MANKATO — In the galaxy of the Mankato music scene, a high-energy nexus seems to be positioned right over the intersection of South Second and Grove streets.
The 1870s church located there was brought back to life in the 1990s when owner Bobby Drengler, working with longtime musician Thomas “Zeeth” Klugherz, began work on building a recording studio as the first part of more improvements.
Enter Wes and Kristi Schuck, mid-1990s graduates of Gustavus Adolphus College, and Two Fish Studios was born. They were returning a piece of borrowed equipment when that relationship was born, said Kristi Schuck.
Wes Schuck died of cancer in 2015 and water infiltrated the studio, and suddenly that cosmic intersection became a black hole where recorded sound would not escape for many years.
Now the stars have aligned and the old church is again emitting the creative sounds of music, this time under the ownership of an alien from the Twin Cities (OK, that might be stretching the metaphor) and leadership of local musician and producer Colin Scharf.
NEW LIFE
Scharf is both a writer and musician who can’t help but notice connections in the stories he writes … and lives. It’s sort of what makes them interesting, he said.
Last week, while sitting in the studios at the newly christened Vision Studios at 729 S. Second St., he launched into a story he’s been telling a lot lately about events that got him there.
Suffice it to say it has several connections that would make the reader of a story think, “That’s too crazy to believe,” but they’re also the kind of details a writer notices and that make Scharf’s role as creative director at Vision Studios seem fitting.
Two Fish Studios was cranking out musical, video and film recordings during its heyday, including the short-lived arts magazine Static and a mobile recording studio in a bus. More on that later.
The new basement recording studio, operating under the Electric Prairie Recordings name, follows the physical layout designed by Wes Schuck and Klugherz, with new sheetrock and a water removal system to keep it from flooding again. Black mold and Black Sabbath sharing the same space hits a very sour note.
An adjacent kitchen was recently decked out with toaster oven, microwave and other stylings thanks to designer Megan Rolloff at The Design Element. Scharf is quick to state her creative eye is represented throughout the renovation, and Klugherz adds the same for Schuck, whose wood-mill-operating father contributed raw materials that jazz up the place.
The main floor sanctuary has new flooring and has been prepared to serve as a live music performance space under the name The Ivy. Scharf, as the “face” of the operation, is working with the city for necessary approvals while 100 chairs and 10 tables sit in the corner at the ready.
The upstairs has been transformed into a loft — formerly often serving as a place for artists to stay while working on recordings — with wiring throughout to allow use of other spaces in the building for recording. It was coordinated by Tyler Vaughan and the new owner, Scharf said. R. Henry Construction was the contractor.
HELPFUL CONNECTIONS
Let’s get back to the interesting story of Scharf’s.
In 2004 Scharf was on his own musical journey in his second year at the State University of New York-Fredonia. Having just discovered the Pixies, a seminal indie rock band, he and his then-girlfriend drove the two hours to Toronto to catch a show.
It was over Thanksgiving weekend, just as it was when he retold the story.
“I’m telling you this story because at the beginning of the (Pixies) show somebody comes out on stage. You know, some sort of stage hand … and they said, ‘Hey, this show is going to be recorded live and at the end of the show there’ll be a line over here,’ kind of gesturing over there,” he recounted.
Those in attendance could stand in line and walk away with a free CD recording of the show they just witnessed. It was cool, the young Scharf thought, but they needed to get back home, so they passed.
Fast forwarding a few years, Scharf is now in Mankato, talking to a musician named Ian, who says, “You know, I used to drive the truck for Wes when we went on the road with the Pixies.” Turns out he was the driver of the mobile recording rig Schuck was operating that fateful night at a Pixies concert in Toronto where Scharf and his future crossed passed paths without knowing it.
Scharf applied for an internship with Schuck but things didn’t work. He and his wife, Laura, also a musician, found jobs to fuel their musical passion. In March 2016, Scharf started working for another local music legend, Rod Scheitel, at Scheitel’s Music.
“It was great,” he said. “Got to meet cool people, learn about gear, kind of do what I love, (like) be around music and instruments and things. Got pretty decent at guitar repair and other things like that.”
AN OVERHEARD OPPORTUNITY
On Sept. 24 of last year, Scharf heard one end of a conversation involving boisterous boss Scheitel, catching talk of someone looking to buy and reinvigorate the former Mankato recording studio. Scharf decided to ask for the guy’s number to grab onto the passing meteor in hopes of taking it for a cosmic ride.
“I said, ‘When can I meet you?’ And so about a week passed, and that’s when I met Jason (Holm) for the first time,” Scharf said.
Before we go on, Holm is no relation to the legendary musician Johnny Holm, for decades has brought his traveling fun show to venues across the region, although it would be cool if he were. But in keeping with the theme of this story, it should be mentioned that one of Jason’s college buddies dates Johnny’s daughter.
So, who is this guy and why did he buy a vacant recording studio in a small town?
Turns out some friends are in bands and the music industry always intrigued him. During the day, Holm is co-owner of Flexible Circuit Technologies Inc. in Plymouth, so he has some skin in the game of technology.
“I started to look around and I just had them kind of look around,” Holm said. “And then all of a sudden, that building popped up.” He learned about the Schucks and their work with Two Fish Studios at that location, so his interest grew. He has friends in Mankato and likes the music vibe.
“When I got the building, I knew there was quite a bit of work to be done on it because it’s kind of sat there for a while, and the vines kind of grew through the windows and kind of grew up the building. And, you know, there was water damage,” Holm said.
So, when Scharf reached out, introducing himself as a guy with recording experience and an interest to become involved and had bandmate Vaughan to help, the pieces fell into place.
Holm drew from those vines on the building for the name The Ivy. And the logo on the sign out front includes what Holm called “kind of a fish with an eye. … So, we kind of took a little bit from the history.”
LOOKING FORWARD
Holm sees Vision Studios continuing the dream of Wes and Kristi Schuck’s as a multi-media production studio. Scharf already has brought some of the musicians he works with in for sessions, utilizing isolation studios created by Klugherz and found or purchased pieces of musical equipment. You can feel the energy returning to the former church with a red door.
“I would like to be able to help artists, musicians, you know, from the get-go,” Holm said. “Like when they come up with a vision — I guess that kind of matches the name — to be able to take that vision and be able to create exactly what direction they want to go with it.”
That could involve slow introductions through performances at The Ivy and may branch out to management, if the interest is there, he said. In the meantime, Scharf will be working to establish Electric Prairie as a busy, all-purpose studio for musicians and other artists trying to capture that star to fame.
As they move forward, Scharf will heed the advice of more than one person in his life who has told him the best thing you can do is just continue moving toward your dream.
There’s still a lot of work to do, he admitted, but they’re off to a good start. And when you walk through the building, he said, it’s hard not to have your breath taken away, at least a little bit, as you round the next corner.
“When those fears, when the anxiety, starts to rise up, you know you’re in this 150-plus-year-old building. We’re not in a necessarily sought-after community for people to be coming and making records,” he said.
“We’ve been at it for a very long time and it’s been working so far. So, you just keep your head down and keep working.”
COMING HOME
It’s not surprising to hear how Kristi Schuck describes the building as a “magical place.” It was sheer happenstance that she and Wes were able to purchase it from Drengler, operate it for 20 years and then hand it off, with a break, to the next generation of artists.
“We found it to be an incredibly magical space,” she said, “and it just absolutely delights me that they’ve put so much care into the property and developing the space. That was always our intention.
“And to see them come through with that and be at this step, I just couldn’t wish more success for them moving forward,” she said.
Although she lives around the corner, so far Schuck has declined their invitations to visit it in-progress. Like others, she will wait for the public opening for what will, in many ways, be a homecoming.
“It’s awesome to see that come to life. You know, Wes and I were fortunate to have not just the support of a great community, but we had family that supported us and believed in our dreams. And I gotta be honest, I think that’s an important message.
“Surround yourself with people who believe in you. And (it) seems like they’re doing that. That was certainly our experience. So it warms my heart to see that.”