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The Rock and Roll gem of Cannon Falls

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CANNON FALLS, MN (KTTC-TV) -- Some legendary bands have made history inside a recording studio right up the highway from Rochester.

Chances are you've driven past it and never known it was there.

Lost in the century-old forest outside Cannon Falls is a refuge where musicians come to find their tone, where the look and feel are as rich as the sound, where the worries and hurries of the world are left behind.

This is the Pachyderm recording studio.

Built 20 years ago, it's the site where music giants Nirvana, Soul Asylum, and Mudvayne recorded their platinum-selling albums.

Pachyderm owner Matt Mueller says, "Pachyderm wasn't even aware it was Nirvana until the semis pulled up. It was Brent's first day at Pachyderm and he went to the airport to pick them up and there's Nirvana."

The studio is virtually soundproof and no two walls parallel each other creating the acoustic balance perfect for recording.

"We have a reputation in the industry for having one of the, if not the, best sounding drum room on the planet," says Mueller.

The 32-channel mixing console is a another rock relic purchased for the studio.

It's been used by Rock icons like the Rolling Stones, the Beetles, and AC/DC.

Pachyderm recording engineer Brent Sigmeth says, "A lot of the newer things you have knobs and tiny things. This is sort of like a 1960s nuclear submarine."

The studio is only part of the reason bands come here. Also on the property is a four-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot bachelor pad inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright.

But bands don't come here to be pampered.

They come for the atmosphere, the scenery, the trout filled creek and the acres of forest that seal in the quiet escape.

Matt Mueller was once a musician who did house projects and yard work in exchange for free studio time.  Today, he's still in love with the property, but now he owns it.

We ask Mueller what he thinks about a Star Tribune article title that read "Goodbye CDs".

Mueller says, "Thank God, the planet doesn't need anymore plastic. CDs are just plastic and paper and ink, you know, things that aren't natural. Downloading off the Internet doesn't have any environmental effect at all."

On this afternoon, Minneapolis-based Citizen Sage has rented the studio for the day.

Drummer Malcolm Brown says, "We come to a place like this to ensure we have a very high quality sounding product. If I hear something that's done in a basement, I know it's done in a basement."

It's not for the money or fame...

Sigmeth says, "You get to document someone else's art."

They run this studio because they love music, and in this rock and roll get-away, they intend to take the industry back to its roots.

Mueller says, "We literally have a fantastic opportunity to address it, change it, and do what's important for our artists and the planet and that's the music."