The current Hoddle Street location has quite a history. It was built in the late 1800s for carriers moving goods from NSW to Victoria, it became a factory, then a tailoring business. Thousands of bands and film crews have passed through the studio’s doors over the years, and a number of special events on Saturday July 16 will celebrate the art created there and the people who have been a part of it.
“We’re kinda pinching ourselves,” says McLean of the quarter century milestone. “It’s about survival, it’s about being flexible, it’s about using a tracking room and a recording studio as a rehearsal room, or letting the MSO come in, or a dance troupe or whatever, just being accommodating. And I suppose we’ve got a hell of a lot of friends who are musicians and artists.
“We’ve not just been flexible within the business, but also with things like putting on the SLAM rally,” says Marcou. “Getting involved in lots of community organisations and volunteering for many years has been a big part of what makes up Bakehouse.”
The recording studio is decked out with world class equipment and the rehearsal rooms were described by Elvis Costello as, “One of the best practice studios in the world.” There are rooms of all sizes, from the $40 Metal room for bands on a budget, through to the world famous Scrap Museum, a favourite ‘lock out’ location used by the likes of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Missy Higgins and Judas Priest. All rooms are fitted with brand new Allen & Heath or Soundcraft mixing desks and Quest power amps.
Bakehouse strikes a balance between being exquisitely kitted out and having vibe for days; a million miles from the sterile soundproof boxes that define many rehearsal studios. “I’ve always described Bakehouse as a bit of an acquired taste,” says Marcou. “It’s not your everyday music studio – in fact it’s a really old, rickety building that’s had most of the furniture, the plants, everything upcycled or grown from seed. The rooms themselves have installations from local visual artists as well. We could have offered the front billboards to large scale advertising, but instead we offer it to local visual artists every month.
“It’s a unique space in that it’s not just a technical space – there’s a lot of care put into the aesthetics and customer service. We’re old-school. We run a bookings book just like an old hairdresser salon. The staff look after you and help you carry your gear into the room. There’s a real personal touch there and that’s been a part of our longevity over the years.”
“We’ve always tried to make it feel like home or a nightclub, somewhere where you feel like being creative,” says McLean. “That’s part of the reason we did the art project, to make it feel homely and not like a bunker or an office block.”
An example of this was when John Cale recently stopped by, bringing with him a huge band most of whom hadn’t played together before. “When he came in, his manager said to me he spent all this money charting this music and they just threw it all out because they were so inspired by the space,” says Marcou. “They got right into the creative process immediately and they worked for hours and hours because it was the most creative environment they’d been in.”
Kicking off at 5pm, the birthday event will include The Meanies (who recorded some of their first ever stuff at the site when it was previously Stable Sound), Cable Ties, City Calm Down and supergroup Blank Statements, which features members of Prime Time, Dick Diver, and The Twerps. Later in the evening The Drones and an unannounced secret artist will perform for those lucky enough to have snapped up tickets to their sold out show.
Typically however, McLean and Marcou are not allowing the anniversary shows to completely interrupt the studio’s operations, always putting the local music community first. “We’re holding a couple of events on one day, just so we don’t disrupt the day to day runnings of Bakehouse; looking after our bands so they can practice and not get disturbed by a couple hundred members of other bands snooping in on them,” says Marcou.
BY PETER HODGSON
