It wasn’t long after singer Jill Ryan (22) got paired up with classmates Donnie Spackman (22) and Zack Hartmann (22) for a jam sesh at The New School for Jazz that the trio formed their band: Great Time.
They’ve come a long way since their first gig at New York City’s Webster Hall, now in the final stages of completing their very own recording studio on a farm outside of Philadelphia.
“When we started jamming and it became clear that this is something that was worth pursuing, that kind of made me think, now there’s a reason to expand because I got this band that could really do something special with this space,” Spackman said. It was always implied that after graduation the band would move up to the small town of Chester Springs and make music.
Spackman acquired his studio from his father who previously used it to run his home business. Over the years, this space went from a practice room for middle school battle of the band competitions, to a permanent home and project to fund their own music. But this endeavour didn’t start off as a business venture or for the purpose of making money.
They always thought the studio, at the time only equipped with a live room and a mix room, would just be an outlet for their personal work. It wasn’t until word of mouth got ahold of what they created that other bands began offering to pay for the time and space.
“We want to be, for our generation, this place that people can come to when they’re on tour as a destination and be like I want that Great Time sound. I want Donnie mixing my shit, I want Zach’s vibe on this project or maybe Jill can lay down the vocal track,” said Ryan. “I think we can provide that for the community and for our generation.”
The idea of a communal space where many people can come together and create is the most appealing part of the recording studio process for Great Time. “I think where there’s a space that’s specifically designed to make a comfortable environment for artists to create art in, it yields results that I don’t really think are possible in any other setting,” Spackman said.
With now five records produced under their belt, Great Time can proudly say that they’ve recorded, mixed and mastered all of them at Great Time Studios.
All of these efforts are ultimately to help support their own growth and sound of their band, which they describe as a mix of everything. “Because we have access to all different types of music, we’re just influenced by a lot of different things. We kind of do whatever we feel like,” Hartmann said. From rock, reggae, hip-hop and jazz — one can easily identify that their music is a medley of them all.
Just like the freedom they adopt in their music, the process in which they do it is nothing less. “We probably have twenty pieces of music recorded, plus beats and jams. We record all of our jam sessions, so we’ll play for three hours and then go back a week or a month later and be like this jam is cool, let me cut it out and either re-record it or start working with what we have to shape it into a song,” Ryan said.
Their music has temporarily been put on hold to finish up their studio renovations, which should be completed within the next couple of months. The space will have two recording rooms, plus a big mix booth and isolation booth. There is also a living space for visiting bands, pretty much doubling the square footage of their facilities.
A couple of the bands who have already payed a visit to the studio are also rooted from the New School. One band recorded their first album in the studio, titled Ruby My Dear.
Although there’s no prices set in stone, Great Time has been charging bands $450.00 a day for not only 24 hour access to their facilities, but for their undivided commitment and collaboration.
“When I was working on Ruby My Dear, the singer would want to track vocals at like 9 in the morning, so I would have to wake up to do her vocals. Then the band would want to track at 2 or 3 in the morning, so I was sleeping three hours a night for that whole week,” Spackman said.
They believe that certain people’s infatuation with the classics, from Stevie Wonder to Elvis Presley, is because of the vibe these recording studios contributed to the album. The people running some of the most iconic studios such as The Magic Shop, Song City and Abbey Road, all have a specific sound that accompanied the tracks.
It’s no secret that the quick decline of the recording studio system is largely due to technology and how accessible it now is to create music from your laptop. Large studios no longer have enough business to support their high costs it takes to keep them up and running. Great Time grew up with both sides of the coin; making music on their laptops and by playing with other musicians. They are a band that identifies with a new generation of musicians and one who can provide a unique space where both sides of the spectrum collide.
The passion Great Time has for preserving this part of music truly translates into their aura in which they present themselves to those using their studio. When bands walk through the studio doors, they’re greeted by three happy and excited people looking to make their music the best it can be. This inevitably makes bands more comfortable and instantly at home in the space, which truly shines through in the recordings. “I think we all want to make something that can connect to someone else. I remember going to an Incubus show when I was really little and listening to cd’s in middle school and being like this is so me, I so connect with this. I want to bring that to someone else,” said Ryan.
Sydney is a current Junior studying Journalism & Design at Eugene Lang and the Co-Editor-In-Chief of The New School Free Press. She spends a questionable amount of time responding to emails, remembering coffee orders for her various internships, producing films & frolicking around the Lower East Side where she’s living her New York dream of occupying a bedroom with a brick wall.
