MISSOULA — A new one-stop shop for musicians is live in Missoula, and it’s been a decade-plus in the making for four creatives.
The month of June marked the first chapter for Nu Wav Studio, a music recording and interactive studio space, and the team behind it is ready to hit the ground running.
“All in all, it’s lot of hard work, but very rewarding,” Nu Wave Co-Founder Shadow Devereaux told MTN News.
Devereaux is a recording engineer, music producer, and hip-hop artist known as Foreshadow. As a Blackfeet and Salish descendant, he’s well-known for the viral song, “Protect Your People.”
The song racked up over a half-million views online and was created to encourage safety within tribal communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Devereaux is completely self-taught and used his bedroom to record as he grew as a musician over the years. Having a professional studio is something he’s dreamed about for a while; “So many years for me, all those 10 years. I’ve always wanted to do this, it’s been my dream."
The idea for a studio space was an ongoing barstool conversation.
“After shows or after really successful studio sessions like between me and elair, just like man, we need to get an actual professional space that we can use and that we can bring other people into," Devereaux said.
Erik Langan, a musician who goes by elair, is one of three other minds that came together for the studio to become reality, taking their ambitions fully into their own hands.
“Going from the conversation area into like actually trying to do it is this a little bit of, what would you say, a journey, I guess, in itself. Just doing all of the logistics as far as getting a commercial space, getting the capital, investing time and energy into building and resources, other people,” Devereaux explained.
While Devereux and friends have traditionally gone under the label, Resurrected Records, as new people were added to the team, they rebranded to Nu Wav.
Now, the commercial space is meant for artists who want to record, mix, and master at a competitive rate. Using a gut instinct to help others, prices were chosen by the team. Recording session rates start at $40 dollars per hour for voice and acoustic instruments. Other services include music video production and podcast mixing.
“It’s very accessible for people who don't have a ton of money. And plus, we just kind of want to get people to do their passion, and so we will work with pretty much anybody,” Devereaux
The operation does more than help artists create tracks. Third member Evan Ferris goes by the artist name Rude Max, but he does more than that.
“'I’m a jack of all trades, really. I'm an artist. I've been performing and making music for 10 years plus. I make beats and produce and graphic design,” Ferris said.
Ferris said his friendship with Shadow goes back 10 years when he was just getting started in music; “I was one of his first clients, back in the day just, you know I had nowhere to go, so I learned about some people playing a show, went to that show and met Shadow.”
Ferris said Nu Wav Studio is a place that could be really helpful to budding artists. Artists who may share similar roots.
“Recording studios sometimes charge a lot of money, and when I was younger I didn't have a lot of money, especially when I was like, 15,16 trying to find a studio to record at, and I didn't have really any money, you know. And so, offering a service that's, you know, inexpensive, and quality by like-minded creative individuals who want to help you is something that I believe in," Ferris said.
Overall, co-owners say the studio is a creative space.
“To me, music is an outlet for all my traumas and past, you know, things and so I'll just always encourage people, young, old, anyone to make music or write or do some kind of creation,” Ferris said.
Colter Olmstead is the fourth team member of Nu Wav. He’s a sound designer, sound mixer and filmmaker on standby for artists who want music videos or headshots to supplement their sound.
