Q&A with Trammell Starks Recording Engineer, Lucky Man Studio

Once a touring keyboardist with Peabo Bryson, Roberta Flack and Patti LaBelle, Trammell Starks is now chief recording engineer for The Don and Alexandra Clayton “Lucky Man” Studio, a state-of-the-art facility that’s contributing to Auburn’s reputation as one of the nation’s top music business schools.

“We want to compete with just about any studio in Nashville, and that’s our goal—to become a ‘Nashville South,’” said Starks.

Trammell Starks: Two audio engineering classes; one is entry level and the other is more advanced. I try to convey not only the mechanics of how this stuff works, [but that] it’s very much a ‘people business.’ We talk a lot about the psychology of dealing with people in a creative environment. We do whatever we need to make it a secure place for the artist, and that’s where being a commercial space is critical, because what we talk about in here is not theoretical. We’re not reading in a book how to make a record, we’re actually doing it.

We have three areas of our mandate. One is we serve the faculty. [Music professor] Dr. Jeremy Samolesky, a wonderful classical pianist, recorded his new album here. We also are available to students for certain projects, but we are a commercial facility open to professionals as well. We want to become a destination studio because if we are a functioning, successful commercial studio, what better place for students to learn?

The thing about a studio, getting it all working together happily sometimes takes a little bit of ironing out. It’s true of any studio. I read once that Abbey Road Studios took 30 years to iron out. Now, we’re not going to take 30 years, but getting the construction part of it complete so we can just focus on making great music. You have to actually do it to understand the differences, rather than just read about it, so it’s a very hands-on environment here.

By Derek Herscovici ’14