They spent it on a dream.
On this week's episode of the Discograffiti Soldiers of Sound podcast, Adem Kerimofski told Rudy Fischmann and I this amazing story. He was backstage with the Australian band Custard, listening to Wowee Zowee by Pavement The Rock Band. He asked them if the reason they chose to record at Easley Studios in Memphis was because that Pavement record was made there.
They said yes. They had major label money for once in their lives… and instead of upgrading apartments or buying new gear or playing it safe, they flew halfway around the world to Memphis, Tennessee to stand in the same rooms where their rock contemporaries and idols stood. Adem said this beautiful phrase... "They spent it on a dream."
That phrase wrecked me in the best way.
Because that’s what artists do when they’re serious. They don’t just spend time practicing. They don’t just spend energy. They don’t just spend years obsessing over taste and tone and feeling.
Sometimes they spend actual money. And it’s never logical. Cause you never make any.
Some of my favorite songs ever were recorded at Easley. Records by Pavement, Silver Jews , Wilco, GUIDED BY VOICES CAT POWER and so many more.
It reminds me of when my friend Chris asked me to produce his record and said, “You get to pick the studio.”
I said, “Anywhere?
”He said, “Anywhere.”
So I chose another Memphis studio.. Ardent Studios Memphis. Because everyone from Isaac Hayes, to Big Star to R.E.M., to Cat Power had recorded there. I felt like it was the perfect place to make a soulful piano singer-songwriter type rock and roll record.
Somehow he agreed and I set it up. In reality we had no business acting like big shots and no major label flipping this bill just Chris's credit cards. But we decided this would be our “go big and go broke” record and hell I wasn't paying for it so why not.
We hired background singers who’d sung on U2 and Primal Scream records. We booked the best horn players in town and got the best engineer on staff Adam Hill. We stayed in the scariest hotel by the airport, drank loads of cheap beer and the band guys all from Des Moines ate a lot of Memphis barbecue.. It was incredible... We spent it on a dream.
Memphis is a city that sweats music. From Stax Records to American Sound Studio, from Al Green studio to Ardent to Easley.. it’s holy ground for anyone who believes in the power and importance of music..
And when Adem told us about Custard flying from Australia just to record at Easley because Wowee Zowee was made there… I felt it in my bones.
That’s belief. That’s saying: if I get one shot.. even a small one... I’m putting it all in towards the thing that makes my heart beat faster.
Whether you’ve got ten dollars or ten million. Don't Stop Now and... Spend it on the dream.
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