From the outside​,​ Smart Studios looked like just another Midwestern factory or warehouse left behind by the economic decline of the 1980s. No one viewing its depleted exterior could have guessed what was going on - and how it would change the sound of music forever. If you’ve ever been touched Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, L7, you’ve been touched by the music created at Smart Studios. This is the story of the pivotal Midwest link to the global rise of Alternative Rock in the 1990’s and the unassuming Madison, Wisconsin recording studio at its center.