
By: Steffon Olsen
After Dedicating His Life to Recording Independent Artists Through His Label, Midnight Records Productions, the Local Producer is Only Getting Started and Ready to Rock On!
Iconic music producer Kent Rigby has been termed a renaissance man by those who know him best. In addition to being the founder of Midnight Records Productions, Rigby is also a sculptor, professional architect, independent artist/musician, custom guitar maker, and pillar of the Utah Arts Alliance as well as the community.
Rigby has selflessly served local musicians, bands, singer-songwriters, as well as visual artists for many decades as his way to give back to and support the local arts community.
Scorpius was honored to enjoy the privilege of interviewing a prolific music producer.


Scorpius: What can you tell us about where Midnight Records Productions began?
Rigby: The name Midnight Records originated from a band I was in back in the 80s called, “Us at Midnight”. I started recording the band practices with a Tascam Port-Studio four track cassette recorder and caught the recording bug. Later, I had a home studio in the living room, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger. My wife kept asking, “Is this going to take over the whole house?” ‘Rigby says with a laugh.’ I decided I needed to do something with all of the recording equipment so I talked with Derek Dyer, Executive Director for the Utah Arts Alliance, a 501c3, and asked if we could get a building downtown, where we could have both the art gallery and a recording studio. He said yes, so we rented the old Inkley’s building on Main Street, where the Eccles Theater now resides. We set up the art gallery in front and built a recording studio in the back. And that’s where Midnight Records Productions began 15 years ago.
Scorpius: You’ve signed and produced a lot of incredible independent musicians on your label over the years, what can you tell us about some of the artists, bands, who you’ve worked with, that stand out to you?
Rigby: I currently have 16 active projects. One of my favorites is Patrick Maloney, he’s a classic rock guy. He plays guitar and writes his own songs. He brings in some great drummers and bass players to record his project and sometimes Patrick will play bass himself. We turn up the amps to have a lot of fun!
I’ve also lately been working with a country/rock band called, “Bulletproof”. They perform at the Westerner a lot. They’re a really great band; we’ve recorded four songs and recently finished the mixing process.
I’ve also been working with a young singer-songwriter, Aaron Davis. He has played most of the instruments, including drums, on 12 Indie Rock songs that he wrote years ago and needed to get finished up.
I’m also working with a heavy metal band called, “Death Persona.” That’s been fun a lot of fun because I have a hard rock and heavy metal streak in me, ‘Rigby says with a big smile.” So, it’s great to get the ‘screamo’ going, loud guitars, as well as big bass and drums. So that’s thoroughly enjoyable for me.
I’ve also been recording a band named “Strawberry Cough,” they’re some younger artists who play the shoegaze rock genre. They’re fun, energetic guys and play all-original songs, it’s a different idiom in the rock vein and I really enjoy them a lot.
I’m also working with a young rapper, Caleb Marcy. He has a couple of producers who are working with him and a guy who makes killer beats. He’s an extremely talented young rapper. He writes really well, works really hard, and has a great personality. I think he’s got a lot of potential to really go somewhere.
Jake Martin is another incredible artist who plays Indie Rock, he’s really cool. Jake’s got a great voice and it’s really fun to record his music. He has written some great songs with really catchy relevant lyrics and addictive melodies.
Adrian Cassaba is another local singer-songwriter I’ve been working with. His father-in-law, Jeff Bryant is the drummer. Those guys have been really cooled to work with. They write all-original songs with poetic Dylan-Esque lyrics.
Night Crew is another original indie rock band that I’ve been recording off and on for a couple of years that shows real potential as well as My Friend Zero. Both will be back in the studio soon.
Marv Hamilton is a contemporary folk artist with a fabulous voice. We’ve just started recording violins and bass on a couple of his songs and we’re getting ready to begin working on a new blues song he’s written.
I’ve also been working with Kim K. Jones; she’s an artist manager and she’s bringing in some bands for recording services.
Lavish is an incredible female rapper I’ve worked with for several years and she’s getting ready to record some more new songs. She’s a great rapper with a ton of energy and a lot of really good songs.
J Knight is also another great rapper I’ve worked with for a while, who I’m hoping to see go far.
At the old Main Street studio, I worked with Max Pain and the Groovies, Lucid 8, Oh! Wild Birds, JJ Jennings, Whitney Mower, as well as many other very talented local artists.


Scorpius: You’ve been an architect by day, throughout all of these years that you’ve invested the rest of your time to Left Bank Gallery, the Salt Lake Gallery Association, the Utah Arts Alliance and Midnight Records Productions. What can you tell us about that? I’ve been doing architecture for 51 years. It’s what has allowed me to support visual art and collect the recording gear and extensive, eclectic collection of instruments I’ve brought together to help give back to the community. When I was a young guy in a band, there was nobody around to help and when we went into the studio, we had to pay $75 an hour to record our music. When you’re young you can’t afford to do recording at that kind of rate very much. So, realizing I had all of this equipment at home, I decided that I wanted to put it to use to support and help the young artists in the community. We do it as a non-profit studio so we can offer affordable recording services.
Scorpius: You’re also a sculptor; what can you tell us about that?
Rigby: My current work has been mostly involved with ceramics and mixed media. I use different materials combined with ceramics. Lots of exotic hard woods and some pit and raku fired pieces that have a very organic aesthetic to them.
Scorpius: You’ve been a custom guitar maker for several years. What can you tell us about that facet of your life?
Rigby: I have been buying raw electric guitar bodies and necks, doing the finishing, installing the pickups, pots, switches and hardware. However, I recently got a large Black Walnut slab for starting from scratch. The first guitar from the walnut slab will likely be a flying vee since there is a vee shaped pattern in part of the wood grain. I love guitars and have been making art objects since 1970, so building guitars was a natural extension of that. I enjoy customizing them for hard rock and metal.
Scorpius: If you could give one word of advice to aspiring independent artists and bands, what would it be?
Rigby: I always tell young artists to do it because you love it.
Scorpius: If you could formulate one thought from all of your years of helping independent artists realize their dreams and your selfless Service to your community through Midnight Records Productions and the Utah Arts Alliance, what would it be?
Rigby: During the past 27 years of being involved with the local arts scene, I’ve been very fortunate to have been able to contribute in some small ways, it’s been an absolute honor for me personally.