That's pronounced E-fum and, since you asked, derives from the name of his childhood pet, a pooch named Muffy, spelled backwards. And with a hyphen thrown in.

“Without the hyphen it just looked like Muffy spelled backwards,” Adams helpfully explained.

Founded in 2001, not long after Adams moved into his Sinking Spring house, yf-fum is fairly typical of the local studio scene in that it was begun by a musician who started out by taping his own music. Only recently has it expanded into recording other artists, such as Equals Conquest.

“If it were possible, I would absolutely love to be doing this as my livelihood,” Adams said. “You get to be creative and at same time, you're helping someone else create. But there's no health plan in running a studio, and there's no vision care and so on. It's a big jump to make.”

The basement's very green surroundings a color scheme stemming from the gift of a neighbor's brightly painted 1942 Harrington upright piano some years back set off Adams' collection of instruments, including guitars, bass, drums and Yamaha keyboards.

There's a four-track analog setup for those who prefer that sound, but most of the recording is digital, he said.

Adams is hoping to establish the budget-priced studio it charges by the song, rather than per hour as the place to go for musicians just starting out.

“If we can get the younger bands, to give us more experience and have our portfolio grow, as well as helping them,” he said, “that's what we want to do.”

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