By Kate Harper
Little Bullhorn, the studio behind Dave Draves’s Centretown home where Toronto musician Gentleman Reg is recording his new album, seems to be its own world. From the outside it appears to be just a shed, but once inside, it becomes something completely different.
Its high walls are covered with musical instruments, sound equipment, Spanish-style décor and artwork depicting bullfighting. The best example is a rug on one wall featuring a matador fighting a bull, which Draves calls “k.d. lang fighting Alberta beef.”
Draves has been collecting the art over the years and adding it to the studio to contribute to its atmosphere. Discovering something difference once inside the studio is the essence behind its name and the artwork adds to it, he says.
“The idea was that it was something small being amplified in a sort of cartoonish way,” Draves says. “I thought it was a great name for a studio.”
Originally from northern Ontario, Draves moved to Ottawa in the late 1970s. When he arrived, he played in two Ottawa bands and later worked at Songbird Music. While working there, he gained a knowledge of musical instruments and recording equipment he says helps him in the studio.
In 1994, after his family bought the house and split it into two apartments, Draves’s brother suggested they build the studio in the backyard. It was originally just a small practice space for Draves and Ottawa bands, but in 1997 and 1998, he expanded it and began recording and producing full time in 2000.
“It seemed to be just a natural thing,” Draves says. “It was kind of like, ‘Hey, you’re in here practicing a bit already – why not record, too?’”
Since then, he’s worked with the likes of Kathleen Edwards, Gentleman Reg, Jim Bryson and Julie Doiron.
His production talents have attracted a lot of attention of late. His most recent project with American folk songwriter Howe Gelb, ‘Sno Angel Like You, garnered international critical acclaim from the likes of Q magazine and The Guardian in England and Pitchfork Media in the United States.
“People tend to qualify what you do by how successful you are,” he says. “Those kinds of successes are great, but a lot of people still don’t know who he [Gelb] is. My drive is to do what I do. If I become successful, great.”
Gentleman Reg says part of the reason he enjoys working with Draves is because of his attitude and Little Bullhorn’s atmosphere. The studio’s design places the soundboards and producer in the same room as the artist, so there’s more interaction between them than there would be elsewhere, Gentleman Reg says.
He’s been commuting to Ottawa to record with Draves and session musicians like Bryan Webb, vocalist and guitarist with The Constantines.
“There hasn’t been a studio in Toronto where I’m just dying to record,” he says. “In some studios, you just go and they record the band. But Dave’s much more involved and we work so well together.”
Webb says he enjoys working at the studio for the same reasons.
“When I’m here, I feel like I’m in a matador-themed cave,” he says. “It’s the kind of place you can just retreat into and just feel comfortable. It’s hard to avoid being creative in a place like this.”
But Draves says there are some challenges to running a studio in Ottawa. It’s located between Toronto and Montreal, two cities with big music communities. But he says there are advantages to Ottawa’s smaller community.
“In Ottawa, it’s really easy to develop working relationships with people,” Draves says. “Toronto tends to be cutthroat because you get a lot of third party record representatives involved. In Ottawa, since it’s more one-on-one, it’s more respectful.”
Draves says another challenge is learning to step back at the end of the day. He’s married and has a 19-month-old daughter.
His recent success means he gets a lot of recording requests, but can’t fill them all because his home life is important.
“Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with music I’ve recorded here in my head,” he says. “When you spend an eight hour day in here, it can be exhausting.”
Melanie Draves, his wife, says though the studio often takes up a lot of her husband’s time, she sees it as a good way to contribute to Ottawa’s arts community. She says she loves the fact that he gets so involved in his work.
“To live with someone who’s so unafraid to let their personality shine in everything they do is wonderful,” she says.
“The studio is like an entity on its own, and there’s a fine balance between it taking over, but he knows that.”