Independent artists are the future of music; This is how they are taking over San Luis Obispo
Sitting with cardboard boxes and a bittersweet blend of sadness and excitement the morning of college move-in day, carrying your fragile heart to Architecture Graveyard after a long week and driving aimlessly around California Blvd. at night are representative Cal Poly student experiences that inspired the sound of sociology junior Cadence Baker’s upcoming debut EP, “Sentimentalist.”
Baker began recording her EP in a Poly Canyon Village (PCV) dorm room last academic year alongside electrical engineering junior and audio engineer Ryan Marienthal. Before Marienthal established the recording studio “Cable City Studio,” he crammed a drum kit under his twin XL bed and stuck mattresses on the walls of his room to cancel out nearby echoes when recording.
To some this is excessive — but to independent musicians, this is how you get by.
The entertainment industry saw a spike in DIY artists entering the COVID-19 lockdown. Popular music business service “iGroove” revealed that in 2020, major labels released 1.2 million songs while “DIY artists released 9.5 million tracks, meaning eight times as many.” These numbers have led listeners and music business entrepreneurs to believe that the future of music depends on the songwriters producing music in their homes.
Past generations did not have simple access to music production software like independent artists do now. A digital audio workstation (DAW), which is a production software used to record and edit audio, makes releasing music more feasible for self-governing musicians, with the most popular options being Ableton, FL Studio and Logic Pro.
Baker taught herself the ins and outs of Ableton in her home studio which now features condenser microphones, a Scarlett 2i2 audio interface, plugins and her cherished Fender Stratocaster.
The songwriter and producer started exploring production in junior high, which led her to Cal Poly’s Music Production Union (MPU) in 2022 where she met Marienthal, the club’s president.
After several months of practicing drums and guitar in the yakʔitʸutʸu housing parking structure (Structure 131 R2) together, Baker invited Marienthal to join her in the recording of her indie R&B EP.
“Recording with Ryan feels really natural because we’ve been playing music together the entire time that we have known each other,” Baker stated. “It’s not just someone I’m working with professionally but someone I really trust to give me good feedback and to be in my corner.”
Baker released her second single, “Peace (keep.driving),” on Feb. 2, 2024, but the writing process began in December 2022. She described the time as a period of stagnancy with erratic phases of emotional intensity.
“I was sick of my angst but also unable to get out of it,” Baker said.
The track’s lyrics appeared to her as a defiant force, urging Baker to bring life to the mundanity she was experiencing. She took to FL Studios to produce the project, programmed a drum pattern and then shelved it until Marienthal formed Cable City in the summer of 2023.
Upon moving out of his PCV apartment and into a new home, Marienthal transformed the basement into a part bedroom, part recording studio space. At first glance are three Frank Zappa posters peering over a mattress, but as you continue to walk across the room, the atmosphere shifts.
Marienthal’s home studio contains a DIY vocal booth made of soft materials to absorb sound. When looking toward the ceiling, one’s eyes are met with soundproofing panels on the corners, as the hard walls and big spaces can create unnecessary echoes. There is an array of microphones, an inherited drum kit, a keyboard plugged into a Moog Mother 32 semi-modular synth and even a reel-to-reel tape machine.
All of his gear has been passed down to him from friends, family or passionate strangers on Craigslist. With the generosity of others, Marienthal is eager to meet Cable City clients with the same treatment.
“Recording people is a very unique thing, like allowing people to be creative and bringing a good performance out of them and making sure they feel comfortable,” he said.
Baker put the original vocals for “Peace (keep.driving)” down with Marienthal in August 2023. With Baker’s original lyrics and production, he followed through with mixing, recording additional vocals and sneaking some quirky samples from “Arrested Development” and the Japanese Manga “One Piece” under layers of reverb.
Marienthal firmly believes that it is a recording engineer’s job to bring out a good performance in people, regardless of difficult circumstances. Although Baker transferred to UC Santa Cruz fall quarter, the two have prioritized communication, whether that looks like back-and-forth calling or Baker making the trip to San Luis Obispo for recording.
Despite the location change, Baker remains dedicated to the San Luis Obispo music scene and recognizes that “Sentimentalist” directly captures the essence of college life on Cal Poly’s campus.
The songs listed on the EP were created ranging from the summer before college through her sophomore year at Cal Poly. Baker detailed that when she listens back to the songs she wrote, she sees a purple glow, which is reminiscent of the broken and hazy street lights near her freshman-year apartment.
“I hope it becomes a quintessential San Luis Obispo project,” Baker said.
Marienthal said that “Sentimentalist” is scheduled to be released in March 2024. He noted that hiring a small or local recording engineer to record, schedule and release music can be a huge advantage for busy college students and that time should never be an excuse for not sharing your art.
“I think documenting the scene and releasing stuff is a big thing. You know, there’s so much cool stuff around here. It’s almost a shame not to record it,” he said. “That’s how you share music with the world.”
You can stream Baker’s single here and follow @cablecitystudio on Instagram for more local talent.
