Drive-In_Studio
Drive-In Studio
Recording studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Drive-In Studio was a recording studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, founded by Mitch Easter in July 1980, shortly after the break-up of his band The dB's.[1] R.E.M.'s debut single, "Radio Free Europe" (1981),[2] and their first extended play, Chronic Town (1982), were recorded at the studio in 1981.[3] The studio was established in what was initially Easter's parents' garage,[4][5] at 4527 Old Belews Creek Road,[6] and became an important part of the early indie rock scene of North Carolina.[7]
At the time of R.E.M.'s stint at the studio, "the set-up was really simple," Easter said in 1994. "I had almost nothing in the studio back then, except a tape machine and a console and two compressors and one delay device. We couldn't do any fancy stuff."[8]
Easter explained the studio's layout in 2021:
[The studio] was tiny. The entire space was probably about 225 square feet. It was a two-car garage that had been divided up before my parents got the place. The previous owners split it up and turned it into a one-car garage, and then the other half they made into a children’s bedroom and this sort of utility room. The car area was where the band stood together, the children’s bedroom was the control room, and I think the bass and guitar amps were isolated in the little utility area next to the control room.
— Rod Brakes, Music Radar, June 3, 2021[9]
Due to the confined space of the interior, studio sessions often also took place in the home's driveway,[10] under the carport.[11]