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THE LAST TIME I spoke with revered Canadian producer and engineer Garth Richardson, it was 2015. He'd recently moved his operations from Gibsons, B.C. on the Sunshine Coast to Fader Mountain Sound on West 7,h Ave. in Vancouver, the former home of Little Mountain Sound. That was a product of the changing climate of the recording business, providing Richardson a space that could house any type of project - on any budget - and provide pre-production, recording, mixing, and mastering services.
The idea was to be able to do everything in house, help artists avoid moving from one studio to another, and offer them a more affordable means of making records. It was also meant to foster collaboration between established and up-and-coming producers and engineers.
Fast forward to 2016, and Richardson has moved everything back to his home on the Sunshine Coast - a secluded 13-acre farm at the end of a private dirt road halfway up one of the Coast Mountains. The benefits, he says, are the same as they were prior to the move to Vancouver - a place where the focus is on making music rather than having to deal with the many distractions of daily life. Granted, the distractions still exist - few people are actually willing to shut off their phones, disconnect, and make music in isolation from the noise and traffic of modern life - but, if anything, The Farm's setting in Gibsons might inspire people to give it a try.
Richardson has worked with many top-tier acts throughout his 42-year career, engineering recordings for the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickelback, and Motley Crüe and producing bands such as Rage Against the Machine, Mudvayne, and The Melvins. His fingerprints are all over recordings by Canadian acts like Hedley and 54-40 and superstars like KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, and Taylor Swift.
The son of legendary Canadian producer Jack Richardson, it's fair to say Garth Richardson - a JUNO-winning legend in his own right - literally grew up working at Nimbus 9, his father's studio in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood. His first album credit - at age 15 - was as second engineer on Bob Seger's Night Moves.
When your mentors include Jack Richardson, Brian Christian, and Bob Ezrin, it's...