For the last four years, Bart Thurber has recorded more bands than he can count or remember. Bands with names like Tilt, Shovelhead, Minimal Criminal, the Guttersluts and Drug have walked the halls of his Palo Alto studio, House of Faith.
Born in Michigan, Thurber moved to Palo Alto at age 11, and a few years later began playing the guitar in local bands. Making music led him to an interest in recording it, which soon became a impassioned hobby. "The hobby got out of control," he said.
So much so that it became a profession.
Thurber, who describes his age as "37 going on 90," started House of Faith in 1990 in a 1,500-square-foot office building in the once-thriving, eclectic area of Urban Lane. His neighbors were potters, woodworkers, artists and craftspeople. In other words, people who liked quiet when they worked. "The neighbors used to call the cops and tell them we were devil worshipers," he said.
"But its not against the law to be devil worshipers," he joked. "Besides, how can we be devil worshipers, when we record Christian bands?"
If the noise didn't get to people, the graffiti did. Every inch of space was covered with the stuff, which ranged from tame to not-so-tame. "The graffiti was unbelievable," he recalled. "It wasn't like gang tags, it was good graffiti, things people had drawn."
Still, he is thankful no one called the "graffiti police."
House of Faith provided local bands with one of the best--and least expensive--avenues for going professional. Palo Alto bands such as ETO, Daisy Chain and Smiley Face recorded with House of Faith.
Last year, however, the Palo Alto Medical Clinic bought the lot, and House of Faith became history. "We knew we were living on borrowed time, that at any month we could be thrown out. So I started to record as many bands as possible. I was on a mission from God."
To keep things going, Thurber worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week. "I was doing one complete band project a day. Or at least I was trying to."
The end came on Mother's Day of this year, when several hundred friends and rockers gathered to help Thurber close the historic building. Some day, he jokes, the final day of the House of Faith will grow in people's minds "like the 2 million that claim they were at Woodstock."
As expected, House of Faith's closing left many bands without a reasonably priced source for making demo tapes, which are crucial for getting booked into clubs.
Despite all the time effort and passion Thurber put into the studio, he has no resentment about the closure. "The Palo Alto Medical Clinic was very cool for letting us stay there as long as they did. They didn't even say anything about the graffiti," he said.
At the moment, Thurber is looking for a place in the South Bay to start House of Faith 2.
Unfortunately, Palo Alto is out of the question. "The city has a long memory," he said.
Especially for graffiti and noise.
--Jim S. Harrington
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