Music
Jim Diamond
born 1965 · record producer, engineer, bassist
Downriver-raised producer whose downtown studio, Ghetto Recorders, captured the sound of Detroit's garage revival, including the first White Stripes records.
- Born
- Detroit years
- 1970s–present
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Jim Diamond graduated from Trenton High School in the Downriver suburbs in 1983 and earned a telecommunications degree from Michigan State University. In the fall of 1996 he returned to Detroit and opened Ghetto Recorders, an analog studio in a downtown loft that he took over from engineer John Linardos. Over the next two decades the studio became a hub of the city's garage rock scene: Diamond worked on the first two White Stripes albums and recorded many local bands on tape, and from 1997 to 2004 he played bass in Mick Collins's Dirtbombs, co-producing their records and singing “I'm Through With White Girls.” He was forced to close Ghetto Recorders in the spring of 2015, when the building was converted into upscale apartments, and he now divides his time between Detroit and Europe, still producing garage and punk bands.
Highlights
- Founded Ghetto Recorders in downtown Detroit (1996–2015)
- Worked on the first two White Stripes albums
- Bassist and co-producer of the Dirtbombs (1997–2004)
- Recorded dozens of Detroit garage and punk bands on analog tape
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1996–2015
Ghetto Recorders
Closed · 1996–2015
His analog studio in a downtown Detroit loft; it closed in 2015 when the building was redeveloped into apartments.
Studied here · until 1983
Trenton High School
Downriver high school he graduated from in 1983.