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Fort Apache Studios is a New England recording studio focusing on alternative rock sessions produced there since 1986.
The studio was initially built by a collective begun in 1985 by musician/producer Joe Harvard and members of a band called Sex Execs: engineers Paul Q. Kolderie, Sean Slade, and Jim Fitting. [1]
Its first location was 169 Norfolk Avenue, a warehouse in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. As Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom noted, it was the height of the crack epidemic, and Roxbury was a dangerous place. As a result, Harvard gave the studio its name after the 1981 movie Fort Apache, The Bronx , which was set in a crime-ridden neighborhood. [2]
The team took a do-it-yourself approach. Drummer Billy Conway, Fitting's bandmate in Treat Her Right, framed the control room wall. [3] The studio became very active recording Boston-area indie-rock groups in 1986. It soon upgraded its early 8-track Roxbury facilities to 16-track equipment.
Fort Apache relocated its facilities above the Rounder Records warehouse and offices on Camp Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1988. Around then, Harvard briefly became sole owner.
In 1995, a larger studio was built a block away, on Edmunds Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2002, the company moved the studio from Massachusetts into space leased in an old hotel called The Windham, in Bellows Falls, Vermont. In 2007 operations in Bellows Falls were suspended and Smith moved the studio and management offices to his farm nearby in New Hampshire.
Smith used "Fort Apache" as the name of a multi-faceted company that operated the studio business, a concert promotion business, and a business managing artists such as Juliana Hatfield, Tanya Donelly and Natalie Merchant. From 2002-2006, Fort Apache additionally operated a music venue in the lobby of The Windham Hotel, where it recorded and broadcast nearly 200 live concerts. The concert venue was originally the brainchild of Smith and Charlie Hunter, owner of the Bellows Falls booking agency Flying Under Radar. In 2007, operations in Bellows Falls were suspended and Smith moved the studio and management offices to his farm nearby in New Hampshire.
Among the many major groups and artists who have recorded there over the years are the Pixies, Radiohead, Rubyhorse, Superdrag, Come, Big Dipper (band), Juliana Hatfield, Throwing Muses, Belly, Tanya Donelly, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, The Lemonheads, Volcano Suns, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Elliott Smith, Eleventh Dream Day, The Connells, The Specials, Blake Babies, Weezer, Yo La Tengo, Evan Dando, Warren Zevon, Dirt Merchants, Fat Tuesday Toys Went Berserk, The Shods, Spore, Blameless, Uncle Tupelo, Morphine (band) and many more. Check out "The Bridge - A Tribute To Neil Young" for Fort recordings of The Pixies and Dinosaur Jr.
Producers affiliated with the studio in the 1980s and 1990s included Lou Giordano, [4] studio manager Gary Smith, Sean Slade, Paul Q Kolderie,Tim O'Heir. and Matt Bayles. Smith brought the Pixies to Fort Apache to record their legendary 1987 demos later known as The Purple Tape and also produced several of Throwing Muses' 1980s albums there. Smith became a co-owner of the studio when it was moved to its 24-track Cambridge facilities in 1988. Eventually, in the 1990s, Harvard sold his ownership interests in the studio to partners Smith and Billy Bragg and departed. Fort Apache also hosted a recording label in partnership with MCA Records in the mid-1990s.
Smith brought the Pixies in to record their 1987 demos Pixies (EP) later known as The Purple Tape. Smith also produced several of Throwing Muses' albums.
The Camp Street location was above the Rounder Records warehouse and offices on Camp Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Records made in this location include Hole's Live Through This (1994), Radiohead's Pablo Honey (1993), Radiohead's The Bends (1995), Dinosaur Jr.s Green Mind , Fat Tuesday's Everybody's Got One and Buffalo Tom's Let Me Come Over (1992).
Grammy-winning producer Paul Kolderie continued to operate this studio under the Business Name "Camp Street." His most recent works include the 2014 Grammy-Nominated DELLA MAE record, the first new record in a decade by The Dismemberment Plan , as well as new records from Speedy Ortiz, Mike Gordon, Mark Mulcahy, and Yellow Ostrich.
The second location was opened in 1995 was a short walk across Mass Ave to Edmunds Street. The Edmunds street location used the same architectural plans as the Camp Street locations so that mixes could be worked on in both places. The Edmunds Street location featured a performance studio with a stage and 18' high ceilings. This improved space made it possible to record huge drum sounds like those heard on Oceanic . The Edmunds Street studio also opened the opportunity to host live concerts for the radio with artists like David Bowie, Beck, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Dinosaur Jr, Goo Goo Dolls and Radiohead. Recordings from the first series of concerts can be found on the album This is Fort Apache (1995).
In 2002 Gary Smith, who by then was sole owner of the company, moved the studio from Massachusetts to Bellows Falls, VT, while continuing to operate it under the famous Fort Apache Studios name as well. Since then, Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade have continued to run the original Fort Apache studio location under the name Camp Street Studios. For fifteen years, Smith used "Fort Apache" as the name of a multi-faceted company that operated the studio business, a concert promotion business, and a business managing artists such as Juliana Hatfield, Tanya Donelly and Natalie Merchant. From 2002-2006, Fort Apache additionally operated a music venue in the lobby of The Windham Hotel, where it recorded and broadcast nearly 200 live concerts. The concert venue was originally the brainchild of Smith and Charlie Hunter, owner of the Bellows Falls booking agency Flying Under Radar.
In 2008, The Bridge Sound & Stage began opened for business at the Edmunds Street location. The engineers at The Bridge are Owen Curtin and Janos Fulop. AR Classic Records is also run out of this location. Among the artists recording and performing in this location are Amanda Palmer, Sheryl Crow, David Gray, Keene, Slaine, Ed O.G., Jordan Knight, Moe Pope, Jared Evan, Duck Down Music Inc., Sean Price, Termanology, Slane, Monkey Knife Fight and many more.
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; the annual Roots on the River Festival; and the No Film Film Festival.
Pablo Honey is the debut studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 22 February 1993 in the UK by Parlophone and on 20 April in the US by Capitol Records. It was produced by Sean Slade, Paul Q. Kolderie and Radiohead's co-manager Chris Hufford.
Orangutang was a rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The members were Christian Dyas on vocals and guitar, Joe Klompus on bass, David Steele on guitar, and Todd Perlmutter on drums. They put out an EP, The Rewards of Cruelty, in 1993 and a full-length album, Dead Sailor Acid Blues, in 1994, both on Imago Records.
Surfer Rosa is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in March 1988 on the British label 4AD. It was produced by Steve Albini. Surfer Rosa contains many of the elements of Pixies' earlier output, including Spanish lyrics and references to Puerto Rico. It includes references to mutilation and voyeurism alongside experimental recording techniques and a distinctive drum sound.
Come On Pilgrim is the debut EP by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released on September 28, 1987, on 4AD. Produced by Gary Smith, the release consists of eight tracks from a seventeen-song recording session that the band had recorded at Fort Apache Studios in March 1987.
Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects.
Tanya Donelly is an American Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band The Breeders in 1989, before leaving to front her own band Belly in 1991. By the late 1990s, she settled into a solo recording career, working largely with musicians connected to the Boston music scene.
Pixies is an EP by the American alternative rock band of the same name, released in 2002 by SpinART Records in the U.S., Cooking Vinyl in the UK and Sonic Unyon in Canada. It consists of the remaining songs from the band's original 17-track demo tape, eight songs of which were released in 1987 as the band's debut, Come On Pilgrim. All 17 songs were recorded by Gary Smith at Fort Apache Studios in March 1987.
Pod is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released by 4AD records on May 29, 1990. Engineered by Steve Albini, the album features band leader Kim Deal on vocals and guitar, Josephine Wiggs on bass, Britt Walford on drums, and Tanya Donelly on guitar. Albini's production prioritized sound over technical accomplishment; the final takes favor the band's spontaneous live "in studio" performances.
Linoleum are a London-based indie–alternative musical group formed in 1994.
Gary Smith was an American businessman, record producer, and artist's manager, known for his work recording albums by alternative rock musicians since the mid-1980s at Fort Apache Studios. Smith, who was sole owner of the studio, first became a partner co-owning the studio business in the late 1980s, moving it from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Bellows Falls, Vermont, in 2002.
House Tornado is the second studio album by the alternative rock band Throwing Muses. Produced by Gary Smith and engineered by Paul Q. Kolderie, it was recorded at Fort Apache Studios in Cambridge, MA. The album was released in 1988 internationally on the 4AD label, except in the United States, where it was released by Sire Records. Sire used a different album cover for its release, as the label was putting a strong promotional push behind the band, and label executives favored a picture of the band over the collage featured on the 4AD release.
Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies is a 2005 book by Josh Frank and Caryn Ganz about the American alternative rock band Pixies. The book, written as an oral history, covers the career of the band from their inception in 1985, to their breakup in 1993 and eventual reunion in 2004. Fool the World features interviews and recollections from a range of characters involved with the band, including Surfer Rosa producer Steve Albini, Kim Deal's twin sister Kelley Deal and 4AD co-founder Ivo Watts-Russell, as well as each member of the band.
Paul Q. Kolderie is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer. He has worked with Pixies, Radiohead, Orangutang, Hole, Dinosaur Jr., Juliana Hatfield, Wax, Warren Zevon, Uncle Tupelo, Throwing Muses, Morphine, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Abandoned Pools, the Go-Go's, and Mike Gordon of Phish. He usually works with production partner Sean Slade.
Sean Slade is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer. On many of his productions he worked in partnership with Paul Q. Kolderie.
Q Division Studios is a recording studio located in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1986, Q Division was originally located at 443 Albany Street in Boston, but moved to a two-studio facility on Highland Avenue in Davis Square, Somerville in 2000. The studio moved to Rindge Avenue in Cambridge in 2023. Bands that have recorded at Q Division include Pixies, who recorded their debut album Surfer Rosa at the studio.
Miss Bellows Falls Diner is a historic diner at 90 Rockingham Street in Bellows Falls, Vermont. The diner was constructed in 1941 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company as #771, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Howard Hardware Storehouse is a historic storage building off Bridge Street in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Built about 1895, it is a surviving reminder of the city's railroad-related economic past, built in a distinctive tetrahedral shape to accommodate nearby railroad lines. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Joseph Incagnoli (1959–2019), better known as Joe Harvard, was an American musician, record producer, and writer, who played a key role in developing the alternative rock scene in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1980s. He founded Fort Apache Studios, along with Sean Slade, Paul Q. Kolderie, and Jim Fitting.
Sex Execs were a new wave music band from Boston, Massachusetts, active from late 1981 to mid-1984, playing bars and colleges in the Northeast. Although the group's recorded output was scanty and self-released, lasting recognition came via several notable members. The band's home studio marked the formative experience of producers Paul Q. Kolderie (bass) and Sean Slade. Other members included Jim Fitting, drummer Jerome Deupree, and saxophonist Russ Gershon.
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