Friday, December 16, 2005

From Abbey Road to Pleasantry Lane

An interview with Salim Nourallah

By Jayson Bales

TexasGigs tours Salim Nourallah's Pleasantry Lane studios.

Some of the area’s best music is not what comes to mind when you pull up to the Pleasantry Lane studios in the middle of a funky, residential neighborhood in East Dallas. In fact, the studio is unmarked and barely visible from the street. It’s a non-descript, one-story building in the back of small home and unless you already know, the vibe one gets is not making music.

Looks are deceiving though and making music is exactly what Pleasantry Lane is about. Inside, the studio is quaint and it is sparsely furnished with none of the stereotypical studio items such as plush couches, a bar, separate recording booths and gold records.

The music created in this space, though, is making waves in the music community, both locally and nationally, and its owner/producer/engineer is getting bands from all over the country wanting to record their albums here.

Some credit for its success goes to the studio itself, which has an Andy Warhol-meets-John Lennon vibe and solid, recording equipment built to capture sound. Most of the credit though is due to the engineering and production work of studio co-owner, Salim Nourallah, a well-known Dallas musician in his own right. At Pleasantry Lane, Salim has worked with national, regional and local artists such as Rhett Miller, The Old 97s, The Deathray Davies, my band, Kristy Kruger, and The Damnwells, to name a few. Recently, I sat down with Salim to talk about his recording projects and his experience as a producer.

JaysonBales.com

Jayson Bales

How did you get started in production?

In 1998, I started recording stuff with my brother Ferris on an 8-track recorder out of the house. Basically, we had nothing but frustrating experiences in big, expensive studios. Our first recordings resulted in The Nourallah Brothers CD and the 8-track recorder we used wasn’t even considered “professional” audio equipment. We felt pretty good about the record though. I still have some people tell me it is the best album we have ever done.

How long have you been doing this? What’s the meaning behind the name “Pleasantry Lane?”

I started Pleasantry Lane studios in 1998. Pleasantry Lane was the name of a song I wrote about an uptight person that I was close to, whom shall remain nameless. This person dreamed of going to a quiet, beautiful place in his mind, which was Pleasantry Lane. Also, the whole Abbey Road Beatles reference was just too much to pass up. I never really thought of naming the studio. It just was.

Tell me about the process of building your studio.

I bought my house with the thought in mind to convert the backhouse into a studio. My brother and I had a bizarre Budweiser endorsement in the mid-90s where they gave us some money to help start the remodeling process for the studio. I also have a partner, Rip Rowan, who is involved in the studio and making it better.

Has being a music engineer and producer affected the way you hear live music, both your own music and other bands?

Not really, because I’ve always been opinionated about sound, especially records. So I’m not really any more reactive to live music than I was before. I like what I like.

What do you look for when you agree to produce a band?

First of all, that I like them as people. It’s important for records to have a good vibe, and for everyone to have fun, including me. Then, there has to be something stylistically that I believe in and understand. For example, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for me to record speed metal or hip hop because it’s just not what I know. I wouldn’t be able to offer them much. I’ve turned down those projects before, despite being offered good money to take them on. It’s not about money though. I love what I do and I want to make records with artists that I feel like I can contribute to and help make their sound better. That makes my job rewarding.

What’s something unique you’ve created in the studio with another band other than yourself?

Photo by Kate Mackley

Salim Nourallah at the Granada July 14, 2005

The new I Love Math record is cool because John Dufilho has been making records a long time with The Deathray Davies. Some things we did with his voice are unique in that perspective because I helped him (John) reinvent himself in certain ways. Rahim Quazi’s record was also really neat and unique with strings and all these different sounds. The record was made for $2000, which is amazing when you hear all the sounds and such. I’m very proud of that project.

What other engineers or producers do you respect or model yourself after?

Tchad Blake (Finn Brothers, Los Lobos, Travis, Elvis Costello).

Nick Lowe (Elvis Costello)

Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Rhett Miller, Aimee Mann)

Glyn Johns (The Eagles, The Beatles)

And of course the godfather, George Martin (The Beatles)

Name five great rock albums where the production took the band to another plane.

The White Album – The Beatles

London Calling – The Clash

East Side Story – Squeeze. Produced by Elvis Costello. That band was never able again to capture people’s attention that way and it’s because of Elvis Costello’s production.

Finn – The Finn Brothers’ latest album. Old Crowded House is a little too slick for my taste.

Nevermind The Bollocks – The Sex Pistols. At that time, nobody had ever heard a rock record that sounded like that. It still thunders today.

What does the future hold for your career?

Hopefully staying alive as long as possible, and making as many records as I can; my own and other musicians. To me all the really good studios in Dallas have never been accessible to the average musician. I want my studio to have that quality sound but still be accessible to all musicians. I’m really happy with that niche.

How has being a music producer affected the delicate balance of being a husband, father and musician?

It’s saved me from having to get a “straight” job in order to support my family. It’s made me a better husband and father. The best thing you can do as a husband and parent is to be happy.

Salim Nourallah performs "The World Is Full of People Who Want to Hurt You" in his home studio on January 2, 2006.

Being a producer has probably exposed you to other bands that you normally would not have heard necessarily or been associated with. Based on that, what’s something or someone Dallas music fans should know about?

There’s a guy name David Deshazo. He’s one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard. No one in Dallas knows who he is. He’s a monster talent and for him to be completely unheard of in Dallas is amazing to me. His band is Stereo Rookie, and their debut album came out on Paisly Pop this last year.

Phil Spector had the wall of sound. Gurf Morlix really separates instruments and creates space between them. Jack White creates a very live, reverb, organic kind of sound; Describe the imprint of having a Salim Nourallah produced record.

If I have a production style, it would probably be a throwback to older records made in the 1970s. Those are the days when reverb wasn’t a crutch. I have a dry, organic sounding studio and I’m looking to create an organic sound. I believe effects should be effects, and not the focus.

This is one in a long series of local musicians writing about other local musicians. If you're a local artist and would like to write for us, let us know.

Related stories

• Salim Nourallah featured on PopMatters (April 2, 2008)
• Old 97’s release EPK with Salim Nourallah in advance of Blame it on Gravity release (March 30, 2008)

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