A longtime figure in Eau Claire's music scene has opened a recording studio in her own home.
Sound engineer Lena Sutter has launched Spoko Studios, an at-home space for recording, mixing and producing music with collaborators. Her portfolio includes work with regional and national artists including Them Coulee Boys, Bon Iver, Quiet Takes and Lucy Goose.
Sutter also serves as the lead sound engineer at the Pablo Center at the Confluence and as a senior lecturer in the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's music and theatre arts department.
The studio occupies an attic-like space in the home she shares with her husband, Rob Piotrowski, and takes its name from a Polish slang word. It has been acoustically treated and equipped for recording sessions and open jams, with personal touches including hand-embroidered curtains.
Much of the gear and acoustic treatment was funded by a $5,000 grant from We Are Moving The Needle, an organization that supports diversity and women in music production and engineering. Sutter noted that women make up less than five percent of sound engineers, and said she hopes the studio helps the next generation of engineers.
