Ex-Dillinger Escape Plan Guitarist Launches Livestream Studio for Bands
Who ever could’ve seen coming the livestream boom of the past six months? It’s a natural reaction to the pandemic-created isolation we’re all experiencing, of course, but it’s been wild to witness how quickly it’s taken off. If anything, it’s odd it didn’t happen sooner… it’s not like the tech didn’t exist yet! But necessity is the mother of invention, as they say.
With the inability to conduct the usual slate of in-person activities, thousands of businesses who previously relied on income from the live sector have had to adapt on the fly to reckon with the new reality, and for many that’s meant an expansion into livestreaming (Exhibit A: our very own weekly Heavy Metal Happy Hour series).
Kevin Antreassian, producer extraordinaire and former guitarist for The Dillinger Escape Plan (including their final shows ever), is right there with us. Backroom Studios, his recording facility in New Jersey, has long doubled as a live events space, and Kevin has now pivoted that space into the livestreaming world by converting it into a full-production, turnkey solution for any band that wants to come in and use it.
Everything is set up and ready to go: all bands that book the room get four Sony Alpha series cameras, two of which are static and two of which are handled by operators, and everything is set up to be properly mic’ed, mixed in ProTools and streamed to your platform of choice, be it YouTube, Facebook or Twitch. All you have to do is show up, set up and play. It doesn’t get much easier for bands in the New York / New Jersey area to host a livestream! Bands can also opt to monetize the stream with virtual ticket sales, donation buttons and even merch sales during the show. Prog weirdos Thank You Scientist are among those booked to stream at Backroom soon.
Kevin is keeping it affordable, too, sensitive to the needs of income-strapped bands, telling MetalSucks that it’s “non/low profit just so people can get music out to the public in these isolated times.” The facility is also available to film your next music video, playthrough or whatever you please — it’s all set up for anything you need to use it for.
Those interested in booking time can visit www.backroom.studio or email Kevin directly at [email protected]. Check out a preview clip of what the livestreams look like below.
