[Pinned post from November 2023]
In between my work as Production Manager at KEXP, the occasional recording project and being a dad, I’ve been working on a project chronicling recording studios of the Northwest called HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT.
You can hear my interview with Emily Fox on KEXP’s Sound & Vision podcast here:
The Hear Me Shimmer SODO era ended yesterday February 28, 2025. Until Volume 3 of “Hiding In Plain Sight” is published, enjoy this:
Despite its three stories, it’s easy to miss this battered building along First Avenue South in SODO. Standing just two blocks from the front gates to T-Mobile Park, its front sidewalk sees a stream of fans on game days and desolate nights in the winter. Like the neighborhood, there’s more than a few rough edges on the Jukebox City Building. And why shouldn’t there be, it’s lived 108 years and survived 2 earthquakes on the Seattle tide lands just east of the Port of Seattle.
The building’s connection to Seattle music didn’t start with Hear Me Shimmer – far from it. While the main floor has housed restaurants, clubs, pot shops and antique dealers - the rickety third floor has small artist studios. The largest space [2], in the northwest corner with windows facing the stadiums and First Avenue, was once a painter’s studio. It was here, on July 15, 1993, where NIRVANA gathered to rehearse with new band members, cellist Lori Goldstein and guitarist John Duncan, to flesh out new song arrangements. Just four months later, the band recorded their iconic MTV Unplugged Performance
King County’s Property Record photograph from 1937 features the building as Seattle Wrecking Co. [3] What is now the main entrance to the club space, was once a ramp for cars to pull in for service. The basement, with enormous timber beams and shiplap ceilings overhead, once housed a lunch room cafeteria, serving workers in the area once known as Machinary Row. Just two blocks away, in what is now Starbucks world headquarters, was once the West Coast Distribution Center for Sears. Orders from the Sears Catalog (the Amazon of its day) shipped from this location.
In 1992, the building was purchased by the Bennett family who opened Jukebox City [4], who repaired and sold jukeboxes, coin-op games, signage and all things vintage.
Between 2001 and 2007, the basement space was occupied by Duncan & Sons [5], an old-world saddlery which was founded in 1898 in Pioneer Square. Besides being a destination for handcrafted cowboy boots and hats, it’s leather-master, Larry Duncan was often utilized by his neighbors, the Seattle Mariners, for emergency baseball glove repairs. When I moved to the building in 2011, their hand-painted signage [6] was still on my entry door.
In 2011, I rented a 925 sq-foot space in the basement and a new Hear Me Shimmer was born. My good pal, Scott Freeman [7-8], was instrumental in helping me build out. The cedar cladding on the back wall was a demo’d fence that we cleaned up and ran through a planer. The day we installed power, I had my first session with Police Teeth.
Between touring work with Death Cab and before taking a full-time position at KEXP in 2016, I got to record a couple dozen records, including many with my closest friends. HMS has been the rehearsal spot for BOAT, Unlikely Friends, Tullycraft and many others. Mark Palm (Supercrush) and Phil Jones (Supercrush, Shook Ones) shared the space with me in recent years.
The challenges I faced here gave me a first-hand look at just how hard it is to be a studio owner in Seattle. Just a short time after signing a lease and investing into a build-out and power upgrades, my landlord backtracked on the hours the studio could operate. From that time on, I operated in various states of triage. Tennants above me (pot shops, night clubs, Smash Putt golf, etc) came and went – each time shifting usable time. The Covid and post-pandemic era has been hard on the building and SODO, in general. Three years ago, the building caught fire and the sprinkler system throughout the building was activated. Despite water pooling close to the studio door, HMS was unscathed. This past summer a man was killed behind the building after leaving a concert in the club space. On January 7th, we learned that the building had been sold to the City of Seattle to be used as a Sobering Space.
All that said, having a band clubhouse in the heart of the city, two blocks from the stadium, has been a dream come true. Collaborating with so many friends on records and providing a cool space for pals makes me feel proud.
For now,
Jackson
Hiding In Plain Sight, Volume 2 is here. Mashing up Northwest music history, vintage signage, historic preservation and design via 9 recording studio profiles from the 1950s to today in a 16-age 8x8 cardstock booklet.
Featured studios: Boles Custom Recorders, Acme, Kearney Barton’s Audio Recording Inc. Camelot, Jupiter (aka Crow Recording, Earwig, THUD), Avast! (aka Ironwood) Laundry Room, Two Sticks Audio, Crackle & Pop!
Pre-orders are up on Big Cartel. Books ship early July. Along with Volume 1, these will also be available at Easy Street Records and Sonic Boom – two of Seattle’s finest record stores. Pick up a copy for your coffee table, recording studio or record shelf.
One part Motorhead, one part Zeke = Dum Dums. I had the pleasure of making a record with my pal Ryan Maxwell and his longtime pals from Young Sportsmen and Muzzle, Wes and Jeff. Ryan’s one of my favorite songwriters and yet this is nothing like I’ve heard him write before. All songs are under 2 minutes.
Recorded at Soundhouse, Seattle. Mixed by me at The Trap Shap, Edmonds, WA
Find it on Bandcamp and demand they press an LP!
Hello – thanks for finding your way here!
In between my work as Production Manager at KEXP, the occasional recording project and being a dad, I’ve been working on a project chronicling recording studios of the Northwest called HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT.
You can hear my interview with Emily Fox on KEXP’s Sound & Vision podcast here:
The 16-page cardstock booklet features original illustrations, logo designs and studio profiles on: Audio Recording Inc. (Kearney Barton), Wiley-Griffith, London Bridge Studio, Reciprocal Recording, The Hall of Justice, Egg Studios, Avast!, Studio Litho, Soundhouse, Uptone.
I approached the project from a place of civic pride for these buildings. As landmarks that most wouldn’t pay attention to, but should. Volume 2, as well as a couple related writing projects are in the works. Long live these institutions and the fabulous Northwest sound!
I’ve been enjoying related design work through my moniker An/Artifact. The IG scroll below features some of this work.
Since the release of BOAT’s 7th LP “No Plans To Stick The Landing” in June of 2022, I’ve also been working with my pals HIGH PRIORS and MODEL SHOP on their latest gems.
Say hello at hearmeshimmer [at] gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Jackson
I’m most active on IG these days, but if you’ve clicked through and are reading this here’s an update.
Days before the pandemic hit, I moved to Edmonds leaving the West Seattle Track Shack behind.
HMS in SODO remains a working space, mostly by Mark and Phil of Supercrush. The title of the latest Supercrush LP “Sodo Pop” immortalizes the neighborhood.
In Summer 2020, I built a new mixing/drumming/remote work space at home called The Trap Shack (pictured).
BOAT started released 6 months of pandemic singles (2-3 tracks monthly) on Bandcamp Friday between August 2020 and January 2021. Those tracks and others are set for release on Magic Marker Records in early 2022.
After 18 years, Josh Goodman (BOAT/Lands Father East) and I have revived PACEY — the short-lived side project we started in Bellingham in 2003. Our debut EP was released on October 29, 2021 and can be found on Bandcamp and wherever you stream music. Tall Chris from Racetrack plays bass on the EP!
My role as Production Manager with KEXP has kept me quite busy during the pandemic. Lots of adaptation and growth. The station has truly thrived during the past however-many-months.
I’m not taking on tracking projects outside of my own projects, but available for mixing.
Thanks for reading - hit me up at hearmeshimmer [at] gmail.com.
Jackson
Welcome to the revamped HMS dot com, launched April 23, 2019. Drop me a note at hearmeshimmer@gmail.com. I’m still working on bringing in selected blog posts from the old site, but the watch page has a good selection of my mixing and production work from over the years.
About a year ago, D. Crane and I started passing ideas back and forth between HMS and Bill Clinton Studios in Tacoma, yesterday we started laying them down for a new BOAT record. Follow along below…
(THE FABULOUS NORTHWEST SOUND) The UNLIKELY FRIENDS crew cranked out an album of all Pacific Northwest covers over the span of 10 weeks. Most of the basic tracks were recorded in one day at HMS. Very off-the-cuff, in true UF fashion. Government furloughs, snow days and the potent combination of Garage Band and Dropbox fueled fast and collaborative overdub sessions up and down the I-5 corridor. We released 2 songs week starting in February. The entire collection is now available in digital and CD-R format via Bandcamp. I’m drumming on tracks 1,7,9,10 and contributing BGV’s in lots of places.
(THE SONICS) My choice for the Unlikely Friends all-NW cover record “We Blast Last.” From the 1965 single version on Etiquette Records, it’s The Sonics “He’s Waitin’.” I’m on drums, sugary chorus BGV’s and production duties. I’ll forever be chasing the vibe of The Sonics recordings. Ethan Jones of Math & Physics Club is on lead vocals. D. Crane on Guitars. Full version at the Unlikely Friends bandcamp.
(WHY GO) SUPERCRUSH working on their record at LONDON BRIDGE in December 2018. Via my LOMO LC-A I’ve carrying around since 2001. What a thrill to work in the room where “Ten” and Temple of Dog where recorded. Best of all is getting to work on another record with Mark and Allen and Phil. A few shots…
(UF) RUDY’S BARBERSHOP turns 25 this year and their using Unlikely Friends “Strangest Kind” in their promo. The dudes even appear in the video. Check it out.
(UF2) Happy release day to Unlikely Friends "Crooked Numbers," out today on Swoon Records. LINK
Featuring "that fabulous Pacific Northwest sound" created by the songwriting team of D. Crane (BOAT) and C. Bert (Math & Physics Club) with players from our respective clubs.
Making UF2 kept my production pilot light on over the course of a life-changing couple of years. We made it Soundhouse, Hear Me Shimmer, The Track Shack and Al Gore Studios. I played drums on three former BOAT demos than needed a home (8, 11, 12) and one of Charles’ songs.
“Hey Sunshine” was a Charles song that he thought would be too pretty for a UF record. I got to play drums and it remains one of my favorite tracks ont he
(CRUSHED) One the best things about working on music with Mark Palm is his attention to detail. The attention to detail that runs through every Supercrush and Devotion recording, also carries through to the album packing and videos. The latest masterpiece is the recreation of a classic skate video for “I’ve Been Around.”
I’ve Been Around" turns the clock back to 1993 and pays homage to the classic opening sequence of one of the era’s most iconic skate videos. Shot on the same San Francisco streets as the video that inspired it, "I’ve Been Around" is the latest audiovisual collaboration between Supercrush and filmmaker Ian Shelton.
(TRACK SHACK) I'm very pleased to announce HMS' reliable little brother - known for now as the Track Shack. Opening May 2016 just south of HMS in West Seattle. Stay tuned - and as always reach out to hearmeshimmer [at] gmail.com to talk about recording.
(CIRCULAR SOUNDS) About a year ago, FALL ON FALL and myself descended upon a old haunt -- Chris Walla's newly refurb'd HALL OF JUSTICE to track their fuzziest batch of songs yet. This is the third release we've collaborated on, however I've known these fellas since 2001 when I wondered into this very space on the day that THE REVOLUTIONARY HYDRA were tracking double drum sets for KNOCKOUT TO DISPENSE. A few years later, RACETRACK convinced WALLA to record our debut LP, which was then released by SKROCKI RECORDS, featuring Rev Hydra, Rat Cat Hogan and Fall on Fall drummer Robbie Skrocki.
Fall on Fall will always represent classic NW indie rock to me. But what I love about this record is that, while there are moments of tremelo'd guitar that are signature Rev Hydra, most of the songs feel like what the band would have been listening to when they first discovered punk/indie/noise-rock/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. Brian and Robbie have a killer groove. Find this on iTunes.
Recorded at the HOJ (Winter), overdubs at MRX & HMS (Spring), mixed at Casa HMS (Summer 2015).
Soundhouse (2015)
(NEW SOUNDS) Here's the debut release from HIDING PLACE that came out on February 1. Though references to early Promise Ring or Jimmy Eat World probably aren't spot on, Hiding Place would have fit perfectly on a show from that era. Maybe a sweaty all-ages show at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago? This is a cassette release with more to come in 2016.
Recorded at Soundhouse and HMS. Mixed at HMS. Mastered by Carl Saff in... Chicago.
(RADIO) In my latest venture with KEXP, I'm producing a syndicated show called Under The Needle: The KEXP Sessions. The show is supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is currently heard on more than 35 college stations around the country each week. Each week, we're taking one of our favorite past in-studio performances and packaging it with an artist introduction and other production elements. It's a bit more polished than is really possible on live radio. And definitely way more slick than the in-studio sessions I started doing back at KUGS in Bellingham in 2001. Fun to make it back to college radio in a roundabout way.
Here’s our episode featuring Parquet Courts:
(NEW) New Gods (minus Alex who was training on the East Coast at the time) at Soundhouse. August 2015.
(VIDEO) One of four piano and vocal only tracks recorded live at Hear Me Shimmer as bonus material for the release of DCFC's new LP,Kintsugi. These versions pop up as extras when you Shazam a DCFC track as well.
