LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Currently women make up only 5 percent of the professional workforce in music audio and production (with ownership numbers even lower) according to SoundGirls.org, a non-profit founded in 2013 with the mission of creating a supportive community for women in the industry with the tools and knowledge to further their careers. However, one group of Lexington-based women are pushing back against those slanted percentages, acquiring and operating a studio on the city’s north side all on their own.
Now owned by lead mix engineer April Edwards, lead mastering engineer Danielle Barkman and Leah Arrington, Nitrosonic Studios was first launched in 2005 by Brian Pulito. Edwards, who began working at Nitrosonic as an intern in 2016, and Barkman, at the time an assistant manager and session drummer at the studio, were approached by Pulito in late December 2018 about taking over when work took him full time to North Carolina.
“He was only paying the bills and not getting to partake in the stuff that’s actually fun about owning a studio,” said Barkman.
Without hesitation the two accepted and immediately recruited Arrington. Soon after the group brought in intern Abbi Buettner, now studio manager, in November 2018 followed by Amanda Aday as creative director at the start of 2020.
The team uprooted the studio from 701 E. Loudon in April 2019, moving to 804 North Limestone above Broomwagon Coffee + Bikes and across the street from the recently opened Julietta Market at GreyLine Station.
After searching far and wide for an ideal studio fit, the location was discovered by Barkman during a visit there to eat at FIKA Vegan Cantina, which was inside the second floor space from July 2017 to May 2018.
“It had a completely different layout then, but upon that first visit I recall looking around and thinking that this place was meant to be a recording studio, it just didn’t know it yet,” said Barkman.
The studio features a 50-foot by 20-foot recording room full of equipment that is perpetually being updated as the latest recording technology gets unveiled. Some of the studio’s newest tools include a cutting edge LUNA Recording System from Universal Audio and three professionally tuned drum kits. Nitrosonic is also officially partnered with and uses equipment from Earthworks Audio, Airhush and Canopus Drums in addition to being an Apple Digital Masters Certified Studio.
While the pandemic has forced the studio to cut back significantly on its recording projects in 2020 it hasn’t been without any. Nitrosonic wrapped up sessions in November with Louisville-based bluegrass quartet Mama Said String Band for their upcoming EP “Mariah” due out in early 2021.
“The ladies at Nitrosonic really know what they’re doing and are a pleasure to work with,” said Katie Mae, guitarist for Mama Said String Band. “The patience and support these women give the artists they work with is second to none. It makes sharing my artistic expression more fluent and comfortable because of the team of people behind it. I also love seeing and being able to work alongside other strong women in the music industry.”
The studio is also in the midst of a project called “Amplify Black Voices,” which was announced on Oct. 26 and offers free recording services on one song for any local Black artists on an original song with subject matter pertaining to social justice and equity. So far the project has recorded music for David “Big Chill” Napier, with others in the queue.
“We’re trying to help give a voice and platform to local Black musicians in Kentucky who may not normally have the option to record,” said Aday. “Unfortunately there’s not a huge market for Black music in the state, which oftentimes makes it hard for those artists to gather the funds and other resources necessary to record.”
For Nitrosonic, one of only two female-operated recording studios in Kentucky alongside La La Land Studios run by Anne Gauthier in Louisville and the only one in the state both owned and run by women (one of only a handful in the country), success has come despite the pandemic slowdown. The studio team forged ahead by also offering remote mixing and mastering services out of home studios for both Edwards and Barkman that has included work for New York-based Torment of Giants. Nitrosonic also plans to produce more livestream concerts with HD video and a 48K audio setup, as they did on Aug. 27 with Magnolia Boulevard.
“I’ve seen a rise in women working in music audio in the last couple of years but not so much on the recording studio or producer end of things so it’s incredibly cool and rare to have two in Kentucky,” said Gauthier. “I tip my hat to anyone getting more involved in the industry in this day and age. It’s definitely a labor of love.”
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