Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/389272
44 | I NSIGH T • O c t o b e r 2 0 14 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m A ppleton enjoyed a wave of cultural success with Mile of Music – Mile 2. But take a tour of Rock Garden Studio, the award-winning recording facility involved with Mile 2 and its musicians, and you will get a much better sense of the powerful currents that power the Fox Cities' music scene. "ere was something dragging me here, something pulling me here. It was the music," says Rock Garden Studio owner/operator Marc Golde. "is was like my mini-version of LA." Rock Garden, located on an island of the Fox River in Appleton, opened last year as a continuation of Golde's previous ventures in the Fox Cities. Musician pursues his passion to build a viable business All the right notes in focus { s m a l l b u s i n e s s } B y S a m A l l e n Rock Garden promotes itself as versatile and affordable, traits Golde says kept it alive amid a recording industry racked by the rise of digital media. "Diversifying is what saved the studio," Golde says. "Most major studios in America have closed down. You can't just complain that business isn't what it used to be." Instead of complaining, Golde added video and began working with commercial advertising agencies to generate the revenue to keep the studio open and allow Golde to pursue his passion — catering to upstart musical acts and growing a vibrant music scene. "I'm loaded with how much work I can actually put in myself; I hit the wall," he says. "I gross around $80,000- $100,000 a year, and I won't be able to crack that unless I have someone else doing production too." Golde's involvement with the Appleton music scene dates back to the late 1980s, and Rock Garden has a unique retro appeal that reflects his experience as a musician, producer and songwriter growing up in the '70s. By age 9, Golde was performing at the bars and clubs of his hometown, Merrill, and was gied a portable recording set. At 16, he went on the road, finding himself in Appleton two years later. In his 20s Golde began hosting recording sessions in his basement. "I was getting some better results than the small studios around here. And I was like, hey, I can do this." During the mid-'90s, he went to work for a studio in Neenah. When that studio folded, he decided the time was right to go out on his own. "e first one lasted about two months. It was terrible," Golde says. "e next one, I just outgrew the place and it evolved into this." Along the way, he learned valuable lessons about pursuing his passion as a business. "I tell people, I'm not in this business to make money, but I have to Marc Golde, owner/operator, at the recording console at Rock Garden Studio in Appleton. C O U R T E S Y O F R O C K G A R D E N S T U D I O