Tyler Nelson
The moral of this story is that there is a recording studio for sale in Wauwatosa. The owner retired in September of 2019. He’s been nominated for a Grammy. He’s won an Emmy. He has back-to-back WAMI-wins under his belt. He’s also the first one to tell you that he never set out to win awards. The work is what really matters and he’s proud of his body of work.
Jonathon Leubner has been recording, mixing and mastering everything from blues albums to radio commercials since 1980. For the last 18 years, he’s been doing that from his business, SurroundinSoundStudio (7303 W. Center Street). Last September, he decided to hang up his headphones and retire from the industry he loves.
A Grammy nomination in 2010 for Folk Album of the Year on a project Leubner helped record, that was produced by Ani DiFranco, is probably the highlight of his long career on paper. A regional Emmy was awarded to a talk show theme song that Leubner worked on in the ‘90s. But Leubner was never really interested in that type of recognition. He wasn’t really interested in running a recording studio in the first place.
“When I went to school to learn the trade, I wasn’t doing that to become a professional audio engineer,” says Leubner. “I was doing that so I could have knowledge in how to capture my own music in a professional way.” He soon found people asking him for help getting their music down the way they wanted it to sound.
1 of 2
Courtesy of Jonathon Leubner
2 of 2
Courtesy of Jonathon Leubner
“Music is such a personal thing to people, almost like a child,” says Leubner. “I don’t and never have taken that lightly. The time we spend together in the studio is the ultimate expression of their art and creativity. My life’s work in my studio has been making people’s dreams come true.”
|
|
Leubner worked as the resident sound designer for In Tandem Theatre along with doing a lot of work with Renaissance Theaterworks and Next Act theaters around Milwaukee. He also worked on commercials for television, doing location sound.
During the course of his career, Leubner recorded thousands of commercials. There’s a good chance you’ve heard his work before. Leubner tells stories of Bob Uecker hanging out in the studio while recording Milwaukee Brewers commercials. A cast of comedians and athletes including Rodney Dangerfield were put together to make the Miller Lite All Stars, which Leubner was fortunate to get to work on. Leubner recorded sound for a Remington commercial in Waukesha that starred Ryan Braun and supermodel Marisa Miller, where he was able to listen in on some pretty interesting conversations between the two young stars.
Along with the tools his music production career being downsized over the years, from giant mixing consoles and hulking tape machines being replaced by MIDI and digital software, the building itself went through similar evolutions throughout Leubner’s ownership. The basement is wide open for storage where the tanks for the oil furnace used to be. It’s amazing how much space those dinosaurs used to take up.
Built shortly after World War II in Art Moderne style which incorporates block glass and Lannon stone, the building was purpose-built to be a dental practice. Leubner is the third owner and still keeps some of the remnants from the building’s previous life. In the basement there is a storage room with the original owner’s name printed on the door and some dental tools which were left behind.
Leubner leaves behind a legacy that he’s proud of. Some of the bands he’s recorded in his studio are The Blind Boys of Alabama, Utah Phillips, Paul Cebar, Lil Rev, Jim Liban, Mrs. Fun and too many more to list. Although the recording equipment is no longer there, the soundproof walls, open performance space, isolation booths and acoustic tiles are, ready to serve the next owner looking to expand their home studio setup. Check out the listing for the building. Maybe an organization can step in and create an educational space for aspiring musicians?
1 of 6
Photo by Tyler Nelson
2 of 6
Photo by Tyler Nelson
3 of 6
Photo by Tyler Nelson
4 of 6
Photo by Tyler Nelson
5 of 6
Photo by Tyler Nelson
6 of 6
Photo by Tyler Nelson
