ESU: STUDIO AND LABEL HYBRID
ESU Studios
E
SU RECORDING in Chicago took over the space of a former blues studio on the Northside and gave it a
modern touch while keeping its grassroots
karma.
IE spoke with studio producer/engineer and founder Adam Cozzini about his
blueprint for his space. "The studio blends
an old school vibe with a modern spin and
this carries forth to the label (ESU
Records) as well." Cozzini's knowledge of
music lent itself to creating a facility that
can record a vintage blues or rockabilly, a
modern rock band, and every genre in
52 illinoisentertainer.com june 2014
between. "I personally enjoy music from
the '50s through the '70s and developed
my interest in music by picking up guitar
when I was younger and playing along to
old recordings. It has been a joy to work
with the artists that I am currently working with because we all share similar musical tastes. ESU Studios (not the original
name of the studio; it was an anonymous
project facility) was previously a blues
recording studio that I took over from a
previous owner. We specialize in blues,
rock and soul music, but we will be working with artists in other genres as well."
Combining an independent music label
(launched in in 2008) with the studio is band consists of John Checuga, Jim
giving Cozzini a chance to release music Bashaw and Phil Armato. Checuga and
from bands he finds commercially viable Bashaw are former co-fouding and origiand sonically fulfilling. "The label was nal members of Chicago's Mind
always the goal; I was lucky to find a suit- Bomb/Daisy Chain, (Polygram). The EP of
penned
original
hard
able