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THE OUTLOOK celebrates 25 years
recording music in the wilds of Maine
On the side of Mt. Will in Western Maine is an unassumming traditional New England
farm called The Outlook. The house and attached barn were hewn out of the wilderness
in the early 1800's by settlers with an adventurous pioneering spirit. By the 1970's the old
place was nearly ready for the bulldozer, but it was rescued, revived, and renovations
began.
In the late 70's, recording producer/engineer/musician Ted St.Pierre, and his wife, Conni,
had opened a studio in downtown Boston, Electro-Acoustic, where theybegan working
with new and upcoming bands. It was the height of the Boston punk scene, many now
legendary bands recorded there. The business was growing, but life in Boston was less
than their ideal. On a vacation to Bethel, Maine in the summer of 1980, the St.Pierre's
happened to see the "for sale" sign nailed to an old maple tree in front of the Outlook
farm - and everything changed.
By Halloween of 1980 The Outlook had begun its transformation to become Maine's first
professional 24-track studio, offering bands an escape from the urban environment, and
an opportunity to record their music in creative, relaxed surroundings. Many bands made
the trek up from Boston and Portland, Maine, to record and enjoy the countryside.
When we first opened the studio in Bethel, the idea was so strange to people that the
"locals" figured we would last about 3 months," Ted said. "So far, it's lasted 25 years." It
was a risk to move a successful urban business from downtown Boston to the remote
countryside. It was also a challenge to renovate and restore the farmhouse."Old house
renovation as performance art, it's on-going," Conni said.
By the mid- and late-80's the studio business continued to expand. Nationally known
bands and musicians were recording at The Outlook in the mid- and late 80's, from Boston,
New York, and Northern New England.
There was also a growing market for Maine Humorist, Joe Perham, who recorded 17
albums at The Outlook in front of a small audience. This was the beginning of one of
the specialties of this studio - the ability to set up a band or artist in front of an invited
audience of 30 or so fans, and record the performance. It is an intimate, comfortable
setting for the artists, which produces a live recording with studio quality results.
In the late 1980's The Outlook started an independent label with the name Tourmaline
Music, named for a gemstone found at a nearby world-renowned mine. The concept
of the label was to facilitate marketing and promotion of music by artists who were
recording at the studio. Later, the label became Smasheasy.
One of Smasheasy's ambient and improvisational ensembles was featured in a
recent soundtrack for an independent documentary by Earth Films about Julia
Butterfly Hill's treesit, and work to save the ancient redwood forest. The music,
released as "Forest Floor", has attracted interest from from as far away as
Budapest and Rome. One review described their music "Windham Hill doing a
soundtrack for a Stephen King movie."
Smasheasy has recently signed with an international digital distribution and
licensing agent to represent their catalog of works for ditial download around
the world. They also sell their releases at amazon.com. The biggest challenge is
reaching the market - to be seen and heard, to stand out of the crowd.
Current projects range from Ted's solo instrumental guitar project,and Conni's fourth ambient
solo cd, to the crunching, rumbling new metal of Theory of Negativity. Theory have a dark
industrial edgeand intensity that may surprise people who think of New England only as
pastoral and serene.
"They put the "Smash" in 'Smasheasy", to quote one recent reviewer. The Smasheasy
artist roster works more like a musician's collective, as many of the musicians often play on
each other's songs, or in spur-of-the moment ensembles, and every- one contributes.
The resulting music genres range widely from New Age to metal.
Their range of clients has diversified over the years from production of a weekly
radio show, work with schools, sound system installations, to archiving work for
a nearby museum. They have also produced advertisments and jingles for
regional businesses, but music recording remains their primary focus
The studio equipment is always being upgraded to keep current with
technology, and includes a digital hard disk recording system and new
56-input console. With a battery-operated 32-track digital recorder,
they've even recorded some nice quiet acoustic tracks, and overdubs deep in
the forest. Conni's "Legends Trilogy", for example, includes a flute duet with a woodthrush.
The Outlook is a unique business in an unusual location that has endured, partly
because of it's unique location in Maine, and partly because of persistence and
willingness to embrace creative concepts.
The studio is available by appointment only.
For more information please call 207-824-3246
outlook@smasheasy.com
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