Gowanus Garage Turned Into Boutique Recording Studio

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — If you're walking north on Fourth Avenue and take a left on Douglass Street, you'll find a block that looks like many in Gowanus, full of auto shops, warehouses and a craft brewery.

Step inside one building, though, and the scene changes dramatically.

Over the last five years, Myles Rodenhouse has turned what was once an empty warehouse into a full-blown recording studio with top-of-the-line equipment packed into a sound-proofed 450-square-foot space.

The studio, which officially had its grand opening in May, has hosted the likes of Vanessa Carlton, Cage the Elephant and Jukebox the Ghost. And its evolution follows a familiar pattern in Gowanus — someone taking a massive industrial spaces and turning it into something that attracts a younger and hipper crowd.

"It’s really crazy," Rodenhouse, 28, told Patch during a recent visit to the studio. "When I first moved here, I really did not see this coming. I don’t care about being cool. But we found ourselves in this place just by circumstance. And maybe that’s why there’s all this cool stuff coming in — there’s all this warehouse space that's affordable. And now it’s not, but at the time it was."

Rodenhouse, originally from upstate New York, moved to the city after two years at Hofstra. He was attending music school on scholarship but dropped out because he didn't like the academic life.

Rodenhouse would mix music for himself and friends with some basic gear while in school and during a year of bartending in the city. His older brother, Jake, owns Perfect Sound Studios, a luxury recording studio-rental home combination in the Hollywood Hills that hosts A-list artists and performers.

He decided to follow in his brother's footsteps and started looking for space around the city. Rodenhouse almost took a spot in Greenwood Heights but found a better deal in Gowanus.

"This place was on the market. It was significantly cheaper, the ceilings were at least twice the height, it was twice the amount of space," he said. "At the time, I was like, 'How does this exist? How has no one snatched this up?' And I didn’t know what the neighborhood was doing. I knew Fifth Avenue was over there, and it's close to Prospect Park."

Recording early on in the empty warehouse was tough. The tall ceilings and concrete walls and floor echoed like crazy.

The current set-up has been several years in the making because of a combination of construction delays, permits and zoning changes. Rodenhouse, though, beams at the final product.

"I think this is the best studio in the neighborhood, by a margin," he said.

It was designed by the late Vincent Van Haaff, a renowned studio designer, and Jacques LaCroix

The studio features a large "live room" where bands get mic'ed up. The room has several keyboards and pianos, including a gorgeous Steinway B grand piano that Rodenhouse said "is obviously very popular here. The Steinway is the best f---in' Steinway in Brooklyn. It’s an incredible piano."

The room has hosted 10-piece jazz bands and 23-piece orchestras.

Two smaller rooms provide more private recording space, and the control room holds a host of recording gear and software. An upstairs lounge with couches and Wi-Fi makes for a nice break area or a place for a band manager to catch up on email while their artist records.

Rodenhouse and his small team of engineers charge $100 an hour to record, and $800 for a 10-hour block, cheaper than the high-end studios in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

"I think this place will get you exactly as good of a recording for less," Rodenhouse said. "We’re less bells and whistles. But the quality of the rooms is there. The quality of the gear is here. We can make great f---in' music here."

He said his neighbors to either side — an autobody shop and an architecture firm — haven't complained about the noise.

Rodenhouse said in the future he envisions a setup like his brother's studio, where big-name artists come for weeks or months at a time and have a space both to live and record.

"Maybe one day we just buy a flat in one of those brownstones, and they just cross the street and they’re at Douglass," he said.

And Rodenhouse thinks Gowanus could be a place that draws those types of superstar musicians.

"I think in another five years, there’s no doubt people will be drawn to this neighborhood," he said. "Gowanus is going to be a destination. It’s going to be beneficial for us to be here."

Image courtesy Douglass Records