Meet Alice and Ryan Baxley and Brandon Schwartzel of Mind Palace Studios in Glassell Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alice and Ryan Baxley and Brandon Schwartzel.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
We all met in 2006 and quickly became friends over our love of music, movies, and art. A few years later, needing a creative outlet, we started making music videos, shooting live shows, screen printing, and making whatever we could for our friend’s bands. We had to do everything very DIY because there were no budgets for anything and got very good at making something from nothing, using whatever we could scrap together to make a finished project that we liked.

In 2017, after working out of living rooms, storage units, parking lots, warehouses, or wherever else we could…we finally were able to move into our own studio, as thus our collaborative baby we had been carrying over the past ten years came to full term and The Mind Palace was born.

It’s been two years and now our “toddler” of a studio is finally up on two legs and starting to take off headfirst. The projects are growing as well as our ideas to get them done, but never in a way most people think of. We’re basically those weird arty parents raising our studio, The Mind Palace, in our own unique way.

Our hope is to provide space for our friends who were in our place a few years ago and don’t have a place to make their art. We want to encourage a sense of community and collaboration. We want to motivate and Inspire others who maybe hesitate to get started because they don’t have the “proper” tools or gear or even the proper education. We are all self taught. Everything we’ve learned was by just going out there and doing it.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s been one long trippy ride. We started from nothing and never had the intention of it growing to the point it’s at now… We’ve been through a lot the past nine years, both good and bad, and learned a lot along way. We’ve grown in how we work with each other as collaborators, how we work with clients and want to continue to push what we do and how we do it as far as possible.

Please tell us about Mind Palace Studios.
Mind Palace is a creative studio space, as well as a collaboration of artists. We create things. Alice is a photographer, Ryan is a video director and Brandon creates sets and props. We’ve done everything from live/studio photography, advertising, music videos, promo content, stage design, art direction, screen printing, etc. We’ve had clients that are bands, major companies, record labels, solo artists, magazines, and many others. If you need anything creative made, we can make it.

I think what sets us apart is that we seem do make things and approach projects in a way that are unconventional. Coming from a DIY mindset and work ethic, our ability to be resourceful, adapt to what people need and do things in a way that people haven’t seen it done before.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
It easy to look back on how we got here and think, “Man, we totally should’ve done this or that” but the truth is we wouldn’t be where we are if we did it differently. In our work, we’ve found that when creating something worthwhile, it’s usually never easy.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3131 Verdugo Road
  Los Angeles, CA 90065
• Website: www.mindpalacela.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @mindpalacestudio

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