by LORRAINE CARPENTER

Drew Malamud knows Montreal's music scene. He's half of the local drum & bass duo DB, he's Pop Montreal's soundman and he's the director and resident engineer at Studio Plateau, a brand new recording facility with the very best gear and the very lowest rates. The studio is charging between half and a third of what most pro studios charge because the equipment is financed by Aquarius Records, whose artists are already rocking the space, and they've cut out all the pricey bells and whistles that most bands never touch. With such low rates, Malamud's not worried about drawing clients, but the label projects alone will keep the studio afloat and the studio will save the label money, allowing them to further invest in, as Malamud puts it, "The Ferrari of microphones, the Ferrari of pre-amps, custom cabling, compressors, EQs - we have the same EQ that the Neptunes use, and the quality of the sound we're getting is second to none. People are coming in and they can't believe it."

And you may not believe this, but Malamud and DKD Group president Mathieu Drouin (an idealistic young man who aims to re-invent the music business and, like Donald K. Donald himself, is rich enough to work for love, not money) are inviting talented local indie bands to engage in development deals with any of DKD's eight labels and record for free. They'll offer Studio Plateau gratis to an unspecified number of artists to produce a song, an EP or even an album, which Aquarius will then shop outside of Canada using DKD's wealth of resources.

"There's so many incredible bands in Montreal that the world has never heard of and I wanna help, I wanna make incredible albums," says Malamud, and he and Drouin insist that this is only the beginning. "We're building relationships, we want to give underground bands an outlet and give them a break and not charge them $1,000 because this is about the music, not the money. There's no reason why we can't become the most professional and renowned recording studio in Eastern Canada." Interested musicians, call Drew at 578-1417 for details.

>> Music Listings