by Stephanie Staples | photos by Leah Gray –
All I wanted was a little music lesson. As a late-blooming “musician” (and I use that word very loosely) I bought a Covid guitar and YouTube commenced to teaching me some basic chords. I thought a lesson with an in-person human would make a great Steph’s Day Out, but the universe had other things in mind.
Enter Nick Gilchrist, owner of Roosa Records (pronounced Rosa) in Brentwood Bay. Nick has fallen in love with sound. He is a musician, audio engineer and music producer, to name but a few of his talents – and he had an offer I couldn’t refuse: “How about instead of a music lesson, we produce one of your songs?”
Gulp.
It was the familiar terrifying feeling of not having a clue what you are doing but putting yourself out there to be judged and critiqued anyway. So of course I said, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, “Sure!”
His studio is breathtaking, with deep purple walls and sound treatment panels with knitted-with-love-by-his-wife covers. There is a 1913 Steinway and Sons grand piano in one corner, a recording booth in another and everything you could imagine (and more) in the way of technical programs, monitors, equipment and instruments filling the rest of the room.
Despite the room’s somewhat intimidating appearance to this musical fledgling, Nick is warm and inviting. He takes his time to get to know me and discusses my vision for the project; it’s a song called Nice for a Living – it’s about people who give too much at work and have nothing left to give to their families at the end of the day. It’s an important song to me and I can tell Nick respects that.
There are many words, phrases and things I don’t understand in this recording world: layering, phantom power, scratch tracks, rhythm tracks and more, but the good news is when producing a song you can be as involved, or uninvolved, as you want in the creative process.
For my part I was bringing the lyrics and the vocals to this party and was very happy to trust this capable producer with my “baby” after that. Nick uses an impressive array of local musicians (himself included) to complement the songs he produces.
Being in the recording booth reminded me of the first time I put on “biker’s clothes:” well, I looked like a biker, so I guess I was a biker. This time I stepped into the recording booth and donned the headphones – I looked like a recording artist, so I guess I am a recording artist, at least for today!
After a few hours in the studio, Nick had what he needed from me to bring Nice for a Living to life. I didn’t have to wait long for the finished product and I was beyond thrilled with the results; it was a “real song!” You can check out the final production at https://bit.ly/3RicMtd or https://bit.ly/3GEJvEo.
What I loved about this process:
- The investment is quoted beforehand by the project, not by the hour, so you never feel rushed.
- Nick wants you to “get it right,” so if that means one more take, you do it again. He takes pride in making you be the best you can be.
- He works with both pros and first timers, and takes your comfort level into account. He allows you to explore musically and creatively.
- He took my solitary work and made it a collaboration – it was so cool to hear my little song go beyond just me strumming an acoustic guitar.
- Roosa Records is inclusive and inviting – Nick walks his talk and makes it easy for you to bring your dream to life!
So, if you have a song in your back pocket, the back of your closet or the back of your brain and you want to bring it to life, he’s your guy. If you need some guitar lessons, have a podcast you want to sound magical, want to give a super-special gift or have a creative project that would benefit from Nick’s audio expertise, contact Roosa Records and take a tour of his amazing studio. It is a new and welcoming space in our community; great things are happening there and it’s quite a production!
