Lately I’ve been a bit discouraged about the studio. It’s becoming increasingly obvious to me that being commercially successful is a bit of a pipe dream. I say this not just because it’s difficult to get clients (though I’ll admit we’ve hardly even tried), but also because I’m not particularly interested in commercial success. I’ve got (what could be considered) a business degree, but I’m not a businessman by any stretch.
I was inspired recently when I visited Steve Voltz and Randy Schweinsberg’s studio in Pittsburgh. It’s a really cool place that they’ve obviously put a ton of work into; and as far as I know, they don’t intend to do much commercial work there. Here are two guys doing what they love because they love it.
So I think I’ve been approaching this all wrong. My business background tells me, when I look over the accounting books, that we should close down because we’re so far in the red. But screw the accounting books. Our studio doesn’t need to be a commercial success to be a success to us… because we love doing it. And by ‘we’ I don’t just mean me, Si, and Darren: I mean the whole community of folks who have grown to love the place. I think I can safely say on everyone’s behalf that we love hanging out, doing construcion projects, having campfires, playing old-school Nintendo, and occasionally recording real clients at Blacktown Sound Labs. And we’ll be content to keep doing so, in the same proportions.
Now if only there was a freaking bathroom.