THE STORY
“Everything about making music has been dumbed down. Things are being made in a hurry. Everybody’s worried about pulling something off. Step back and say, “Wait a minute. What you’re doing is really important.”
I think when I was probably 22 or 23 years old, and I was a touring musician, I dreamt and talked about where we were going and what we would do some day. One of my dreams was to build a studio. I described the studio that I would love to have as a place that artists would love to go to. Back then I called it “Studio in the Clouds.”
Every experience I had in recording studios up to that point felt very limiting. We’d get just enough time in the studio to try to hurry and pull something off. It was very frustrating! So we were dreaming about what could we do if the environment would just be conducive, and the tools would be there to do all the exploration. My life took a different course towards education, and I founded Full Sail University. In a sense I got to build multiple amazing studios and production facilities, but the dream of that beautiful, retreat like recording studio never left me.
Twenty-seven years later I took a vacation to Northern California and fell in love with this little town called Ferndale. I started dreaming of building a studio there. I bought a 1600 square-foot cabin on 23 acres at the top of a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean and started making plans.
“There’s a loft with a guitar and amp collection - You can just go down the line and start hunting for different sounds.”
At first I thought, “Let’s put some gear in this cabin and make records.” Then it was, “Well, we need to do some sound isolation.” Then it was, “Why don’t we build a good sounding control room on the side of the cabin.” At every turn it was as if I was possessed, thinking about what a dream come true it would be to record there. I thought “what are the obstacles that somebody faces as they record?” I’ve been in that spot so many times: “Oh man, I wish we had this but we don’t, but maybe we can fake it with this.” I wanted this place to have everything, to set you free.
It’s got four Studer 2” tape machines and Pro Tools, so you can record analog, digital, or both at the same time. Most every piece of outboard gear and microphones that you would want. There’s a loft with a guitar and amp collection - You can just go down the line and start hunting for different sounds. There’s a whole closet full of effects pedals. A room full of pianos and keyboards. All kinds of drum kits. Just so your creative vision isn’t limited by the fact that you can’t put your hands on what you need in the moment. We wired every room and every deck. We even have wires in the woods. You can take your guitar amp into the forest and record it if that’s what you want to do. The whole goal is unlimited possibility in an inspiring setting.
