Over a year has passed since the Seattle Sessions at Studio Sage occurred. A virus spread throughout the entire globe and as it starts to loosen its grip, we finally get to hear what went on in the studio during those two historic recording sessions. I had the opportunity to hear the story firsthand from Chase Fade, who, along with the team at Studio Sage, made this entire project happen.
It was 2019 when the Seattle Sessions were conceptualized and the pieces started falling into place. One night, rapper Dave Byrd was going to Studio Sage in Edmonds, WA to record with engineer Cameron Kayser. He hollered at Chase Fade to see if he wanted to slide through with him.
Edmonds isn’t known for much other than their beach and cozy community. The idea of a recording studio being tucked into this sleepy town was more than intriguing. Studio Sage had impressed Chase so much with the quality and size of their facility that he knew he wanted to do something dope there.
Behind The Scenes Photos at Studio Sage Recordings
Cameron had mentioned to Chase that he and fellow engineer, Asher Charleston, were playing with the idea of putting together a ‘Dreamville’ type studio session with all local artists for the love of the community. Fade happened to have been one of the camera guys filming the Dreamville sessions and documentary, so you could say he knew a thing or two about how that went. He offered to help out by filming the sessions and inviting his network of artists he knew around the Seattle area.
The recording sessions were scheduled for January 24th and 25th. Invites sent out were requesting the presence of OG’s and veterans of Seattle hip-hop, as well as, the freshest talent coming out of the Northwest. When talking with Fade, he told me that he invited his network of people that he had previously worked with. As well, he invited some bucket list talent that he hadn’t gotten the opportunity to work with yet. He honestly didn’t expect the energy he was met with.
Originally, the Seattle Sessions were going to be released as a compilation mixtape on Soundcloud with a couple of video recaps showing the highlights from the two days. As the project progressed, Lara Lavi-Jones, a well respected person in the music industry and mother of Cameron of King Youngblood, told them they seemed to have something truly special and encouraged them to take this project further. Instead of just a Soundcloud mixtape, the Seattle Sessions turned into a 22 track compilation album with an accompanying documentary.
Seattle Sessions Vol. 1 Documentary Trailer
When watching social media clips from the event you can see rooms packed full of different artists. Chase confirmed that roughly 150 artists were in and out of Studio Sage for each day of those recording sessions. There were jam sessions lasting for hours. Sometimes, as many as 15 different artists were hopping on a track.
You could leave the room for less than a half hour and come back to a complete song; Fade told me that this was the case for the third track, “Honestly.” He said he left the room for what seemed like ten minutes or so and came back to that song being finished. They filmed a music video in just one-take and it encapsulated the energy in that room so well, you feel as if you’re there with them.
Fresh faced artists like Chamel, Allen Deshae, and BIG Jone$ are featured on the track list. Their names sit next to notable talents like Macntaj, King Leez, Sol and more. Many people who had never worked together or even met before, now have one or multiple songs together. It was a massive community affair with even big league hitters Tyler Dopps and Budo lending their production talents to the project with the beat for the song, “HITTAZ,” which features verses from seven different artists.
“HITTAZ” feat. Kateel, Mr. Hentvii, Justin Hale, Macntaj, LIVt, King Leez, & Gage Edwards
By my count, roughly 77 individuals are credited for making Seattle Sessions Vol. 1. That breaks down to 53 individual rappers, singers, songwriters, and musicians. 20 different producers putting their flair into the beats. There were at least 11 different engineers helping to capture all of these recordings. As well as six talented people to polish the sound and master the final tracks.
This compilation serves as an audible tour around the greater Puget Sound area all the way over to Spokane. It gives you insight into many different pockets of our musical community. The Seattle Sessions united a community that has often thought of itself as cliquey and divided. Conversations were sparked that led people to discover new talents that they hadn’t been connected to yet. Overall, this was a historic moment for the Pacific Northwest music scene and the energy created will not soon be forgotten.
