Drive-In Studio

Drive-In Studio was a recording studio in rural Winston-Salem, North Carolina,^[1] founded by Mitch Easter in July 1980.^[2] R.E.M.'s debut single, "Radio Free Europe" (1981),^[3] and their first extended play, Chronic Town (1982), were recorded at the studio six months apart in 1981.^[4] The studio was established in what was initially Easter's parents' garage,^[5][6] at 4527 Old Belews Creek Road,^[7] and became an important part of the early indie rock scene of North Carolina.^[8]

Drive-In Studio

Shelley LaFreniere, Mitch Easter and Scott Miller recording Game Theory's album The Big Shot Chronicles at Drive-In Studio, September 1985.
Company type	Recording studio
Industry	Music
Founded	July 1980
Founder	Mitch Easter
Defunct	1994
Fate	Closed due to relocation
Headquarters	Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.

At the time of R.E.M.'s stint at the studio, "the set-up was really simple," Easter said in 1994. "I had almost nothing in the studio back then, except a tape machine and a console and two compressors and one delay device. We couldn't do any fancy stuff."^[9]

Easter explained the studio's layout in 2021:

[The studio] was tiny. The entire space was probably about 225 square feet. It was a two-car garage that had been divided up before my parents got the place. The previous owners split it up and turned it into a one-car garage, and then the other half they made into a children’s bedroom and this sort of utility room. The car area was where the band stood together, the children’s bedroom was the control room, and I think the bass and guitar amps were isolated in the little utility area next to the control room.

— Rod Brakes, Music Radar, June 3, 2021^[10]

Due to the confined space of the interior, studio sessions often also took place in the home's driveway,^[11] under the carport.^[12]

Equipment

124 Shady Boulevard in Winston-Salem

An early advertisement, which listed Shady Boulevard as a mailing address for the studio, itemized its recording technology:^[13]

• Quantum 20-input mixing console
• 3M M56 sixteen- and two-track recorders^[10]
• Lexicon Prime Time M93 digital delay^[10]
• Allison Gain Brain limiters^[10]
• AKG, Shure and Electro-Voice mics
• Electric and acoustic reverb
• TEAC four-track
• Cassette
• Drums
• Organ
• Electric piano
• Amps
• Toys

Artists

Other artists who recorded at Drive-In include Pylon ("Beep"),^[14] Suzanne Vega ("Gypsy"), Game Theory (The Big Shot Chronicles) and The Connells (Boylan Heights).

Easter closed Drive-In in 1994, and moved to Kernersville, North Carolina, where he opened his current recording studio, Fidelitorium Recordings.^[15][16]