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ROBIN WILSON
GIN BLOSSOMS MEMBER & OWNER OF URANUS RECORDINGS

It was the fall of 1992 and the popular Tempe alternative band the Gin Blossoms had begun touring nationally with platinum recording artists Toad the Wet Sprocket.

After one particular gig in Connecticut, lead singer Robin Wilson went to the parking lot to sign autographs for hundreds of waiting fans. “I remember looking around the parking lot, realizing that things had changed forever,” Wilson says. “We were no longer just a local band from Phoenix.”

Within a few months, their songs “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You” became huge hit singles, and the Gin Blossoms stormed onto the national music scene. For the next five years, the Gin Blossoms produced three hit albums, sold millions of records and received a Grammy nomination. Like many bands quickly thrust into national stardom, the stardust didn’t last. The Gin Blossoms broke up in 1997. The band reunited in 2002 and still tours today.

In addition to being a rock star, the still downto- earth Robin Wilson stays close to his Arizona roots as the owner of a historic Tempe creamery office turned recording studio. This month the Open Door Policy crew toured Uranus Recordings, where Wilson produces and engineers records for a number of Arizona bands.

“The studio has a lot of history,” he says of the building, which was originally built in 1915. “And I have a lot of pride stewarding one of the oldest buildings in my home town.”

By Shanna Hogan

1. Vintage 12-channel stereo mixing console, originally built as broadcast boards for BBC Radio.
2. Novelty “Duff Beer” can from the hit cartoon series The Simpsons. “It just makes you laugh when you look at it. I have a room full of toys and lunch boxes in my home.”
3. Robot toy from the ‘60s television show Lost in Space. “I’m pretty much a super geek when it comes to comic books, science fiction, animation and that type of stuff.”
4. Bust of Russian leader Vladimir Lenin. Wilson’s brother brought it back from a trip to Russia.
5. Mini “Bender” robot figurine from the cartoon Futurama
6. Poppin’ Wheelies record. Wilson developed a concept for an animated series and recorded a CD about a teenage rock n’ roll band in outer space. “Poppin’ Wheelies never made it as an animated television series but has been rather successful as an underground pop record. I like to think of the music as the best record that The Archies never made.”
7. Gold- and platinum-record plaques. “I’m just showing off. To put them up at the record studio is pretty much the most pretentious thing that I’ve ever done.”

8. Picture of an oversized guitar decorated like a video-game controller, which was Wilson’s entry in the 2006 Guitar Mania Charity Auction. “I noticed years ago that the controller for the Nintendo 64 resembled a guitar body. When it came time to build something for the Guitar Mania project, I thought how cool would it be to see the thing 10-feet tall and sort of functioning? It was a really fun piece.”
9. Broken guitar handle. “I smashed a guitar at Long Wong’s (restaurant) at the end of a very frustrating gig.”
10. X-Box 360. “I’m a lifelong video-game fan.”
11. Autographed Wallace and Ladmo photo. “That’s one of the proudest possessions I have. I grew up here, and Wallace and Ladmo were a big part of my childhood.”
12. Photo of Wilson’s six-year-old son, Grey, with the rock band Green Day.
13. Isolation booth Wilson built out of the old creamery’s bank vault.
14. The bathroom in Wilson’s recording studio is autographed by dozens of Arizona musicians including The Pistoleros, Lee Hazlewood, Al Casey, The Refreshments, The Format and the Meat Puppets.