Joel Ferguson: From rocking with Papa Vegas to musical beauty at Planet Sunday Studios

The multi-instrumentalist who’s run Rockford’s Planet Sunday for 12 years is featured for Local Spins on WYCE, which also debuted tracks by The War & Treaty, Caliko, Ryn Scott and more.

 

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Joel Ferguson has experienced all sides of the music industry.

He’s been part of an up-and-coming Grand Rapids rock band (Papa Vegas) signed to a major record label (RCA Records), spending months in London, recording at major studios in the 1990s, touring the country and charting singles.

Oh, and being dropped by that major label, too, along with dozens of other acts.

Starting with equipment he used to record demos for Papa Vegas, he’s also become a top-notch recording engineer, starting up Rockford’s Planet Sunday Studios 12 years ago – leaning on the expertise of the Grammy Award-winning Glenn Brown to help design the space – and recording dozens of well-known and emerging Michigan artists.

In between, he also served a lengthy stint on tour as the bassist for platinum-selling West Michigan alt-rock band The Verve Pipe, just one of an arsenal of talents he’s accrued over the years as a multi-instrumentalist.

“For me, the creation side of it has always been the most attractive part of it: making this thing out or nothing other than an idea or a lyric or a chord progression, and then developing it with sounds and having all these tools around … to try to make something,” he said.

“When you’re finding those pathways and things come together and you’re playing it back through the speakers and the chorus hits, and your arm hair stands up. Those are the things that light me up and make me want to do it – finding the beauty in the songs.”

For this week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE, Ferguson showcased that beauty via three widely disparate tracks by artists who’ve recently recorded at Planet Sunday – indie-rock’s Low Phase (featuring his son and daughter, Miles and Marley Ferguson), rock’s Barrel Bones (featuring the guitarist from Papa Vegas, Pete Dunning) and indie-pop singer Erriana Rounds. Scroll down to listen to the songs as part of this week’s interview and radio show podcast.

A ‘JUNKIE’ FOR THE CREATIVE PROCESS

“The biggest thrill for me has always and will always be the creation process,” Ferguson said. “Starting with an idea and ending up with a soundscape that can move people to emotion is so rewarding. Getting the hair on my arms to stand up when the chorus hits etc. I’m a junkie for it.”

So much so that his studio schedule is jam-packed throughout the week and on weekends, with some bands coming in for full-length recordings and other artists laying down singles.

Ferguson no longer performs as a musician – something that’s always induced pre-show jitters – but he has worked on finalizing and releasing some of his own material, having written 20 or 30 songs over the past several years.

But his real joy still comes with molding a band’s music into a work of art.

“to me, that’s kind of like a drug almost,” he said. “And I’ve been chasing that forever and I love it.”

Thie week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE — which spotlights Michigan-made music at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org — also featured tracks by The War and Treaty, Marshall Crenshaw, Overdrive Orchestra, Harry Dean & the Dusty Boys, Caliko, Ryn Scott, Mama’s Hot Sauce and Glassfield. Listen to the radio show here.

PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (3/22/24)

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