UMA’s Michael Taylor walks us through the just-launched Forbes Street Studios

Universal Music Group (UMG) has today launched its latest owned and operated recording studio, Forbes Street Studios, in Sydney.

Housed adjacent to Universal Music Australia’s headquarters in Woolloomooloo, the high-tech, purpose-built media centre was designed by renowned sonic architect and studio designer Michael Fronzek of Sound Spaces.

Featuring state-of-the-art equipment, including Australia’s only Barefoot MiniMain 12 speakers, an analogue SSL AWS924 console with DAW integration, and an adjustable angle ceiling to alter reverb, Forbes Street Studios provides spaces for recording, broadcasting, performing, tracking, over-dubs and mixing.

Michael Taylor, Managing Director Universal Music Australia (UMA), walked TMN through the studio yesterday.

“It’s a full media suite,” he explained in the Edit Suite. “If Shawn Mendes wants to come in for his Red Room and wants to record an acoustic song after and shoot it and record it professionally it’s all done in-house.”

Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes will be stopping by Forbes Street Studio later this month for the world’s most intimate Nova Red Room: he’ll perform for just 25 people.

Taylor said he and former Studios 301 General Manager Anthony Garvin previously reached out to a few producers to get their feedback on the studio.

“[We] said ‘if you could build a room, what would you do?’ We just took their input,” he said.

Multiple ARIA Award winner Eric J Dubowsky (Flume, Chet Faker, Flight Facilities, The Rubens) has already mixed a few sessions using the London-imported SSL desk. Meanwhile, David Nicholas (INXS, Midnight Oil), PaulMcKercher (Josh Pyke, You Am I) and Simon Cohen (Justin Bieber, Troye Sivan) all gave the studio their full seal of approval on all but one detail. They felt the Barefoot speakers behind the mixing desk were raised slightly too high. UMA is bringing them down in the next few weeks.

Nick DiDia (Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam) and Powderfinger frontman and solo artist Bernard Fanning have both been through the studio and each have a similar desk in their respective studios.

“It’s a pretty modern desk,” said Taylor. “Let’s say you’re an urban producer or you’re a pop producer, and you don’t usually work on anything but your laptop. It’s a desk that you can bring in your laptop, plug it in, and if you make a move on your Pro Tools on your laptop it does the move in the board as well.

“It gets back to tactile things for people who got lost in computer land. It’s an old school and new school desk.”

Open to any artist to book in full-day or half-day blocks to record music, and per hour to broadcast or record and edit a podcast, Forbes Street Studios has already seen some of the A&R staffers from Sony Music and Warner Music walk through its sound locked halls. In fact, as UMA Artistic Director and now Forbes Street Studios Manager Conrad Lloyd told TMN, Warner has booked the space already.

Interestingly, UMA is in discussions to have recording and editing done in real time across UMG-owned studios around the world.

“We’re talking with Abbey Road and with Capitol,” said Taylor. “Universal is trying to put together a network of studios around the globe that can edit things in different time zones. So if they need something that’s shot that night and released the next morning, it’s going to bounce around the world through the various studios that Universal owns.”

The launch of Forbes Street Studios looks to further ignite the inner city suburb of Woolloomooloo as an Australian music hub. While the now historic warehouse that was once Paradise Studios on Judge Street has now been transformed into a glamorous inner city residence, the district is again a hive of musical real estate, hosting Matt Emsell’s Wonder Management, Jaddan Comerford’s Unified and Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom Group.

“It’s back to feeling like there’s a bit of a scene,” said Taylor. “When [Kings] Cross started to go downhill, that scene was lost as well in this neighbourhood, so having any kind of life back here has been good.”

“Medium and large size room [studios] are closing,” Taylor said, referring to the sale of the Sing Sing Studios space and possibly to rumours of major changes at 301 Studios. “But also, it’s such a great creative hub for artists. They’re able to come in, collaborate, have a sense of creativity within the building, and within the team.”

“We’re in the business of creating content and content starts here,” added Conrad Lloyd. “It’d be silly of us to not be across all those touch points in enabling our artists and other artists to start that process, and the label to finish that process.”

In November, Forbes Street Studios will offer a series of promo initiatives for new and emerging artists to experience and work at Forbes Street Studios through an opening package trial rate. In addition, the ’DEMO DIRECT TO A&R’ studio programme kicks off this month, allowing artists or bands who book three or more days of studio time to receive direct input in the studio environment from Universal Music Australia and EMI Music A&R teams, who will listen and review recordings.