Section: The Rep
Edition: Final Chaser
Page: 32

CORR-IN HIS MIND'S EYE . . . RISING RECORD PRODUCER CAN SPOT TALENT
Kerry Lengel, The Arizona Republic

In most people's eyes, Larry Elyea would already be a success. But the 29-year-old record producer and musician is just getting started.

Elyea founded Mesa's Mind's Eye Digital Recording Studio in 1992 and has become the most coveted producer in Valley music.

''I started with $7,000,'' he says. ''I bought a little eight-track setup and started doing bands for 10 bucks an hour and just built everything from that. With all the profit I made from clients, I just bought more gear and more gear and more gear.''

Now at its third location, Mind's Eye is a thriving business. Elyea figures he has $200,000 invested in the studio, and he makes enough money to afford a spacious home in a new east Mesa development. But at $45 an hour, he's a bargain for Valley bands.

''The stuff I'm doing, for the money that people are paying here, is equal (to) or well and above what major-label groups are paying upwards of a half-million dollars for,'' he says.

His customers agree.

''If we hadn't done our demo there, there's no way it would've ever been on the radio,'' says Kevin Armstrong, singer for Valley band PHD, whose song Why was recorded at Mind's Eye and became a hit on KPTY-FM (103.9) late last year.

''We're on Party Radio with bands that spent $600,000 on their recording, and we spent $3,000.''

That taste of radio play could propel PHD to stardom, but it wouldn't be the first time a Valley band landed a record deal thanks in part to Elyea. Rap-rockers Dislocated Styles and heavy-metal band Big Shot Allstar both signed contracts last year after recording top-notch independent releases at Mind's Eye.

''He definitely has given Phoenix an opportunity to compete with what goes on at studios in major markets, and makes it accessible and affordable to a lot of unsigned acts,'' says Willobee Carlan, who manages PHD and Phunk Junkeez.

''So, I'd say he's done a lot for the music scene in this town.''

Specializing in hard-edged music -- heavy metal, punk, rap -- Elyea's live-band production is only half of the business. His partner for two years, and his wife for less than three months, is 28-year-old Colette Elyea, who composes and records music using computer software and sampling technology. Her clients include solo singers and corporations; she's done work for ABC television and the NBA, as well as Channel 3 (KTVK).

''She sang the theme song'' to the station's NewShow, Elyea beams. ''That's her on there every night.''

Despite his successes, the producer says he's limited by his equipment.

''I don't know what I'm really capable of, because I'm on this gear,'' he says. ''I have a $15,000 console. (Limp Bizkit's last) record was mixed on a $1.6 million console. We're not on the same playing field. So, I don't know what I'm going to be able to do when I get that chance to work on that kind of gear.

''I just need one of the bands that gets signed from a recording I do to use me for their real record, so I get a chance to do a big record and have everyone in the country hear my work, instead of just record label people.''

In the meantime, he's doing well enough. His evening recording sessions are booked two months in advance, and he says he often works days as well, totaling 60 to 70 hours a week. And that's not counting band practice.

''I love this job,'' he says. ''The only thing I want to do more is be a rock star.''

That dream, too, isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Elyea, who plays guitar, says he's been in the music business since age 16 and knows how the system works. His rap-metal band, Sonic Jive, only 6 months old in its current incarnation, is tailor made to lure record labels.

Rap-metal is trendy right now, after Limp Bizkit's triumphant 1999, but Sonic Jive adds a very marketable twist: It's fronted by a Black emcee, Ako Mack, whose more traditional rap style could help the group cross over to African-American audiences.

The band members recently traveled to Los Angeles to film a broadcast-quality video to its demo song What You Trippin' On (Pump). Band members split the $180,000 tab with director Ryan Smith, who, like Elyea, is trying to break into the top tier of the music business.

The video looks as professional and as vital as anything on MTV, and Elyea is hoping it will convince labels that Sonic Jive is ready for the big time. But he's been around long enough to know that, in the end, it all comes down to luck.

''It's like winning the lottery, basically,'' he says. ''That's why I would highly recommend to any young people in bands to have a backup plan, because you don't always get the six winning numbers.''