Eclectica Studios - L A Times April 24,2002 April 24, 2002 CHINO Recording company keeps comfortable vibe By Pam Noles / pam.noles@latimes.com CHINO -- Tim Dolbear grew up in Diamond Bar, where he went to Diamond Bar High School and took Advanced Placement courses and graduated early "so I could get out of there.' He then earned a degree from Guitar Institute of Technology at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. By the time he was 15, he was playing lead guitar in rock bands, making the Southern California club circuit. His reputation was so good that by the time he was 21, the week of June 13, 1991, to be precise, he was playing backup for Sammy Hagar at the rocker's Cabo Wabo club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. That, the 32-year-old said, was an "interesting" experience. "I had played the clubs and played with some bigger people but that was like playing Irvine Meadows," he said. "I had girls trying to pull me into the audience and saying stuff to me I couldn't believe. " Dolbear didn't fall into the cliché rock world trap of wild women and wilder drugs. Through it all he never lost sight of two things -- his desire to run his own business and be in charge of his own recording career, and his devotion to God. Through faith in both, the Chino resident and his wife, Angela, managed to set up a recording company in their home that brings musicians of all types to Chino to use his full slate for service. Eclectica Studios has recorded CDs by punk, rock, folk and other groups as well as provided mixing services for record labels. Eclectica Recordings is home to the CDs they put out under their label, Charis Records, which includes 1998's "Leap of Faith," 2000's "Change" and the newest, yet untitled, planned for release in two months. Their music is adult contemporary, much of it with Christian themes, he said. "We went from making below poverty level to making middle-class money -- lower- middle-class money," Dolbear said, laughing. "We put our faith completely in God. We said, 'Take us. Do what you will.' It's that leap of faith, having full faith and therefore we landed on our feet. If we had said, 'Let's have a backup plan,' it wouldn't have worked." Dolbear's engineering skills are praised by those who have worked with him. Ibrahim Naeem, producer of the "Voice of Islam Ahmadiyya" offered by the Baitul Hameed mosque in Chino, said working with Dolbear has been "a joy." The radio show is recorded in Dolbear's studio where Naeem has encountered the musician's professionalism, pride in his work and his ability to make the program sound great. "It could be very easily where we wound up someplace where people run us through the assembly line, so to speak," Naeem said. "Tim takes a lot of personal care." There's so much care that Naeem said they trust Dolbear to mix the program on his own now, no longer feeling the need to be there for the first cut. The program has recorded about a dozen episodes with Dolbear so far, and he knows the format, knows what they're trying to do. And the faithful Christian has an open enough mind to do the job right. "It's an unusual program for most people. They don't encounter shows on Islam," Naeem said. "He's been very open to the subject, not only a great engineer but also a marvelous host. It's like he has you into his home." The members of the Irish band Innisfree had Dolbear record their newest, "Innisfree Live," on site at the Norris Theater in Los Angeles. The band has four other CDs out, but wanted this one to be nearly perfect, said Mike Gleeson, a band founder. "He was excellent. He came out and set up everything at the theater," Gleeson said. "His studio is great. He's got everything you want as far as fixing things up or fixing mistakes. He's very professional, very quick and doesn't fool around." He also has the ability to serve the needs of the song over the demands of the artist, said Meleisa McDonell, who drives from her home in San Diego to record her songs in Dolbear's studio. She's known and recorded with him since 1988. "He understands the song as an art form in and of itself," McDonell said. "I've recorded with others down where I live, but I always end up wanting to drive up with him because frankly no one can do it better. He has a good feel for what makes a song a good song." Dolbear said he and his wife hope to be successful enough to expand their studio and offerings, but not too much so it becomes distant. Atmosphere is as important an offering as technical skills, he said. "The vibe here [in the house], you can't do that in a cold, stale industrial complex," he said. "When they get here, everybody feels like they're at home. It's clean. There's no fear of using the bathroom. We don't want to change that." For information: www.eclecticarecordings.com/