A lot of young people grow up in Alhambra and then move away, but a few of us end up moving back to our hometown. One of these is Rick Collins, a 1988 graduate of Alhambra High School who, after graduation, went to Hollywood to pursue his career as a musician. Specializing as a bass guitarist he formed, recorded, and toured with Tongue, The Woolly Bandits, and Motobunny, to name a few. He also played with legendary Los Angeles 60’s group The Seeds alongside original members Sky Saxon and Jan Savage.
Rick toured around the world and met some of the legends of the music business including Arthur Lee of Love, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Iggy Pop and Little Richard. When Rick was not touring, he resorted, as many struggling actors and musicians do, to working in construction. Part of his construction work was music related. Always the D.I.Y. guy, he learned to build soundproof rooms for recording and saved his income to buy recording gear, amps, and instruments, in hopes of one day starting his own studio.
His goal was to help aspiring musicians have a place to practice and record. He wanted to build a place that he would go to, a studio made by musicians for musicians. Best of all, he decided that Alhambra was the place to do it. In 2018, while still working in construction, he moved back to Alhambra and, after years of searching, found a building at 2818 W. Main Street that was perfect for use as a recording studio. He sold his construction business and his next music-related job was as a studio owner & independent producer. Thus, ‘SGV Sound Studio’ (as in San Gabriel Valley) was born.
Soon, he had an analog and digital music studio on the eastside of Los Angeles and began using it for recording, mixing, and producing some of the area’s best bands and solo artists. SGV Sound also records for television and film, most recently for “Hysteria” premiering on NBC’s Peacock Oct 31. The studio space has become an outpost of creativity, hosting the SGV vinyl swap meets and live events, as well as making the space available to bands for rehearsals, music videos, and movie shoots.
Now with dozens of releases and a steady stream of clients, Rick has begun playing live again and is a vinyl D.J. He also launched and hosts a new podcast and YouTube channel called “Chattered” in which he interviews well-known and up-and-coming musicians, who also perform live in the studio. It can be found on all streaming podcast platforms and on the Chattered YouTube channel.If you are a musician looking for space to rehearse and record, call Rick at 626-940-5131, email him at [email protected], or visit sgvsound.com.
