next door to the Redhouse at 219 S. West St., merging their state-ofthe- art technology with the cutting-edge performances of their neighbors.

"The acoustics firm {Lally Acoustical Consulting of New York City} and a great, great architect firm {New York-based Fiedler Marciano Architecture} worked diligently to see if we could make this building work," Keck says incredulously. "Sure enough, they came up with a game plan and introduced it to all of us. It took us a couple years to really get this whole place designed. This building, technically, was very, very involved. They had to float a lot of the building. It's on springs, all the control rooms are on their own spring systems so you don't have any vibration."

A recording studio suspended on shock absorbers is impressive, but it's only one element that makes SubCat a whole new animal. A business that started making early digital recordings in 1988 in Keck's Eastwood home and at such illustrious remote locations as the Eastwood Beer Garden, and moved to Skaneateles in 2001, has relocated to the city.

"I don't have enough money to chase around and to try to make do," says singer-songwriter Greg Hoover, among the first few artists to track in the floating studio that started operation in early April. "I have enough money to do it right. You're searching for one series of quality efforts. That's the place where you've got all the backup. It instills confidence in the artist."

SubCat's reputation preceded their move as they've recorded an average of 60 to 80 CDs a year, mostly local musicians with a sprinkling of bigger names. "We all had a chance to work with some high-profile artists, one being Colby O'Donis," Keck recalls. "He was kind of a highlight. Another highlight was Larry Gatlin, from the Gatlin Brothers. His daughter was either a teacher or going to Syracuse University and we had an opportunity to work with him in the studio. John Walsh from America's Most Wanted, he came in the studio and spent a summer with us, doing dialogue stuff for the program. In terms of other music artists, Brand New Sin we thought was kind of a highlight and we just started a new project with them."

Within the 19,200 square feet of the new complex across from the train tracks, clients and visitors can find everything necessary to produce recorded products on its three levels. The exceptionally hospitable environment includes an artist lounge, a repair shop for recording equipment and an instrument room loaded with top-of-the-line equipment. Three residential suites on the top floor provide accommodations for a live-in staff member and temporary housing for visiting artists. And the venue is open 24 hours a day.

While the process usually starts with laying the digital tracks, there's no need to go elsewhere to add such finishing touches as CD duplication and graphic arts, supplemental services that are available in-house. "We have a video company {Ultimate Cut Productions}," Keck says. "Their contribution is doing music videos for the bands that come into the studio, even remotely. They do video editing, they do photography. They do all kind of visual stuff for the artists, for the Internet, for the social media."

Ultimate Cut has opened on the second floor of the building. "These days it's so important to be located in a place where things are happening," says owner Randy Oatman. "It's definitely happening at 219."

Artists like Hoover have found that the new complex gives them the bang for their buck. "It's a convenient location in the center of the city," he says. "It's ultimately convenient to be able to do the production and everything in house: the CD, the artwork, the website, everything."

Eight compact rooms provide space for private lessons and multimedia services and complete the menu. "We've got a guy {Emmett Van Slyke} in here who's got an absolutely gorgeous film-scoring studio in the basement," Keck says. "He does Internet radio here. He does a lot of hip-hop stuff, but he does a lot of film scoring. Having him on site has been awesome. We've had artists come in who might need strings added to their music and we've sent them downstairs to have him work on it and he sends the audio files back up to the main tracking room."

Guests relaxing in the ground-level caf�, which, like the lobby and the lounge, are shared with the Redhouse, will be able to watch video feeds of performances in the theater or recording sessions. "One word that's really prevalent is synergy," Keck notes. "With the Redhouse, we helped them with the technical side of supporting the artists over there. We can record the artists that come into the Redhouse."

The move was long-anticipated for the company that opened their Skaneateles digs in 2001 with recordings of Allyn and Mark Doyle, then caught on with artists from all over Central New York. "We always knew that we were going to outgrow the place in Skaneateles," Keck reflects. "Scott actually got involved with the Westside Initiative. When he approached us and explained to us what the philosophy or objective was, we thought it was a perfect match for us.

"So we started looking in this area. It's ironic because Scott owned this building. I just approached Scott and said, 'Hey, you've got this office building, what are you going to do with it?' He said, 'Well, I'm not really sure.' I wanted to slap him, to be honest with you. I said, 'Hey, Scott, man, this is a perfect opportunity for us.'"

Seizing upon an opportunity that now seems fated, the Syracuse area's newest and most technologically advanced recording studio has now opened at the threshold to upscale Armory Square, just across from Syracuse University's visual and performing arts Warehouse. Anyone who wants to take a tour can visit this Saturday, June 11, noon to 3 p.m., during an open house.

"We actually encourage anyone who wants to take a look at a very advanced building, something you would only see in New York or LA," Keck says. "We'll have people in each area who can talk a little about each room and can explain a little bit about the technical side of the rooms."

The new studio's owners are also laying out the welcome mat for local producers in general. "Yes, it is SubCat, but this is also for other engineers who want to come in and utilize a professional environment that they would not normally get a chance to use," Keck emphasizes. "There are other fantastic engineers here in Syracuse and I would be honored to have those guys utilize our place."

Engineers who take Keck up on the invitation will find a true 21stcentury recording studio. "This building is pretty advanced," Keck asserts. "It's not something you just throw together. You've got to have people who know what they're doing acoustically. The other advanced technology is the computer side of things. We've got the latest and greatest in computers. The wiring in this place is just ridiculous. Every room is wired to a main patch system. The majority of our stuff is done in very high resolution and high sample rates."

Technology aside, there's certainly no questioning the creative inspiration of a team that builds a studio on springs.

[Sidebar]

Session men: Greg Hoover on piano (facing page) and John Dancks on bass record some tracks at SubCat Studios; the instrument room contains guitars, amplifiers and other items recording artists can borrow; Joanne Perry (bottom, left), Jeremy Johnston and Greg Hoover listen at the mixing console; and the studio gives an architectural lift to Armory Square.

The beat goes on: Kevin Dean, drummer for Brand New Sin, lays down a track at SubCat Studios while, at a different recording session, Cathy Wentham contributes background vocals for Greg Hoover.