I opened my commercial recording studio (Jackpot! Recording) in 1997, after years of simultaneously having a busy home studio while working day jobs to pay the rent. Making this leap to a full-time recording engineer/studio owner was terrifying. I remember thinking I was making a big mistake; what if nobody booked the place? How would I find time to work on the recently started Tape Op Magazine?
My home studio was run as a part-time, small business. I basically used money from these sessions in my basement to pay for new recording equipment, and, in the meantime, I didn't turn a profit. But I'd been getting busier over the years and it felt like now was the time to move it out of my home and into a commercial space.
I'd partnered up with songwriter Elliott Smith, once we both realized we had the same studio space plans in motion. Having a partner also gave me some leeway on having to buy as much new gear, as well as freeing me up a bit from covering the entire rent and filling the calendar by myself. We found a space to lease, built a wall and sound treatments, and moved our gear in. I had taken out a small loan from my grandfather and maxed out several credit cards. When we had an opening party, a friend brought over a mutual acquaintance. Our conversation went something like this:
Her: "You are so lucky! You are so lucky! You are so lucky!"
Me: "Uh, okay."
Thinking about it later, I was annoyed. "Luck?" I was putting my life on the line and she calls it luck? As it turns out, luck came and went, but hard work and sacrifice got tangible results. In the early years I worked as long of a day as a client would demand, for a flat $250 fee that included myself and the studio time. During one session I was a little too free with my information and I told a client what my rent and utilities were each month. That conversation was uncomfortable:
Him: "Dude, you must be making bank."