Published 30 July, 2020

From recording, writing, performing and producing music, you could say Jono Steer is a jack of all trades in the music industry. As a music producer and audio engineer in Castlemaine, Jono is making strides with his own studio, The Perch Recording Studio. We spoke to Jono about starting the studio in Castlemaine, what he has planned during the COVID-19 pandemic and what’s on for the future.

Please tell us about The Perch Recording Studio?
The Perch is a small recording studio and creative space in Castlemaine, Victoria. The studio was designed as a retreat for musicians to escape the pace of the city and make music in the fresh country air :-) The Perch has onsite BnB accommodation for up to four people and is situated close to the centre of town (and the many great coffee and food options that Castlemaine offers). In the short space that The Perch has been open we’ve already had some fantastic artists through the doors such as Leif Vollebekk, Bec Goring, Ben Trillado, Al Parkinson and Angie McMahon.

Why did you decide to start your own studio, and why in Castlemaine?
I grew up in regional Victoria (Bendigo, Ballarat) and I have always felt the slower pace of the country is often more conducive to creativity. Whether it’s getting away to write music, or to bunker down and complete a whole EP/album, the idea is to get submerged in your art and be free from distraction! On the days off, Castlemaine and the surrounds have some great places to visit too!

What does the The Perch have planned during the COVID-19 pandemic?
I recently found out I am a lucky recipient of a Regional Arts Victoria Grant to help adapt The Perch during COVID-19 as part of their Sustaining Creative Workers Initiative. This is going to be such a huge help during this time. The Perch was completed just before the first lockdown happened, and as a result the studio has had to adapt quite quickly. I’ve recently finished setting up one of the BnB rooms in the house as a small isolated control room for the studio. This now means I can operate sessions from an entirely different building and maintain physical distancing and COVID safe work practices. While the travel from Melbourne and interstate has been temporarily put on hold, I’ve been using the studio mainly as a mixing space for my own projects, as well as running remote production sessions via Zoom.

You recently held a livestreaming gig with Angie McMahon, can you please tell us more about that event?
One of the first tests for the remote isolation recordings was a solo piano concert that we filmed with Angie. We set up some discrete GoPro cameras around the studio and recorded it all from inside the house. It was released last week as a ticketed event through Kind Face Creative and Ticketmaster. We decided to pre-record rather than live-stream because we wanted high quality video editing and audio mastering to make sure the experience was as enjoyable as possible for the fans. We hope to run many more of these shows with other local artists in the future.

What’s up next for The Perch?
More Kind Face Creative concerts, some more remote production sessions, and eventually once the travel restrictions have lifted, I hope it can be a desirable small studio for artists from all over the world to visit.

For more information on The Perch, visit instagram.com/perchstudiocastlemaine.