''The Smart Studios Story'' is a 2016

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

written, directed and co-produced by Wendy Schneider. The film chronicles the history and impact of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

-based recording studio

Smart Studios Smart Studios was a recording studio located in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands. The studio produced bands such as Killdozer, The Smashing Pumpkins, L7, Tad, and Nirvana. After in ...

, founded by

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...

and

Steve Marker Steve Marker (born March 16, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as a cofounder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage. Early life Steven W. Marker was born in Mamaroneck, New York on Marc ...

in 1983. The film premiered on March 16, 2016, at the SXSW Film Festival and was released on iTunes March 7, 2017.

Appearances

The documentary features interviews with artists associated with the studio as well as producers, engineers, and label executives, including: *

Jeff Castelaz Jeff Castelaz founded Cast Management and co-founded The Pablove Foundation. He also Co-Founded and was CEO of Los Angeles-based Dangerbird Records, and was the president of Elektra Records. Career beginnings Castelaz began working in music in ...

* Jimmy Chamberlin * Larry Crane *

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band the ...

* Duke Erikson *

Laura Jane Grace Laura Jane Grace (born Thomas James Gabel; November 8, 1980) is an American musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!. In addition to Against Me!, Grace fronts the band Laura ...

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

Shirley Manson Shirley Ann Manson (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish musician and actress. She is best known as the lead singer of the American alternative rock band Garbage. Manson gained media attention for her forthright style, rebellious attitude, and di ...

Jonathan Poneman Jonathan Poneman is an American record executive and co-founder of two record labels: Sub Pop and Hardly Art. Early life and education The third child of Harold and Beverly Poneman, Jonathan Poneman was born October 9, 1959 in Toledo, Ohio and g ...

* Ben Sidran *

Donita Sparks Donita Sparks (born April 8, 1963) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter most notable for being the co-founder of the band L7. Sparks also initiated, performed, and released original material with her solo project, the band Donita S ...

* Chris Walla *

Tom Hazelmyer Tom Hazelmyer (born 1965) is an American musician and printmaker. He is known as the founder and owner of the independent label Amphetamine Reptile Records as well as being the lead vocalist and songwriter for the band Halo of Flies. Biograp ...

Members of the bands Killdozer, Die Kreuzen,

Bongzilla Bongzilla is an American stoner metal band that formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1995. They released their debut extended play, ''Mixed Bag'', the following year through Rhetoric Records. Much of Bongzilla's lyrics are centered around cannabis u ...

Tar Babies Tar Babies was an American band from Madison, Wisconsin, United States, that released several albums on SST Records. Critic Steve Huey of Allmusic describes them as a minor player on SST, with an intriguing sound rooted in hardcore punk but touch ...

, Young Fresh Fellows, and Appliances SFB also appear in the film.

Production

After it was reported in January 2010 that Smart Studios would be closing later that year, Schneider announced that production for the documentary was underway. She requested materials such as video, pictures and audio from studio sessions or live shows, along with submissions of cover art, flyers, video testimonials and written stories about the recording facility. Schneider began funding the project via

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

on February 24, 2014, seeking to raise $120,000 by March 30. The

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign was a success, raising $122,230. Schneider shot 70 hours of footage on

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

Release

''The Smart Studios Story'' was selected as the official film of

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

2016. A promotional cassette featuring more than a dozen bands recorded at the studio was made available at participating record stores across the United States on Record Store Day 2016. The film had its world premiere on March 16, 2016 at the SXSW Film Festival. It opened the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival on April 13, 2016, and was screened at the

Wisconsin Film Festival The Wisconsin Film Festival is an annual film festival, founded in 1999. The festival is held every April in Madison, Wisconsin, and has recently been expanded from five days to eights days. The Festival presents a broad range of independent Ameri ...

on April 17, 2016. The film was also screened in 10 US states and Washington, D.C. from October to December. A Tour Edition DVD was released for

Black Friday 2016, along with a vinyl compilation of early Smart Studio recordings titled ''American Noise: Volume 1''. An

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

release followed on February 14, 2017. The second soundtrack compilation vinyl, ''American Noise: Volume 2'', was released in 2019.

Reception

Dennis Harvey of '' Variety'' considered the film a "whirlwind tour of a busy if largely subterranean epoch whose long, often fleetingly glimpsed talent roster should pique the curiosity (and/or nostalgia) of alt-rock archaeologists." Writing for '' Consequence of Sound'', Michael Roffman deemed its length "all-too-lean" as it does not allow for comprehensively "trac ngthe roots of he Alternativemovement back to not only Smart Studios but the Midwest in general", but praised Schneider's "fine job" of bringing the stories to life with archive footage and found the film to be "an enjoyable and enlightening watch" and "a breezy music lesson". Nick Allen of

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

called ''The Smart Studios Story'' "a really solid documentary that should satisfy music fans and Killdozer enthusiasts alike."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smart Studios Story, The 2016 films 2016 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about the music industry Rockumentaries Kickstarter-funded documentaries 2016 directorial debut films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films