THE SCRAPE - ISSUE 1
Stephen: Spring Fest Sound Engineer - By Mía Keeler
Stephen Fisk's talents are vast. A man with seemingly endless passions—some of which he showcases more frequently than others—Fisk is a highly regarded sound engineer. His work includes sound engineering at The Hallowed Halls Recording Studio, and collaborations with names such as Esperanza Spaulding and Nahko And Medicine For The People.
Playing in hardcore punk bands throughout high school, Stephen Fisk started to recognize the expense that came with releasing music. Paying for hours of studio time quickly turned into Fisk watching the sound engineer, harvesting information on how to eventually do the work himself. Armed with GarageBand and a MacBook, he began recording his and his friend's songs.
Originally attending a small community college to study jazz guitar, Fisk found his college had a studio with decent gear: C24 Controller and a Digidesign Digi 002 Console. The hours spent in this studio propelled Fisk to change his major and transfer to McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul, Minnesota. After about a year, Fisk came to the realization he only needed to take recording classes in order to better himself as an engineer, hoping to avoid the debt and superfluous hoops of higher education.
Stephan Fisk was brought from Des Moines, Iowa to Washington after losing the car he used to make deliveries for Jimmy John's. Fisk's uncle called him up, offering him a position as a raft guiding job through the Deschutes and Wenatchee rivers. Fisk was also recording an album, and eventually visited downtown Portland to record a friend who was playing keys. "It was summer in 2011, just peak, dope Portland." He decided he wasn't leaving. Fisk found himself a job, an apartment and started planting his roots.
Raking in $200 a week with a girlfriend, Fisk found himself looking for a better job. Snagging an interview at Mississippi Pizza after his friend replied to a Craigslist ad, Fisk was an easy hire. Clicking with the existing staff, managers and regulars, Stephen found himself at the center of a musical hub in Portland. Tuesday nights at Mississippi Pizza are a special stomping ground for some of Portland's best folk, singer-songwriter, blues and alternative artists at the Atlantis Underground Open Mic.
Working his internship into a position at The Hallowed Halls Recording Studio, Fisk was moving towards success swiftly. Stephen Fisk's reputation precedes him. "My job is to do dope shit with my friends now, and I fucking love it. I work with awesome people," he gushes. Fisk is currently working to engineer our beloved duo Presidio's newest album, and he claims we aren't ready for this. Keep an eye out for Fisk's newest projects, you won't want to miss them.