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Barry broke into the music biz in his hometown of Montreal
at age 10 when he signed a binding legal contract that
stipulated in exchange for his parents buying him a
green two wheel bicycle, he would agree to take piano
lessons once a week for a year. Mom and Dad told him
he would become a famous musician one day, or at the
very least find a low paying job within the music industry.
Barry gleefully signed without legal representation.
The bike was fun but the piano lessons were painful
(and who mentioned anything about practicing?) as they
cut deeply into his play time. Discovering newfound
powers from his Superman costume, he pleaded to be let
out of the contract after only a few months. He wrote
a passionate letter to his folks informing them of his
decision to become either a professional football or
baseball player. They caved and let him out of the contract
AND he kept the bike.
Karma being what it is, Barry would not become a professional
athlete, ending up instead... in the music industry! |
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| At 15 and sporting the thickest hair he
would ever know, Barry journeyed off to prep school
in Vermont where he majored in hockey and football with
a minor in studies. In 1964 he started to learn how
to play guitar, as he wanted to become the sixth Beatle.
It was a lovely three years in a great school and it
readied him for college.
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| It was 1966 when Barry entered the freshman
class at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. He joined
his first band, Sico and the Cmen playing rhythm and
blues. By his second year he was playing on the school's
varsity hockey team and had formed the successful band,
Abraxas. When not busy with these activities, he studied
a little business administration. |
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| One of the first progressive rock bands
in the area, Abraxas played many gigs throughout upper
New York State and for college fraternities. Band mate
Larry Hoppen went on to become lead singer, co-lead
guitarist and bassist for Orleans, a popular 70's group
that had many top ten Billboard hits that are still
heard on radio, such as "Dance With Me", and "Still
The One".
In his spare time, Barry rummaged through music store
basements and pawnshops across North America eyeing
and buying some great guitars, which he restored. All
these fine instruments were sold profitably but very
prematurely, as today the Les Pauls, Firebirds, Flying
V's, Strats, Teles and such would be highly sought after
as collector's items.
Barry's dad frequently went to England on business,
and was always thoughtful enough to bring home the latest
Jeff Beck or Jimi Hendrix record, thus ensuring Barry
was one of the first in North America to discover these
great guitarists. He found it utterly awkward to tell
people about this incredible guitarist Jimi Hendrix
when no one else had yet heard of him! |
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| In the summer of 1969 Barry trekked to
Woodstock, New York along with half a million other
would be cool dudes. After lying in a muddy sleeping
bag and sleeping under the stars with a misty rain coming
down, he and his buddies decided to leave a bit early
- the next morning in fact, thus ensuring they would
miss many of the finest acts at the most famous music
festival ever.
Nonetheless, during that era he saw all the greats
live in person, Hendrix from the 4th row in Syracuse,
NY, The Beatles from the 1rst row in Boston, the Stones,
Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, Spirit and his favourite,
Procul Harum. |
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| Returning to Montreal in 1970, he worked
at a desk job in the family's collection agency business.
A year later at 23, he picked up and moved to Hartford,
Connecticut for more than a year as manager of an office
and then on to Washington, DC for six months where he
opened and ran another office. Little did he know that
the collecting talents developed during this period
would come in handy many years later whilst owning a
recording studio.
At the end of this two-year stint Barry returned to
Montreal but by 1976 he decided to make Toronto his
permanent home and packed his bags. He continued to
work in the family business for a while, tried his hand
in real estate and wasn't quite certain what to do next. |
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| By 1980 Barry started messing around with
his guitar again and soon after had his first experience
recording songs he had written. He was introduced to
local recording studios such as Kensington Sound and
Wellesley Sound. Although non-technical at the time,
he knew that recording music was something he felt very
comfortable about. |
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| In 1982 he purchased his first Tascam
4 track Portastudio but couldn't figure out how to work
all the knobs and buttons. When a year later it was
stolen from his apartment he was overwhelmed with joy
and was only too happy to collect the insurance money.
When the cheque arrived, he fell to his knees shouting
"Thank god I'm out of the recording business!"
However, two years later the music bug struck again
and he bought an even simpler 4-track machine, which
he eventually mastered. Thus began his love affair with
the art of recording music and his home studio continued
to grow in size and equipment over the next seven years. |
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| In 1991 Barry opened his first commercial
studio in the west end of Toronto called Pizazzudio,
which became known for it's quality equipment and fine
attention to detail. For ten years Pizazzudio succeeded
as a commercial recording facility during a difficult
business climate. By the end of the 90's Barry wanted
to expand and looked at many options before he came
upon the one that seemed right. |
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| After 26 years as owner of Phase One,
Paul Gross wanted a change. He and Barry struck a deal
whereby Barry purchased the assets of Phase One Audio
Group.Thus began a major four-month renovation. Upon
completion, Phase One quickly regained its position
as one of the premier recording facilities in Canada.
And since then, multiple improvements and upgrades continue
to keep Phase One at the very highest level. Barry still
plays hockey and likes to shoot photos and video when
he can, editing the results on his Mac. His owns what
possibly might be the largest squirrel figurine collection
in the world, with more than 300 rodents taking up residence
in his home. He also feeds a roving band of mooching
squirrels every day and as he likes to say, "I have
plenty of friends in high places"!
Barry is very proud of Phase One and most appreciative
of the dedicated staff that works extremely hard at
the studio. He wishes to use this last paragraph to
thank each and every one of them for helping make Phase
One the great studio and icon that it is.
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