If you hear any locals mention the Business District in Johnson City, they aren’t referring to the city’s financial hub. They’re talking about the recording studio that hosts emerging artists and is propelling the Southern Tier’s music scene.
Hunter Davidsohn founded the Business District four years ago. Since then, he has worked with a variety of rock bands from the East Coast, including Porches, Sirs, Frankie Cosmos, Level Up and River Gazer. Davidsohn was “sick of being on the clock” at other studios and wanted to “be able to put in the time to try something new and keep stuff fresh.” Although he spent some time at a music program at SUNY Broome Community College, Davidsohn said he learned most of his technique independently, preferring real experience over classroom exercises.
Before starting his own label, Davidsohn recorded at an apartment in Downtown Binghamton. The studio’s beginnings were humble — Hunter acquired equipment through the Internet, “hopelessly wandering” through rummage sales, liquidation sales at music shops and friends from the area. His mixing console, a modified Yamaha PM1000, came from a pawn shop. Today, the majority of his equipment is from the ’60s. All his amps are pre-1966, as he prefers their sound.
The vintage equipment suits Davidsohn, as his tastes tend to run toward the sounds of the ’60s and ’70s. He said his two biggest influences are producer Lee Hazlewood, who recorded Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’,” and engineer Joe Meek. Meek was able to achieve innovative recording techniques and unique sound with only a small amount of equipment, which Davidsohn strives to emulate. Davidsohn does everything “minimum wage,” as he put it, working with an eight-track half inch tape machine and low budgets. But instead of feeling limited by his resources, he feels the restrictions cause his ideas to become more focused.
He mainly works with rock bands, but is open to recording any kind of project, especially rappers. He prefers not to charge bands by the hour, believing it to be restrictive to their creative processes. With his studio, Davidsohn, who calls himself a “romanticist,” wants to “rethink the studio approach” and create an environment that is more conducive to creating art than generating profit.
I came to the Business District while local band Summer People were writing and recording their new album. The pace of the session and the atmosphere in the mixing room was laid-back — Brandon Musa, Summer People’s bassist, told stories of recording at Electrical Audio, Steve Albini’s recording studio in Chicago that produced albums by the Pixies, PJ Harvey and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Justin Musa and Peter Ives, the band’s guitarists, made lightly self-deprecating jokes about songs that hadn’t yet been titled, calling them “The Misfits One” or “The Black Flag One.” But when it’s time to record, there’s no fooling around. Singer Alex Craver, a Binghamton University alumnus, nails his vocals in only three takes, gaining applause from his bandmates on the last one. During his tracking session, Ives listened attentively to the replayed take and criticized his own strumming, although the other members appreciated its rawness. Davidsohn, the studio’s owner, sole engineer and longtime friend of the band, was thrilled with the tone he was able to get on the guitar track.
“That’s got to be one of the coolest tones I’ve gotten in my life,” Davidsohn said.