CONTROL ROOM
When people enter the studio , they feel like they ’ ve walked into someone ’ s house – a vibe enhanced by the claw foot tub and wainscoting in the washroom , radiant water heaters throughout , and a pair of pot belly gas fireplaces , one in the lobby and one in the live room . That ’ s a plus , Gough says . “ It ’ s a fully functioning , comfortable space and I think that relaxed vibe and energy allows people to be in the studio and feel relaxed , creative , and inspired .”
Gough credits Bonenfant with spearheading the retrofit of the studio . “ Alex did an amazing job . At that time in my life , I had no idea what drywall was . Nor do I ever want to know what drywall is again ,” he says , laughing .
“ I ’ m somewhat handy ,” Bonenfant puts in , “ and we pulled in a lot of favours and time from people who wanted to contribute . It was a group effort .” Having a drywaller and master electrician in his family definitely helped , he adds , but it was not a full-on studio build . “ We added things as we started to work and realized that the room needed tweaking .”
Over their seven years at Dream House they ’ ve continued to upgrade as the community using the studio grew and as the business began to be more balanced , financially speaking . “ We took on risk , buying equipment and , at one point , we lined the whole live room with barn board , which mellowed it out . Then we added baffles and clouds on the live floor . Then we realized we needed some diffusion . So it ’ s been a very adaptive process where , when we had the money , we ’ d update . Project by project , year by year , we ’ ve continued to enhance and develop it .”
Coming in at about 1,900 sq . ft . overall , the studio consists of the four previously mentioned producer rooms , which surround a communal kitchen and are separated from the main studio – with its approximately 200-sq . ft . control room and 300-sq . ft . live room – by a lobby with a spiral staircase that provides access to an expansive wraparound rooftop patio .
“ It lends itself to a big cross section of people ,” Bonenfant says , “ songwriters , engineers , and producers in multiple genres . And the main studio is shared ; that ’ s the communal aspect of it , that it ’ s open to all of the tenants and partners here .”
Comfort was and remains critical , Bonenfant insists – basically , “ not having the place have a commercial studio vibe .” Instead , the plan was more about fostering an environment where people aren ’ t staring at a clock on the wall .
But community , he continues , was and is their primary concern . “ Neither of us had the ambition to run a commercial studio . The intention was always to have this function as a place to foster creativity for the community around us and since the day we opened , we ’ ve kept the rates in a range that ’ s affordable and enables us to facilitate creativity . I think that ’ s the anchor – the backbone of the place – and what makes it interesting and unique . It ’ s a creative incubator where people can come in and meet other people in the community that don ’ t necessarily run in the same circles and find a way to collaborate with them and work on songs . Both Adrien and I , our focus has always been on songs .”
Over time , Dream House has hosted producers
and songwriters such as JON DREW , ILLANGELO , TOM D ’ ARCY , AND ARTHUR MCARTHUR , AND ARTIST CLIENTS INCLUDING METZ , JULY TALK , CRYSTAL CASTLES , FUCKED UP , NELLY FURTADO , K-OS , AND THE WEEKND , AMONG MANY OTHERS .
They have an ongoing association with Sleepless Records and play host to a number of producers , engineers , labels , and management companies , including Dream Machine , Nightmare Mgmt , Nook Recording , Jason Dufour , Mike Sonier , Josh Bowman , Frazer Mac , The Hand Recordings , and Young Wolf Hatchlings , some of which actually use the producer rooms as offices . Those partnerships increase the sense of community and foster openness between everyone who is part of the creative process and the business of building artists ’ careers .
“ It ’ s about casting a wide net and being a part of all of those different franchises ,” Bonenfant says . “ A lot of those companies are independent contractors or companies that have an association with the studio itself . Those people are all working on their own projects and it gives us an opportunity to be invested in those projects , whether it ’ s arm ’ s length or getting involved through the studio or my label or management company .”
Although Gough and Bonenfant play different roles in the day-to-day workings of the studio , Gough describes its governance as “ a bit more socialist .”
Essentially , he says , they operate as “ a big family ,” with Bonenfant as Dream House ’ s senior engineer and Calvin Hartwick as the studio ’ s main in-house engineer . “ Adrien and I are partners and we both handle operations . Calvin is also the studio manager and handles any of the outside bookings and coordination of the use of the studio and scheduling .”
Dream House features a mix of cutting edge recording technology and vintage instruments , including a Wurlitzer 200A that Bonenfant bought from an elderly women in Scarborough – the original owner , who bought it at Sears in the ‘ 60s . “ And it came with the original music stand , bench , and pedal ,” he boasts . “ After she bought it , she put it in her living room and it hadn ’ t moved for 40 years .”
Generally speaking , most recording is done in the box in Pro Tools , Ableton , and Logic , but Gough , Bonenfant , and Hartwick are open to anything , including clients who want to bring in a 24-track tape machine , though that ’ s yet to actually happen . Basically , anything that enhances the experience , the creative process , and , ultimately , the end result , they ’ re good with .
At one point Dream House did have a Trident console but eventually got rid of it because so few clients were interested in
28 • PROFESSIONAL SOUND