Connect
To Top

Meet Brad Smalling of Evergroove Studio in Evergreen

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brad Smalling.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It sounds cliché, but as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved music. My parents and grandmother are music lovers so that probably has something to do with it.

I didn’t actually start playing music until junior high when I joined the school band. Then my buddy, Kevin, came up to me in the 8th grade and asked if I could play bass. I couldn’t but I’d learn to soon enough! And that conversation kickstarted my career in audio.

My parents were incredibly supportive. We immediately sought out a bass and an amp and I took a few lessons. I quickly realized that I learned by ear much better than what I was being taught so I stopped the lessons and just started practicing. Soon I moved to guitar. Funny thing though – I found myself a bit more interested in the tone and sound of the guitars on my favorite recordings instead of how to be a technically proficient player. Through high school, I would put on an album and just play through it top to bottom all the while augmenting and soloing in my own style over these recordings. As I neared graduation, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted a music degree.

I took some guitar classes at a local community college to prepare me for college-level courses.Once in college, I spent all day studying and practicing music. Then it hit me one day, “What was I going to do with a guitar performance degree?”

The question was crippling.

At the time, the only option was to be a session player on the East or West coast or teach lessons. I didn’t want to do either so I started to research audio production degrees. I considered a few schools and had settled on Middle Tennessee State University which was known for its audio production degree program. I toured the school and was ready to attend and then a job came my way that took me down a completely different path.

I became an IT professional.

Yep, not even I saw that coming! But there I was working with computers, specifically as a server administrator, and what do you know – I was good at it and it paid well. So I stuck with it for quite a while – almost ten years, I think.

It was about four years into that IT career that I realized I felt… uneasy. There was this “thing” I had wanted to do but never did and that “thing” was to learn audio recording. So I built a very humble, one room recording “studio” in our basement. I started recording whatever I could get my hands on even if it was just me and a guitar or a friend’s daughter playing piano in their home. I was hooked. I seriously couldn’t get enough.

My wife and I started looked at houses in the foothills and found a cabin on 4.5 acres with a detached, 750 sq. ft. garage. It was perfect! We purchased the house in Fall 2001 and I continued to teach myself audio engineering while still maintaining an IT career. However, after a few layoffs and the tech. crash, we decided that maybe it was time to build the studio and start our own business where we would be more in control of our future.

Construction started in 2003 and completed in 2006. Instead of staying in IT while we built the studio, I became an electrical apprentice. I would get up at 4am to be at work by 6am. I’d leave work at 3pm and be home by 4pm and I would work on the studio until 10pm.

Rinse. Repeat.

The time went by really fast. In hindsight, it’s great that it took us this long to build the studio. It allowed us to work and save up money for each phase of the construction. It taught us patience, perseverance and gave us a chance to truly evaluate each step of the process which helped us make informed decisions. This wisdom we carried with us into the business.

Finally, Evergroove Studio opened in September 2006 and it’s been a wild ride ever since. Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t an overnight success or a “build it and they will come” scenario. Instead, we’ve had slow steady growth every year and it’s taken a while to get to the point of paying me a steady salary but that slow steady growth continues – and it’s truly amazing. I am grateful for each day that I’m allowed to get up and help artists realize their dreams of recording. It doesn’t matter if it is a full band production, singer/songwriter, or simply mixing and/or mastering a single. Every day I’m grateful.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting your own business, regardless of what your industry may be, is never smooth.

The struggles started during construction. Like all projects, we went over budget and, at times, I was up until 2am working to meet a deadline. I can remember carrying 12 ‘ sheets of 5/8″ drywall, by myself, at 10pm with a broken finger thinking, “What the hell am I doing?!” But it was too late. We were neck-deep in construction and there’s no turning back at that point. So we pushed forward.

The first real scare/struggle/fright was when I finally decided to leave the day job as an electrical apprentice and focus on the studio full time. I can remember having just enough bookings that it meant me not being able to commit to the day job. So I resigned. Almost half of those studio bookings then canceled due to band drama or politics (it happens) and it was scary. However, Jenny and I make a great team and she and I sat down and came up with a budget to get us through. We made it through but it was a bit rough,

Also, like many creatives, I suffer extreme imposter syndrome and, I feel, possibly mild depression. I mean there are times when things are going great – I mean really great – and then a band decides to go to another studio. In that moment, you just suddenly feel helpless and question your life choices. It’s painful. I’ve learned to push through a lot of this and recognize when it’s about to happen, and I’ve come to learn that it’s not me. It’s just a part of doing business. When this happens, one thing I do, and recommend anyone else do as well, is to write down the active and upcoming projects you have. You suddenly realize that you’re doing great work and are much busier than you think.

Our location can be a bit of a challenge but, at the same time, it’s also a blessing. It means that artists who come here, who seek us out, who want to work with us, are typically wanting to do something different. They’re tired of the usual studio vibe. They’re tired of basement “studios.” They hunger for an experience. At the same time, I’m sure there are many artists that see us on a map and think, “Nah. Too far” and then spend more time commuting across town to their day job than they would driving to the studio. But this is on us. This is about educating musicians and it’s a challenge I actually love working on.

Evergroove Studio – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
At its core – I’m an audio professional specializing in recording, mixing, and mastering music across many genres. Aaron Howell of MF Ruckus recently put it into words: “You’re a producing engineer. You don’t hesitate to lend an opinion, to get involved, to help musicians record and release the best music they can.” I never really thought of it that way, but I guess he’s right. Really, I just wanna do the best job I can for artists because, after all, it’s my name on the album too!

I consider it an honor to be chosen to help an artist make an album or a single. They could go anywhere but they choose me and since my name is, hopefully, going to be on the release then I want to help them make the best music they can. At the same time, I can be hands-off as well. Still, I won’t hesitate to speak up if I feel there’s a better take or option for a track or an album.

As a company, I’m proud that we’re known as a different studio; the kind of studio you seek out for an experience. The Evergroove Experience may not be for all bands, and that’s okay, but those that do choose to hire us become more than clients – they become family.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Some of my proudest moments are when a band first hears their music coming out of the studio monitors. And I’m talking about the raw recording. Nothing has been mixed. Nothing mastered. It’s just raw audio straight from the microphone to the speakers. In that moment, when the band has worked so hard to prepare for the studio and they are hearing playback for the first time… and cannot believe it’s their music out of those speakers. It’s in that moment when you realize you’re capturing lightning in a bottle and that the band is truly inspired. It’s in that moment that I know I’ve done my job and that I’ve done right by the artist.

Some fun notable “WOAH” moments…

Jenny and I were seeing an Evergroove band at Lion’s Lair and the TV was on in the bar. We looked up and saw another Evergroove client playing keys for Jack White. It was so surreal. We at one of the smallest bars in Denver watching a killer local act, who happens to be a client, while at the same time seeing an artist we had just mastered an album for backing Jack White on Saturday Night Live. Woah!

Another proud moment was running sound at Red Rocks for a local band I work with live and in studio. So surreal and terrifying at the same time. That imposter syndrome was creeping in but I didn’t let it get a hold of me. We had a great night and it was a great show. I can’t wait to do it again!

Pricing:

  • Mastering $55 per song.
  • Mixing $300 per song.
  • Recording is $50 per hour.
  • Mix Coaching/ Audio Consulting $50 per hour.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Brad Smalling, Ethan Kotel

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in