photo by Ben Semisch
From metal to pop to reggae music, Lincoln's Plan C Recording has been a music-producing hotspot for nearly 10 years. In the past few months, the studio has undergone renovations that have made recording sessions easier and more comfortable, says Sean Joyce, the studio's new manager.
Back in 2003, Matthew Hovanec began recording under the name Plan C Recording. But when Hovanec became much busier, he found a partner in Joyce, who has been managing the studio since March under the name DreamPro Recording.
“Sean is an awesome guy who is way cleaner than I am,” Hovanec says with a laugh. “I’d say he has revitalized the studio and made it much nicer.”
Now, Hovanec lives and works in Omaha as an electrical engineer for Northern Natural Gas.
“In my free time, I still record bands,” Hovanec says. “I moved into a house that has a recording studio in the basement, which has about 80 percent of what I could do at Plan C.”
Although Plan C is transitioning to DreamPro, Hovanec still does some freelance work at it. The name is still in the process of being changed, but Joyce hopes to switch over by July.
filmed and recorded at Plan C's open house in October 2011
With DreamPro, Joyce is enjoying his first time managing and working out of a professional studio. About a year ago, he started doing engineering and moved into part of the Plan C studio that wasn’t being used as much.
“Then in March, Matt turned the studio over to me,” Joyce says. “Before, I had a basement studio, some odd jobs and I started doing sound at Knickerbockers, but I’ve never really had a career before this.”
Ever since he graduated 10 years ago, Joyce was on an engineering career path, but he knew he would have to build his name first. He has been working toward his dream for six or seven years, but became much more serious about it in September 2010.
“At that point, I put all of my time into starting a studio and that led up to DreamPro,” Joyce says.
As he began making changes to the studio, Joyce had in mind both what he wanted and what he thought would work well for the musicians coming in to record. Since he is in a band himself, Fear Sight, a progressive modern metal group, he had an idea of what to work on.
“Hovanec did an amazing job recording, but the studio didn’t have a very orderly feel,” Joyce says. “So the first thing I did was completely repaint the building black to have a more uniform, sleek and professional look.”
filmed and recorded at Plan C's open house in October 2011
Joyce also worked on the overall organization of the studio and ordered acoustic equipment. He says his next job is to renovate the main control room, which will make it more spacious.
“Because of all the renovations, the studio has a better vibe, which is important to help musicians feel comfortable,” Joyce says. “And since it’s more comfortable for me and the artists, it’s helped us to be more productive and do more in a shorter amount of time.”
As Joyce finishes the transition of Plan C Recording into DreamPro Recording, he is hosting a yard sale/swap this Sunday on the studio’s front lawn from noon until 6 p.m.
“My main intent is to get rid of extra stuff to make more space,” Joyce says. “But more importantly, I want to bring local musicians together to exchange parts and just hang out. I’ve always been an active member playing shows, (striving for) a tighter local music scene.”
Kelsey Haugen is a Hear Nebraska intern. Although a man at the mall's attempt to use "Call Me Maybe" as a means of contacting her failed, you can reach Kelsey at kelseyh@hearnebraska.org.