During his seven-year career at Ardent Studios, 34-year old engineer Adam Hill has worked with the White Stripes, Cat Power, George Thorogood, Montgomery Gentry and the Raconteurs. One of the biggest highlights of Hill’s career, however, came when, under the watchful eye of studio founder John Fry, he began excavating tapes that are, in some cases, older than him.
Hill’s mission: dig through the detritus that comprised the demos and outtakes from Big Star‘s 1970s oeuvre (#1 Record, Radio City and Third), which was languishing in the studio vaults, and transfer his findings to a digital format. The gems — mainly comprised of rare moments into the musical psyches of songwriters Alex Chilton and Chris Bell — wound up on Keep An Eye on the Sky, the 97-track, four CD Big Star box set that was released on Rhino Records today, and the deluxe reissue of I Am the Cosmos, due on Rhino later this month.
Last week, I sat down with Fry and Big Star drummer/Ardent Studios manager Jody Stephens to discuss the cult popularity of the band, which, in 1970s-era Memphis, came and went with little fanfare. (Go here to read that article.) Today, I catch up with Hill to ask him some questions about the behind-the-scenes work on the project.
Flyer: Were you already a Big Star fan when you came to work at Ardent?
Hill: Oh, yeah… I grew up in Nashville, and the first time I moved to Memphis, I actually lived across the street from Jody Stephens for a while. I remember sitting on the porch with my friends one day. We were blasting Big Star and drinking beers, and when Jody came out of his house, I wondered, did he hear us? After I moved back to Nashville in ’98, I saw Big Star play a show there. And after engineering school, I was calling Jody intermittently to see if there were any openings at Ardent. I was also dating my now-wife long distance, and the day after I moved back to Memphis, Jody called and asked if I could come in for an interview. There was a period then where I’d think, ‘I’m working with Jody — that’s cool!’
