Paul, thanks for taking the time! Empire Music Studios is an incredible space, could you describe it in a few words?
Empire Music Studios is the kind of place you build when you have a blank canvas; 1250sqm of factory space and 35 years of experience in running studios to draw from – that was my starting point so I ran with it, building a dream classic large format recording facility and creative hub. Opening just as COVID arrived meant that we had to borrow a bunch of money to complete Studio A which also became our live stage specialising in live recordings with an audience of up to 120 people seated. The catering kitchen and licenced Bar were not part of the original plan but soon became a great feature when we realised the potential of doing shows in the venue. Empire is one of the last proper, large acoustic spaces to record in, with 4 separate studios providing a range of sizes and a fantastic variety of great sounding rooms for bands of all sizes. It’s kind of a temple to real music and real musicians who rely on the sound and space to inspire them and the ability to play together as a group. Most studios now are so small it is hard to even set up a drum kit properly let alone a whole band. In Studio A we can even accommodate a 60-piece orchestra. Consequently, we get the work and jobs where space and acoustics really matter. For example just recently we have been doing some re-amping in the big room for a large sound library being put together.
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Empire Music Studios’ Control Room A has an expansive console with racks of great preamps, what is the advantage of having so many sonic flavours?
All of our control rooms feature a good range of preamps to record through rather than a traditional console. Studio 1 & 2 have 32 channels while Studio A has 64 channels (half Solid State and half are Valve based). Our main brands of choice are Focusrite ISA series, Sebatron Quad Valve and Thorax, Neve Shelford, SPL Crescendo, Universal Audio LA610’s, some Classic older TL Audio PA-1 and VP-1 tube models and Warm Audio WA273EQ. Each brand and channel have different characters that suit different instruments and different microphone combinations. With the valve you get warm and fat compressed sounds, solid state like the ISA are clean and really present while the SPL Crescendo is something completely different running on 180 volt line, they have amazing dynamics, low noise and no distortion at high SPL making them great for orchestral instruments which can go from extremely quiet to extremely loud in an instant.
What kind of music do you find Empire Music Studios working with primarily?
We have always enjoyed the opportunity to work with all genres. Melbourne is not big enough for a studio to work in just one niche or knock back work, particularly when you have four studios you need to be able to work with a wide variety of musicians and clients from all walks of life. Having said that, it is clear that having large acoustic spaces draws in real players so we do a lot of jazz, rock, ambient jazz, orchestral and other large ensemble type projects. Two such jobs were the vocal cast of & Juliet and an album by Sunrae Bee Sharp which was a 16 piece strings project. Our main producer Trevor Carter has so much musical experience he can go from doing Black Sabbath to Ariana Grande without taking a breath. Musicians and singers love working with someone who can understand their music and really help them in the studio. Our other engineers also have plenty of experience and can work with a range of different clients. We even do a lot of Hip Hop, Pop and RnB vocal projects.
Is there any equipment you see used every session?
Probably our Focusrite ISA 430 MKII Producer Packs and Sebatron Thorax channels. One of our go-to microphones are the Audio-Technica AT4033A which we have about a dozen, they are quite affordable, every home studio should start with a pair of these.
Can you give us a quick rundown of your main studio gear?
We prefer Logic Pro as our main DAW but we also cater for Pro Tools users. We absolutely love ADAM Audio monitoring and use that in all of our studios alongside some JBL, EAW and EMES options. Our use of ADAM has led to us becoming an official ADAM dealer and “Listening Centre”. We use mainly S-Series monitors including the massive S5 12” 3 way model. We also have some of the latest A Series models. We use Apple M2 Max in each studio and DM2000 digital mixers just for monitoring and headphone mixes. All recording is done as pure path direct through each of our separate preamps. We particularly love Focusrise ISA series solid state preamps and local brand Sebatron for our Valve channels. We own about 175+ microphones and about 80 headphones, we have a lot of top range 40 and 50 series Audio-Technica, Rupert Neve and SE Electronics, Sennheiser, Warm Audio and Peluso mics along with a small amount of Neumann. Some of our most favourite mics include the Sound Deluxe U47 Tube, the AT5047 top of the range from Audio Technica and the Rupert Neve Tube Ribbons.
What makes Empire Music Studios such a special place?
I think from our perspective it is our dedication to the real musician and to providing inspirational acoustic recording spaces throughout. I think from our client’s perspective it would be the welcoming nature and knowledge from everyone who works here, we all come from a musical background, even the staff in the kitchen and behind the bar are musicians so we are all on the same page. We all understand the process of making music and can support each other’s aspirations to create and capture that special magic in the studio. I think it’s also the feeling you get when you walk through our door and enter into another world completely different to the factories and industry around us, it’s a great escape from reality.
Can you describe the sound and layout of the space a bit?
Studio 1 – Smaller and more intimate, great for vocal work and small bands up to 5 piece (drum booth included)
Studio 2 – Arguably the best studio in Melbourne for Jazz, Rock and Blues bands. Great for live recordings with 2 separation booths and Perspex surround around the Grand Piano. Piano players love the Yamaha C7.
Studio A – Melbourne’s largest recording space, big enough for an orchestra or choir or very comfy rock band setup like used by The Black Sorrows. Sensational new Yamaha C7X Grand Piano. Big sound and 5m ceiling height.
Production Suite – 36sqm acoustically treated space for electronic music, pop production, vocals and guitar tracks.
Lounge/bar and function area – Perfect for music themed parties, music industry launches or major birthdays.
Can you share a standout moment in Empire Music Studios’ history?
I think one of the exciting concepts when you build a place like Empire is that saying “build it and they will come”. That is starting to be true for us with several international guests already using us and more coming in soon. Obviously doing local albums for big acts like The Black Sorrows is already exciting enough but it is truly surprising when we get a variety of international guests like Calum Scott, Yebba, Yoyo Honey Sing, Rema and industry heads of companies like K-Array, Peluso Microphones and most recently the opportunity to work with legendary mix engineer Bob Clearmountain. We were extremely lucky to host the ATMOS mixing seminars here in Melbourne last month for Link Audio and Apogee Electronics. We had around 200 people attend the seminars over 2 days and it was so great to hang out with Bob and his wife Betty, the CEO of Apogee. It was great that we were able to connect Apogee and ADAM Audio for the event as we are an ADAM dealer and ADAM Audio Listening centre.
Empire Studios has become a staple of the community for more than just recording, can you tell us a bit about some other offerings the studio has?
One of the special points of difference with Empire is the ability to do high quality live recordings with a full audience. We have also been hired for recordings with an audience surrounding the band all wearing headphones. A ticketed event can pay for a whole album so it is fantastic to be able to do a whole recording project just by doing a show and selling the tickets! Empire’s stages and lounge area can also be hired for any function or event, particularly popular for musicians birthdays or music industry showcases.
Final note our Kool Skools Project is still going, now in its 27th year, a great original youth music initiative through secondary schools that has in the past provided the musical starting point for artists including Missy Higgins, Anthony Callea, Delta Goodrem, The Cat Empire, Marc Collis, Natasha Duarte, Jordie Lane, Time Wheatley, Casey Donovan and so many more. Schools can still register now for 2025.
For info, bookings and more, keep reading at Empire Music Studios, or follow them on Instagram here.
