Reed, 49, grew up in suburban Palatine and got his first recording industry job in Chicago when he decided against working for a new sound studio opening in Minneapolis called Paisley Park.
“I didn’t want to work in Minneapolis, no way,” Reed said. “As it turned out, Paisley Park is Prince’s studio. My friend in college, Eddie Miller, took that job, helped build the studio and became Prince’s engineer on so many gold records.”
Reed, who lives in Streeterville, got his start with a studio that specialized in radio and TV advertising. After it went belly up in 1999, he turned his spare bedroom into a sound booth and started a company under his childhood nickname.
“I’ve been a drummer since age 9. My sister called me ‘Bam Bam’ because I was always banging on s—,” he said. “That’s where the name Bam Studios came from.”
After years of steady growth, Bam Studios has become a name that Chicago’s little slice of Hollywood has gotten to pretty know well.
“You, know, I’m still amazed when the phone rings and we’re getting hired to record all these celebrities on big shows and movies,” Reed said. “I’m honored because it shows they trust us. And not just because we have the acoustic facility and the gear and the knowledge to do it right, but we also make this place inviting and comfortable. They know we give a s— about them. We’re Chicagoans.”
Article Appeared @http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140409/river-north/studio-becomes-celebrity-hot-spot-amid-chicago-film-boon