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When we announced the addition of St. Louis to the PlaidNation tour route, we heard a lot of buzz about Shock City Studios. Twitter friend Marianne Richmond ensured us that we would not be disappointed.

Why profile a recording studio? You need to meet Doug and Chris to understand why. Two musicians with successful recording careers wanted to open a recording studio. Not unlike the dream of many musicians, right?

Here's where the story of Shock City Studios gets exciting. Doug and Chris didn't just take some skanky space and set up some recording gear. They bought what is essentially an entire block in St. Louis. They took over an abandoned ice factory and renovated the space into a state of the art studio. Mix Magazine calls it one of the coolest studios in the nation.

But the development story doesn't end there. With thousands and thousands of additional square feet in their building, they saw bigger potential. They've built out the space as wonderous new office and retail space. (A bakery was in the process of moving in during our visit.) And they're building homes. Super cool condos that take advantage of the unique architecture.

All of the space pays homage to its ice factory roots, while at the same time incorporating stunning new architectural highlights.

How did two musicians make it all happen? This is a massive project, with an over $10 million dollar development budget. Doug and Chris worked with the city, investors and various grant programs that are available in St. Louis. They brought a sense of energy and vibrancy to city planners who normally only get to work with "property development types." From the sounds of it, their enthusiasm about an exciting project helped them get the attention they deserved to push things through.

Doug and Chris are an outstanding example for other business people, and proof that sometimes doing something outside of your normal comfort zone can pay off big time. Even if it's something that you've never ever done before.

When it's complete, the Shock City Studios complex will house a variety of interesting businesses, residents and one of the hottest studios in the country while bringing a block of St. Louis architecture back to life. Not bad for a couple of slacker musicians.

Follow Shock City on Twitter, and visit Shock City Studios.com when it's time to record your new album.

Labels: architecture, st. louis

posted by darryl ohrt at 10:58 AM 0 Comments

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Thanks to Charlie from Curve (Detroit's hottest agency) we were shown a side of Detroit that's not shared with tourists, business people or most other visitors to the city. He called us with our meeting plan: "Here's the address where we'll meet. Be prepared that this will appear to be a rough neighborhood. I don't want you to be surprised when you arrive."

Charlie was right. After driving through neighborhood after neighborhood of places where most would uneasily lock their doors, we arrived at Lahser Rd. Within minutes we spied a pretty awesome street sculpture. Charlie arrived about 60 seconds later.

Like the Mayor of Detroit, Charlie gave us a personal tour of the recently restored Redford Theater (beautious beyond belief), and what can only be described as a secret artist's village. We walked through a mechanic's garage that led into a series of spaces that have been given to the community. Artists Village, indeed.

Art studios, makeshift theater spaces, learning centers, gardens, courtyards and an endless sea of art, sculpture and inspiration. A collapsed building roof creates an opportunistic courtyard. Walls of blight are canvas. He told us about the history of Blight Busters, and pointed to several projects still in the works.

The neighborhood is inspiring to anyone. Artists, entrepreneurs, urban planners, architects and sociologists. If you live in Detroit and haven't seen this, we suggest a trip downtown. If you're visiting the motor city, call Charlie. We all left knowing that we had seen something very, very special.

Thanks, Charlie!

Labels: architecture, detroit, nonprofit

posted by darryl ohrt at 8:44 PM 0 Comments