Will Yip Builds His Dream Studio – Part 2

DON’T PASS UP PART ONE!

It took a few years, but Will Yip and his manager, who together founded the Memory Music record label in 2015, eventually found an 8,000-squarefoot space with 16-foot ceilings in a South Philly warehouse district. “It was a five-year process to build four studios and two lounges,” shares Yip, an avowed foodie who was alerted to the building by a restaurateur friend who was opening a new location there. [Yip, from a food industry family himself, has somehow found time to also open a heavy metal bar and restaurant, Doom, near Philly’s Franklin Music Hall.]

“I wanted Memory Music to be a Rick Rubin-esque studio that feels very airy, spacious, clean and white,” he continues. “I was lucky enough to do a Turnstile record at his spot in L.A., and after doing that record, I called our design crew and changed everything.” Overall design of the new facility was provided by Philadelphia-based Boxwood Architects.

“I’m not really a boastful guy,” he adds, “but no one has spent more time recording rock bands in a studio than I have; I’ve done it every day, 14 hours a day, since 2008. So I knew how I wanted the rooms to flow. I’m still working out the kinks, but it’s my dream studio. When the Menzingers were recently here, they said, ‘We finished up early because everything is so ergonomic.’ That was my big thing: I don’t want to waste time. I don’t want bands to feel iced because of gear problems or cabling issues. I want everything to work for everyone. They don’t need to go to a big studio in Nashville or L.A. and spend $2,000 a day” he chuckles.

FOUR ROOMS, PLENTY OF GEAR

Two of Memory Music’s four rooms, Studios E and G, include tracking spaces and are geared toward full band sessions, writing, pre-production and overdubbing. Yip used to master in the box, but says he fell in love with the gear when he built his first mastering room, centered around a Manley Vari-Mu: “I wanted a mastering space, which we call Studio M. It has been a fun project and gave me an excuse to play with gear.”

The fourth room, Yip’s headquarters, is named—what else?—Studio 4, in homage to his former home. Having grown up with a Neve and an SSL at Studio 4, he wanted a console in his new room and found an old SSL 6000. “Bruce Millett, the Desk Doctor, drove it across the country and commissioned it,” he says. “It’s only been in two other studios.” One former owner was the late Dave Aron, known for his work with Death Row Records.

All four rooms feature Focal Trio6 ST6 monitors. Yip worked for a few years with Lauryn Hill, who had Focal Twins in both her rooms, so when he was offered a demo of the Trios in 2019, he jumped at the chance. “My mixes were instantly better, from the first mix,” he says. “My vocal placements were better, my low end was better. It was like I heard another dimension in the music.”

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The facility is practically bursting at the seams with gear. “I’m a big collector,” he says matter of factly. “One of the last things I do every night is check Reverb, but I’ve never collected just to collect. It was more because I wanted to give us the tools, but they’re just tools for the song.”

Warming to his theme, Yip elaborates, “We want to make great songs, we want them to sound correct and touch the soul, and we want people to hear them. All my skills—engineering, producing, composition, songwriting classes, all my vocal and drum lessons growing up—were all just ways to build up for those three mission statements. I’m a rock record producer, and I’m in here just working on the songs, shaping the songs, producing the songs. I want to do whatever I can to help the song. I’m all in on music, and whatever you need or want me to do, I’ve got your back.”

Philadelphia now has several Michelin-starred restaurants, Yip proudly notes, and his building uniquely boasts both a Grammy Award and a Michelin-recognized eatery. “So, I think Philly’s in a really cool space right now,” he says. ■