Free Public Recording Studios to Open Across the USA, Initiated by Jack Antonoff
- Martina
- 23 October 2024, Wednesday
Producer Jack Antonoff has unveiled plans to open free recording studios across the USA, focusing on providing recording spaces to those who ‘wouldn’t have access to them.’ The first studios are set to open at LGBTQ+ youth shelters.
‘Public Studios’: democratizing access to recording studios
The past decade has been filled with shining success for Jack Antonoff, who has gained worldwide recognition as an A-list producer of stars like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray, Lorde, The 1975, and Sabrina Carpenter. He’s also the lead vocalist of the indie pop band Bleachers, which released its 4th self-titled album in March 2024.
Now, in a statement posted to his social accounts, Antonoff announced that he wants to spend “a large part of the next chapter of my life” building free public recording studios for aspiring musicians who lack access to professional recording spaces. While he champions the advancement of home studios, he insists that a legit studio experience is different – it’s magical.
“Working with analog gear and creating sounds that are impossible to recreate is powerful. Knowing you are in a space for a limited amount of time and pushing yourself to the edge is vital. A studio is a rare space and you function different because of it.”
After learning the art of studio building alongside the Grammy-winning sounds engineer Laura Sisk, Antonoff says it’s time to share his expertise and experience with those “who might not find themselves there otherwise but need to be.” As he emphasized, his ultimate goal is to ensure that a recording studio becomes “a place that anyone can access, not just those with the money to do so.”
So far, he only had little detail to disclose, as his endeavor is still in the early stages. However, he wanted to share the news to raise initial awareness and seek support from anyone “who believes in this and has resources that can help,” including major commercial studios.
For the initial phase of the ‘Public Studios’ initiative, Antonoff partners with the Ally Coalition (his charitable organization) to establish studios in LGBTQ+ youth shelters. The plan is to build these studios, appoint a network of engineers to train people at these sites, and subsequently pay for maintenance and engineering. As he stressed in his post, this concept is strictly intended for those who cannot afford time in studio spaces.
