Kaylee Bittner is an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison majoring in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing. She is also pursuing certificates in History and Gender and Women’s Studies and will graduate with the class of 2023.

By This Author:

A hand-painted banner with the word 'SMART' painted across the top in black letters outlined in red, blue, and cyan. The rest of the banner is composed of loosely painted and abstracted eyes and teeth.

OBJECT HISTORY: "SMART" Banner by Dennis Nechtaval

During its twenty-seven years of operation, Madison’s Smart Studios was a cornerstone of the music scene, responsible for producing a wide array of music all the way from unknown local acts to big-name artists from around the globe.

Color publicity photograph of the band members from Garbage, a Madison, Wisconsin rock band. They are sitting or leaning on a bed with white linens.

Garbage's Origins in Madison

Out of all the bands and musicians who have roots in Wisconsin’s capitol city, Garbage is perhaps one of the most successful products of the Madison music scene, having sold more than seventeen million albums worldwide over the course of their career.

Exterior of Smart Studios, an unassuming brick building on a street corner.

The History of Smart Studios

Smart Studios, founded by Butch Vig and Steve Marker, was a recording studio located on Madison’s east side. Over its twenty-seven years of operation, Smart Studios was responsible for producing music for both local acts and world-famous artists in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, putting Madison on the map as a significant location in the music scene of the time.