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Inside Flowers Studio – Landmark Hiding in The Heart of Uptown

Flowers Studio - Enjoy the Music

One of Uptownโ€™s most notable landmarks doesnโ€™t publish its address. Since 1998,ย Flowers Studioย has recorded musicians like Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Mason Jennings, Lizzo, The Jayhawks and Jeremy Messersmith. Visitors receive a map to find the studio door in a residential neighborhood of The Wedge.

And theyโ€™ve never heard the neighbors complain. When Ed Ackerson converted a former flower shop and guitar warehouse into his home and recording studio, he invested heavily in soundproofing so no one outside could hear his four-foot-tall the 1970s โ€œmake-your-hair-fly-backโ€ speakers.

โ€œTo me, thatโ€™s part of the experience,โ€ he said. โ€œYou can really hear whatโ€™s going on.โ€

He felt it was important to create a day-lit studio in a neighborhood where bands could walk for coffee, take breaks at Namaste Cafรฉ, or grab some food at a local restaurant. He said the more typical recording experience is a 14-hour day in a windowless warehouse.

โ€œYou go in the morning and itโ€™s sunny, and you come out at 2 a.m. and itโ€™s snowing, and you think where did my life go? It makes you pasty-faced and kind of grouchy,โ€ he said.

The former floristโ€™s greenhouse โ€” still featuring a pond Ackerson remembers from childhood โ€” is converted into a lounge space for musicians to take breaks. Ackerson noted that itโ€™s become slightly less rock and roll, as it now holds a rocking horse and other toys for his daughter.

The studio stocks more than 70 microphones and a slew of instruments. One guitar can make a great record, but itโ€™s more fun to have 50, Ackerson said. After 20 years in the studio, he said he knows exactly which guitar and which amp he needs to achieve a particular sound. He doesnโ€™t want musicians to waste time thinking about tech in trial-and-error guesses.

โ€œThe gear is a path to expression. I want that path to be as short as possible. Before the inspiration goes โ€” thatโ€™s the thing thatโ€™s perishable,โ€ he said.

He described Paul Westerberg of The Replacements as a โ€œfire in a bottle dude,โ€ for example.

โ€œWhen heโ€™s ready to do it, he does it, and there is not usually a second chance,โ€ he said. โ€œโ€ฆYou better be ready to document, because itโ€™s only going to happen once.โ€

A tracking room with a piano and a drum kit allows bandmates to play as an ensemble on a single track in the old-school way of โ€™60s and โ€™70s recordings. The Jayhawks do many of their recordings that way, he said. He recalls one โ€œgoosebumpโ€ moment during the songย Listen Joeย by Golden Smog (a supergroup involving members of Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Wilco, The Jayhawks, Run Westy Run and The Honeydogs).

โ€œHearing Gary Louris and Jeff Tweedy sing and play the guitars together in a single live take was really memorable,โ€ he said.

On the track, Ackerson played a 1943 Hammond organ that still works โ€œfantastically wellโ€ and has appeared on hundreds of records.

โ€œThere is no modern equivalent,โ€ said Ackerson. โ€œโ€ฆTheyโ€™ve been touched by a tremendous number of people. It feels like part of the lexicon around here.โ€

He said the instruments are like old friends.

โ€œThis one, youโ€™ve heard on a lot of records,โ€ he said, pulling out a yellow, duct-taped tambourine that he purchased for about $9 from Guitar Center in 1997. Though he has 10 more of higher quality, that particular tambourine has appeared on nearly every record, because it blends well and doesnโ€™t distract from the music.

โ€œIt can really color a track, but you have to find the right spot for it,โ€ he said.

During aย Two Harborsย recording session, guitarist Kris Johnson said the Hammond instantly transformed one of his less favorite songs.

โ€œWhen you do your own art by yourself all the time, the edges get a little blurry after a while,โ€ Johnson said. โ€œHe is really good at hearing the song overall and picking out aspects of it that need improvement, or things that you didnโ€™t think of.โ€

Johnson is a Kingfield resident who works as a Flowers Studio engineer, Twin Town Guitars service manager, and owner of kjaudio amps used at the studio.

โ€œI canโ€™t think of any place Iโ€™ve ever been to that has such a deep gear list,โ€ he said. โ€œIf you want a sound, itโ€™s in that room.โ€

When Ackerson upgraded to a new console, Johnson essentially rewired the entire studio. He compared it to a brain transplant, and figures he soldered 2,500 connections.

โ€œThis is kind of extreme DIY here,โ€ Ackerson said.

He shoehornedย in the exact blueprints from the Fort Apache control room in Boston where he once worked, which is known for recording bands like the Pixies and Radiohead.

Ackerson is the second owner of a Studer 24 track analog machine that dates back to the late โ€™70s, and it came from the famous Record Plant studio in New York. He got a deal on it in 1998, at a moment when the technology was expected to become obsolete. He recalls eight people lifting it off the back of a truck.

โ€œWeโ€™re using the best aspects of classic production techniques,โ€ he said, explaining that he combines modern techโ€™s โ€œdirty tricksโ€ with analog sound quality.

Caleb Hinz, a member ofย The Happy Children, said heโ€™d heard about Flowers Studio since age 13, and he was a fan of Ackersonโ€™s band, BNLX.

โ€œHe seemed like sort of a local legend,โ€ he said.

He wasnโ€™t sure if his band could get into Flowers, or if it would be too high-end for them, but decided they had to try. He said they found the studio to be beautiful and homey. Ackerson checked on his napping daughter in the house between takes. When he chimed in with advice, it wasnโ€™t too harsh.

โ€œYou could tell he had the songโ€™s best interest,โ€ Hinz said.

Ackerson still buys an average of one record a day, often purchasing direct from artists via Bandcamp.

As the music industry continues to evolve, Ackerson said heโ€™s noticed that recording budgets are tighter and the work moves faster. But there are benefits to time pressure, he said.

โ€œI have a day to do these vocals, and I better do them well, as opposed to always revising things,โ€ he said.

And the sound quality, deep collection of instruments and collaborative environmentย generate tracks that canโ€™t be reproduced on oneโ€™s own, he said.

โ€œThere will always be demand for a space like this,โ€ he said.

Flowers-6

He still sees a line from the days recording with boom boxes in his parentsโ€™ basement, to the 4-track on his Harriet Avenue porch, to the professional gear in his own building. Today he runs the Susstones indie label and packages CDs in the building.

โ€œItโ€™s really important to not sell that out and stay true to what that kid believed in,โ€ he said.

Ackerson said he walks away from more business than he takes on.

โ€œI donโ€™t work on anything that I donโ€™t believe in,โ€ he said.

When he listens to a demo, he also researches the artist to discern how he can contribute to their work, looking for artistic merit and genuine expression. He wants to provide a positive force, promoting individuality and creativity.

Flowers Studio remains firmly rooted in Uptown. For Ackerson, soundproofing a studio in the heart of Uptown was well worth the expense. He visited the building back when it operated as a flower shop.

He visited the building when it was the Knut Koupee repair and rental warehouse. And he hung out with the punk rock kids who lived in the rooms upstairs. When he decided it was time to build a world-class workshop of his own, he called up the owner and made an offer.

Ackerson said he isnโ€™t among the crowd that wishes for the โ€œold Uptown.โ€ To him, the neighborhood is now much more livable, better suited for his nearly three-year-old daughter.

โ€œTwenty years ago, it was more absentee and more wild west,โ€ he said, describing a derelict Greenway and neglected properties.

โ€œI walk 99.9 percent of the time, and bike the rest of it,โ€ he said. โ€œโ€ฆBryant Lake Bowl has been my living room for a really long time.โ€

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