OUR STORY
Hi I’m Rob, (Owner) and I’m really happy you’ve made it to The Hen House. We’ve been in business for over 15 years running a 17 studio facility in Perth and I’m so excited to have just opened our 13 studio facility here in Brunswick, Melbourne.
Our Founding
The Hen House was founded in May 2010 but it’s genesis starts back in 88’ under the studios original name of RNR Studios.
By the time 1999 rolled around, I was an 18 year old kid and my band Gyroscope needed a studio to write and rehearse in. I didn’t realise it then, but the studio we found would be our creative sanctuary for the next 11 years as we would go on to write all of our albums and EP’s in the studio.
We spent so much time at the studio in fact that I eventually got offered a job cleaning the place and it didn’t take long for me to start dreaming about one day owning it.
Gyroscope
The early years of Gyroscope were spent rehearsing and gigging twice a week whilst constantly trying to write stronger songs.
Overtime I realised that the music we wrote in that studio, had the potential to take us far beyond it’s four walls, and over time it did. Gyroscope would record in L.A, London, Liverpool and Wales and tour the US, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia over the course of our career. Leading to our#1 ARIA album ‘Breed Obsession’ and #3 ARIA album ‘Cohesion’.
The creativity we captured in that space changed the course of our lives. It allowed us to achieve our dreams, create a sense of fulfilment and ultimately achieve our creative goals. I began to really understand the power of creativity.
The Hen House Perth
The success of the songs we wrote at RNR Studios would eventually allow me to buy the studio and rename it The Hen House. We completely overhauled the space, added artwork, dimmable lights, improved the soundproofing and upgraded all the equipment.
As time went one, we shifted our focus to fostering a community and being of service to the many talented artists who called our studio home, we then opened The Hen House Live a space for new bands to play their first show. We serve up a free bbq + beers every Saturday and Sunday and have established ourselves as an integral part of Perth’s creative community.
Brunswick, Melbourne
Through my years of touring with Gyroscope I’d long had a love affair with Melbourne and in October 2022, my wife and I moved here with the goal of opening a Hen House.
Little did I know how hard it would be finding the right property, but fortunately in May 2024, I walked past 5 Tinning St, Brunswick, to find them cleaning the warehouse out. A few calls were made and in a few months we had a deal in place.
Tinning St, is right in the heard of Brunswick, wedged between the #19 Tram on Sydney road and the upfield Train/Bike Path. It’s a sensational location with a proud history of music and rehearsal studios.
We received approval for 18 studios from the Merri-Bek council and have begun by building 13 studios. We feel honoured to be part of this wonderful community and I can’t wait to meet everyone as we go on this journey with the creative community of Melbourne.
Rob
Management
In 2015, I heard a band rehearsing @ The Hen House. They sounded amazing and were called The Faim. They had yet to play a show but I loved their music and they became my first management client. We had a wonderful run together, playing all major UK/EU music festivals (Reading & Leeds, Download, Slam Dunk, Lollapalooza Berlin and many more) as well as amassing over 100 million streams on Spotify alone.
In 2018 I was tipped off an a band called RedHook who became my 2nd management client. I flew over to see them play in Sydney and loved their music and personality immediately. RedHook have built their profile through plenty of touring both here and overseas culminating in their 2nd album ‘Mutation’ debuting at #1 on the Australian ARIA charts in 2024!