Gary Smith

Gary Smith is a record producer best known for managing the legendary Fort Apache Studios in Boston from the mid-80s until 2002. While overseeing the studio, Smith discovered and produced the demos for famed Boston rock groups Throwing Muses and Pixies, leading to both being signed shortly afterward by 4AD. Smith frequently produced albums for the artists who recorded at Fort Apache (including Juliana Hatfield, 10,000 Maniacs and Billy Bragg.

In 1995, Smith expanded the studios to a second location dubbed Fort Apache North, primarily used to record live concerts for radio broadcast. The annex flourished for a while, hosting luminaries like Beck, David Bowie and Radiohead, but ultimately shut down in 2000. Smith ran the space for a while as a personal office building, but eventually closed up shop both there and at the main Fort Apache complex and moved all operations to his home in Vermont. Unfortunately, this new studio failed to live up to its predecessor and Smith turned over the reins to Fort Apache co-founder Paul Kolderie in 2002. Under his oversight, it lasted several more years but finally shuttered for good in 2010.

Smith currently runs several businesses under the Fort Apache name, including a real estate/concert promotion business and an artist management firm (whose clients include Tanya Donelly and Natalie Merchant.