User:Aarius2014/sandbox

 Aarius Studios 

Overview

Facility:

Aarius Studios was a rehearsal/recording studio complex located on the border of Sayreville and Old Bridge NJ at 4420 Bordentown Avenue. Doors officially opened in August of 2006 and almost immediately, surpassed expectations. It was built in two adjoining warehouse suites measuring 6,000 square feet. It housed one recording control room and five large state-of-the-art rehearsal studio rooms, which were completely isolated (stand-alone) and sound-controlled. All five of the rehearsal rooms were fully equipped with full sound systems and backlines which also featured professional stage lighting. Each room also provided a comfortable seating area with the added amenity of sound absorbing two-tiered stages. One of the five rehearsal rooms served a dual purpose as a live room for multi-track recording. The studio recording control room featured an HD3 ProTools system with a Control24 digital board and a huge variety of plug-ins and editing suites.

Aarius Studios was originally built to serve the local musician but once the word got out about the size of the individual rehearsal rooms, the studio started attracting National Acts for tour rehearsals, auditions and music workshops. In the eight years the studio was operational, hundreds of musicians recorded their demos and national releases at Aarius Studios.

 Clientele:'

Some of the national acts that frequented Aarius Studios included;

Adrenaline Mob Biohazard Black Label Society Blondie Chris Caffery Corey Glover Cycle Of Pain Dawn Robinson Debbie Harry Glen Burtnik Lizzy Borden Metal Mike’s PainMuseum Mindflow Paul Bostaph Robin Beck Seven Witches Shadow Gallery Shocka Zoolo Taking Back Sunday Tantric TM Stevens

Along with the countless local New Jersey cover bands, tribute bands, function bands and original acts.

Owners:

Joe Cattano was a professional recording/touring drummer in the late 80's and 90's playing in such bands as, Lacey Page, Ritual, Makara and Frost Bite. He was heavily involved in the production of all demos and releases for these bands as well as finding time to attend the Institute of Audio Engineering in Manhattan. This eventually led him to his career as a Studio Owner/Engineer.

Crystal Cattano has over twenty-five years experience in Business and Project Management. In addition to her time and responsibilities at AARIUS Studios, she was employed as a Senior Business Analyst at a large financial institute in Hoboken, NJ. In addition to being the studio’s in house photographer, Crystal was also the creator, producer, co-director and co-editor of the studio’s self-produced reality series, Project: American Studio.

Reality Show:

In 2008 Joe and Crystal Cattano, with the new addition of Robert “Shottie” Shotwell of Shotwell Productions, embarked on a new studio project involving studio technicians and bands which eventually turned out to be their self-produced reality show: Project: American Studio.

This pseudo reality show showcased the studio life of the owners, crew and the struggle to be in the music business; filming the local musician and music scene within the studio itself. Though it had some industry interest and a trailer was produced by an Emmy award winning Production Company, music reality wasn’t riding the wave and was never picked up by a network.

In the years that Aarius Studios was operational, the studio produced and/or sponsored numerous local shows and podcasts with bands that utilized studio resources at venues such as:

Cricket Club in Irvington NJ.

The Cup in Linden NJ. The Saint in Asbury Park

The Later Years:

The downfall of the studio started in 2008 when the economy took a turn for the worse. With rehearsals and recording being a nicety as opposed to necessity, musicians looked for a more do-it-yourself route as opposed to a professional setting.

The last nail in the coffin of the studio came in 2012 when Superstorm Sandy hit the Jersey Shore area. With the devastation affecting many of the area musicians with loss of property, coupled with depressed economy and a harsh long winter, the studio saw very little business in the following six months. In addition to increases in taxes, maintenance fees and insurance by the studio landlord, the owners were forced to close Aarius Studios on April 29th 2014.

External Links:

The Kerri Edelman Show Presents Aarius Studios

The Aquarian

Flickr Hive Mind - AARIUSStudios

Metal Asylum Concert Reviews 2008

Shottie.net Videos Reality TV

Prweb.com releases 2011

Blabbermouth.net News

Digital Web Television-Project:American Studio 2013 Reality TV series

The Aquarian 2013- Hurricane Sandy Update/ The Unraveling Economic Tide