Swing House Studios of West Hollywood routinely rents space to big-name bands such as Aerosmith for recording tracks or rehearsing for tours.
But the studio recently found it was losing business to spaces such as airplane hangars among clients who needed enough room to spread out and rehearse for an arena or theater gig.
That prompted studio owner Phil Jaurigui to embark on an expansion plan that will culminate later this year with the opening of a recording and rehearsal space in Atwater Village. The new location will be 21,000 square feet, up from the current 7,800 square feet.
“It’s a gigantic step up for us,” Jaurigui said. “We always had the cool bands but we never had the big facilities.”
Swing House was founded 20 years ago and is known for hosting rehearsals and recording sessions by bands and artists including Aerosmith, Shakira, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day. Jaurigui made initial inroads with bands thanks to his background as a musician who played guitar in punk and indie bands including Holy Bulls.
Swing House charges artists from $50 to $1,500 a day for rehearsing or $500 to $1,500 for recording and is profitable and growing, Jaurigui said. About half of the company’s business comes from producing live events such as street music festivals that can bring in as much as $250,000 each.
After deciding to expand, Jaurigui scouted possible locations for about 18 months before deciding on the space at the Atwater Crossing development, which is home to a variety of creative businesses. The space will feature two production stages, two rehearsal rooms, a recording studio and seven private writer’s studios that will be used by producers in residence, who will base their business at the space. (He’ll also be bringing the studio dog, Ali.)
The studio was formerly a warehouse and is being retrofitted. For example, the cement in the flooring is cut so that no reverberations will carry through the floors. Also, the walls have five layers of drywall for soundproofing.
Swing House has a 10-year lease on the new space, which is spending about $1 million to update. Much of that money came from personal loans, along with the company’s profits from the past year and an investment from guitar string manufacturer D’Addario of Farmingdale, N.Y.
Jaurigui said the construction is about half-done and he hopes to be moved in by September.
Moving In
New York media firm Mashable is embarking on an expansion into Los Angeles.
The website, which specializes in coverage of technology and social media along with more general news topics, is preparing to open its first L.A. office this fall. The Culver City site has already hired a handful of L.A. writers and some advertising staff in the past few months, working from a temporary space in West Hollywood.
Mashable Chief Marketing Officer Stacy Martinet said the website saw a big opportunity to cover the growing local tech industry as well as the entertainment industry, which can help build a larger, global audience.
“Expanding to L.A. is a key priority,” Martinet said. “This was a key part of the next era as we move into becoming a global media company.”
The expansion was made possible by the $14 million in funding the company raised at the start of the year, led by Updata Partners, with $700,000 coming from the digital venture arm of Chicago media company Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and KTLA (Channel 5). Part of the money is also going toward opening an office in London.
It was the first outside funding for the site since its founding by Pete Cashmore in Scotland in 2005. The site has been growing its audience through an emphasis on making its stories shareable on social media to increase exposure.
Editorial hires for the Culver City office include entertainment editor Josh Dickey, who was previously managing editor of the Wrap, and special projects editor Andy Fixmer, who was previously a reporter covering the film industry at Bloomberg. Mashable also hired Judah Wiedre as advertising director in Los Angeles.
The firm has made about seven hires here, and will have a local staff of about 10 by later this year, Martinet said.
Comings and Goings
The Hollywood Reporter has hired Jon Frosch as reviews editor and Bryan Bishop as news director of THR.com. … Latino YouTube network MiTú has hired Daniel Batista as vice president and head of strategic partnerships and business development, Cesar Martinez as vice president of sales and branded entertainment and Jeff Mayo as senior vice president of business and revenue operations. … Dick Clark Productions has hired Amy Thurlow as chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
Staff reporter Jonathan Polakoff can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 226.
