Harmonious Partnership Forming Cascadia’s Premier Music House
Musicians Jim Goodwin and Hobbs Magaret are no strangers to the competitive notes of the music world and the marriage of their genuine talents in a new enterprise has a melodic future.
Goodwin, a longtime LA producer and a founding member of the hit ‘80’s pop group, The Call, has joined forces with Magaret, a colorful Indie musician playing Americana roots and jazz-infused progressive funk in regional bands.
Their new musical venture, Eggchair Music, is a harmonious partnership hoping to be regarded as “Cascadia’s Premier Music House,” loosely defined as a production facility creating world-class, original music for commercial broadcast and all range of media.
“Eggchair Music has actually existed since back in 2001 in Los Angeles, until 2008 when the bad economy led to its demise,” explained Goodwin. “This is a resurrection and rebranding of the business centered right here in beautiful Oregon.”
The offbeat name of their ear-pleasing endeavor is a tribute to the ovoid-shaped listening chairs of the ‘70s, one of which sits prominently in their local recording studio. This fortuitous fusion of old and new has resulted in a fountain of creativity and momentum entering the new year, with their first round of clients since the rebranding navigating in the commercial sectors of hotels, cars, travels and phone companies.
“Echo Ridge Music with Brent Alan was my first attempt at integrating with the Central Oregon music scene, in particular the Americana Project in Sisters because Brent was really connected with that scene and it seemed like Sisters was ready to expand the program in the production realm, as opposed to just songwriting,” he said.
“I saw an opportunity to provide a music facility that could extend that experience but the concept didn’t
quite take.”
The studio itself has been known as the “Blue Keep,” due to its azure-hued exterior color and a sly reference to the infamous Red Keep castle stronghold in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
“It’s a musical monastery for me,” declared Magaret, sporting a fashionable black top hat. “And it’s been a great place to live and disappear inside and has now flowered into a full blown music production facility where the band can rehearse and function as a working studio as well.”
Magaret’s band, Hobbs the Brand, is about to release their eclectic new concept album, Oregasm, produced by Jim Goodwin, sometime this spring.
“I wanted to experience the industry on a different plane and moved to the Sisters area in 2010,” Goodwin said. “When I met Hobbs I realized that he was the answer to that equation and my clients can now respond to a younger composer and partner, someone severely influenced by Eminem growing up!
“It’s such a different vibe going on than when I was at Echo Ridge. It’s way funkier. I wanted to rebrand Eggchair with Hobbs as my partner so I could be seen as the seasoned music producer who knows how to deliver for clients, with the young hip dude wearing
the hat.”
Magaret is thrilled to be working with Goodwin and the union has been an inspiring catalyst for both parties.
“In as much as it was a strategic partnership, what really sells it and makes it very productive is that Jim and I connect musically across generations,” explained Magaret. “That’s a huge part of what Eggchair is all about. Like some of the stuff we’ve been doing lately, trying to please our clients but also being aware that it needs to have some hip application down the line. The work always has to pass through a filter of experience and hipness and that’s what we provide.”
Goodwin realizes the vital component of chemistry when it comes to success in the music business, like all arenas of life.
“Finding a writing partner is really difficult and when you find someone who clicks, it just works,” he said. “I was working on a music trailer for a Canadian movie and we knocked it out really fast and it was just terrific. That was the first time I’d done a full film trailer with multiple cues and had no revisions from the client. So that was an obvious indication that we were onto something special.
“Eggchair is the umbrella company and Blue Keep Studios facilitates everything else. It’s great having a music house and production studio where we can do our own album, produce other local artists’ albums and promote Hobbs.
The great thing about Eggchair being in Sisters is that local ad agencies don’t have to go to Portland or Seattle or Los Angeles to get world-class music for their productions because that’s what we’re doing right here in Central Oregon.”
Jim Goodwin, 818-599-3667, www.eggchairmusic.com
(Photo above: Eggchair’s Hobbs Margaret and Jim Goodwin | by Krystal Marie Collins)
