Cherokee Studios (Los Angeles) closed its doors on August 31, 2007. The three-studio facility on Fairfax Avenue will be demolished to make way for a group of live-work musicians’ lofts. The studio’s current owners — producers Dee, Joe and Bruce Robb — will retain most of the studio equipment, including one of two original Trident A-Range consoles and two pairs of custom Augspurger monitors; the other vintage Trident will be put up for sale soon.
Says Bruce Robb, “I’m nostalgic about the end of an era, but I’m in the middle of a movie and have three albums to finish. So, luckily, I don’t have time to get too sentimental right now.”
The new lofts — a collaboration between the Robb brothers and developers RE-Think Development — will be built with “green” materials and will be acoustically designed to facilitate home recording.
Cherokee Studios’ Fairfax location opened in 1975 when the facility was acquired from MGM Records. Studio 1 (right), with its 35×58-foot live room and five iso booths, is remembered from its MGM days as Frank Sinatra’s string room. In addition to Sinatra, the studio’s long list of clients comprises a who’s who of pop and rock, including David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Michael Jackson.
