Review @ NO ECHO ( )

The Inner Ear of Don Zientara (2023) by Antonia Tricarico.
I had never heard of Don Zientara or Inner Ear Studios. But then I talked to my son, the musician, and he was all ablaze to get his hands on this book. He told me a lot of the punk scene in and around the D.C. and Virginia environs was recorded at The Inner Ear. This book is a word and photo tribute to the studio, but mostly it honors the man behind the recordings. We learn of the start of Inner Ear in Don’s basement in the late 1970s and the move to a better, more business-like location in the 90s. After 50 years Inner Ear closed shop in October 2021. But in 2022 Zientara reopened Inner Ear back in his basement, so it has gone full circle. Yet even during that short time closed, it lived on in the hearts of those who worked there, recorded there, or listened to the finished music emanating from there.
Along with far more than 200 photographs taken by the author, there are a massive amount of written tributes to the man and the studio from dozens of bands. They range from Bikini Kill and Rites of Spring to Fugazi and Red Hot Chili Peppers. We also get to read letters from so many of the people who worked with and knew Don Zientara, including sound engineers, various producers and one Alex Vida, listed as Stagecraft. That was the name of the radio show he and Don created which allowed listeners to learn more about Punk musicians they either loved or never heard of before,
While the new studio isn’t mentioned in this book I am certain it will have the same caring, self-effacing driving force at the controls. Don was a Nam-era conscientious objector who brought the same inner calm to the recording studio, trying to stay out of the way and let the band’s true sound come through. And it worked.
This is a fitting tribute to a music market icon that may not be my style, but through my son and his friends, is certainly a living, vivacious entity that will live on and on. ( )

This coffee table tribute feels like the comment book after a wake: lots of little stories from the artists he recorded about how Don never interfered with their visions, but always had advice on achieving them. With photos.

I went to college in DC in the late 80s, worked in college radio and in nightclubs, and later managed Yesterday and Today Records. It was great to hear a lot of behind-the-scenes stories behind the music I love. ( )

This is an amazing hard-cover coffee table type book, but one that a person would want to actually pick up and read a page here and there every day.

The book immerses one into the recording studio "life" of The Inner Ear of Don Zientara.

A very informative and well put together book with over 200 photographs about the DC area early Punk bands and The Inner Ear recording studio.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and the insights written by the band members that have recorded at the studio. ( )