THE LIFE OF MAGNET STUDIOS

WHERE WE CAME FROM, WHAT WE'VE BECOME

BUILDING LOCAL COMMUNITY

My band was constantly being kicked out of rehearsal spaces, either by the police or the owners, asking us to 'turn our drummers down'.

Spaces were shabby, stinky, dangerous. And so I thought, I could do better than that. So when my band at the time disbanded I decided to set up a studio intended for friends, and friends of friends. To create a little hub.

As it happened, when word spread, demand for rehearsals went mental. Before I'd realised it, I'd created a full time job.

Room 3

Old chill out area

The first step was finding the right premises, somewhere we could make loads of noise without upsetting anybody else. A basement seemed perfect.

The next job was to design the studio space and create soundproof rooms and a communal space where bands could congregate with a sense of community.

We created and built rooms within a room, within a room. I.e. each room has two walls within the space, and the ceiling is filled with 20 tonnes of sand.

It took 2500 solid concrete blocks to build the rehearsal rooms.

WITH PERSERVERANCE

We're still here! 30 years later, through market crashes, personal ups and downs, covid and all the shite that life can throw at you. Here, thriving better than ever. Still enjoying it. Still making a difference. Still creating a scene.

We've had 3 generations of musicians walking through our doors - some from the same families. Lots of Nottingham people tell me they have made incredible memories here. We've seen bands begin, fall out, break up make up and make it huge. We've had international superstars and people playing for the first time. We've had schools, colleges, mental health, ex offender, and addiction charities. We've met beautiful, strange, normal, freaky, unique, all walks of life and it's not over yet.