Flat Black Studios is Misson Creek’s partner for this year’s Artist-in-Residence program, which was developed to give visiting musicians a more memorable experience of their time in Iowa City at the festival. During their time in town, selected musicians will have an opportunity to record music at the studio that can serve as a postcard of their visit. It is also a way for groups to create new music in a professional setting.

The Daily Iowan spoke with Luke Tweedy, the chief sound engineer of Flat Black Studios to learn about the recording sessions.

Daily Iowan: Tell us a little about how this recording session came about and why you wanted to get involved.

Luke Tweedy: Knowing both Chris Wiersema and Andre Perry for a long time and loving what they have both done for Iowa City and our music-culture-loving community, was why I was excited about the chance to be involved.

Mission Creek has decided to branch out a little bit. It has expanded to offering a sort of artists residency program. Certain artists were offered the ability to get some studio time as part of their compensation.

DI: Who are the artists that will be involved with this opportunity?

Tweedy: The artists picked have had sort of a longer history with some part of Iowa City. An example would be Dirty Beaches released material through Shawn "Wet Hair" Reed’s Night People record label or that Erase Errata’s Jenny Hoyston recorded "Hallways of Always" with me previously (a duets record with William Elliott Whitmore).

DI: When these artists come into the studio, what will they leave with?

Tweedy: This week, the artists I will be working with are Erase Errata, Dirty Beaches (with Wet Hair), Hallways of Always (Jenny Hoyston and William Elliott Whitmore), and Weed Wolf.

Different bands will leave with different things, depending on what they had previously agreed to. Erase Errata will leave the studio with a completed album, while Hallways of Always is working on a 7-inch single. Weed Wolf did an EP and that is looking like what will be completed with Dirty Beaches/Wet Hair as well. I am equally excited about all these projects because I genuinely enjoy each one of these artists independent of working here. I really like all this music and feel extremely fortunate to be working with all of them.

DI: What shows are you looking forward to seeing during the festival?

Tweedy: [Because this is] an around-the-clock endeavor for about seven days, it is going to be tough for me to see very many shows this Mission Creek, unless the artists I am working with are playing. I will be fortunate enough to catch Erase Errata, Weed Wolf/Lesllie & the Lys, Wet Hair/Dirty Beaches, and the Grand Tetons/William Elliott Whitmore show.

DI: What is the most exciting part about being able to work with these different musicians?

Tweedy: I guess what I feel most fortunate about is simply getting to work with such talented folks and their having enough trust in me to allow me to document their art. That is how I feel working in the studio in general.