New music recording and rehearsal space opens in Plymouth: Triple T Studios
Plymouth is hardly awash with recording studios and rehearsal spaces for up-and-coming musicians and singers. In fact, it’s something that’s been cited time and again by musical talents in our city — we need more reasonably priced spaces to play, rehearse and record in. Well, one space has just opened to answer these calls — and it’s unlike nothing else in the city.
Triple T Studios, which sits above Café Momus in Stonehouse’s Manor Street, just off Union Street, is a recording studio and rehearsal space all-in-one. The brainchild of co-founders Tim Francis and Oktawian Kopryjani — better known as ‘Tav’ — it has been created in just three months out of a derelict escape room space. And it’s now open for business. Musical business, in fact.
Top-of-the-range guitars adorn the rehearsal room’s soundproofed walls next to artworks — created by Francis — of the likes of Amy Winehouse and even the artist himself. A beautiful drum kit takes centre stage with a range of bass and guitar amps behind it. And then there’s a mic area behind a transparent screen, plus a sofa, a keyboard and all sorts of other instruments. And the best bit? If you pay to use the space, you can use any instrument or amp you want.
And then there’s the recording studio through an adjoining door which takes you to a compact area packed with state-of-the-art equipment next to a vocal booth that should be ready to use soon. A window connects both spaces, creating an all-in-one experience for any musician or band who wants to hire out the studio. It looks, feels and sounds unique to Plymouth.
Francis says: “The rehearsal space and recording studio are both ready to go right now but the vocal booth at the back of the studio will be ready soon. We only came up with the idea in the summer to meet the demand of Plymouth musicians who have been crying out for a space like this for years. There are a few good rehearsal and recording studios in Plymouth right now — but we offer something different. After three months of hard work, we’re ready to rock and roll.”
In short, anyone booking the space can use the drum kit, the guitars, the bass amps, the guitar amps, the keyboard and the condenser mics at Triple T — including the mic area behind the transparent screen for vocalists. It’s all in the price. “Anyone who uses the space can use any instrument,” says Francis, “which are all top quality and well maintained. In fact, the whole space is well maintained. The soundproofing took us ages to do but it was worth it — the sound is now excellent in there.”
Francis adds that there’s ‘a really versatile events space’ for music performances and shows in front of the studios which you must pass through on your way up from Café Momus — and there’s also an ‘excellent outdoor events space’ behind the studios at the back of Union Street. Plus, Omnium Radio CIC and the Janner Radio community station are broadcast from just down the corridor. In short, there’s a lot going on here — and Francis says that the potential for all these elements to come together is massive.
“You can play in the rehearsal room and have it recorded at the same time in the studio,” says Francis. “And then you can go straight out to either event space and perform for an intimate crowd. A TV will be up as well, so bands can watch themselves perform in the room. And we can stream musicians’ performances from Triple T and it can be broadcast live on the community radio next door. Plus, it can be broadcast live in the future on Triple T’s own streaming online TV, podcast and social media platforms. There’s just so much potential here.”
In terms of those ‘future streaming platforms’, check out Triple T’s social networks right now. For Facebook, click: here, for Instagram, click: here and for TikTok, click: here. What about the price, though? Surely it’s expensive for this sort of tailor-made rehearsal and recording studio? Well, it’s £50 for a three-hour rehearsal session which is a particularly competitive price in the city. The recording sessions have a different pricing structure so musicians need to give the studio a call to find out more about that — but they can also discuss different packages with the team, such as streaming performances and using the event spaces.
But how did we get here? Francis says: “It was coming up to Café Momus’ one-year anniversary in the summer of this year so, to mark it, I said I’d get some music going outside the venue in Manor Street during a Sunday. I laid out all my instruments and invited fellow Plymouth musicians to join me and just jam in the street. Well, it was a hit — we had all sorts of performers, African drummers, DJs, I did some live painting as I’m an artist and we even had an art auction. In fact, it was such a hit that we did it every Sunday throughout the summer.
“During the celebrations,” continues 69-year-old Francis, “I met Tav, who had come along with his family to see the music. I had a chat with him, learned he was from Poland originally, learned that he had been a sound engineer on metal band Korn’s European tour, learned he had co-owned a recording studio in Poland, discovered he had two PhDs in music and found out he was passionate about getting back into the business in Plymouth.
“It didn’t take long before we had become good friends — he’s also an incredible session musician and multi-instrumentalist. I had created a rehearsal space above Momus in an area with a dancefloor, former bar and mezzanine area. Tav came along and staged a rock theatre in the space with some great actors and musicians. We realised we worked well together. And so the idea came up to create a rehearsal and recording space together in the derelict space behind where we were running these events. We started renovating immediately and the rest, as they say, is now history.”
Francis recalls that there was ‘nothing up there when we started work except rubbish’. He says it was all just derelict escape rooms from the days when Escape Rooms Plymouth operated on the floor. “It’s been a big effort to get this studio ready,” he says, “including knocking down several walls, painting — both the walls and artworks — and tidying up a lot.
“In fact, it took three months to get from a derelict space into the studios you see if you walk in now. Three months to become fully functional. Tav is also a builder and his exceptional craft skills were used to form the bespoke-shaped walls to enhance the playing experience acoustically. I enjoyed creating the artworks for the space too and, to be honest, I’ve just thrown myself into this project and loved every minute.”
Francis, who has a construction background but is also highly adept at painting, multimedia art, performance, music, African drum teaching and improvised jazz-reggae on his melodica, was ideal for the heavy work in putting the studio together with his business partner. “It’s a passion project first,” he says, “and a business second. It will take quite a lot of time to recoup the money that’s already gone into the studio but it’ll be worth it. To give Plymouth musicians somewhere unique to practice, play and record is worth all the sweat and financial outlay.
“All musicians of all styles are welcome to come and use the space,” continues Francis. “Loud bands, quiet vocalists and everyone in between. This space is different to the city’s other rehearsal and recording studios because it’s all-in-one, it’s reasonably priced, you can use all the instruments and you can record and rehearse at the same time. It’s so versatile so you can choose what sort of experience you want.
“Plus,” adds Francis, “Tav can do all the recording side, including mixing and mastering. And he’s available to play various instruments on your tracks — along with Triple T’s stable of session singers and musicians — should you want it. We’re all pretty talented and play a lot of instruments, so there’s something else fairly unique for Plymouth. It’s already been used by local bands for videos and photo shoots — and it’s ideal for podcasts and, well, anything you can imagine!
“We’re just looking forward to getting musicians and bands in now so we can help the city open a new chapter in terms of its musical output to help finally put Plymouth on the map as a place that produces incredible bands, musicians, art and sounds.”
Triple T Studios is on the first floor above Café Momus, 14-17 Manor Street, Stonehouse. Entry is via the café. To hire the studios or to find out more details, call Tim Francis on 07413 541258 or email him at timofranc@googlemail.com.
Other music rehearsal and recording studios in Plymouth to check out:
Pirate Studios, 28 Stonehouse Street.
Plymouth Music Collective (PMC), 21-25 St John’s Road, Cattedown.
Jemstone Studios, 5 Clare Place, Coxside.
Momentum Studios, Old Newnham Farm, Plympton.
April Media Productions, The Mews, Stoke.
Studio City, 37 Somerset Place, Stoke.
THÊ DEPØ Studios (primarily for DJs), 35 Union Street.
Story by Matt Fleming
