GEOFF Mullard picked up his first electric guitar - a Telecaster copy- at 15. It was an event that would set him on a lifelong pursuit to follow his passion for music.
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Under the inspiration of Dead Kennedys, Swervedriver, Massappeal, and Subhumans, Mullard has played in more bands than he can count.
His most notable line-ups include: Hoax, Sandpaper, Cabin Fever and The Rogers. He currently plays in East Coast Low and The Australian Beef Week Show.
In 1994, under the guidance of Andrew Macdonald, he got his first shot at recording bands at the legendary, but long-gone, Arc-Up.
Arc-up was a festy, dungeon-like, rabbit warren, located below street level on Maitland Road. An ever rotating array of musicians lived above its rooms.
"Andy said, 'well go on then, there's the studio,'" Mullard said. "He taught me how to record. I can't thank Andy enough for giving me a start.
"He had an eight-track cassette player and a little desk. Later we moved to an Akai 12 track, and we thought that was pretty good.
"That's what I really cut my teeth on. And we made some good recordings there, towards the end."
Arc-Up closed in 2001, before his next studio, Rock the Nation (RTN), opened just a couple of doors down the road, with a 24 track analogue machine, and new business partner Dale Townsend.
During that time, Mullard recorded three albums for Like...Alaska.
"It was like bingo, they were a band I could work with that weren't screaming hardcore, " he said.
"Like...Alaska were just beautiful. I listened to On Against Want again the other day and it knocked me on my arse. I thought 'wow', I've done a good job and the songs were good."
In 2014, RTN relocated to Mayfield's Steel River Industrial Park. Townsend left the business in 2017.
RTN has three rehearsal rooms and is Newcastle's only recording studio which offers both digital and analogue recording facilities.
Mullard said his style of working with bands came from his own early and poor experiences in recording studios.
"My first forays into recording were horrific," Mullard said.
"The engineers were just being jerks; total and utter bastards.
"A lot of the bands I record are super switched on and they know exactly how they want to record, I just let them go.
"I never say 'no' if they want to try something. It's their record, not mine."
Find out more: facebook.com/Rock-the-nation-studios-595662953838593/
