By Jagdeesh Mann,
Postmedia News 

He is the man you never hear from. Or about.
But beneath the ocean of notes that stream out from every speaker, the voice of a man like Paul Baker resonates.
He is the sound technician whose ear for pitch is his master craft.
Paul Baker operates the eponymous Bakerstreet Studios -- named for Sherlock Holmes and one famous Gerry Rafferty song.
And like Baker, the North Vancouver studio possesses his disarmingly quality.
At first sight, one would never guess the likes of Elvis Costello, Chris Isaak and Alpha Yaya Diallo have recorded sessions in the windowless, single-story block that could be mistaken a nuclear bunker.
Yet for Baker his choice of career has never been about rubbing shoulders with the royalty of rock. It has always been about the music.
And behind the nondescript facade is a professional and independently-run studio which has supported hundreds of local artists and provided an accessible space for musicians to come together and record together.
“We have in this city some of the very finest musicians on the planet,” he says. “The purpose of this studio has always been to provide have a place where these artists can perform. That is what music is all about.”
Bakerstreet Studios specializes in ‘live off the floor’ sessions where bands, small and large, perform together. In one recent session with Wendy Bird, Baker played host to a drummer, bassist, pianist, Hammond organ player, three electric guitars, two acoustic guitars, an electric keyboard player and of course the lead singer.
Eleven people wove together their voices in the studio for the new album. For Baker the texture was pure magic and the reason he devoted his life to music.
Though Baker, 58, founded the studio in 1995, he got his start in the music industry much earlier.
The 1960s was the golden era of rock and roll, when groups such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Herman’s Hermits were bringing a new rock sound to the world’s stage.
When Baker immigrated to Vancouver in the early 1970s, he brought along his dream of making a career in the music industry.
“During the 1970s and 80s, I was what you call a ‘sound man’ and production manager on the road,” explains Baker, whose job was the construction and maintenance of the audio platform each night. “I toured with Canadian bands like The Payolas throughout Canada and the U.S.
“When the music industry changed in the late 80s and early 90s, I supplemented my income as a carpenter and truck driver, but music was always my main focus.”
He started buying sound-recording equipment, and in a small period of time, had all the pieces to launch a full-time operational studio.
Baker today works directly with the dozens of independent and self-financed musicians who come to record their demos.
Despite having struggled with throat cancer in the past few years, Baker devotes each day to his craft and helping local artists achieve their dreams. Work is his catharsis from the difficult chemo treatments which have not reversed his condition.
After 40 years in music, he feels enriched having taken this journey. Self-effacing as anyone who has always worked behind the scenes, Baker shifts focus away from himself and back into a discussion on the state of Canadian music today, noting up and coming bands like the Great Lake Swimmers and Hey Rosetta.
He feels Canadian music is thriving at the moment and is thankful to be a part of this new era.