MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Hamilton Harding and singer Porcelan fine-tune tracks in one of the three state-of-the-art studios inside Made in Memphis Music.
“Studio C has liver sound, studio B has a tighter sound and studio A is more spacious and open sounding, and all of those colors add to the sound and spectrum we can record here,” Harding said.
Later this year the studio will house a custom console that is only the fourth in the world like it to be built by sound company API.
“When we’re talking about what we want to do for the music industry, what we want to do for the city, the first thing that we’re looking at as far as the gear that we have, it has to be comparable to what happening with all the Beyonce’s and Bruno Mars, we want to have that same capability.”
This is the place David Porter says will make Memphis a mecca for artists looking to record hit records.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to put together the pieces to the puzzle that we know will work.”
One of those pieces is Harding, the VP and head of A&R at Made in Memphis Music.
“For music, for the future of it you have to have someone who is young enough, vibrant enough to do what you need to have done,” Porter said.
Harding moved to Memphis from Nashville to deliver the vision Porter laid out.
“David does a good job of empowering the next generation,” Harding said.
Harding and Porter both say one of the stars of the next generation is singer Porcelan. The native Memphian is excited about her debut album set to be released this summer.
“Everybody has to go out of town, and they think that’s the place to be, somewhere in one of the bigger cities,” she said. “To be able to get this here comfortably and be on the same level as everyone else is great.”
Harding says Made in Memphis artists are being groomed in every aspect of the music business. And they’re learning from a living legend. Each week the artists gather with writers to work on new music and ideas.
“Where it was a real groove-oriented song…snap, snap, snap. That kind of thing.”
“With the talent that we have, the production, the writing, all of that comes together and culminates to make a package that will go out to the world and represent Memphis well,” Harding said.
Music made in Memphis by Memphis people is what Porter says is a recipe for success.
