The studio was initially built by a collective begun in 1985 by musician/producer Joe Harvard and members of a band called Sex Execs: engineers Paul Q. Kolderie, Sean Slade, and Jim Fitting.
Fort Apache relocated its facilities above the Rounder Records warehouse and offices on Camp Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1988.
From 2002-2006, Fort Apache additionally operated a music venue in the lobby of The Windham Hotel, where it recorded and broadcast nearly 200 live concerts.
The concert venue was originally the brainchild of Smith and Charlie Hunter, owner of the Bellows Falls booking agency Flying Under Radar.
Among the many major groups and artists who have recorded there over the years are Pixies, Radiohead, Rubyhorse, Superdrag, Come, Big Dipper, Juliana Hatfield, Throwing Muses, Belly, Tanya Donelly, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, The Lemonheads, Volcano Suns, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Elliott Smith, Eleventh Dream Day, The Connells, The Specials, Blake Babies, Weezer, Yo La Tengo, Evan Dando, Warren Zevon, Dirt Merchants, Fat Tuesday Toys Went Berserk, The Shods, Spore, Blameless, Uncle Tupelo, Morphine, Superchunk and many more.
Smith brought the Pixies to Fort Apache to record their legendary 1987 demos later known as The Purple Tape and also produced several of Throwing Muses' 1980s albums there.
From 2002-2006, Fort Apache additionally operated a music venue in the lobby of The Windham Hotel, where it recorded and broadcast nearly 200 live concerts.
The concert venue was originally the brainchild of Smith and Charlie Hunter, owner of the Bellows Falls booking agency Flying Under Radar.
Among the artists recording and performing in this location are Amanda Palmer, Sheryl Crow, David Gray, Keene, Slaine, Ed O.G., Jordan Knight, Moe Pope, Jared Evan, Duck Down Music Inc., Sean Price, Termanology, Slane, Monkey Knife Fight and many more.