Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Castore.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Soft Cult Studio first started in the summer of 2021 as a group of six friends with a passion for audio engineering, who got together to start building a collectively-operated professional recording studio in the Twin Cities. The first six months or so was spent figuring out what the business would look like and what it would mean to operate as a collective. In our case it means we are all equal co-owners of the business, we make major decisions on a consensus basis, and we are all expected to learn the various different types of work that go into keeping the business running, such as accounting, equipment maintenance, and acting as the primary contact person for new clients. In January of 2022 we moved into our current space in NE Minneapolis; renovation took a little over a year, and we officially opened our doors in May of 2023.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road, no. Our biggest struggle was negotiating with our landlord to stay in the building; originally we were subleasing our space from another business in the building, but when they unexpectedly had to break their lease and leave, we were left in the lurch, either needing to abandon a space that we just spent a lot of time and money renovating, or sign a new lease for a much larger chunk of the building than we needed (or could afford.) We chose the latter, and while it has been a struggle to deal with our rent being so much higher than we had originally planned, it has also created some nice opportunities for us. For example it gave us enough space to setup a repair shop where we can fix audio gear for the general public, and we also share part of our space with a local artist who setup a drawing and printing studio in an extra room here.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Soft Cult Studio?
We are a collectively owned recording studio that focuses on making the recording experience accessible – for example, unlike many other studios, our session rates are listed clearly on our website, and we are always happy to spend time chatting with prospective clients about their unique needs. Having those conversations ahead of time makes a huge difference both in the quality of the final product and in the quality of the experience the artist has while they are here.
While we are happy to work on just about any type of music that walks in the door, we do tend to focus on performance-based music, rather than stuff that is created and programmed primarily within a computer. All of our members are active musicians that have spent a lot of time in the world of punk and avant-garde music in the Twin Cities. That being said, that’s not the only type of music we like to work on – it’s a joy to put our skills to use on new and unfamiliar projects.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For me, success is enjoying the process of creating a recording that properly articulates a client’s artistic vision.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.softcultstudio.com
- Instagram: @soft.cult.studio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560021878634
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SoftCultStudio
