Do you believe in serendipity? Or just coincidence? Either way, sometimes the stars align and everything falls into place.
I’ve moved my studio a number of times over the last few years. Each time has been due to the fact that I was renting my studio space, and for some reason or another there was friction with the landlord, whether it be conflicting schedules over sharing the space, or unstable personalities that didn’t make it stable enough to operate a business there.
Early 2023, I closed on a new home and finally had the opportunity to build a studio space by converting a detached garage that was on the property. The only issue was I had zero experience with building. I had a vision, and knew what I wanted out of a studio, but no means of achieving it. I needed someone who knew what the heck they were doing.
Enter Budman.
Right around the time I closed on the house, I was chatting with an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while, Jason Budman. He’s a great drummer and percussionist that plays with a few bands (The Loving Paupers, Lost Caverns). We got to talking about this studio build when he casually mentions that he had just quit his job, and also had done building work with his dad for many years. He was super into the idea of working on this, so I brought him on board.
He came out to see the garage and took some measurements, and we calculated all the material we’d need, and then headed to Home Depot to make a big ass order.
Over the next 3 months, we were in the garage, slowly but surely transforming it into the studio as it is today. Framing walls, insulating, hanging doors, hanging drywall, painting. We learned a ton over the course of this build and theres something immensely satisfying about creating music in a place that you literally built with your hands.
I’m so grateful to Budman and all the other people that helped to make this build possible. My friend and bandmate Lee Hallett came through to help hang drywall and paint a few times. My friend and bandmate in The Old Line, George Ganim helped me with the flooring. Budman had a connect with a great electrician, who connected me to a great HVAC guy. It all just worked out so well, and I’m really stoked to have a beautiful new home for my studio!
A month or so after we had finished the build, I had Budman’s band Lost Caverns come into the studio to cut a song for their new record. Definitely awesome to create with him in the space that we both poured so much love into! Check out “Digging A Hole” by Lost Caverns here!