[Clueless]

Originally Posted by True North

I have been following this thread almost from it's inception and all I have to say is WOW!!!

Thanks!

I have had a very similar vision for a studio in a rural area on a big peice of propertly like the one you are building on. It is inspiring to know that someone is actually living out part of my lifes dream.

We seem to know a lot about this studio build but not a lot about you. There are many on this board who are anonymous (myself included) but perhaps you could tell us a little bit about your background, experience and most importantly your motivations for building an extremely impressive studio by ANYONE's standards.

Well, there's certainly some information about me on my website and blog, though it's not a completely open book. Suffice it to say, twenty years ago I believed that the software industry's methods of development worked against their own best interests and their customers'. I proposed that instead of keeping software a secret from users, software companies should share their software with users and work collaboratively with them. Everybody thought I was crazy, so I started a company to prove I was right. Today, Open Source Software is a mainstream concept that runs everything from Google to the New York Stock Exchange.

ALSO

Even prior to the economic donwturn, many people considered the studio business a dogs breakfeast. As with any industry, there are always those that manage to remain competitive and profitable, but this appears to be more the exception rather than the rule in the studio biz. Could you tell us a little bit about the business rationale/plan behind this build. Do you have a built in clientele ? Is it a "build and they will come" philosophy.

I am interested in the business model needed to support such an ambitious project. Maybe this is more information than you are willing to share, but I think I won't be the only one interested in hearing your story. Regardless of what you are willing to share with this group, I wish you all the best in your build.

Cheers!

I hope to do for the recording industry what Alice Waters did for lunch, what Thomas Keller did for dinner, what Cirque du Soliel did for the circus, and what PIXAR has done for movies. In every case it means a rebirth and a new beginning, a complete reimagination. If successful, I hope every great studio in the world copies the model, and I hope that every music lover in the world is able to have a transcendent and transforming musical experience that informs the rest of their relationship with music and musicians.