Think back. Way back. Think like, being so damn hot at Sessions that you’d take a swig out of a stranger’s water bottle type of back. Find yourself in a time when the commotion of the crowd fed the music and the music filled the space. Now, meet the man who replicates that room-rockin’ feeling on record.
Edwin Paroissien is the man behind the magic, the purveyor of alternative production up in Portland and the personal George Martin to the Eugene scene. Taking a page from mavens like Pete Townshend and Keith Richards, Paroissien’s Portland home doubles as his production homebase, Echo Hill Studio. This flipped basement now serves as a hot spot for local records in the making.
Friday night functions may feel long forgotten, but there’s certainly no musical dry spell in Eugene. New stuff from Novacane, all mixed and mastered by Paroissien, is already on its way out. Gentle Being just teased an impending Edwin-stamped EP and an upcoming full length album from Laundry has folks waiting on what the band will do next. The music community has surely been keeping busy, and they’ve kept Paroissien even busier.
As no stranger to the stage, Paroissien first made a name as a shredder himself, playing in bands from coast to coast. It wasn’t until quite recently with the recording of Laundry’s 2019 record, “Affirmation,” that he stepped behind the soundboard full time.
“I was putting all of my time and effort into my band and after that initial Laundry project, I realized I’d rather work on the other side of things,” Paroissien said. “It scratched all the right itches with everything I like about the process of making music and nothing that I don’t.”
After the success of “Affirmation,” it wasn’t long until the phones started ringing over at Echo Hill, Paroissien said. Flash forward two years and the Portland studio serves as a home away from home for the eclectic sound fostered in a Eugene garage. “I was so impressed by not just the bands in Eugene, but how interested in the music everyone was,” Paroissien said. “Now that people really know about the scene, I’d just like to see more bands come up in the ranks and get inspired.”
Through his own experience in college playing through the DIY circuit in New Orleans, Paroissien had a firsthand look at the delicate approach to recording a piece of music that audiences grew attached to as a band played it live. While a studio allows for tricks and effects, if the mix is too squeaky clean, it loses the intensity of the body packed place it was brought up in. This sort of production teeters on a thin tightrope because the final product aims to be quality without being too polished, but Edwin walks it nice and steady. “In my mind, I want to make whatever you’re coming to do, I want it to sound good. And I want to be excited about it,” he said. “When I press play, mixing, editing whatever, I need to be excited.”
When he’s behind the board, Paroissien pulls inspiration from mixes that take up space. He’s all about creating an entire sonic atmosphere in any production he takes on and in his own listening he loves to unpack LPs that keep him guessing with their range.
That being said, Paroissien emphasizes that his production is never just about him. It’s a varied and collaborative process — when the band walks in, he feels it out and they move from there. While he does have touches he leans toward, Parosissien said, the goal of the recording is always preserving the piece’s homespun integrity.
“I keep it simple,” Paroissien said. “Recordings are not reality, they are a sort of hyper reality — a recreation of a sound. You could go crazy with it, double track, triple track everything and that’s fun sometimes. But before I get too ahead of myself, I always think, ‘What does this band sound like and how can I make them sound like them?’”
While fans are living in lurch, hungry for the next show played by their Friday night favorites, Paroissien’s productions curbs that appetite perfectly until live shows return. With big plans in the works and upcoming projects involving familiar faces in the Eugene scene, Echo Hill remains a major fixture in the community.
