You were raised on this ranch?
Correct.
You must have gained some interest in music and recording along the way.
When I was in sixth grade I learned to play the guitar. I was 15 when I got a tape recorder and I started to record my own stuff. We had a house in El Paso so we could go to the better schools. We'd go up there during the weekday then come back down here. After a while all the musicians in town started coming to me. I rented several houses in El Paso; one of them is near where Al Jourgensen lives now. It's a stone house and we set up the studio in the living room.
Where was work coming from? Was it just local, at that point?
Yes, locally. There were a lot of local bands doing things. Of course I wasn't getting a lot of money, but I was just16or17yearsold-I didn't need a lot. But I saw the feasibility of it. I decided to take it to the next level and I engaged an acoustic design company out of San Antonio to help with the sound. I picked 25 locations, all through El Paso and out here at the ranch. Our one building that is partially underground; at that time it only had one big room. But I walked them through and they said, "Out of the 25 locations you've taken us to, this is it." So they laid out the design, I built that, and I was off and running with an 8-track studio.
How old were you at that point?
I was 18 by the time it was running and going well. It's really a story of evolution from there. After that we went to a 16-track. Then I got a Trident board and a Studer A827 tape deck. A friend of mine found an SSL board in Canada — a doctor who had gotten roped into it by his accountant needed to get out of it. [laughter] So we went to Canada and purchased that and we continued to make deals on equipment from there. By the early '90s we were starting to do major label work. We had producers like Neil Kernon, who'd worked at Trident Studios. He found us in '92 or '93 and ended up bringing 64 major projects here, so he kept the studio booked. And then word of mouth kept getting around. As other producers came and worked here, they saw how productive they could be. There are no distractions. In the meantime, I continued to amass guitars, drums, keyboards and so on.
Say if you were in L.A. or New York, you'd hire out to rent things. But around here there's no "hire" company.
Yeah! [laughter] First of all, to get a great sound you have to have a great source. So we concentrated on getting great guitars and amps. Then you need a great room, of course. We expanded the amp and drum collection. I started to see what people wanted. When producers and engineers came, they'd mention more to me. As they went, I started adding all these things. The goal was to have everything here. Marco [A. Ramirez] tunes all the rooms regularly, so we keep everything very accurate. Justin [Leeah] started working here and we learned Pro Tools. Producers started coming from all over the world. Now we have Italian producers, Argentinean producers, and so on. Each of them will book two, three or six months a year. A lot of people who come from the heavy music crowd also found us. And then other independent genres found us, like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Conor Oberst. It's all word of mouth. You can't really sell this. When other musicians tell each other, it's a different thing; like when the Yeah Yeah Yeahs told Conor to come here to record and Conor put it up on his website. Producers tell musicians to come here. Word of mouth is the best advertising you can get.
Do you feel you're able to offer good rates by being out here?
We don't have L.A. real estate prices or rent. We can do things for less and we have a total package thing here that's great. If you go to L.A., you're most likely renting a hotel room, and everyone's going out for meals and losing time in doing so. Here we have these beautiful Spanish haciendas that were built in the '30s and are all vibed-out. We have antiques and original Salvador Dalis! We have a swimming pool, workout equipment, a ping-pong table, a basketball court, and mountain bikes. It's a package deal! [laughter] We've got five studios, and the goal is to keep them all booked. We try to accommodate different budgets for different situations. And everything is all-in; everything is included. We don't charge extra to use special mics or guitars. People like it because they know what they're getting into and they know there aren't going to be any surprises.
What do you do about feeding people?
We have cooks here. At breakfast everyone comes to the main dining room. There's pizza available. We've got four refrigerators, just in this house. And then we've got three other houses that are also stocked! All you have to worry about when you come here is to record and create. It's a great social atmosphere here too, as you've probably gathered from walking around.
It's wonderful! There are people from other countries working on completely different projects.
If a band wants privacy, we can arrange for that. Other bands like the communal aspect and camaraderie.
Do you get people dropping in and guesting on other people's sessions?
Yeah. And people love hanging out and cooking for each other. The Italians cook amazing meals for everyone! It's great in all those aspects.
How are so many jobs coming from other countries to a studio near El Paso?
It's a crossroads. I'm fluent in Spanish and so are the other engineers here. We've got a reputation for that. We're famous in Spain and we've done the major artists from Spanish- speaking countries. This band in right now came from Italy, just to work here. A lot of those producers will want them to come here. They'll tell their artists, "Look, I only work at Sonic Ranch." We have a reputation with a lot of British producers; they've also found their way here. It's a favorable exchange rate for the pound and the euro. People are typically more productive here because everything is included. There are distractions available, if people want to party. The nice thing is that people can swim, mountain bike, or watch TV in their rooms — but they're easy to find when it's time to go back to work! [laughter]
Does anyone ever get a little stir-crazy?
Some people do. But remember that El Paso is right up the road and any distraction you could want is available there. We just had Mudvayne here for five months last year, writing and recording. You can find a balance and most people enjoy the unique atmosphere. You can really figure out how you feel here. It is nice and peaceful, but you can always go for the distractions.
