Newfield man records music in church studio

By DARISE JEAN-BAPTISTE
Journal Staff

NEWFIELD - In Will Russell's 17 years of recording music, he has found that no matter how advanced the technology of the gear, it's the musician's true abilities and talent that makes the music worth hearing.

Where he comes into the process is providing the perfect space and comfort to create the kind of music that one wants to listen to over and over again, he said. More often than not, that perfect place is the studio's large main room, Russell said, where sunlight pours in from its large stained glass windows of what used to be a church. “I like creating an environment where the muse speaks or sings,” he said.

Russell, 47, said he attributes the ease musicians find in the 16-track studio to the aura the building exudes. Seven years ago, when Russell walked into the former church for the first time, he said he immediately knew it would be the location of his new Electric Wilburland Studio.

A few steps beyond the front door of the residential studio hangs a picture that reveals the building's past life. Built in 1918, the green and white structure with high ceilings, was formerly The Peoples Baptist Church, which is now located on Main Street. Russell said he was drawn to the building's “good people energy.”

The positive and sometimes puzzled ways artists react to the studio's main room, where various instruments and recording equipment are spread across its floor and on its stage, exemplifies the building's special quality, Russell said.

When artists enter the room for the first time, Russell said he tells them to find a good place to play. Although musicians have the corners of the room, carpeted portions and wooden floor to choose from, there is no escaping the wide open space, which Russell said allows for endless sound possibilities.

“When you don't pay attention to these first things, you find an uphill battle,” Russell said.

Russell recalled his recording session with Mamadou Diabate, a Malian kora musician who lived in Ithaca for four years. He said he didn't want Diabate to leave the studio for one moment, in fear the musician would leave the creative zone he was in.

Diabate recorded his entire solo album titled “Behmanka” in one evening at Wilburland, Russell said. The album was nominated for Best Traditional Album in the World Music category for the 48th annual Grammy Awards.

“Whatever I did to create this moment is rewarding,” Russell recalled. “I'm pretty lucky with how often I get there.”

Ithaca's vast music scene has contributed to the success of Wilburland, as well as fueled Russell's dedication to it, he said.

Russell said he and his business partner, Matt Saccuccimorano, complement each other in terms of engineering experience and musical styles. Musicians have the opportunity to choose “the flavor of engineer” they want, he said.

Both Ithaca College graduates, Saccuccimorano and Russell met years ago at the first Wilburland studio, which was located on Fulton Street in Ithaca, to record music for Saccuccimorano's then-band Jaws. In stark contrast to the current studio, equipped with a kitchen and bedrooms for musicians who need overnight accommodations, the old studio was extremely small and stifling, Russell said.

In a changing music environment in which technological advances have made home recording more common, Wilburland may not be the only place artists record. But, by helping out at various junctures of recording projects — the initial recording, and later, overdubs, mixing and mastering — for example, Russell said he hopes to continue contributing to musicians' creative efforts. He is often seen running live sound at concerts and makes house calls to musician's homes, teaching them how to use recording programs.

“My challenge is to look forward to how Wilburland fits into this arrangement...The whole model of the music business has changed,” Russell said.

Contact:djeanbap@ithacajournal.com

Originally published January 17, 2006