Tiny Telephone rings in 20th anniversary with mega bash
Tiny Telephone Recording turns 20 and wants to share the milestone with you. To celebrate, a huge shindig will take place on Oct. 7 at the studio’s San Francisco location. Festivities include DJ sets by Toro Y Moi and Astronauts, etc., a performance by Mayya & the Revolutionary Hell Yeah!, and free food and drinks from El Metate and Lagunitas Brewing.
Tiny Telephone 20th Anniversary
6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7
Tiny Telephone, 1458 San Bruno Ave.
Information
Since its start, Tiny Telephone has provided the Bay Area music scene with budget-friendly hi-fi recording. Everything is produced entirely in analog—the format of choice for founder and musician John Vanderslice. Whether behind an instrument or the recording booth, Vanderslice’s uses Tiny Telephone to channel his artistic vision when crafting music.
“I realized very early-on that in order to make the exact kind of records that I wanted to make … I had to have my own studio. I also love the communal aspect and energy of creative people in a space making art,” Vanderslice told RIFF last year.
John Vanderslice photographed at the Oakland Tiny Telephone studios on Oct. 15, 2016.
In its two decades of operation so far, Tiny Telephone has been a musical breeding ground for local artists like Deerhoof and Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. The studio has also recorded indie greats Death Cab for Cutie, The Mountain Goats, Sleater-Kinney and others.
“It’s been 20 very lucky years that Tiny Telephone has been open for business,” Vanderslice said in a news release. “We priced it for independent bands and outsiders, we stocked it full of brilliant engineers, producers and session players, then we asked the bands we loved to work with us.”
In addition to its original San Francisco site, Tiny Telephone expanded to Oakland in January 2016. Sticking with affordable studio prices despite high Bay Area rent, Vanderslice expressed both shock and gratitude by the recording company’s growth. But the longstanding success calls for a celebration.
“I’m stunned we’re still standing… The studios have pretty much been sold out for 20 years,” recounted Vanderslice in a press statement. “We are lucky, for now. So let’s celebrate.”
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