live-work space

does anyone else have a space that they use for recording, mixing, rehearsing, living, sleeping, cooking, laundry drying, composing, entertaining, and live music performing? if there were a way to transport you all here to see this space, i would, because pictures and video don't really do it justice.

i live in an old school loft above a store on U st in washington dc. it's about 1000 square feet, shaped like an L, where the kitchen part is the bottom of the L, and the rest of the space is open. it's all brick and windows with a fairly convincing real-wood laminate floor lying over old chipped black linoleum. whoever was here before me put in a quite functional kitchen and bathroom (separate), so once i put in the floor, i had me a pretty nice space.

the way i have it set up, i have all the control room stuff (and a few keyboards/pianos) at one end of the room (top of the L), a place to sit in the middle, and couches and chairs living-room style at the other end (bottom of the L). my grand piano is in the middle next to the window. the windows are all along the west and south walls, so the light is awesome. there is an ok-sized closet inside the bathroom, and i have converted that into a vocal booth for when i just can't work around sirens and birds and church bells and U st party-goers and the mc donald's trash taker-outers who crash their way through the alley 5 times a day. the rest of the time i track downstairs in my landlord's workshop. the only downside to that is that sometimes when the trash bins are full the stench is strong, and hours are limited.

i live above one of the coolest vintage furniture stores in DC, so the studio has a unique atmosphere. it's perfect for entertaining - people love to be here and they get all creative when they're here. this can be good and bad. they sometimes write songs faster than we can record them. but the fact that it's a living space means that musicians from out of town who come to record have a place to stay, so that's nice.

once a month i host the "tiny planet house concert slash dinner party slash Baha'i fireside." i think i've mentioned this before. last night was one such evening. the way it works is an artist is invited to perform and share the inspiration behind their music with the crowd. we are usually able to cram 50-60 people in here, so it's cozy and intimate. we have a production team of about 6 Baha'is - two of them cook dinner and bring all the food and set it up/clean up. Two others bring drinks and help drive around the cooks for shopping, et cetera. One prepares the playlists for the milling around that happens during dinner and after the show. i find the talent and prepare the venue. i usually record the firesides for later podcast on nextlevelradio.org. People show up at 7:30 and eat until 8:30. The performer usually goes for an hour or so, and then afterwards there's more milling around with coffee and a now-traditional chocolate cake. This part sometimes lasts as late as 1:30am. There is never any alchohol, which often surprises people who come for the first time, but it makes it a fairly unique kind of event. Sometimes people bring their kids and/or grandparents, which i think is awesome.

What always amazes me is the versatility of this space. It's a recording studio one day, and then (after hours of transformation), it's a performance venue, and then after everyone leaves, the (twin) bed comes back out into the middle of the room, and it's just a giant super-awesome bedroom with lots of toys. People always ask, "where do you sleep?" i don't always tell them.

what's on my mind this morning as i prepare to board a plane for paris is how much i love this space and all the happinesses it affords me and others. there are some annoying things about not having more space or better sound isolation, but those inconveniences are outweighed in the grand scheme by the light, the location, the birds, the air, and the vibe that draws people in and makes them happy. in the end, that last thing is really the most important to me, and it's why i do music. this may sound cheesy, but it's true. it doesn't matter who the performer is or what they do - 55 people usually leave happy. and you can't say that for most clubs.

i'd better pack now. the international conference on auditory display awaits me this week. maybe i'll have some cool stuff to write about on the plane back next weekend.