(Photo taken in Minneapolis at 7th Street Entry in the green room, which happened to be in the basement. Where else to put the musicians?)
I’m a believer in basements. My brother and I begged our parents to give us the basement as our bedroom when we were about 10 years old. After much persuasion we debunked the beds and set up shop in the unfinished basement among the duct work and plumbing. Eventually, my parents finished the basement with carpet and drywall to make it a more suitable living space for us. That space was great for a kid growing up - it was an escape from the daily activity, and more importantly it was a space to be creative. And so I’ve converted the basement of just about every place I have lived into a band practice space. Strangely enough, basements serve as a sanctuary for the musician - a place of refuge and the safe space to try any idea. I recommend watching the Guided by Voices documentary Watch Me Jumpstart as further evidence. Quote: “Where you can spill a beer and not clean it up.”
My current home has a large basement with many rooms but unfortunately low ceilings of just over 6’. Regardless, Southeast Engine has used the basement here as our practice space for years. The room we currently use is right next to the furnace, which is problematic for noise issues when it comes to recording. So my first challenge is to convert a different room in the basement to use as the recording space. The driest room in the basement is currently storing Amanda (my wife) and I’s possessions, which have accumulated over the years to make the room resemble a scene from the TV program Hoarders. So, the trick is to manage swapping out all the items from one room into the other. A small pain within the big scheme of things, but a pain all the same. Stay tuned for the dramatic transformation.
