Recording engineer Neil Weir is capturing some of the local music scene's newest sounds in one of Minneapolis' most historic studios.
Weir's path to the control room at the Old Blackberry Way studio, scene of legendary recordings by the Replacements, Hüsker Dü and Soul Asylum, was hardly traditional. Instead of the usual route -- years of playing in bands and making records -- Weir had little musical and no studio experience before he broke into engineering.
Weir had grown up on an Illinois farm as a "record nerd" who collected vinyl and appreciated "sound for the sake of sound." He pursued that passion to Toronto, where he studied engineering, and then the Twin Cities and an internship at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minn., where he engineered from 1997 to 2001.
Looking to open an affordable boutique studio, Weir bought Old Blackberry Way in 2004. Since then, the dozens of bands he has recorded at the Dinkytown landmark include Vampire Hands, Red Pens, the Blind Shake and Flavor Crystals.
Weir played guitar a little in high school, reading about and strumming along to such bands as Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, the Ramones and the Stooges. "I spent almost every waking hour thinking about music and sound," Weir said.
He finally got around to playing and recording his own music a few years ago with his own band, the Chambermaids. He describes the band, which includes his sister, as playing "shoe-gazey noise pop."
When he gets oversaturated with music, or at least structured songs, he'll listen to Brian Eno's ambient records or work on his ambient side project, Devil on the Beach.
Three and out with Neil Weir
How do you unwind from a long studio session?
