Audio House recording studios feature 

• Courtesy Photo

Audio House was created with one central theme in mind: accessibility. The studio locations—currently in West Valley City (2250 S. 1300 West) and Provo (636 Independence Ave.)—offer a place where musicians can express themselves in ways they couldn't before, in an easily-accessible space. Co-founder Tyler Gibbs took the struggles of his youth and funneled them into his music—and, eventually, the recording studios that are open today.

"I think more than ever, we have a generation of people that feel misunderstood and are seeking outlets," Gibbs said. "I understand that obviously Audio House doesn't address every need for everybody, but I hope that Audio House can provide a place where more local musicians that aren't influenced by record labels and are influenced only by their own heart and mind."

For many of us, high school was marked by trying times, and it was no different for Gibbs. "I didn't have any coping mechanisms. I had just switched schools. I didn't have any friends, and was struggling with just a lot of identity issues," he said.

Things completely changed when someone asked to share music with him. While they were sitting next to one other, Gibbs put one earbud in—and everything changed. Up until that point, he hadn't listened to much music growing up, but a switch was flipped.

"Ten minutes into it, I was like, 'This is how I feel.' My life feels chaotic like this.' I finally felt for once in my life, I understand how I feel," Gibbs said. "I've never been able to put into words or language what I'm feeling, and yet this song is exactly what I'm feeling. And the fact that this person sitting next to me is listening to this, he must feel what I'm going through. And that's part of why that was the beginning of a lifetime friendship I still have with this person."

It didn't fix all of his problems at that moment, but it set off the chain of events that led to the creation of Audio House. The studios run on a self-service model—not something typically seen with recording studios, but this goes hand-in-hand with the idea of being easily accessible to all. You don't have to be a professional producer or mixer to record at one of these studios; you just need the drive to want to be heard, and a little tech know-how. You also don't have to break the bank, because at $10 an hour, you could have a finished product for $100 or less.

"We started to head down the path of building self-recording studios [for] people who were in that boat of, 'I don't need the best of the best. I just need to finally feel heard. I just need to finally feel understood. I just need my music that I've written, that I've composed well to be captured in a way that finally encompasses the emotions I want it to capture,'" Gibbs explained.

The thought of walking into a self-serve recording studio may sound intimidating to many—something Gibbs himself completely understands. However, Audio House has fine-tuned everything for users to be as simple as possible. Anyone can walk in, work on equipment that's already been set up and utilize pre-built project templates to help create their musical works of art.

"We did a long pilot, a two-year-long pilot of asking artists to use our technology. Of course, it sucked in the beginning, and we had to fine tune it," Gibbs said. Building Audio House came with many roadblocks, but he never had doubts there wouldn't be a need for this type of place. "Enough people end up trying to record themselves anyway," he explained.

"The good thing for us was that the industry was working against us, in the sense that this was such a big problem in the world that people ended up trying to do the harder thing, which is record themselves in their bedrooms, having to buy all their own equipment with nothing to start with, and only having YouTube videos. Enough people were trying that anyway that I was like, 'Well, people are either going to try us first, or they're going to try us after they realize how hard that is,'" he added.

There's no slowing down for Gibbs and the Audio House studios. The hope is to continue to expand to more locations, helping musicians achieve their dreams in as many places as possible—including outside of Utah.

"More accessible, meaning more studios closer to you, easier to use and better quality and more comfortable and better looking. We're hoping to make all those things happen within the next few years, all to the goal that we can be more accessible, and more people can feel heard and create music at a quality that they're confident in sharing," he said.

Gibbs encourages anyone who wants to record to give Audio House a try. He understands the intimidation factor is there, but it's worth taking the leap.

"It's a place for people to start to find themselves, to start to feel heard, to feel understood. And as long as that's what Audio House is, I think it's fulfilling its purpose," he said.

For more info head to audiohouse.fm, and follow Audio House on Instagram @audiohouse.fm.