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A little space of musical history situates itself at the bottom of Signal Hill, what is advertised as “an intimate, organic recording space that has served a mix of local acts, regional bands and national artists, all under the supervision of engineer and studio owner and manager Anthony Antoine’ Arvizu.”<\/p>\n
Some of the artists and producers that have rolled through the studio include Crystal Antlers, Ryan Bingham, Marc Ford (The Black Crowes, Ben Harper, Booker T. Jones), and Ikey Owens (The Mars Volta, Free Moral Agents).<\/p>\n
And Arvizu is no amateur, having been a founding member of National Peoples Gang, whose three albums put him on the stage with The Flaming Lips, Nirvana and fIREHOSE. He was at the epicenter of the growing ’90s music scene that eventually became identified as indie rock.<\/p>\n
Arvizu’s recording career started in 1991 at The Toledo here in Long Beach, a now-defunct studio that was once home to Sublime. In 1998, he went big time, hitting Capitol Studios in Hollywood and working with Paul McCartney, Elliot Smith, and The JB’s, amongst others. It wasn’t until 2003 that, following the lack of an “organic recording experience,” as Arvizu put it, he joined The Compound.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year\u2014much like many small and independent studios across the nation\u2014debt threatened to shut down The Compound, which would have been a blow to the Long Beach musical community (must we be reminded of VIP’s closing<\/a>?).<\/p>\n \u201cI had always been told \u2018recording studios don’t make money\u2019 and yet after 10 years as a freelance engineer I decided to become a studio owner,\u201d said Arvizu. \u201cWe have seen rich times and lean times and it just seemed that the past year or so had been especially lean. And, our lease was up in 2012, so it was time for some soul searching.”<\/p>\n In a creative attempt to raise capital, Arvizu put out a call to former clients to contribute songs. The resulting full-length benefit compilation, SOS: Save Our Studio \u2013 A Benefit Album<\/em><\/a>, was released digitally in May and features 49 tracks from a host of artists that in typical Long Beach fashion, represent a large cross-section of genres. “The benefit record has been selling well but more importantly, it\u2019s raised awareness has resulted in more bookings for us and plans for branching out into other avenues of the music business,” said Antoine.<\/p>\n
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