Studio x

Studio X is a recording studio in Seattle, founded in 1976. At various times, existed under the names Kaye Smith Studios , Lawson Productions and Bad Animals . Best known for recording several iconic grunge albums, including Superunknown Soundgarden and In Utero Nirvana .

The studio was opened in 1976 by actor Danny Kay and his partner Lester Smith, who owned and operated several radio stations. That year, they became co-owners of the newly created Seattle Mariners baseball club, and decided to open a local office and studio for holding press conferences. The studio was named Kaye Smith Studios . Later, soul and R&B bands, which were produced by Tom Bell , began to be recorded here including The Temptations , The Spinners , Dionne Warwick , Johnny Matis . Elton John recorded his mini-album in the studio, and Steve Miller recorded his most successful records, Fly Like an Eagle and Book of Dreams .

In 1989, producer Steve Lawson bought the premises for recording and post-production , renaming it Lawson Productions . In addition to music albums, the studio began to be used to record commercials.

In 1992, sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson from the rock band Heart were planning to build a studio in Seattle. Lawson agreed to partner with the musicians, and they became co-owners of the studio, renamed Bad Animals . During this period, several albums were recorded in the studio, which became decisive for the Seattle music history and grunge scene. The albums Soundgarden Superunknown (1994), Nirvana In Utero (1993), the album with the dog on the cover Alice in Chains (1995), REM Automatic for the People (1992), and the third album Pearl Jam Vitalogy (1994) were created in Bad Animals. .

Five years later, the sisters sold the studio to Charlie Nordstrom, who renamed it Studio X. The studio recorded symphonic soundtracks for the films “ Office Space ” (1999), “ In the Wild ” (2007) “ Carol ” (2015) and others, as well as computer games Halo and Age of Empires . In addition, they recorded here Macklemore and Ryan Lewis , Chance the Rapper , Death Cab for Cutie and Dave Matthews Band .

In October 2017, the building on Seattle’s fourth avenue, in which the studio was located, was bought by the development company Skanska for $ 21.6 million. The company decided to build a dwelling on this site. All staff, including Reed Ruddy, who managed the studio since its inception, moved from Belltown to a new building on Capitol Hill.