Woman-owned, operated recording studio opens on Highland Brewing campus in Asheville

ASHEVILLE - A music industry veteran with nearly 40 years of experience is amping up opportunities for women to work in the visual and audio industry while providing artists with more rehearsal and studio space in Asheville.

Rebekkah Hilgraves, owner, director and producer of RadHaus Studios, said as a sound engineer, she’s run into barriers at male-owned studios, such as not receiving the resources or not being taken seriously or facing issues like harassment – and that she’s not the only one.

“One of the things that we’re encountering again and again in this industry is that women still make up less than 10% of the overall audio industry, audio tech, in particular,” said Hilgraves. “There are lots of audio engineers and producers. The studios run by men tend to be a little clubby so we’re trying to do things a little differently.”

It motivated her to open the woman-owned and operated full-service audio and video recording and post-production facility, which has evolved from a mobile unit to a brick-and-mortar facility, now open at 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 10.

“It’s going to be the right thing,” she said.

Highland Brewing, which anchors the commercial building formerly the home to Blue Ridge Motion Pictures Studios, owns the expansive commercial building and leases suites to business tenants.

Brock Ashburn, vice president of Highland Brewing, said Asheville Studios, a film production company, is among the building’s tenants, and Vitalee PT, a physical therapy company, will move in soon. Roots Hummus operated its hummus production facility from the site until it closed last year ― the plans for the 27,000-square-foot warehouse were not disclosed.

He said RadHaus is a good low-impact and high-visibility company making it an ideal fit for the facility and as a potential collaborator for the brewery.

“It’s an exciting business that we see parallels with and see possibly working together on things in the future,” Ashburn said.

Recording at RadHaus

Hilgraves said RadHaus’ suite is 4,600 square feet and twice the size she envisioned for the studio’s first brick-and-mortar home. However, it was an offer too good to pass up as it would allow for enhanced video and sound recording and live-streaming services.

As the former home of Bclip Productions, the suite’s layout fit RadHaus’ requirements, and renovation upgrades to the vacant space included new plumbing, flooring, electrical wiring, and fixtures.

RadHaus’ rehearsal wing features two rehearsal rooms, three tracking rooms for recording and a video studio, each with a control room, plus an office for clients from musicians to theater and dance groups.

One of the studios, ideal for large groups like jazz ensembles and orchestras, allows musicians to perform together as if in a live performance.

The Suite Spot, structured with three isolation suite recording studios, has windows for musicians and vocalists to see and play with each other but the engineer can record a “tighter sound.”

The video and photography studio may be used for live-streaming or photo shoots and features a 9 x 23 feet green screen wall for computer-generated imagery (CGI) that may also be used for projects like corporate presentations and webinars, podcasts, wedding photography and training videos.

“It’s a fairly large range of things we can do in here and I’ve done all of those myself, so I know what needs to go into them,” she said.

Studio and rehearsal space rental costs depend on services rendered; clients may contract RadHaus professionals or rent gear.

“I’m trying to keep the rehearsal spaces here affordable; I just want to make my expenses on the rehearsal side of things because there just aren’t enough in town,” Hilgraves said. “One of the reasons I was excited about this space was because there was room to do a couple of decent-sized rehearsal studios.”

Woman-led studio

Hilgraves, a long-time California resident who moved to Asheville six years ago, said RadHaus began as a concept that would turn RVs into studios. She pivoted by flipping a transit van ― which remains operational ― into a mobile recording studio that can record up to 40 channels of audio and can be outfitted with up to eight cameras for recording and streaming.

It inspired the business's name, as she said the German word “radhaus" refers to the gearbox of a bicycle where the chain gets oily and gritty.

She said the name still fits the brick-and-mortar studios as it can be a double entendre like “Rad man!” Also, she considered opening the studio in River Arts District before deciding on the Highland Brewing campus, which is isolated and less noisy ― ideal for sound control.

In April 2020, RadHaus gained traction amid the COVID-19 pandemic and operated from Hilgraves’ home before moving to White Horse Black Mountain music and arts venue. Hilgraves said RadHaus ran nearly 160 live-streamed episodes of artists performing for virtual audiences.

Hilgraves said that RadHaus’ team of women organically grew after she contracted sound engineer Claire Hoke from White Horse, who is now chief audio engineer for RadHaus. Then, Hilgraves said she noticed a difference in the work dynamic.

“I realized we’re working very differently as a team of women than a mixed team or team of men might do. I decided to start building on that,” she said.

RadHaus Studios is welcoming of all demographics, but women are intentionally contracted.

Hilgraves said the work environment is one in which everyone assists and learns from each other whether intern or veteran.

Also, Hilgraves hired a team of women for RadHaus’ renovations from Women in Trades, a group of female-identified and non-binary people who work in traditionally male-dominated trade industries, like construction and woodworking.

“We’re trying to make a different atmosphere with it,” she said.

RadHaus Studios will host a grand opening party from noon-10 p.m. on March 30. Admission is free and the event is open to the public. Parties interested in learning about the studio are encouraged to attend to tour the space and meet the team. Highland Brewing beer, nonalcoholic beverages and other light refreshments will be offered. Musicians The Bins, Ovadya, While Rome Burns and Al Baldwin will perform live, and guests are encouraged to bring an instrument for the jam session at 8 p.m. For event details and music lineup, visit https://www.facebook.com/RadHaus.Studios.

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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: RadHaus Studios opens on Highland Brewing campus in Asheville