Jack Antonoff has announced a plan to open free, public recording studios at LGBTQ+ youth shelters, with the goal of ultimately bringing public studios to cities across the country.
According to a statement posted to social media, Antonoff plans to “spend a large part of the next chapter of my life bringing these spaces to people who wouldn’t have access to them,” beginning with “working through the Ally Coalition to build studios in LGBTQ+ youth shelters.”
The specifics for this plan aren’t quite ironed out yet, but Antonoff explained that it would involve having “a network of engineers that we will fund who will train people at these sites.” From there, the hope is “to build these spaces, pay for maintenance and engineering, and let the centers give out the time slots for people to use them.” After that, “we can start to expand into cities once we have it happening.”
Elsewhere in his statement, Antonoff reflects on how “wonderful” the advancements of home-recording technologies have become, but asserts that “the studio is different.”
“Working with analog gear and creating sounds that are impossible to recreate is powerful,” he wrote. “Knowing you are in a space for a limited amount of time and pushing yourself to the edge is vital. A studio is a rare space and you function different because of it… I’ve loved home recording but my life changed in a recording studio. There is magic there.”
To that end, the Bleachers frontman compared recording music to other popular activities, and questioned why there was such a gap so far as access to facilities is concerned. “I fly on planes and look down and see baseball diamonds everywhere, basketball courts all over my neighborhood, tracks, public parks, and gyms, etc,” he wrote. “There are many facilities available for what we value.”
Continuing, Antonoff got to the heart of the issue: “I dream of the studio being a place that anyone can access, not just those with the money to do so. It should be a place that all people can experience and find out if they are meant to be in there.”
Antonoff’s statement also included a call-to-action, asking for anyone interested in helping with the project to get in contact via email. “The reason I am putting the word out so early is because anyone who believes in this and has resources that can help should please reach out as we get this off the ground,” he wrote.
Concluding, he addressed the major recording studios he frequents, writing, “Lastly, to all the commercial studios I love, this concept is strictly for those who cannot afford studio time in those spaces, so it’s my belief that this is helpful to our spaces as well.”
Read Antonoff’s full statement below.
In other Antonoff news, Bleachers has a one-off show coming up at Madison Square Garden on Friday, October 4th (get tickets here). Additionally, a new Bartees Strange album produced by Antonoff was announced today. For more, be sure to revisit Consequence’s ranking from May 2024 of every song Antonoff has ever produced from worst to best.