Westword: Denver Music History Rescued by The Decibel Garden 2011
Once upon a time in the late '80s and early '90s -- before the rise, ease and prevalence of modern, digital-recording technology -- Time Capsule was the studio of choice for countless, aspiring, penny-pinching Denver bands. The no-frills studio offered outfits an affordable option for recording at a time when it seemed like only well-heeled, label-funded acts could afford to make records. According to real estate agent Martin Anderson, the old studio property at 1042 Perry isn't in the best shape, but after it gets cleaned up in the next few weeks, it will be back on the market. From the looks of it, the previous owners took everything of value, but left a few clues of behind of what may have led them to move on. "Whoever owned it before, turned it over to the bank," says Anderson. "It's a really sad. Just before lunchtime during clean up, Anderson discovered an entire room stacked with abandoned master reels and there's some very prominent bygone Denver bands on the list, including Pinhead Circus, thePsychedelic Zombiez, Malice In Wonderland, Rorschach Test, Dick and the Chicks, and nearly a hundred others. We're happy to report that all of the reels were able to be salvaged and have since been entrusted into the care of the folks at The Decibel Garden Studios, who have graciously agreed to serve as custodians of the tapes, which are now being stored securely and catalogued as we speak.
Judging from the overwhelming number of responses we received, it's going to be a monumental task reuniting these (550 tapes at last count) with their owners.
A happy ending to a bittersweet tale. While it's still unclear if there's any music on the tapes -- and it's obviously disheartening to hear that Time Capsule closed -- we're glad that a piece of Denver's music history has been saved from the dumpster. Contact The Decibel Garden to pick up your masters or talk to them about transferring them to a hard drive before they degrade.
