Drive-In Studio was a recording studio in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

, founded by Mitch Easter in July 1980, shortly after the break-up of his band The dB's. R.E.M.'s debut single, " Radio Free Europe" (1981), and their first

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, ''

Chronic Town ''Chronic Town'' is the debut Extended play, EP by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on August 24, 1982, on I.R.S. Records. Containing five tracks, the EP was recorded at the Drive-in Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in Octob ...

'' (1982), were recorded at the studio in 1981. The studio was established in what was initially Easter's parents' garage, at 4527 Old Belews Creek Road, and became an important part of the early

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

scene of North Carolina. Easter explained in 2021:

Equipment

An early advertisement, which listed Shady Boulevard as a mailing address for the studio, itemized its recording technology: * Quantum 20-input mixing console * 3M M56 sixteen- and two-track recorders *

Lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Koine Greek language, Greek word (), neuter of () ...

Prime Time M93 digital delay * Allison Gain Brain limiters * AKG,

Shure Shure Incorporated is an American audio products corporation. It was founded by Sidney N. Shure in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925 as a supplier of radio parts kits. The company became a consumer and professional audio-electronics manufacturer of mi ...

and

Electro-Voice Electro-Voice (EV) is an American manufacturer of audio equipment, including microphones, amplifiers, and loudspeakers, focused on pro audio applications such as sound reinforcement. As a subdivision of Bosch Communications Systems Inc. since 200 ...

mics * Electric and acoustic

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

TEAC TEAC may refer to: * TEAC Corporation () is a Japanese electronics manufacturer. TEAC was created by the merger of the Tokyo Television Acoustic Company, founded in 1953, and the Tokyo Electro-Acoustic Company, founded in 1956. Overview ...

four-track * Cassette * Drums * Organ * Electric piano * Amps * Toys

Artists

Other artists who recorded at Drive-In include Pylon ("Beep"),

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the ...

("Gypsy"),

Game Theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...

('' The Big Shot Chronicles'') and The Connells ( ''Boylan Heights''). Easter closed Drive-In in 1994, and moved to

Kernersville Kernersville is a town in Forsyth County and the largest suburb of Winston-Salem. The town is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. A small portion of the town is also in Guilford County. The population was 26,481 at the 2020 census, up ...

, North Carolina, where he opened his current recording studio, Fidelitorium Recordings.

References

{{coord missing, North Carolina 1980 establishments in North Carolina Recording studios in the United States Buildings and structures in Winston-Salem, North Carolina