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have a client base to build on; they had a few
people who weren't from the area using
the studio. You need to have a client base so
that you know certain people will come
use your studio. Don't overbuild or overspend,
so you're affordable and competitive
in your prices."
TOM HARDING, ENGINEER, PRODUCER, STUDIO
MANAGER/OWNER,
TOMBSTONE RECORDING
"My job is to give the client everything they
demand to make their session go as
smoothly and as technically perfect as
possible," says Tom Harding. The son of an air
force officer, Harding grew up mostly in Utah.
After nearly flunking out of college, he
followed his family to Saudi Arabia, where his
father was stationed for a year, then
returned to America determined to become a
recording engineer. At a recording
workshop in Ohio, he learned about music
recording courses at schools in Miami,
Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), and
Memphis State. He contacted all
three and made his selection based on the fact
that Memphis was the only school that
sent enrollment information. MTSU sent a
catalog, and he never even heard from
Miami. "I was accepted to Memphis. I was
cleaning out my desk drawers and packing,
and threw the MTSU catalog in the garbage. It
fell open in the recording department
section and there was a picture of a console
and the studio. I picked it up, looked at
it, and said, `Wow, this is the school that I
want to go to.'"
While at MTSU, Harding served an internship at
Elektra Records in the public
relations department. When an employee heard
his college recording project, she was
impressed and encouraged him to return to
engineering. The employee arranged an
introduction to Gene Eichelberger, who in turn
alerted him to an assistant's job at a
newly opened sound studio. Initially
standoffish, the studio manager changed his
mind when Harding stated that Eichelberger had
sent him, and he was hired for the
position.
With free run of the studio when it was not in
use on weekends, Harding started
bringing in rock bands from around town to play
while he practiced the effects he
had seen the engineers do. One of the engineers
was Ed Seay, who began handing off
demo sessions to Harding, giving him the chance
to operate in the first engineer posi-
tion. When Intruder, one of the weekend bands,
was signed to a label, he produced
three of their albums, and won eight of the
1991 Nashville Music Awards, including
Producer of the Year and Album of the
Year.
Harding went on to produce recordings for
Kennedy Rose, BB King, Etta James,
Buddy Guy, and Cissy Houston, and engineered
for ZZ Top. In 1995, he and a friend
looked at a studio that was for rent, and the
two decided to go into business together.
They leased space on Music Row, bought a load
of used equipment, and set up
Tombstone Recording. Three months later, the
tape machines broke down and had to
be replaced. When the landlord raised the rent,
Harding found another building,
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