Interview Outtakes: Firebrand Recording Co-Owner Brian Scheffer on the Studio's Origins

courtesy of the Blind Eyes

The Blind Eyes chilling at Firebrand

Tomorrow night, Off Broadway is hosting the Firebrand Recording Showcase, which features the Blind Eyes, Kentucky Knife Fight and the Humanoids. Tickets are $10 for those over 21, $13 for those under, and the show starts at 9 p.m. In this week's paper, Ryan Wasoba spoke to co-owner Brian Scheffer about the studio and its m.o. Below, outtakes in which they talk about Firebrand's origins.

Ryan Wasoba: I know you ran a home studio for years. Can you give me the run-down of how Firebrand came to be?
Brian Scheffer: I was in and out of a bunch of different houses recording other people's bands for five or six years and getting into it pretty seriously. I knew Nelson [Jones, Firebrand co-owner] since high school, but we went our separate ways. When we crossed paths again it turns out we were both doing the same thing; he had gone to Full Sail University in Florida for recording. He approached me about joining forces and getting a legitimate commercial space. I was thinking, "Okay, I've got a couple years."

I'm guessing you didn't actually have a couple years.
No, not at all. Nelson happened to hear about a studio that was closing, but nobody knew the name. When we finally found it, it was a do-it-or-don't situation. If we didn't buy the space, it probably would have been turned into an office. We signed the lease in November of 2005 and were in here until March setting it up and building the space. It was a bit of a learning curve because we're audio geeks and aren't really used to building things.

Did you ever find out what studio it was before?
Yeah, it was called Boss Man Recording, which is an awesome name. I remember seeing their website before we moved in or even thought it was a possibility and thinking, "Wow, this place looks great. Look at those floors!"