By Jessica Columbus
When thinking of a music studio, most would picture a sleek space in the cool parts of bustling cities, with lots of gold records adorning the walls.
This is quite the far cry from a little music studio nestled on the West Coast of New Zealand in a residential home in Runanga, where my dad Geoff Columbus’s at-home studio is located.
A haven for local artists who just want to record their art without the hassle of big studio execs, South Street Studio is a community-run music studio for the community of the West Coast, only recording “original West Coast” artists free of charge.
When asked what inspired him to set up his home studio, Columbus said it was always his intention to set up a studio once he moved to the West Coast, having had previous recording studios in both Dunedin and Sydney, adding that he was “just waiting for the right time” to set it up.
Time and opportunity was the biggest challenges faced while setting South Street up.
“Well, the biggest challenge was waiting until I had two houses and could turn one into the studio,” said Columbus.
“That took five years before it could be turned into a decent studio, the next thing was getting the three rooms used for the studio to sound different but good, which is all about sound treatment.”
That time came after five years of living in the West Coast, and as soon as the opportunity arose the process began.
When starting the process of transforming the home into a studio, a lot of the equipment was what are called porta studios. They were “old and simple, they weren’t very sophisticated” so when the opportunity came to open a home studio lots of new equipment was needed.
“I made the decision of cost, capability and availability and it’s been that way since,” he said. “We extend every year with a lot of old vintage stuff, some of the stuff I bought back is still being used, some of it’s been put in the closet of darkness.”
On his favourite piece of equipment in the studio, there is no doubt in his mind.
“Microphones! They’re all different shapes and sizes, they all do different and interesting things!”
But the most memorable experience of recording at South Street Studio came rather recently when two friends who were “very adventurous and experimental who made two recordings for the first West Coast compilation album we made in 2023. They were so much fun, it was just a hoot, it took about probably two months to record, it was lots of laughs”.
But what makes South Street Studio so special and different from the rest?
“Lots of different instruments, we only record original works, donated time, it’s a community studio.”
You can find South Street studio on Facebook.
Featured image: South Street Studio, Runanga. Photo: Geoff Columbus
