Doug Wilkin and The Sweet Life in Regent Square
Jonathan Ritz
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
“So, how shall we tackle this?” Doug Wilkin is holding a brief pre-production meeting with Sue Gartland, Stacy Mates, and Patti Spinner, who are preparing to record a 3-part harmony for Sue’s forthcoming CD. The song is “Drive Thru,” a spirited folk-pop take on modern fast food culture, but Doug suggests a retro sound for the vocals, something akin to the Andrews Sisters. Ideas are bounced back and forth – whether to use 3 mics or just one, how to balance the mix – and then Doug sweetens the deal – literally. As a reward for “the perfect take,” he holds out the promise of fresh gingerbread cookies from Sweetie Sweetie, a bakery located a few blocks away on Braddock Avenue, the main thoroughfare through his Regent Square neighborhood.
The entire first floor of Doug’s house is dedicated to his recording studio and music production business, Wilkin Audio; he lives in an apartment on the second floor. Inside the studio, the atmosphere is wood grain and soft lighting, with a pleasant scent of sandalwood incense lingering in the air. Several large canvas baffles on the walls look to be placed as much for aesthetic as acoustic effect. As in most modern recording studios, the enormous control console and reel-to-reel tape machine have been replaced by a powerful desktop computer and two sleek flat screen monitors. The feel of the room is warm but streamlined; you might think you’re in someone’s home office, except perched over the desk are two enormous studio monitors, high-tech speakers used for mixing and mastering recordings.
In the Beginning
Doug’s career in the recording business first began in radio. “I discovered that I enjoyed the production end of things more than being on the air,” he relates, and in 1990 he first set up shop in Greensburg, PA. Last year he decided to relocate to Pittsburgh. After looking at a number of spaces, he came across the perfect one in Regent Square. “It was a Mom and Pop store years ago, then it was owned by a pair of architects who designed a great apartment on the upper level. I gutted the main floor and designed the studio.” He discovered that the neighborhood was also a good match for someone in his line of work. “Regent Square is a little enclave that has an urban yet residential vibe. It’s close to everything but quiet, a must when recording acoustic music.”
He keeps busy with a diverse set of projects, including radio spots, audio for TV, and narration for industrial videos, but his main focus is recording music, especially original acoustic music. His studio has become one of the centers of life for the singer-songwriter movement in Pittsburgh, and a steady stream of musicians come through his doors to cut demos, singles, and full albums.
Artists he’s produced can be heard on folk-friendly station WYEP, and the station singled out two Wilkin Audio-produced albums, by Jack Erdie and the band Jack, as notable local releases of 2005 and 2006. He also produces a yearly compilation of Pittsburgh singer-songwriters sponsored by Calliope, the Pittsburgh Folk Music Society. Working closely with this community has given him an appreciation of the local music scene, especially those toiling in the sometimes under-the-radar singer-songwriter genre. “There’s a wealth of talent in Pittsburgh,” he says. “Most people have day gigs and are raising families, but they have another life in their songs.”
A musician himself, Doug handles guitar duties for a number of local groups, most notably The NewLanders, a self-proclaimed “ultimate retro band” who play contemporary arrangements of traditional Pennsylvania folk songs (the band’s name refers to the ambassadors William Penn dispatched to entice early immigrants to settle in this region). The NewLanders recently released the CD Born of Fire (recorded at Wilkin Audio, naturally), and then, like any good band, hit the road to promote it. The first stop? Cologne, Germany, a city with an industrial history similar to Pittsburgh’s.
The band performed at several interesting venues, including a former steel plant converted into an interactive museum (something we might consider doing with one of our retired facilities, Doug points out). Not surprisingly, the band’s reinterpreted, re-energized anthems of Western Pennsylvania’s steam and slag past struck a rich chord with the German audiences, who packed houses all along the way. Plans for a wider follow-up tour are already in the works.
Back home in Regent Square, Doug has taken to his new neighborhood in a big way, especially its pedestrian-friendly layout. “I can stop at my bank, have a beer, and see a film.” There’s also Frick Park just a few blocks away, and that neighborhood bakery where he can pick up a dozen cookies to help ply a sparkling performance from vocalists. And when The NewLanders needed a local pub to record a group sing-along of “Soho on a Saturday Night,” a 19th century drinking song, there was The Map Room, on Braddock Avenue, where a chorus of invited friends (and a few helpful regulars) raised their voices and glasses as Doug played guitar and ran the mixing board.
The Perfect Take
Meanwhile, back at Sue Gartland’s recording session, the discussion is over, and it’s time to sing. Sue, Patti, and Stacy head into the isolation booth to record their parts. After a tenuous take or two things are really starting to cook, but Doug thinks they can still do better. “Put a smile in your voice!” he encourages. He’s mostly kidding, but it works – the singers laugh and loosen up, and the next take is the best one yet, still tight but also relaxed in all the right places. Doug suggests a few small changes – a bit more of the high third harmony here, a note sustained for an extra measure there – and reminds the three singers of the reward that awaits. He hits the record button, the music starts, and they nail it. And then it’s cookie time.
The essays and fiction of Jonathan Ritz have appeared in many national journals, magazines, and newspapers, granting him two Pushcart Prize nominations. This is his first story for Pop City. A Pittsburgher, Jon resides digitally at ritzjonathan@gmail.com.
CaptionsDoug Wilkin and Sue Gartland in the recording booth
Mixing board
Doug Wilkin outside his Regent Square live/work studio
Guitars in the booth
Doug Wilkin in the recording studio
All photographs copyright © Jonathan Greene