Starting at age 19, Bart Rose ran First Street Audio in Forth Worth. That was 1989. In 2008, he took over a facility called Digital Post & Production, changed the name to Fort Worth Sound, and has since worked with The Toadies, Spot and many more. He's hosted outside producers like Mike MClure (Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland) and David Castell (Blue October, Course of Empire), and has snagged Best Producer awards from the Fort Worth Weekly the last two years in a row.
So, in 1989 you were 19. You won a musical challenge from your stepfather. Finish the story. John Sanderson, my stepfather, was very supportive of my musical endeavors. He challenged me to a bet. If I could learn to play "Eruption", he would buy me this Carvin half-stack amp setup I had my eyes on. So I learned "Eruption." Before buying me the Carvin rig, he asked what I thought about a drum machine and a 4-track Tascam that I could use to record my own songs. I agreed that sounded like a better idea, and the rest is history.
You were shredding at 19, but not anymore? I still play guitar, but not out in public. I've been known to lay down a track on a client''s album from time to time. But for the most part, my guitar playing skills are only used to convey ideas to my clients. I'll also lay down a simple keyboard part every now and then, but guitar is definitely my strongest instrument.
You're a big fan of the local rock of the '90s. One of my favorite shows ever was a New Year's Eve rock show with the Toadies and Hagfish. I also loved I The Jury, The Nixons, Bobgoblin, etc.
Who would you jump at the chance to work with, based on your fandom? Thanks to my friend David Castell, I've already had the the pleasure of assisting two of my favorite Dallas bands, The Toadies and Spot. I think if Hagfish or the Nixons were to make a new record, I'd be very happy to produce or engineer for those guys.
What did school teach you about all this, if anything? I joined choir at Carter Riverside High School, and also started taking music theory classes. The next year my stepfather bought my first guitar. I played guitar in my bedroom for five to six years before enrolling at Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio. That was when I decided being an audio engineer/record producer would be my career of choice.
Is the local rock community in DFW truly a community? As far as rock music goes, there doesn't seem to be as much of a community as there does with the country scene. I'd like to see rock artists work together more and stop competing with each other. I'd like to see Deep Ellum regain the respect as a music destination it once had in the '90s.
