A magnet for aspiring rock stars

Keith Souza was a 20-year-old musician when he set up his first recording studio in the basement of his parents’ home in Tiverton. Fifteen years later, Souza is co-owner and chief engineer of Machines with Magnets, a recording studio in Pawtucket attracting rock bands from across the country and as far away as Tokyo.

Machines with Magnets is a full-service recording studio that offers analog and digital audio production and a wide range of multimedia services, including music composition, sound effects, film-to-video transfers, video production, DVD authoring, graphic design and Web design, said Lauren Holt, the co-owner and studio manager, and Souza’s longtime partner.

But producing and recording independent rock bands are Souza and Holt’s passion, and they are getting an international reputation in the alternative, electronic and “noise” rock world. This past year, Battles, a New York City-based band signed to London-based Warp Records, recorded their album “Mirrored” in the Machine with Magnets studio. The album, which was released in the United States in May, shot to the top of the charts in Japan.

Back Drop Bomb, signed to Toy’s Factory in Tokyo, left Pawtucket last week after recording for a month at Machines with Magnets.

The success of the recording studio is an outgrowth of Souza’s deep roots in the independent rock scene, Holt said. Souza and Holt, who met a decade ago when their respective bands shared a practice space, are both musicians who have played and recorded with numerous bands in Providence, Boston and New York City.

Souza established Machines with Magnets in 2000 as a small recording studio in East Providence, where he recorded and produced music for such Indie rock heavyweights as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Lightning Bolt, and Pink and Brown.

“Recording studios are usually built on the reputations of its engineers, and Keith having done this for a long time has just a really great rapport with a lot of bands,” Holt said.

Such was the case when Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – then an unknown band from New York – traveled to East Providence to lay tracks for its debut album in Souza’s East Providence recording studio. The album was met with an explosion of acclaim in the independent rock blogosphere that ultimately landed the band a major label contract, an international tour and appearances on the late-night talk show circuit.

“They came in, tracked the record, and then it was like one of those overnight success things you read about,” Holt recalled. “One night we turned on the TV and were like, ‘Oh my God, Clap Your Hands are on Conan!’ ”

The band’s success also brought Souza a new level of recognition as a producer and recording engineer for independent rock. On Sept. 8, Machines with Magnets celebrated its anniversary in its new home at 400 Main St. in Pawtucket – a 13,000-square-foot former furniture mill that Souza and Holt purchased in 2004 with a small group of family-and-friend investors and extensively rehabbed. Partners Tom Gomes and Craig Gifford and freelance sound engineers Seth Manchester and Mike Viele were instrumental in the buildout of the space, Holt said.

In addition to the recording studio, the building now houses two live/work apartments and a gallery/performance space. Souza and Holt regularly host live music in the performance space, which is technically a separate business from the recording studio but which essentially operates as a nonprofit, Holt said.

Last June, Rhode Island School of Design hosted its department of graphic design’s graduate thesis exhibition in the gallery. The Rhode Island State Council for the Arts is considering using the space for its fellowship exhibition in February, Holt said.

Having been approached by professors in the music and media departments at RISD and Johnson & Wales University, Souza is considering opening up the Machines with Magnets studio to students studying recording and producing. Just last week, the Providence-based alternative rock radio station WBRU contacted Souza and Holt with a proposal to create an ongoing series of studio recording sessions that would be broadcast live by the station.

Holt and Souza are obviously pleased at the new opportunities that are coming their way. But Holt said they plan to maintain their connection with the local underground music scene, even as they work to grow Machine with Magnets as a business.

“We still strive to support local and independent musicians, and we hope we can stay within that niche, because that’s what we care about, that’s what we’re passionate about,” she said. •

Company Profile: Machines with Magnets

OWNERS: Keith Souza and Lauren Holt

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Full-service recording studio

LOCATION: 400 Main St., Pawtucket

EMPLOYEES: 2 (owners)

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2000

ANNUAL REVENUE: WND