It was much like living in a fortress surrounded by generational poverty. A poorly maintained Victorian in the lower Haight was both our home and our studio. Paint, some green plants and a Tascam four track were all we needed to restore the house to glory. We got a big Yamaha pm1000 mixing board from Black Market music and moved the studio out of Andy s bedroom and into the basement. The Vic was a three story, two unit house with a 1000 square foot basement the landlord had converted into a 3 bedroom apartment.
Unfortunately for her but lucky for us the city had the unit zoned for only two flats. Basement bedrooms became isolation rooms, the living room became a control room and another our recording room. Our bands were beginning to break up, Rock and Roll was exhausted so my roommates and I turned to traditional country and western music for inspiration. Andy played bass, Kevin played drums, my girlfriend sang and I played guitar. We were called Corn & co. and played regularly at the Paradise Lounge and the El Rio. Betsy (my girl) was a local rockstar and still had a lot a fans from our old band Papa Wheelie. It was a lot of fun drinking, chicken pickin, and doing an occasional Jimmy Driftwood song.
Meanwhile back in the basement cables and wires had multiplied and an eight-track half-inch tape recorder had replaced the four-track. Andy and I started recording the new songs. We had our friends Steve Cornell (Red Meat) play some pedal steel and the late Anthony Quezada play some guitar. Aaron Nudleman (Mens Club) also laid down some tracks but I don't think they were used.
We pressed the record labels first release in 1994. Andy named the record label RODENT RECORDS, probably because we were so underground, literally in a basement. In a curious twist he created a LOGO that was a weasel. I still don't know if this was because our original four track recordings were created under the moniker KINTO WEASEL or if he had dedicated the logo to a sick ferret we had rescued from a cruel owner.
The first release, catalog number RR003 featured Betsy's beautiful voice. Two songs from the original Corn & co. sessions. The A side was "Pretty Girl" a dreamy song about a girl running off with an outlaw and breaking her parents hearts. The B side "Home Sweet Home" was a funny song about cheating and lying. This single has been out of print for some time and is quite rare.
We recorded and mixed one more release in our lower Haight studio, RR1004. SPOTO was Jim and Tom Galbraiths band after FieldTrip dissolved. It included Steve Cornell on guitar and Jason Kotas on bass. However before the sessions were complete Tom left the band. Lev Delaney replaced Tom and tracking began in spring 1995. We produced two songs that had great garage guitars and gritty vocals. "Standing In Your Shadow" and the single, not surprisingly, sold well in Spain.
In 1996 we moved. Betsy and I split up, Andy got married and Kevin went back to school. But the studio continued to grow. The new space was a 2000 square ft. warehouse on Napoleon St. The name we chose for the studio reflected industrial open-mindedness with a desire for travel. The GLOBAL AMERICAN located at 250 Napoleon St. #N became our new home (I actually lived there for a brief period). The three of us Andy, Kevin and I put every dollar we made into the facility.
It took us three months of hanging sheetrock and installing conduit before the studio was ready to start recording. We had our eight track and we had a DAT machine, a bunch a good mics and now, real control and tracking rooms. The Tascam 38 half-inch served us well and we recorded lots of local bands and gradually bought more gear. In 1996 we purchased a Studer A80 sixteen track two-inch tape recorder. That spring we started working simultaneously on two full-length recordings. RR013 was SPOTOS first release as a three piece (Steve Cornell had left to tour full time with Red Meat). This was a unique CD, it was split with friends, NATURAL FONZIE and featured a bonus encore with both bands. Natural Fonzie recorded seven songs at Big Rehab studios with Aaron Nudleman and Pat Klemm and SPOTO contributed seven songs which we did in house at the Global American. The collaboration "He ain't heavy he's my brother" was recorded at both studios.
RR014 was started at the same time. It was the most fulfilling and most disappointing record we've made. Fulfilling because it was truly a masterpiece and disappointing because the band did not remain together long enough to reap the rewards."Heavy Wants to Eat" was The Burners first full release and the record on which we began exploring a more psychedelic sound. In the fall of 1996 we secured distribution with Valley Record Distributors. There was lots of interest in the band and in "Heavy Wants to Eat". College radio embraced it, but it had the potential to break commercially. Unfortunately a year later after a gig at the Fillmore the band split up.
During this time Rodent Records had become involved with some underground art-spaces. The Star Cleaners would host weekly rock shows and many of the bands we were working with could be found playing there regularly in front of large audiences. The proprietor, Jennifer Shagawat and Rodent Records began putting on annual concerts at the Golden Gate bandshell with the bands that played at our space. This was always a lot of fun and a great showcase for our bands.
We also were working with another space in San Francisco's Mission District called The LAB and culminated in 1996 with a large production event. I wrote and directed a two hour rock opera with a cast of fifty people. It was a fantastic event. Many artists participated including the KNITTLES (who were the rock and roll saviors), NATURAL FONZIE, FANTASY, SHAWNA (from The Gun & Doll Show), CHANTIGS, the BURNERS, and STATIC FACTION. This was really a highlight of that period.
In 1997 we released two more 45rpm singles RR015 and RR016. RR015 was STATIC FACTIONs first release and featured the original three piece lineup. The "A" side "Pretential" was perfect representation of the psychedelic punk rock that was happening in the Mission. The "B" side "Ritual Instance" was some glorious transcendental mystical punk that nobody was doing. We have to reorder this release frequently. The second release RR016 was from NATURAL FONZIE. This release featured the super talented Paul Hoaglin from the Mother Hips on keyboards (Aaron Nudleman had left to tour with the MENS CLUB). Both songs were supremely psychedelic.
In the summer of 1998 we recorded another masterpiece. RR018 "Up With CHANTIGS" took a long time to make but it was definitely worth the wait. Released in the fall of 1998 this record continued what had become the sound of Rodent Records, psychedelic pop with a diverse amount of influences.
In 2000 we acquired a 1983 MCI JH600 mixing console, an OTARI MTR20, Nick Dumitriu (future LRS partner) and a hammond M series w/ Leslie 122. Now, it was clear it was time to move.
We began looking for a new place in the fall of 2001 and in the spring of 2002 moved to a new 15,000 sqft. building at the corner of 18th and Minnesota. It was an old wooden building from around the time of the war (very barn like). With help from friends, family and visa we built our new studio. This facility was much larger than our previous place and had both monthly lockouts (24) and a 5000 sq ft recording studio.
We upgraded the studio in 2004. At this time. Eric Haas who shared a similar passion for making great records, joined the company. We continued to expand and upgrade our digital systems while at the same time digging deeper into older vintage gear.
In late 2006 we met Jack Crymes who changed my perspectives on all I had been doing up to this point.
By now we were approaching the end of our lease at the Minnesota st. studios and began looking for a suitable building to move to.
After a roller coaster ride around the San Francisco real estate market we were able to negotiate a deal for an excellent space that had formally been STUDIO 612, a well renown film and photo studio complex not far from our previous location. In the spring of 2010, Nick Dumitriu (Nick had left the company after the move from Napoleon st. to Minnesota st.) re-joined the company as a partner and we moved to 672 Toland Place and began construction of 50 monthly lockouts and a real world class recording studio.
January 1st 2011 we opened our doors and changed our name to
LIGHT RAIL STUDIOS
-Elton
The following few years saw a storm of sawdust and sheet rock as we built the place out to our exacting specifications. We hammered out 53 monthly lockout rehearsal studios, a radio station (currently occupied by KXSF 102.5FM), and a 5,000 square foot recording studio.
Nonetheless, we had to stay true to our creative muses.
We recorded albums by classic luminaries as well as countless records by outstanding local bands. We used our enormous live room to host weddings, product launches, record swaps, and a ‘School Of Rock’ camp.
In 2015, we acquired a huge collection of priceless vintage audio gear from the closure of Bayview Recorders in Richmond, CA. The centerpiece of this collection (and the focal point of our studio) is a 1971 Trident A-Range console, a ‘unicorn’ amongst audiophiles and music professionals. One of 14 ever made, these Trident boards have recorded your favorite records: The White Album, Hunky Dory, Queen II, Transformer, Moving Pictures, and many more. It still sounds incredible.
Eventually we started to delve into the visual world, producing music videos and short narrative episodic vignettes, as well as delving head-first into professional streaming. With our high-end audio profile, we were able to provide an extremely high-quality streaming and musical experience. Our partnerships with local tech giants allowed us to create a fantastic broadcast experience with interactive features.
As we charge into immersive 360 audio and video, Light Rail is well-positioned to fuse cutting edge technology and old-fashioned artistic exploration into the 21st century.