Ryan Eversole
Secret Sounds Music
Homepage: http://www.secretsoundsmusic.com
Feature By: Matt Rust / Jonathan Earley
Nestled within the corner of what our city planners have nicknamed the "big block" of Columbus because of its high-concentration of residential homes, you will find the newly established musicians' paradise that Ryan Eversole has dubbed Secret Sounds. Familiar neighbors are the Big Cheese, Sabor La Vida, and the one-time location of the Board Room skate shop/music venue.
A beacon of light for the younger generation of musicians in this town because of its selection of quality instruments, amplifiers, and accessories being offered at prices comparable to mail-order and big-box instrument retailers, it is safe to say the "secret" is getting out. The fun doesn't stop at the store-front either. Secret Sounds is also a full-service recording studio, including one of the classiest lounges I have ever seen, which is available to bands for relaxing between sessions. For those of you who aren't musicians quite yet, Secret Sounds also offers one-on-one lessons on guitar, bass, and vocals.
I had the pleasure to be one of the first customers to walk through the doors of Secret Sounds when it opened in late January and since that day, both the store and studio have grown by leaps and bounds. While the building has been tastefully arranged from the beginning, it seems that guitars are now hanging from every wall and amplifiers are inhabiting much more of the floor space than they used to. Secret Sounds offers iconic brands that can't be found within the nearest 50 miles such as Hagstrom and Airline guitars along with Bogner and Orange amplifiers, among with many other choices.
While this write-up sounds more like an advertisement than the unbiased review that it should be, my only defense is the fact that since their doors have opened, I haven't visited any of the other shops in town and I honestly believe that you owe it to yourself to check out Secret Sounds. We had the pleasure to speak with Ryan about the shop and studio:
C-buz: What has been your history with recording?
Ryan Eversole: I started in recording by
releasing other bands recordings on my small indie record label called
Red Media from 2000-2003. I always loved the prospect of being a part
of a great album or band and this eventually convinced me to attend
Full Sail University for audio engineering and music business. While
there, I received my Associates in Recording Arts and learned how to
engineer, mix, and edit music in both analog and digital environments.
I also studied post production, foley, and live sound.
CB: Do you play any instruments?
RE: I've been playing guitar
and bass since 1996. I'm infatuated with guitars and I've owned well
over 100 different guitars since I started playing. I teach both
instruments at my business and while I wouldn't consider myself a
virtuoso on guitar, I'm a very hands on teacher that excels with
beginners and with creating music.
CB: Have you played in any
bands?
RE: I dabbled early in high school and played a few concerts here and there. I was in a bunch of short-term, oddly named bands such as: Neurosis Lymph, Billies Idols, Rusted Chain, and a few more I'll forgo mentioning. Lack of motivation on the part of my cohorts prompted me to stop playing in bands and start focusing on working with bands that were more serious. I spent most of my teenage years helping other bands with booking shows, marketing and releasing albums, and putting on concerts locally. However, I am currently looking to put a band together.
CB: What was the whole process with getting the space to set up your store/studio? How much forethought went into it before you actually decided to go forward with your plans?
RE: In essence, this
business has been in the works since 2003. It was back then that I
decided I wanted to run my own music store. I didn't get serious about
the idea until 2006, while finishing up my bachelors degree. I gave
myself 2 options after college: move back to the Columbus area and open
up my own store, or move to NYC or LA and start at the bottom (intern)
of someone else's recording studio or record label and work my way up.
Well, I grew up as an entrepreneur and always pictured creating my own
place in life, so Secret Sounds Music was born. After a long search and
almost landing in downtown Seymour, the 2310 Cottage property was
purchased in 2007. From then until late 2008, we changed the renovation
and business plans twice and I moved back to Florida for my masters
degree. I started the project up again in late in 2008 and after the
renovations took 3x as long as planned, the business finally opened on
January 25th, 2010.
CB: What kind of setup do you have
equipment-wise?
RE: I run a digital studio, utilizing the latest version of
Pro Tools HD and the Pro Tools C24 mixing console in a Mac environment.
We use Shure, Sennheiser, AKG, Royer, and all of the standard
microphones for production. For mic pre-amps, we have this awesome
Focusrite Liquid 4PRE, which is a 4 channel pre-amp that emulates 40 of
the classic and most sought after pre-amps around. Our rooms are
acoustically built and isolated from the building and from each other
and we use a modular vocal booth for flexibility. We're setup to do
anything from song snippets and radio commercials to full-length albums.
CB: What are your thoughts on the Columbus music scene?
RE: I'd like to see it flourish more like it did when I was 16. I remember when there were almost too many local concerts and bands to choose from and now the events are pretty scarce. We used to have touring bands from all over come to Columbus fairly often and now this just doesn't seem to happen anymore. The city and downtown area might have taken steps forward but it feels like the local music/entertainment scene has taken 2 steps back.
“I'd like to see more people take ownership and band together to make this a better place for music. I think we need to get together a group of determined individuals to help enrich and expand our music scene.”
CB: What do you hope to bring to Columbus through your studio?
RE: I hope to energize the
music/creative scene and provide a place for local musicians to hang
out, check out some cool gear, or record their latest demo or album.
There just aren't any places around that can provide a great recording
solution for serious musicians. I also hope that I'll be providing a
great environment for people learning instruments. We built the lesson
rooms to be comfy because most lessons rooms in the area are no bigger
than a closet, which definitely doesn't put the students at ease. It's
pretty hard to learn when you're worried about getting hit in the face
with a guitar. The one last thing I'm
hoping to bring to Columbus is some wild and beautiful art. We're in
the process of setting up a small gallery of artwork for sale in
between the store and studio parts of our business. We have this nice
big hallway we're intending to use for hanging outsider, surrealistic,
music-related, or just plain talented artwork. We're looking for
artists to consign.
CB: Do you have any words of wisdom to aspiring
producers or musicians who are just starting out?
RE: You have to want to do the work. If you're wanting to be a musician, you need to put in the practice and gain all of the knowledge and experience that you can. When I wanted to be a musician, I took lessons, practiced, started bands, and spent a lot of time inside guitar stores. When I wanted to be on the business side, I booked concerts, volunteered with record labels, managed bands, and majored in it in college. There aren't any shortcuts.