Zak Cohen said he wakes up every day amazed at the great job he has created for himself.
Cohen has been the owner and operator of the Cowichan Valley’s Woodshop Recording Studio, located in a rural area on Richards Trail, since he built the state-of-the-art facility in 2000 in his parent’s former industrial wood shop on his property.
Since then, Cohen has worked on hundreds of recording projects in his studio with bands from all over the Island and beyond, including A Band of Rascals, Jesse Roper and Valdy.
Cohen has also expanded into audio projects for the Island’s growing film and television industries.
He has worked on television projects for The Outdoor Channel, The Hallmark Channel and other television and film organizations, but his great love has always been music and working with musicians to make their songs sound as good as they can be.
“One of the benefits of building and operating a modern recording studio is that I can work with people from all over this area and around the world, either personally or electronically, from the studio,” said Cohen who once worked at a music store in Duncan and has played with local bands.
“Recording started as a hobby for me and I built up this studio incrementally over many years to what it is today. As well as recording projects at the studio, I’ve also gone off site with my equipment to produce local recordings for such groups as the Vancouver Island Symphony and the Royal Canadian Navy’s Naden Band from Esquimalt.”
Cohen said that while he doesn’t have a large permanent staff other than producer Malcolm Owen-Flood who assists him on many productions, he does periodically draw on the talents of dozens of professional session musicians from the Island and the Lower Mainland to play with other musicians who are recording at his studio.
He also contributes to the local community in a number of ways, including donating studio time for special causes when asked, and has sponsored song-writing contests at the Islands Folk Festival.
“Generally, I promote music in the region and provide the chance for up-and-coming musicians to have their work produced in a professional manner that they probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to do otherwise,” Cohen said.
“I also have the technology to call Nashville and other music centres and have their music incorporated into local recording sessions, and music from here incorporated in sessions in those locations.”
Cohen said that while it has taken a lot of work to get his studio to the world-class standard that it is today, he’s living his dream.
“I’m pleased to be able to make a good living and avoid having to get a real job,” he said with a laugh. “I just want to make great music and I’m amazed every day that I get to do this for a living.”