Brunswick’s renovated rehearsal space Three Phase is an antidote to this, adding a defiantly modern cafe/bar, one-stop gear shop, and stunning new front to its state of the art facility.
Back in 2003, future owners Ben Hovey and Scott Taylor were musical regulars of Shanty Town Studios when they leapt at the chance to buy it out when offered.
“Shanty Town was the typical rehearsal space – dingy, unventilated, smelly rooms with half-assed PA’s, but people liked the vibe and it did well,”
Hovey remembers.
The entrepreneurial pair made many improvements to the original Brunswick Road space before deciding a clean slate new rehearsal complex was required. So the Tinning Street residence was born, in 2013. The space was revered by watchful eyes in the Melbourne scene, including future manager Liz Thomas.
“Before I started as the manager at Three Phase [2017], I’d been a customer, and the studio was always a favourite because of the flat-load, the great rooms and the clean toilets. There was always this little bit more attention to detail, I felt, that made it much more comfortable place to rehearse.”
Initially, Hovey and Taylor thought this was the final word on the studio, retaining what Hovey labels a “no nonsense … down to earth vibe” with “sheer ease of use”. Restless minds in the music industry are a given however and a pressing desire to provide something beyond a mere rehearsal space gave birth to a cafe, bar and reinvigorated reception/accessory shop in 2018.
“It’s really stepped things up a notch – you can come in for rehearsal, grab a coffee or a beer and a snack and get to work. We’ve also put a lot of effort into stocking our music accessories, so if you need strings, skins, or a sharpie, we’ve got it – so it’s a bit of a one-stop-shop really,” Thomas explains.
The refurbishments have opened Three Phase to a myriad of new event possibilities that go beyond rehearsals, including listening parties, small gigs, exhibitions and launch parties.
“While our focus will remain firmly on rehearsals, we’re looking to utilise the down time that is Saturday night. No one wants to rehearse on Saturday nights so we’ve never opened. Now that we’re a licensed venue we’re going to explore different avenues for events,” Hovey says.
“There’s so much scope here – the large, spacious main hallway lends itself so well to exhibitions. We also have a great mezzanine which can accommodate acoustic showcases, film clip previews etc. People have approached us about hosting workshops in the rooms and recently the entire studio was hired out to shoot a video clip,” Thomas adds.
With its now dizzying multi-purpose setup, it’s easy to forget Three Phase is still an immaculately modern acoustic space, offering 11 unique rooms, sized and furnished individually.
“Some rooms have timber floors, some carpet, and various combinations of reflective and deadening materials were used throughout to give each room it’s own individual character,” Hovey says.
The way Hovey and Thomas describe the daily clientele evokes the democratising powers of the digital revolution so often touted as destructive.
The thing I love about the studio is that it’s an incredibly welcoming space – there’s no one genre or pocket of musicians that dominate,” Thomas says.
