Live from The Bee Room
The Bee Room studio is an independent recording studio out of Detroit, MI. Run by founder Jahan Raffi, The Bee Room aims to showcase and help local bands with anything from recording to production.
The video we linked is a tour of his studio space. Showing off some of his unique vintage recording equipment, it's definitely worth the watch.
Follow The Bee Room on Instagram, YouTube
or at thebeeroomstudio.com!
We sat down with Jahan of the Bee Room Studio to record an interview with him, however, we ran into some technical difficulties with the old 90s recorder. Luckily BaileyJo was also recording audio on her phone, so instead of attempting to Frankenstein all of the clips together, we decided to type it all out.
Introduce yourself!
Hello! I’m Jahan Raffi, I’m the owner of the Bee Room Studio. Welcome to the Bee Room.
What were your beginning inspirations musically?
I grew up, whether it was on the radio or at home, listening to traditional Persian music that my parents had grown up listening to. I never really connected with any of that. When I was about 13 I got into Roy Orbison and found a compilation of 50’s music on YouTube.
Roy Orbison, Elvis, Everly Brothers, I just love that sound. I steadily moved my way through the decades.
Do you have any previous education in recording/production?
Yes, I am a student at Wayne State studying audio engineering, or as they call it music tech. It’s taught me a lot, but a lot of what I’ve learned is by just doing it (recording, mixing, etc.), and it sounding really bad so I have to figure out how to change it. So yes, I’m formally trained, but the real experience came from just doing it.
When did your musical journey start? What was your first instrument/band?
Right after I discovered classic 50’s rock, I immediately wanted a guitar. When I was a really little kid I wanted to play the drums but my parents said no.
There weren’t really any bands around when I was in high school, and none of my friends were really into music, so for a long time it was something that I did alone and it was kind of a get away, I didn’t really share it with anybody. So my first band was in college. I saw a flier on the wall that said "musician wanted", so I called the number and they said they were looking for a bassist. I had never held a bass in my life, so I told them I could play bass. It was a good experience- I regret nothing. I didn’t even know how to read music when I started playing with other people.
How has the community helped you? Other musicians, family, etc.
My family has helped me out a lot, I couldn’t do this without them.
The community in Detroit has also helped me a ton. Some of my first clients were just buddies of mine that I met downtown, just going to shows, going to open mics, friends of friends. I’m very fortunate that when I started this whole thing, those guys were open and willing to be my little ‘test rats’. They were helping me by giving me material to record, and I was helping them by recording for them. A symbiotic relationship.
How has the studio helped your personal music and technicality and vice versa?
You learn a lot about your playing when you can listen back to it. You might play something and think that it’s awesome and you listen back and it’s actually really bad. The biggest thing that helped my playing is knowing when and when not to play; what fits the song? Serve the song, don’t just play because you can. It’s also helped my networking with other artists.
How do you decide pricing?
That’s an interesting one, you kind of just get thrown into it, that’s one that nobody really tells you how to do, run a business. The idea of talking to people about money can be very daunting. You know, at the end of the day, this is a business, and you’re providing a service, and people are coming in as clients.
Pricing depends on how much I’m putting into it and what you’re getting. I might be doing a lot, but if you’re not really getting much out of it and you’re just helping me out, it might not cost you anything. It’s always friendly, but it’s not my favorite part about doing this. If I could just do this work and money didn’t exist that would be great but it’s not that way.
If you're interested in recording with Jahan and The Bee Room, you can contact him through his website, thebeeroomstudio.com or Instagram the.bee.room.studio.
Written by Steph Masters
Edited by BaileyJo McKalko
Photos by Steph Masters and Jahan Raffi