Joe Harvard (nee Incagnoli son of Mary and local sports hero Joe "Shoemaker" Incagnoli) has been described as being "not only on the pulse of the local underground but also on the national underground scene." He's the chief owner, and self-proclaimed "figurehead", of two fraternal recording studios: Fort Apache North, a comfortable 24-track in Cambridge; and Fort Apache South, a rough-hewn warehouse space in Roxbury, which houses both 8- and 16-track facilities. In addition to Harvard, the Forts Apache are home base for a crackerjack collective of producers ("all tasteful motherfuckers"): Lou Giordano, Paul Kolderie, Sean Slade, and Gary Smith, plus two assistant engineers, Tom Hamilton and Tim O'Hare.

Harvard's personal production credits include work on upcoming releases by the Connells and the Brothers Kendall; the Turbines Magic Fingers and Hourly Rates: (New Rose); the Neats' Crash at Crush (Coyote); Treat Her Right’s "Last Train" (RCA); Pianosaurus's Singing Seashell TV broadcast; and the Throwing Muses Fish video. He's also produced demo tapes for Lifeboat, Real Kids, Pink Cadillac, Hovorka, Maria ExCommunikata, Gwar, Danny Mydlack, and Dogzilla, among others.

Harvard advocates a hands on approach to pre-production: "going to rehearsals and learning the shit like I’m in the band, from the inside out". Plus a light touch on the gadgetry: "Ideally, an engineer should be transparent, and a producer should be like a focus mechanism, to more clearly define what the band wants to bring to other people. You should never listen to a record and say, ‘Oh, wow. What a great production idea.’ "

He's justifiably proud of the Fort Apache team, and he tries to "bring everyone on board," utilizing each technician's input into every project he's involved with Harvard says, "When you come to Fort Apache and choose a producer or an engineer, it's like going to Steve's and choosing a flavor of ice cream. The bottom line is that you’re going to choose a quality product. It just depends what flavor you want." He feels that the common thread that runs through all the Fort Apache projects is a dedication to "sonic quality," and a reverence for the music that "almost borders on being spiritual."

For projects they believe in, the guys at the Fort are known for going that extra mile, often "calling distributors and labels and stuff, trying to help a band out." Harvard would like to see Fort Apache eventually incorporate its own record label or production company, "so we can really start to develop people we have faith in".

"It sounds corny," he ventures, "but I really believe that this studio is the one chance we'll have in our lifetimes where the nuts get to run the nuthouse. It's us doing it for people like us. It's important that we not let the pressures of running a business, and a pretty involved business, undermine that whole do-it-yourself, guerrilla recording attitude that we started out with."

(Joe Harvard pursues his first love - playing live with an assortment of friends - every Monday night at the Plough & Stars in Cambridge.)