Stuart Sullivan
Encyclopedia
Stuart Sullivan is a record producer and recording engineer in Austin, Texas
. He is founder, owner and engineer of Wire Recording in south central Austin where he has recorded and worked with an impressive list of talent including Paul Leary
, Sublime
, Butthole Surfers
, Canvas
, Meat Puppets
, et al.
but grew up in West Lafayette Indiana
. He attended Indiana University
(1979-83) in Bloomington and earned a bachelor's degree
from the Marketing and Advertising School of Business. During his time as an undergrad Stuart enrolled in the Electronic Music program which, with the help of Stuart and peers, evolved into the university's official Audio Program. While making his way through school, Stuart worked a number of sound/recording production gigs including Opera and Orchestra crewman (eventually becoming the crew manager for 2 years), teaching a class on the studio environment, and running PA systems in clubs and piano bars for a professor who owned a PA company in town. Stuart was also involved in a number of music projects including Contemporary Sounds Band, with drum major/doctoral student of composition Paul Sturm.
After college, Sullivan moved to Austin in late 1983 and began interviewing for audio related jobs. He ended up getting a job at Texas French Bread to survive before landing an additional job with Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas as the main sound person. Sullivan took on a third job with Lonestar Studio where he worked for $5/hr cleaning while paying $45/hr to use the studio. Stuart managed 9 hrs of cleaning for 1 hour of studio time (only at night) and made his first record with The Wildseeds in 1984. Soon after, Sullivan began a project with The Hickoids making a ridiculous record of "destructive, reckless, absurd, stoned, drunk, sped out tweaked mess that happened to capture that mentality and people related to it." The record was named Corntaminated and make its way into some "punk pipeline" of the time. Although the album was not critically acclaimed work, it had significant impact on the flourishing punk
scene at that time. 19 years later in 2002 Bud Gaugh (drummer, Sublime), Krist Novoselic (bassist, Nirvana
) and Curt Kirkwood (guitarist, Meat Puppets) formed a group called Eyes Adrift and came to Stuart at Wire to record an album. During conversation between sessions Krist and Bud mentioned one of their favorite inspiring records from childhood was a record called "Corntaminated" by The Hickoids.
Still working at Lonestar Studio in 1985, Sullivan became a staple in the scene and was asked to be house assistant for a new place, Arlyn Studio in Austin, assisting in the building and wiring design of the new studio. By 1987 Arlen was up and running and local bluesman Clifford Antone asked Stuart to make records for a new label he started called Antone's Records. From 1987 to 90 Sullivan made a variety of blues records, country records and even tejano records. Sullivan's first gold record was with Little Joe y Familia which sold 50,000 copies (50,000 copies is gold in the tejano music world). Stuart was also doing work at Willie Nelson
's studio (Perdenales Studio) before the Perdanales was shut down for tax evasion, as well as working with Nick Lowe and producer Colin Farely who ran Power Plant Studios and Mason Rughe Studios in England. Shortly after that, Sullivan did a brief stint in London working at Air Studios in Oxford Circus as well as at MasterRock on a Focus Right Console 001.
Sullivan returned to the US as the grunge
scene was just starting to catch momentum and linked up with critically acclaimed producer Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers. Their first record together was, oddly enough, a blue grass record by The Bad Livers and by 1993 Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets asked Paul and Stuart to make a record called "Too High To Die", which went to gold status quickly and propelled Leary and Sullivan into the developing grunge movement. As one of the scene's leading Producing/Engineering duos, Leary and Sullivan were found by major label work and recorded and produced a ridiculous number of albums by bands including Sublime, Meat Puppets, Daniel Johnston, The Reverend Horton Heat, Pepper, and The Refreshments among others.
After some time in the Los Angeles
music scene of the 90s, Stuart Sullivan began buying up recording gear with intentions of opening a studio in Austin, and in 2001 he made it happen. Wire Recording Studio opened for business under the direction of Sullivan and had a notably successful first year, bringing in acts from all different genres and people from all different parts of the world. Stuart has many long time clients that continue to come back and is confident that business will continue to grow. In 2005 he began booking with outside engineers to use the studio in hopes of Wire Recording Studio "developing a sense of community and taking a progressive movement forward into professional service".
Sullivan married Virginia Ivey in 2003 and in 2005 they had twins, one boy and one girl. Stuart, Virginia and their twins, Alma and Jack live in Austin, Texas.
Credits listed at Allmusic.com
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. He is founder, owner and engineer of Wire Recording in south central Austin where he has recorded and worked with an impressive list of talent including Paul Leary
Paul Leary
Paul Leary is an American musician from Austin, TX, best known as the guitarist for American rock band Butthole Surfers. He is also the producer of a number of songs and albums by other bands, including U2, Sublime, the Meat Puppets, Daniel Johnston, The Reverend Horton Heat, Pepper, Maggie...
, Sublime
Sublime (band)
Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell , Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh . Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's...
, Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
, Canvas
Canvas (band)
Canvas was a rock band from Austin, Texas. For most of their history the lineup was Joseph King , Julian Mandrake , Ben Rada , Brad Byram , and Scott Thomas...
, Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets
The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood , his brother Cris Kirkwood , and Derrick Bostrom . The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix...
, et al.
Early life
Sullivan was born in MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
but grew up in West Lafayette Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. He attended Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
(1979-83) in Bloomington and earned a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from the Marketing and Advertising School of Business. During his time as an undergrad Stuart enrolled in the Electronic Music program which, with the help of Stuart and peers, evolved into the university's official Audio Program. While making his way through school, Stuart worked a number of sound/recording production gigs including Opera and Orchestra crewman (eventually becoming the crew manager for 2 years), teaching a class on the studio environment, and running PA systems in clubs and piano bars for a professor who owned a PA company in town. Stuart was also involved in a number of music projects including Contemporary Sounds Band, with drum major/doctoral student of composition Paul Sturm.
After college, Sullivan moved to Austin in late 1983 and began interviewing for audio related jobs. He ended up getting a job at Texas French Bread to survive before landing an additional job with Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas as the main sound person. Sullivan took on a third job with Lonestar Studio where he worked for $5/hr cleaning while paying $45/hr to use the studio. Stuart managed 9 hrs of cleaning for 1 hour of studio time (only at night) and made his first record with The Wildseeds in 1984. Soon after, Sullivan began a project with The Hickoids making a ridiculous record of "destructive, reckless, absurd, stoned, drunk, sped out tweaked mess that happened to capture that mentality and people related to it." The record was named Corntaminated and make its way into some "punk pipeline" of the time. Although the album was not critically acclaimed work, it had significant impact on the flourishing punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
scene at that time. 19 years later in 2002 Bud Gaugh (drummer, Sublime), Krist Novoselic (bassist, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
) and Curt Kirkwood (guitarist, Meat Puppets) formed a group called Eyes Adrift and came to Stuart at Wire to record an album. During conversation between sessions Krist and Bud mentioned one of their favorite inspiring records from childhood was a record called "Corntaminated" by The Hickoids.
Still working at Lonestar Studio in 1985, Sullivan became a staple in the scene and was asked to be house assistant for a new place, Arlyn Studio in Austin, assisting in the building and wiring design of the new studio. By 1987 Arlen was up and running and local bluesman Clifford Antone asked Stuart to make records for a new label he started called Antone's Records. From 1987 to 90 Sullivan made a variety of blues records, country records and even tejano records. Sullivan's first gold record was with Little Joe y Familia which sold 50,000 copies (50,000 copies is gold in the tejano music world). Stuart was also doing work at Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
's studio (Perdenales Studio) before the Perdanales was shut down for tax evasion, as well as working with Nick Lowe and producer Colin Farely who ran Power Plant Studios and Mason Rughe Studios in England. Shortly after that, Sullivan did a brief stint in London working at Air Studios in Oxford Circus as well as at MasterRock on a Focus Right Console 001.
Sullivan returned to the US as the grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
scene was just starting to catch momentum and linked up with critically acclaimed producer Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers. Their first record together was, oddly enough, a blue grass record by The Bad Livers and by 1993 Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets asked Paul and Stuart to make a record called "Too High To Die", which went to gold status quickly and propelled Leary and Sullivan into the developing grunge movement. As one of the scene's leading Producing/Engineering duos, Leary and Sullivan were found by major label work and recorded and produced a ridiculous number of albums by bands including Sublime, Meat Puppets, Daniel Johnston, The Reverend Horton Heat, Pepper, and The Refreshments among others.
After some time in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
music scene of the 90s, Stuart Sullivan began buying up recording gear with intentions of opening a studio in Austin, and in 2001 he made it happen. Wire Recording Studio opened for business under the direction of Sullivan and had a notably successful first year, bringing in acts from all different genres and people from all different parts of the world. Stuart has many long time clients that continue to come back and is confident that business will continue to grow. In 2005 he began booking with outside engineers to use the studio in hopes of Wire Recording Studio "developing a sense of community and taking a progressive movement forward into professional service".
Sullivan married Virginia Ivey in 2003 and in 2005 they had twins, one boy and one girl. Stuart, Virginia and their twins, Alma and Jack live in Austin, Texas.
Credits listed at Allmusic.com