Fantasy Studios is turning off the sound
In a time when the Bay Area is facing an exodus of artists and musicians, it’s about to lose another another staple of the local music scene.
Fantasy Studios, the famed Berkeley recording studios where artists such as Santana, Journey and Green Day produced some of their most iconic albums, is set to close on Sept. 15.
“It’s hard, because it was there for so long, and it served so many people,” said Nina Bombardier, who managed Fantasy Studios during its heyday from 1982 through 2007.
A group of employees at the studios sent out an email on Friday announcing that the building that houses the studios is being sold, and that Fantasy would cease operations with the sale.
“We wish to thank you for your patronage and for the privilege of working with you on the incredible projects you have completed at Fantasy,” the memo said. “We are grateful and proud that your works of art will represent us forever.”
When The Chronicle reached out for further details about the impending sale, a representative at Fantasy Studios said, “We’re not allowed to disclose that at this point.”
Andrew Neilly, speaking on behalf of Wareham Devel-
opment, which bought the building and the license to the Fantasy name in 2007, confirmed by email that the building will be formally put on the market soon and that the studio would close in six weeks.
“It leaves Skywalker as the only major recording studio in Northern California,” said Joel Selvin, former pop music critic for The Chronicle.
Brothers Max and Sol Weiss founded Fantasy Records as a jazz label in 1949 in an alley off San Francisco’s Market Street, issuing releases by the likes of Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker and Cal Tjader.
While the label’s focus remained on jazz, its biggest success came after it was sold to Saul Zaentz, a salesman at the company, and a group of investors in 1967.
When Fantasy signed its first rock group, everything changed.
The garage band the Golliwogs hailed from El Cerrito, led by a Fantasy shipping clerk named John Fogerty, who had started the band in junior high school. After rechristening themselves Creedence Clearwater Revival, the quartet recorded a string of gold and platinum records and million-selling singles, including “Susie Q,” “Proud Mary” and “Bad Moon Rising.” In 1970, Creedence Clearwater Revival outsold the Beatles.
The two-story Berkeley studio located at 2600 Tenth St. — nicknamed the House that Creedence Built — was constructed in 1971, containing three recording studios and a mastering room, as well as offices and a warehouse.
Over the years, the studios hosted artists as varied as Tony Bennett, Aerosmith, Counting Crows, U2, Joan Baez and Sonny Rollins.
It’s where Green Day made its breakthrough 1994 debut, “Dookie,” and Carlos Santana recorded his big comeback album, 1999’s “Supernatural,” which went 15 times platinum and picked up nine Grammy Awards.
“When it was happening, everybody was there — and multiple times,” said Bombardier. “The day I started work there, Journey was in the studio. We had all kinds of things — gospel and thrash metal bands, classical orchestras and punk groups.”
But it was Fantasy’s foray into film production work, most notably with the 1975 “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which won a best picture award and Oscars for its director Milos Forman and stars Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, that established the studio as an epicenter of entertainment for the Bay Area.
In 1980, Zaentz went on to add a new adjacent seven-story building to the West Berkeley skyline that housed a dubbing stage and picture and sound editing suites, making it a post-production center for films and television shows, including “Toy Story,” “Good Will Hunting” and Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The building became known as the Zaentz Media Center.
The Beverly Hillsbased Concord Music Group purchased Fantasy Records in 2004. The sale, which handed over its extensive catalog of recordings by the likes of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Isaac Hayes, went for a reported $83 million. The building was not included in the deal.
“It’s not closing because it’s not needed,” Bombardier said. “It’s more about real estate than anything.”
In 2007, Wareham Development paid more than $20 million for the 2.64-acre property. Wareham owns 4 million square feet of commercial real estate in Berkeley, Emeryville and Point Richmond.
More than a quarter of the company’s portfolio is made up of biotechnology and related facilities.
“The thing about recording studios is that what used to be $250,000 worth of recording gear is now an app,” Selvin said. “There are now a lot of low-end studios on everyone’s laptops. Nobody needs anything but a couple of microphones to (make music). The recording-studio business has receded almost exclusively to commercial purposes — multimedia, film, television. The record business is almost done.”
As for the Fantasy Studios staff members, they have made plans for moving on. According to the memo, the engineers and producers will seek out work at other studios and production spaces.
“Every day you turn on the TV or open the newspaper, and you see something closing down that you thought would be there forever,” Bombardier said. “Our world is changing, especially the Bay Area.”