With a studio crammed with musical instruments and recording equipment only steps from his house on Lakeview-Arrow Creek Road, Gary Deatherage doesn't have much of a commute to get to work.
Not "work" in the usual definition, of course. But the retired psychologist composes and records music and stories with the same discipline he learned in the US Army, post-secondary studies, university instructor and a private psychology practice.
"I'm usually out here by 6:30 a.m. and I work on various projects for a couple of hours before I go back to the house," he said, as he pulled up recordings on a MacBook to illustrate the backlog of songs that need more attention.
Fort Cosmic Studios is a father-son project, the dream of Deatherage and his son, Jason, an accomplished music producer and drummer. Designed to provide excellent acoustic quality, the studio has been the setting for countless recording sessions by performers who seek out Jason's production abilities.
For Deatherage, Fort Cosmos gives him a quiet and comfortable place to pick away at one of his guitars, looking for a riff or the makings of a tune that eventually merges with lyrics. Over time, the songs might become part of the repertoire of the Howling Wannabes (a band that includes Gary and Jason, David Lyons, Alan Kimmel and others) or II Cosmic (with Gary, Jason and "whoever else we want to involve at the time").
Some of Deatherage's studio time these days is to move songs he recorded on cassette tapes into a digital format.
"I have about 300 songs that haven't been used that I recorded in the late 1980s and 1990s," he said. "I am transferring them into the computer but that recording is done in real time, so it gives me a chance to listen as I'm doing it."
Once they are loaded into the computer, he can edit as he wants before turning the songs over to Jason, who adds drums and produces a more finished product. Other musicians can be recruited to add to the sound as needed.
"I like to work with others, where the music becomes more like a collective. It brings in other brains and other spirits," he said. "But Jason always comes first. He likes to add lush guitar sounds and as a producer he can add those sounds better than anyone."
Oddly, though, performing live isn't his preference, at least from a quality perspective.
"When you get five or six people on stage playing rock music they all kind of go crazy and play too loud," he said. "And I'm as guilty as anyone else! The music itself is much better when it comes out of the studio."
With the songs from a couple of decades ago, Gary estimates there are sufficient tracks to make about five more II Cosmic albums.
"I'm going to finish four or five in the next six to eight months — if I can," he laughed. "I'm not the youngest guy on the block!"
Deatherage's love of music goes back to his childhood.
"When I as a kid I moved all over the place, and three or four places had bands. I always played clarinet. I didn't keep up with it, but playing clarinet taught me to read music and appreciate it."
It doesn't take much prodding to turn his attention to a project of epic proportions, one that has been years in the making.
Sun Pipes for the Dreamers tells the story of Ramone, a motorcycle accident victim who is completely paralyzed and living in a New Mexico medical facility. Bedridden and living mostly in his own mind, Ramone learns to put himself into his dreams and, eventually, to influence what happens in them. The narrative allows Deatherage to explore subjects with a depth that most media don't allow.
Each chapter of the story, which Deatherage narrates, finishes with one of his songs. The first "book" of what he originally foresaw as a trilogy, was about 12 hours long. He has now added a prequel to that book, and recorded the second, which is even longer. Work is underway on Book 3, and he now finds himself in a quandary.
"It seems that the story is forcing me into a Book 4 situation," he said.
Gary admits that it is difficult to conceive of a broad audience for Sun Pipes. Those who have listened to Book 1 have been positive about it, but finding a way to get it into other hands is a challenge.
"I haven't really figured out how to get it out there," he admitted. "Maybe it will end up on our website."
It seems appropriate that local painter Alison Masters has been his volunteer editor for Sun Pipes. Turnabout is fair play. When Gary saw her series of paintings, made from sketches on a month-long hike on Spain's Camino de Santiago, projected onto a large outdoor wall he went back to the studio and started writing short pieces to pair with the pictures. The results were made into a half-hour presentation by video and film artist Richard Reeves called Travel Posters @ The Night Gallery.
"I've got to be crazy to work as long as I have on Sun Pipes, but it's a story that I really want to tell, and this format seems to work."
Writing, singing and recording his music is really the point for Deatherage, though — the processes fuel his need to be creative. He has a special gift with music and words, and considers himself lucky to be in a position to have them produced professionally in Fort Cosmos Studios.
"The studio has everything I need," he said. "All I have to do is bring in the inspiration."