Smart Studios — Madison, Wisconsin (Smashing Pumpkins)

Smart Studios at 1254 East Washington Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin, was the recording facility built and operated by producer Butch Vig — the studio where the Smashing Pumpkins recorded their debut album 'Gish' (1991) and where Nirvana recorded the demos that became 'Nevermind.' Vig, who went on to produce 'Nevermind' and 'Siamese Dream' and later formed Garbage, ran Smart as a working studio and recording environment that attracted the leading acts of the American alternative rock world in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Smashing Pumpkins' connection to Smart Studios was foundational: their work with Vig defined the sonics of their early career and established the relationship that would produce 'Siamese Dream,' their commercial breakthrough.

The Smashing Pumpkins recorded 'Gish' at Smart in 1991 with Vig producing — a record that demonstrated the band's ambitions from the start: heavily layered guitar tracks, dynamic contrasts between delicate passages and overwhelming volume, and Corgan's distinctive nasal tenor over arrangements of unusual complexity for alternative rock. The record was released on Caroline Records and built a significant underground following before 'Siamese Dream' made them one of the best-selling bands in the world. The Nirvana demos recorded at Smart in April 1990, which became 'Nevermind,' were made in the same period and in the same room.

Smart Studios operated from 1983 until 2010, when it was sold. The building on East Washington Avenue has since been converted to other uses and the studio no longer exists in its original form. Madison's music scene — centred on the university community and the East Washington Avenue corridor — has a long history of producing significant alternative and indie recordings, and Smart Studios was its most internationally significant facility. Butch Vig's career after Smart — the Garbage recordings, his production work with Foo Fighters, Green Day, and others — extended the influence of the studio far beyond its physical life.