The studio, located in the back of The Cigar Vault, is appointment only.
Luis Parra, the studio's manager and head producer of Shelter Studio, decided to open a recording studio because he thought it was an "underserved area with a lot of musical talent."
"People mostly look to Austin, and I kinda came up as a musician in San Marcos playing at places like Valentino's and Buzz Mill, and there were a lot of bands that had a lot of talent but just never got anything recorded; that was like 2014 to 2017," said Parra, who is the frontman for GOOD. and plays drum for CLTTR. "We wanted to create a budget-friendly solution for people that just wanted to get their first songs off the ground."
Parra emphasized wanting to create a welcoming space that was accessible and affordable.
"The idea of the space was to open up new opportunities for the college students that are playing in these bands in San Marcos because recording is expensive," he said. "What we're trying to do is create an environment that's welcoming for people and affordable, accessible, and get people in the door so they can record their first demo, which they need to play at venues because that's a really important step that's difficult for people to do."
Since opening they have had local musicians, such as country artist Jamison Eddleman, pop artist TommieTee and indie rock band Clever Heads Prevail, record in Shelter Studio.
The studio's standard rates are $50 an hour, but it varies based on the material the artist is working on and sound complexity.
"We will be open if you need us to be open," Parra said.
www.shelterrecording.com
