January 30, 2017

Meet Nick Breton of Truth Studios in Central LA and West Hollywood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Breton.

Nick, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started playing instruments in elementary school and jr high. That paralleled an obsession with listening to music and while away at boarding school for a year I was introduced to Garage Band. When I returned home from boarding school I started to purchase entry level amateur recording gear, then started writing music and recording myself. Shortly after building a home project studio, I began recording friends from high school and formed my first company; Mouth of the Truth Inc. est. 2006. Stepping back from the studio I was always more interested in a record label or management role so I worked out contracts for projects with friends from high school and started to pursue that dream. I then realized how difficult it is to count on others for work that needs to be done to better their own career even before my own. This was a major learning lesson that I stupidly repeated multiple times over the following years. At 17 I moved to San Francisco with my girlfriend looking for a better musical education. I found myself recording neighbors in my apartment and trying to sign deals etc. Nothing ever went anywhere but we did get written up for best single in the bay area by a local popular website. I moved to LA by myself when I was 18 and set up a studio in my apartment. From there I went to a 9-month audio engineering trade school where I wasted more time than anything (regretfully). I did meet my first studio partner Glenn Gonda there and together we planted the seeds for what is now known as Truth Studios. Mostly a fun hobby for us to start as we had no idea what we were doing in business. We started to record with a number of popular acts in Los Angeles and from cities around the world as more artists came to collaborate with others etc. We worked in my apartment for over 3 and a half years bringing in dozens of clients. When it started to outgrow the apartment I found a commercial building just down the street on Stanley Ave. and moved the business to its current location. 5 and a half years later we’re ending our best year of business growing by more than 60% each year and working with artists in all genres from all over the globe. I’ve expanded media channels to a constant stream of video and photography postings on our website www.truthstudios.com and the business continues to grow with an extraordinarily positive word of mouth reputation. I’ve continued to reinvest all money earned into the business, rebuilding multiple times and always buying, selling, and upgrading the gear. I want the studio to be known throughout the world because it’s a very special room in a fantastic location working with some of the best musicians around the world. The culture curated here is rare for any creative space: to release the pressure of success and have fun doing what we love every day. The plan is to expand with at least one more Los Angeles location in 2017 before adding additional locations in other cities or mobile recording studios in some sort of automobile. As the studio’s reputation continues to grow and we do more business the quality of the gear we buy gets better and we help our clients make the best music we can at all times. It’s a truly humbling experience to work with all of these fantastic musicians on a daily basis. I’m forever thankful to all who have helped make this business what it is today, there are far too many people to name. It’s been a team/community effort from day one and we’ve all enjoyed the highs and lows together.

Has it been a smooth road?
Absolutely not. So many ups and downs. As I mentioned when I was first starting out the biggest issue was counting on others who weren’t able to show up and do their work. From there it was limitations of what gear we had, computer problems, noise problems, financial problems for 6 years… It’s a very hot/cold business in the early stages. Before building up enough clients to sustain income and grow the business our main clients would get to a point of success where they would tour and we wouldn’t have any business. We continue to reinvent ourselves. The video and photo work we’re able to produce in this studio is very special and the fans of all these musicians love it. We’re always looking for more ways to create revenue so we aren’t restricted to one or two options.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Truth Studios – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Truth Studios is a boutique recording studio. We record, mix, and master all things audio from voice over to music and specialize in recording vocals. As the business changes and more music is created on computers there is high demand for world class professional sounding vocal recording and song mixing/mastering. We’re primarily known for recording music in Hip-Hop/Rap, R&B, Pop, and Singer-Songwriter/Folk genres. Our clients come from all over the world to record albums, singles and EP’s here at Truth. As a company, I am most proud of the way we adapt and grow. We don’t stand still. Every day I am looking all over the internet to find new gear, connecting different musicians and looking into future investments. I believe that is also what sets us apart

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
The city offers more business opportunity for my industry than any other I’ve heard of by a long shot. The food choices, weather, small businesses and neighborhood we’re in are all fantastic benefits of Los Angeles. The city doesn’t have a small town feel (understandably) but the small down feel has a different quality of life. People know each other, support one another.. It’s a lot harder to come by here. It’s also a very me, myself and I mentality for most folks here.

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