The Junkshop is the Toronto recording & mixing studio that has been my home base for the last 10 years. The space and equipment are a big step up from the average home studio. Working here isn't nearly as formal or expensive as working in a commercial facility and because of the low overhead I can work and bill by the hour instead of by the day.
The Junkshop started life in the spare bedroom of my apartment before moving into a converted lane-way garage in the heart of Toronto's Little Italy neighbourhood. The garage space was originally built as rehearsal and recording room for my band The FemBots. After a short while we opened the door to friends and fellow musicians and before we knew it we were producing records. After eight years of collecting instruments and recording equipment the original space felt like it was bursting at the seams.
In the summer of 2009 the Junkshop moved into a new space in the College and Dovercourt area. The new site offers amenities I could never fit in the garage (like a couch, washroom (!) and a piano). Since the move the focus of the studio has shifted to overdubbing and mixing. I still do some full band tracking here but these days most records are started somewhere else (usually 6 Nassau or Cosmic Dave's Sound Emporium) and finished here.
The Junkshop offers 16 track analog and Pro Tools digital recording and mixing with a good selection of new and vintage outboard gear, mics, instruments and amps. There's also a plate reverb, several tape delay units and a reverb chamber (aka a great sounding tiled bathroom).
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| The Junkshop - Version 2 |