Pro Sound News - May 2004 Pictured here (l-r) during tracking sessions for the upcoming Interpol record: assistant Greg Giorgio, Interpol guitarist Dan Kessler (guitar), Tarquin owner/engineer Peter Katis, and Interpol singer/guitarist Paul Banks. Bridgeport, CT --After the acclaim of their 2002 debut album on Matador, Turn on the Bright Lights, NYC rock band Interpol toured relentlessly, hailed as the real thing as they graced stages merely set by hyped-up garage rockers like The Strokes. When it came time to coordinate production for this next, even more anticipated album, Interpol decided to return to producer/engineer Peter Katis, and his Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, CT. Like the band, the studio has been refined over the last two years, primed for this, and other recording/mixing challenges. @Body:Occupying the large, renovated third floor of an old Victorian house, Tarquin Studios opened in the Fall of 1999 to immediate work from an existing client base established in Katis' previous home studio. Since then, Tarquin has grown more equipped and efficient with Katis' success and the subsequent higher profile clientele. "At many points, I considered making larger investments into the studio--taking out a loan and buying a big expensive console--and I've always held back because I saw that successful studios were those that grew as they needed to," explains Katis. "I am beyond obsessed with upgrading the studio, but I do wait until I make money on a record, and then it gets immediately reinvested in new gear." Presently outfitting the studio is a 56-input Neotek Elite console, Digidesign Pro Tools HD3, and a very large collection of external outboard gear, microphones, amps, and instruments. Set up in such a way that bands can arrive empty handed and make an album, Tarquin provides not only an impressive line-up of guitars, vintage synths and amps, upright piano and organ, vibraphones, and more, but also comfortable lodging for the band & co. At a time when artists are more likely than ever to rent or buy a house and set up their own studios, Tarquin eliminates the before and after of that scenario. Katis has found the spot, renovated and built it out, had it properly wired and comprehensively equipped, and pumped it full of character--the remains of projects past which have tagged the place with vibe. The artist simply shows up. Named after his brother, Tarquin, with whom Katis formed several bands, including The Philistines Jr., The Zambonies, and Happiest Guys in the World, Tarquin Studios is as a much labor of love as a business, like most studios. But, as a business, it's been a success. "I started off as an assistant in NYC studios, and I remember thinking to myself that, realistically, making it that way seemed so difficult," explains Katis. "Why should someone pay the engineer all this money to work in some big studio they also have to pay for? Having my own studio so that clients hired me and the studio seemed a better proposition." For the first year, Katis welcomed artists he'd worked with before to his new studio. The second year brought in projects for Clem Snide, for which Katis mixed the album The Ghost of Fashion, and Interpol, among many others. Katis then worked with The Get Up Kids on their album On A Wire, with producer Scott Litt at Tarquin, which he claims was a turning point in his career. "Things just started to happen--bigger projects on proper labels were trying to work with me, and I started to make a lot more money, which I, of course, reinvested into the studio," says Katis. "With the state of the industry right now, I really feel as if I've prospered from this arrangement because I'm not a home studio and I'm not some big commercial facility. What seems like decent money to me and my business wouldn't be enough for those large studios with their overhead." Over the past two years, Katis has made some critical improvements to Tarquin. "It's funny, because when I look back on it, the studio was trying to catch up with the kinds of projects I was recording--like for awhile, we were working with a mis-wired patch bay and a Pro Tools LE set up," mentions Katis. Last year, Katis bought the Elite console and Pro Tools HD rig from Professional Audio Design, who he also contracted to completely rewire the studio. He's also purchased some classic mics, like the Neumann U47 and Telefunken ELAM 251, and recently purchased B&W Nautilus 805 nearfields. Katis also hooked up the living room with a high-end 5.1 surround sound home theater--a welcomed attraction for many long-haul Tarquin clients. Increasingly hired as the producer/engineer on album projects, Katis says he's able, more than ever, to experiment with sounds. Still recording mostly everything to tape, before transferring into Pro Tools HD, Katis reportedly uses external preamps almost exclusively, including Neves, API, and Telefunken--both the V76s and 276s. "I'm more experimental now because I can be," assures Katis. "The other day, for Interpol lead vocals, I started off with the Telefunken ELAM 251, going through a solid state Telefunken. Then I tried it through a Neve. The singer wasn't happy with it, so we tried the Neumann U47, through a tube Telefunken, then through the Chandler TG-1 Limiter. Then I threw on this old Gates Stay Level compressor, and all of a sudden the singer was like, 'yes, yes, that's it.' It is really nice to have this whole wall of outboard gear to choose from." Now, with the studio in great shape, Katis has started working on his B room, located on the second floor. Because, even as Interpol will take him through this month, and consecutive album projects with Robbers on High Street and then The National continue immediately, the producer/engineer has set his sights on making music again at some point. "My dream is to book out Tarquin anywhere from one to three months out of the year," says Katis. "That one could actually generate income without 'working' is an interesting notion." VITAL STATS - TARQUIN STUDIOS Studio Owner: Peter Katis Room Design: Taytrix Consoles: Neotek Elite; Soundcraft Spirit Series 24 Recorders: Digidesign Pro Tools HD3, LE 5.0.1; Studer A820 MKII/III; Otari MX-5050BII2; TASCAM 112; Alesis ADAT, ADAT XT-20; Panasonic SV-3700; HHB CDR800 Main Monitors: Dynaudio Acoustic M3 Power Amps Chord SPA1032; QSC MX-1500 Microphones: Large collection includes Neumann, Telefunken, Altec, Coles, Royer, AKG, EV, Sennheiser, Shure Outboard Equipment: Neve; SSL; Chandler; Urei; Universal Audio; dbx; CBS; Alesis; Telefunken; TubeTech; Empirical Labs; Altec; Ampex; EMT; AKG; Maestro; Roland; Lexicon; Yamaha; Loft Series; Ibanez; Digitech; ITI/Massenburg; Drawmer; Dynamite; Antares; Korg; Music Valve; Whirlwind; Matchless; Audio Technica Instruments: Loads of guitars, keyboards, drums, and amps. (Sampling of keys: Yamaha P22 Upright; Fender Rhodes Hammond C3, BC, Chord Organ; Leslie 147 Cabinet; Lowery Organ; Farfisa; Nomad; Moog Prodigy, Rogue, Sonic 6; Octave The Cat; Korg Mono/Poly; ARP PE-IV; Crumar Orchestrator; Sequential Circuits Pro 1, 6 Track)
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