By Emily Stonehouse

It’s one of the senses that truly connects us to the world.

Through sound, we hear the cries of our babies. We hear laughter from our friends. We hear our names being called, our dogs welcoming us home.

And most importantly, we hear music. That universal language that crosses oceans and ages, that transcends time and space.

To Mike Knight, he’s always felt a passion for bringing those sounds to life.

“I don’t wear headphones when I do sound,” he said, while we toured his work-in-progress sound studio on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. “I want to hear it the way others hear it. The way we all hear it together.”

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

The story of Mike’s commitment to showcasing and sharing sounds started in a place far away. South London, 1966, to be exact.

“Music has always been a part of my life,” laughed Mike, a Canadian for many years now, but the British lilt still clinging to his vowels. “The first music I really got into was rock and roll.”

While Mike shared that he was raised in a household that believed children should be “seen not heard,” his older brother was responsible for introducing him to some of the rock and roll greats of London in the 1970s. “I wanted to be a drummer,” recalled Mike. “But we could never have afforded a drum kit. So I turned to guitar, but couldn’t figure out the chords. Finally, I landed on bass.”

He remembers being introduced to the Beatles for the first time, and how that was one of the first examples of a band he began to appreciate and grow with, as his own worldly experiences continued to evolve. Music can have that effect.

By the 1980s, Mike was joining bands across the United Kingdom. He’s played over 500 semi-professional gigs as a bassist in his lifetime. “We travelled around a lot,” he recalled, noting that his favourite gig he ever played was overlooking Niagara Falls, right over-top of the rushing waters.

He took a hiatus when he was married, and started a family.

But when that marriage ended in divorce, sending him into a tailspin of turbulence, he took on a part-time job working in a rehearsal studio. “And this was where I really found music again,” said Mike. “Overnight, my whole interest in music opened up again. I started getting to know myself again.”

While he was working the graveyard shift at the studio, he met a metal band, who was complaining about a poor recording they had received from another agency. “And a lightbulb went off,” said Mike. “I saw a gap in the industry.”

He went to work, with his passion for music fuelling his process, and developed a system for remote live recordings using a traveling PC desktop; providing the band with a CD as a finished product. Bands flocked to the initiative, and Mike’s mastery of understanding sound dynamics put him on the map.

With his journey back on track for making music, Mike was ready to open his mind and heart to the premise of love once again. This was when he met Kim, who was teaching in Scotland at the time.

But here’s the kicker: while Kim was teaching abroad, her homebase was Canada.

“And I followed her home,” laughed Mike.

The two share a home right between Haliburton and Minden, where soft twinkle lights hang from the ceiling, and musical art adorns every wall. “I do, I love music.” said Kim. “We always had the radio on growing up. It’s just always been a part of my life.”

With records and CDs stacked neatly in each corner, it’s apparent that the couple spends time on that common ground together. They shared memories of traveling to Graceland together, their love of music fuelling their drive.

While neither work locally full-time, with commitments to jobs outside the county, they chose the community for the property. “I always say, do we want location for work, or quality of life, and I will always choose quality of life,” said Mike.

And that quality of life extended beyond the resident humans of the house. With an acre and a half of land, the property was ideal for the couple’s aging German Shepard at the time, Luna. “She was 13 years old when we moved,” said Mike, “and we wanted to give her a great life into her golden years.”

But Mike has never lost his connection to music. The sprawling property came at an advantage for his dreams, as well. “I finally had somewhere I could build my own studio.”

And he has. The domed roof of Apple Tree Recording Studio, the home of MAKKsound, will soon house the many sounds of the Haliburton Highlands. While Mike is still a few weeks from completing the extensive sound project, the details are clear cut. The space opens with a large room for the band to connect, a windowed section to the back designed for a sound engineer, and a booth to the side set up for vocals. Each detail is meticulous, right down to the curved corners of the room, creating a space where soundwaves can run freely and clearly.

“It’s my first time doing anything like this,” said Mike, as he gazed around the space. “I had never thought specifically about sound before. I just played for the love of playing. But my playing style has changed over the years. And eventually I just fell in love with the sound part of it.”

Mike prides himself on his ability to problem solve, and present outside-the-box solutions. “I do trouble-shoot quite well,” he said with a laugh, noting that he embraces the challenges that come alongside working with a variety of styles and genres of music.

The technician intends to welcome all to Apple Tree Studios, with him at the soundboard. He also has a drum kit, and a wide variety of instruments and gear available for performers to utilize when renting the studio. “The vision for Apple Tree is that it’s open for whatever,” he said. “Musicians, voiceovers, video editing, whatever is needed. Anything to do with sound, I’ll do it.”

He also noted that the location of the studio could also serve as a destination or a retreat for bands to collaborate and produce within, like many of the musical greats have done in the past with iconic destinations around the world. “Part of that musical experience is to be in the heart of the Haliburton Highlands,” he said.

While Mike continues to chip away at his dream, he is also doing sound for the Haliburton Folk Society, Haliburton Rotary for Music in the Park, and a variety of independent gigs around town. He gives credit to his friend and supporter, Walter Tose, for helping him become immersed in the local music scene. “He’s been quite prominent in opening doors for me,” Mike noted. “I’m very grateful for that.”

Apple Tree Recording Studio is working towards opening mid-autumn. To get in touch with Mike for use of the studio, you can email him at studios@makksound.com.

And if you work with Mike, only then will you understand his natural ability to completely understand the music, while he continues mixing without headphones in an effort to hear the natural sounds created.

Because it’s one of the senses that truly connects us to the world; that universal language that crosses oceans and ages, that transcends time and space.