Around 8:30 AM, on Saturday, October 17th, Joseph Harder, ‘20 was making breakfast. Five minutes later, he received a number of texts informing about a tragedy that had taken place at Miller Circle on South Main Street, a natural gas explosion which leveled a number of businesses, including a place dear to him, Blue Sprocket Sound.
Harder is a local who has played in a number of bands in the area and currently plays in the band Prince Bellerose, which includes staff member Daniel Bellerose, Student Programs Coordinator at the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions. Harder had done a number of recording sessions at Blue Sprocket and did an internship during the spring and summer of 2019. He has fond memories of his time there and spoke highly of the staff, who are friendly, laid back, and knowledgeable.
Beyond the devastation done to the daily livelihood of the employees of Blue Sprocket, a myriad of irreplaceable equipment was lost as well. Most notably was a mixing board worth $750,000 which was one of only twenty in the world. In addition, there was a Hammond Organ worth ~$10,000, and many other pieces of vintage equipment that the technicians at Blue Sprocket had become accustomed to. Harder noted that, “…you can’t really replace things like that, they take on a sound of their own that you become used to and they’re not really like anything else.”
Despite the tragedy, Harder says there’s an air of determination and hope persisting with the employees of Blue Sprocket. The owner, Chris Jackson, has been overwhelmed by the amount of community support that has been poured out. Harder, along with a number of other people who were close with Blue Sprocket, started a GoFundMe page that has currently raised $24,000 to help pay for the living costs of the Blue Sprocket employees who are now not able to work regularly. Despite the loss of the studio, Blue Sprocket still operates a vinyl pressing business. Harder said that recently, one of the largest vinyl pressing plants in the world closed in California, and as a result of that Blue, Sprocket’s vinyl pressing operations has received an influx of work.
Harder has been in contact with the employees at Blue Sprocket and says that while they are still understandably shaken from the event, they are gradually forming plans to hopefully one day find a new place to plant a studio. It could, however, be at least a year-long process, owner Chris Jackson speculated.
Blue Sprocket was not the only business affected by the explosion. The morning of the explosion, there was supposedly an employee and a customer at the barber shop on the end of the strip, and at around 8:00 AM, the employee called the owner of the barbershop mentioning a smell of gas in the air, which was thirty minutes before the explosion occurred.
Nearby music store, Hometown Music, lost everything and currently has nothing to go off of, and it is also a recipient of the fundraising effort. Harder also wanted to point out that there were a number of other businesses lost in the explosion, such as the Halal market, and he hoped that there would be support for all those affected by this tragic incident. Donation link is available on the Weather Vane website.
