The Hideaway Studio profiled in Downtown Journal

Photo via thehideawaympls.com

​In an article titled "Local music's best-kept secret," producer Joe Mabbott and his Northeast habitat Hidaway Studios get a well-deserved look in this week's Downtown Journal, which gives an overview of some of the more notable artists to set foot inside the cozy space.

According to the article, Mabbott estimates he's recorded over 300 artists to date, ranging from Twin Cities hip-hop mainstays Brother Ali, Atmosphere, and Doomtree -- who put the finishing touches on their forthcoming full-length, No Kings, in the studio -- to indie bands like Cloud Cult, Minus the Bear, and Gayngs and even national rap icon Snoop Dogg.

Over the years, I've had a few opportunities to be a fly on the wall at the Hideaway. My first experience at the studio also served as the intro to a 2008 cover story I wrote about the history of Heiruspecs, who were recording with Mabbott at the time:

You wouldn't know it from looking at the outside of the building, but inside an old warehouse in northeast Minneapolis, down a giant white hallway and tucked away behind an old, heavy metal door, lies the most active and influential hip-hop studio in town. An array of albums greets visitors, a physical representation of the work accomplished inside these walls: Atmosphere's entire catalog, most of Doomtree's solo and collective efforts, Brother Ali, Eyedea & Abilities, I Self Devine.

The Hideaway Studio is producer Joe Mabbott's playground, and the work he has done for local hip hop in this space is legendary. It makes sense, then, that the members of Heiruspecs have chosen to record their forthcoming album here, amid the ghosts and glory of great albums past.

The next time I visited the space was for my 2010 cover story on Lookbook, when the duo were laying down new tracks with Gigamesh in a side studio while Atmosphere recorded their latest full-length in the main room. That range of genres speaks to the Hideaways continuing evolution as a space, and how it has grown from a hip-hop recording studio to one that is appealing to indie artists and even traditional Irish musicians.

For more on Mabbott and his studio, read the Downtown Journal's full profile here.

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