Fantasy Studios facts for kids

Fantasy Studios
Quick facts for kids General Information
Location (originally)	Berkeley, California
Country	United States
Website	[1]
Hardware	Analog SSL 8056 & 4000E, Digidesign C24
Dates Active	1971 (private), 1980 (public), remodeled 2007. Closed in 2018.
Associated	Fantasy Records

Fantasy Studios was a famous music recording studio. It was located in Berkeley, California. Many award-winning albums were recorded there. These include Journey's Escape and Green Day's Dookie.

The studio started in 1971. It was a private place for artists on the Fantasy Records label. In 1980, it opened to the public. People could record, mix, and master their music there. Sadly, Fantasy Studios closed for good on September 15, 2018.

History of Fantasy Studios

How Fantasy Records Started

Fantasy Records was a record company. It began in San Francisco, California, in 1949. Two brothers, Max and Sol Weiss, started it. Their first artist was a jazz musician named Dave Brubeck.

The company grew with money from his records. They signed other famous jazz artists. These included Gerry Mulligan and Vince Guaraldi.

The Rise of Creedence Clearwater Revival

In 1955, Saul Zaentz joined Fantasy Records as a salesman. In 1967, he bought the company with some friends. A year later, in 1968, Fantasy Records signed Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR). This band became super popular and made a lot of money for the company.

Within 18 months, 20 of CCR's songs were hits. Nine of them were in the Top 10 in the US. The band also sold over 100 million records worldwide. Because of CCR's success, Fantasy became the most profitable independent record company in the U.S. This success helped the company grow a lot.

In 1971, Fantasy Records moved to Berkeley, California. The new building was very nice. It had a lobby, a sauna, an exercise room, and a lunch room. The lunch room even had food from a famous restaurant.

Building the Recording Studios

Fantasy Records built Fantasy Studios to record all their artists. Most of their artists played jazz. But they also had rock, soul, and disco artists. The studio building was in Berkeley. People nicknamed it "The House That Creedence Built." This was because CCR's success paid for it.

Jim Stern was the main engineer from 1974 to 1981. Other early engineers included Jesse Osborn and Eddie Bill Harris.

Expanding the Studios

In 1980, Roy Segal became the new Studio Director. He added a new studio called Studio D. He also made the other studios sound better. They removed carpets and added special wall tiles. This helped to "tune" the rooms for better sound. They also put in new, better mixing equipment.

In 1982, Nina Bombardier took over as director. She had worked at Fantasy since 1973. She managed the studios until 2007.

Besides music, Fantasy Studios also worked on films, TV shows, games, and audio books. They could record extra talking for movies. All the studios could connect to other studios worldwide. This let them work with people far away.

Fantasy Studios had two full-time mastering engineers. These are experts who make the final sound of a recording perfect. George Horn and Joe Tarantino were these experts. They worked on albums for many famous artists. These included The Grateful Dead, Santana, and Miles Davis.

New Owners and Closing Down

In 2004, Concord Records bought Fantasy. The two companies joined to form Concord Music Group. Concord owned the studios until 2007. Then, a new company, Wareham Property Group, bought the building.

Jeffrey Wood became the new Studio Director. In 2018, Wareham Property Group decided to close the studios for good.

Studio Facilities

Fantasy Studios had three main studios. Each one was built for a special purpose. They also had five natural echo chambers. These rooms made sounds echo in different ways. All three control rooms could use these echo chambers.

Studio A

Studio A live room

Studio A was very large, about 1,344 square feet. It was big enough for a big band. Sometimes, small audiences would come in. This made recordings feel like a live album. Famous movies were also mixed in Studio A. These included One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Apocalypse Now, and Amadeus.

In 1980, Studio A was improved. It got new wall tiles to make the sound better. Its mixing console was also replaced with newer equipment.

Studio B

View from control room to live room of Studio B

Studio B was smaller, about 546 square feet. It was often used for smaller music groups or comedy recordings. It was also used for overdub sessions. This is when musicians add new parts to a song. Like Studio A, Studio B also got sound improvements in 1980. Its mixing console was updated too. Journey's song "Faithfully" was recorded here.

Studio C

Studio C was built just for CCR. It even had its own entrance. Parts of CCR's albums Mardi Gras and Pendulum were recorded there. The Live in Europe album was mixed there. John Fogerty, CCR's lead singer, worked there until 1974.

Studio C was 888 square feet. It also had a film soundstage and Foley pits. Foley pits are used to create sound effects for movies. Studio C closed to the public in 2008.

Studio D

Main tracking room of Studio D

In 1980, Fantasy Studios added a new building. This building included a fourth recording room, Studio D. This was also when all the studios opened to the public. People could now use them for recording, mastering, and film scoring.

Studio D was designed by Tom Hidley. It was 1,500 square feet. It had different types of walls. One side made sounds "dead" (no echo). The other side had hardwood floors and mirrors for a "live" sound (more echo). Studio D's mixing console was later updated to an SSL SL 4000 E.

One of the first albums recorded in Studio D was Journey's Escape. This album became number one on the Billboard 200 chart. It included hit songs like "Open Arms" and "Don't Stop Believin'"!

In 2011, Studio D's floors were updated to beautiful hardwood cherry.

Famous Albums Recorded Here

• Jack Nitzsche - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Original Soundtrack), 1975
• Journey - Escape, 1981
• Journey - Frontiers, 1983
• Y&T - In Rock We Trust, 1984
• Europe - The Final Countdown, 1986
• Soda Stereo - Signos, 1986
• Too Short - Life Is… Too Short, 1988
• Bobby McFerrin - Simple Pleasures, 1988
• Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World, 1989
• Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese, 1991
• En Vogue - Funky Divas, 1992
• Green Day - Dookie, 1994
• Blues Traveler - Four, 1994
• Rancid - …And Out Come the Wolves, 1995
• Jawbreaker - Dear You, 1995
• Santana - Supernatural, 1999
• Santana - Shaman, 2002
• Richard Thompson - Grizzly Man (Original Soundtrack), 2005
• Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me, 2010
• Bill Frisell - All We Are Saying, 2011
• Iggy & the Stooges - Ready to Die, 2013

Artists Who Recorded Here

Producers and Engineers Who Worked Here