Luke Amble (on right) looks on at a computer screen as an artist records his music behind him. (Photo property of Great White Studio).
By: Jacob Elyachar
Two years ago, Luke Amble and his friend Mike Smith founded Great White Studio in Tucson, Arizona. Luke and Mike established the studio to help both local and national recording artists understand the complex music industry. Among the artists that have produced music with them include Bring Me The Horizon, Matt Lynn and Signals. Recently I had the chance to talk to Luke on how he got interested in the music industry, the short history of the studio and what he would say to aspiring recording artists who want to work with him.
Jacob Elyachar: How did you get into the music industry?
Luke Amble: I started out playing the trumpet in my middle school’s concert band. I got into classical music and played in symphonies. However, I started listening to rock and roll music and I got interested in that also because it was another outlet to express myself throughout high school. I started playing bass guitar, joined bands and actually started to play around Phoenix actually and I kept playing through college and I toured and released two albums with my band. Music is a great and passionate outlet for me and it helped me through some tough times growing up and it became something I wanted to use to help people out with and I think that music is one of the most important therapies and it is important to write music and share it with others.
JE: You are not seen without your partner-in-crime and co-owner of Great White Studio, Mike Smith. How did you guys meet?
LA: We both went to the University of Arizona (in Tucson). He was living at my sister’s apartment and I went over there to watch the Office one day and he was just playing ping pong with some guys and we played ping pong together and we realized that we liked a lot of the same small Indie bands that most people do not know about and it was cool to find somebody who liked that style of music and we also played in bands and we had a really good connection from the start and it was all based on music.
JE: Could you describe to me the history of your studio?
LA: I had been in bands for a really, really long time and we always did our own pre-production of our albums and I always enjoyed that process. I would always be the one who help produce the tracks, help with both the instrumental and vocal harmonies and work on the arrangements. The idea of being in a band kind of fizzled out of me and I lost interest, got frustrated and did not like the concept of going on tour anymore but I always enjoyed the production element of it and it occurred to me that I can still do these things and I can help out other young musicians, who were in the same positions I was in and putting together songs and stuff and I have knowledge I can share with them and I can learn from them too.
My previous band had a lot of disappointing recording sessions where the person recording accidently invests in our band and failed to see our vision where we were going for as artists. He also neglected the project and the results of that were a couple of albums that were a big disappointment to me and I was always frustrated that the people running the studios were not passionate about music to get involved with the bands that they were recording.
My take on having a studio is actually to share my experiences and to create a family environment that where we are all working on the recordings and songs in a big production environment. We also want to help the artists realize their value, their potential and help push them as a group and individual musicians.
JE: What services does the Great White Studio provide for artists or bands that are interested in recording with you?
LA: Obliviously, we provide recording services so bands can come in and record songs and all of their music. We do live tracking, which means that when you are playing guitars you are usually playing out of a guitar amp opposed to direct recording, which are completely digital recordings. We also do hip-hop beats or techno or Dubstep beats, we can provide those things for the artist. The Great White Studio also offers mixing, matching and full production services that include creating your demos or they would come in and help arrange your songs or change your instrumentation or melodies. We also offer studio musicians to work with the recording artists as well.
JE: How many artists do you have in your line-up? What do each of these artists bring to the table?
LA: Right now, I say we have worked with 15 artists and the cool thing about the artists we have worked with and given both my background and Mike’s background in music is that we have played different genres and all the bands that we have worked with sound completely different. We have done everything from metal to hard-core rock to hip-hop and alternative rock. We just released a contemporary worship album and have been working on solo acoustic projects and we’ve had the pleasure and excitement of working with every single one of these artists.
The most important thing about the artists that we target or we work with is that they are passionate about their music and they are not just playing music because they want to look cool or hip to people but they are truly dedicated and passionate about what they are doing.
JE: Do you have any advice for aspiring artists who want to work with you?
LA: Any person who wants to do music and be a recording artist needs to understand that to become a big brand is not an easy thing to do. They will need to make a lot of sacrifices and they also need to take a lot of time out of your life to devote time to practice daily, develop and expand your skills as an artist. Also you need to have a drive and truly care about your music.
To learn more about the Great White Studio, visit their Website: http://greatwhitestudio.org/
