Woodstock and its neighboring hamlet of Bearsville have long been home to some of the biggest names in music and the studios that produced some of rock’s finest albums.
In 2024, one of its most famous recording studios roared back to life after a long hiatus. It is Utopia Studios Bearsville, the studio created by Bob Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman, for the talented young artist/producer he managed, Todd Rundgren.
Veteran engineer/producer Pete Caigan is the man who is bringing the studio back to life, after a career spent waxing legendary recordings at the area’s equally famous Dreamland Studios and his own Flymax.
Caigan has reason to celebrate because Utopia Studios continues its winning track record under this leadership. One of the first projects produced after he re-opened the studio, The Lumineers’ Automatic, is now the #1 album of the Alt-Rock charts.
Read on to hear about the fascinating history of the studio and Caigan’s plans for its resurrection.
Sal Cataldi: Tell us a little about the history of Utopia Studios and its connection to Bob Dylan’s arrival in Woodstock in the late 1960s.
Pete Caigan: Utopia was built in 1980 by Albert Grossman, the longtime manager of Bob Dylan and The Band. It was initially built as a video studio for Todd Rundgren, the “boy wonder” producer Albert managed. It was part of the Bearsville Recording Complex and designed by John Storyk, the architect behind Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studio in New York City. Todd worked there through the mid-80s, producing albums like XTC’s Skylarking, Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell 2, Patti Smith’s Wave and his own projects, like his solo album Runt and several by his progressive band, Utopia. The advent of home recording and the reduction in revenues earned by musicians due to the growth of downloading led to the shuttering of the studio in 2004. Radio Woodstock occupied the space for many years. Entrepreneur Lizzie Vann purchased it in 2019, along with the entire Bearsville complex, including the Bearsville Theater and several restaurants, and spent a significant amount renovating it.
SC: Tell us a little about your background in engineering. When did you decide to become a recording engineer, and what was your role at another of Woodstock’s famous studios, Dreamland?
PC: I began engineering in 2000 when I was 30. Before that, I was a full-time professional drummer. I learned Pro Tools and started interning at drummer Jerry Marotta’s Studio Jersville. I learned the ropes, and when his chief engineer left in 2002, I was charged with recording and engineering the bass and drums on Sarah McLachlan’s record, Afterglow. It went double platinum, and I got very busy after that.
In 2008, Jerry and I teamed up to reopen the famous Dreamland Record Studio in Hurley, which was, and still is, owned by our mutual friend Joel Bluestein. I was the house engineer there from 2008-2012. During that period, the studio produced major releases for notables like Fleet Foxes, Peter Murphy, Beach House, etc.
SC: What made you decide to take on revitalizing Utopia Studios?
PC: I had a studio, Flymax, at the former IBM complex in Kingston. I had the firehouse building. The property was purchased in 2021, and I moved out in 2022 because they wanted to drastically jack up the rent. I was looking for a new place and the owner of Bearsville, Lizzie Vann, wooed me into coming there. I rented a small room there in the summer of 2022 to mix a record. The building was pretty empty at the time, and I couldn’t resist. We worked out a deal for me to rent the studio space beginning in February 2023.
SC: What are some of the technical aspects that make this such a unique atmosphere for musicians to record?
PC: As I mentioned earlier, the studio was designed by John Storyk, who designed Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland and the original Bearsville Studios A and B. It’s a properly built studio with two-foot-thick concrete walls and well-isolated control rooms and booths. It also has a lighting grid, which makes it perfect for video projects. We have an API AXS recording console and a great new and vintage gear collection. Scott Healy, the keyboardist for the Conan O’Brien Band, recently recorded here and called it “the best recording room on the East Coast.”
SC: You’ve had a whirlwind first year, accented by the recording and mixing of The Lumineers new #1 Alt Rock charting album, Automatic. Tell us about this project and your experience recording with The Lumineers?
PC: The band booked the studio for two solid months in May and June of last year. My friends David Baron and Simone Felice co-produced the record with The Lumineers. It was a magical session with very few hiccups. Wesley and Jeremiah are great guys and very easygoing. We had a blast. And the chart results speak for themselves. We’ve also done projects for artists including keyboardist Brian Mitchell, The Felice Brothers, and singer-songwriters Rachael Yamagata and Ginger Winn.
SC: Woodstock is also home to many big names in jazz, such as drummer Jack DeJohnette. Tell us about the current project you are working on.
PC: Jack has been into the studio for three projects. First, he came in for drummer Arti Jaxson’s record. Jack was co-producing and we had a number of listening sessions. The next project was for Joseph Towadros, an Oud player from Australia. Jack played drums on that record and I engineered. It was a real treat to get to record Jack. Most recently, he came back for some transfers of old recordings, some magnificent work that I hope the world gets to hear soon.
SC: Utopia Studios Bearsville is on the grounds of the Bearsville Complex, including the Bearsville Theater, which is now being programmed by Peter Shapiro of Wetlands, Brooklyn Bowl, and Capitol Theater fame. How are you working with the theater in terms of producing and distributing live records?
PC: We are connected to Bearsville Theater via an underground tunnel. We have analog tie lines to the theater’s stage. We are currently recording many of the shows that happen there. Recently, we recorded Sam Grisman Project, Joe Russo’s Selcouth Quartet, Medeski, Russo & Klein with special guests Mike Gordon and Marco Benevento, and, most recently, God Street Wine.
SC: As in Todd Rundgren’s time, the studio is not just about recording but also about video production. What have you recently done in this area.
PC: We have hosted many film companies to shoot scenes. Vera Farmiga shot the video for her new heavy metal band, The Yagas. We have also done live performance videos for Shane Guerrette, The Felice Brothers, and Donna Lewis. We also offer a video podcast room for podcasters.
SC: A top-flight studio like yours in not cheap but you have been running special to give less monied musicians a chance to record. How has this been going?
PC: This is great. We offer unbooked dates in the upcoming month at a discount if bands are interested. We want the studio working every day, so if we have unbooked time, we blow it out – for clients who are able to come in on short notice.
SC: What are the current and upcoming projects that you are most excited about?
PC: I am producing records for Joe Colwell and Addy Idol. Unfortunately, I can’t talk about most of what is coming up. It’s the nature of this business.
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