Spotlight On: Choms
Spotlight On: Choms
Kennedy Pawluk
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In Vancouver’s East side sandwiched between an editing house and another jam space sits Choms, an arts studio where a collective of some of Vancouver’s best record, rehearse, create and chill. Over the past seven years, what started as a loose recreational way to jam with friends and share gear has grown into a proper arts collective with a prolific output. We sat down with Dumb’s Franco Rossini and Nick Short, two founding members of Choms to learn what the collective is all about.
“It started out as just like maybe around 10 or 12 people that we knew that were all into jamming. We had a big group chat and would ask who wants to jam? So we would wait till the first five people were like yeah I’m down tonight. There was tons of weird iterations of bands that were just like different selections of the same people.” Describes Short on Choms beginnings.
With jams becoming more frequent and bands beginning to form, the collective agreed they needed a space of their own. “We keep going to these rental places. It’s a waste of money. We have to rent gear all the time. If we just had a place we’d all pay less per month and then get to store shit and go in whenever we want” recounts Short. Choms found its first home in a converted office space in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour. All at once the group now had a new space to pay for along with the gear to fill it. With this, the collective concept of Choms was born. The group would share their talents, gear, and the cost to create an accessible space for its members to create. It is this collective concept along with a DIY spirit that is at the core of Choms to this day and has fostered the development of many great bands.
After a couple of moves Choms has been sitting comfortably in its current home for the last five years. The current space has allowed Choms artists to thrive with a better recording set up, room to jam, communal room to hang and an extra studio space where members often mix their recording projects and pursue other artistic formats. The current space has even played host to a handful of shows in its courtyard. Despite all the upgrades that new space has provided, the principles of community and accessibility have remained at the group's core with little compromise.
While Choms provides a rehearsal space for its members there’s progressively been a greater use of the Choms recording space. Franco Rossini and Nick Short engineer/produce most of the work within the studio, recording their own bands: Nice Apple, Dumb and Swim Team; as well as other Choms artists like Yolks, Fuzzy P, and Cave Girl (among many others). With added free time in the space provided by Covid, Short and Rossini have branched out recording artists outside the Choms collective. Notably, the two recently worked on the 100 Block Rock Project, a compilation of artists from the 100 Block of Hastings in Vancouver’s Downtown EastSide.
“Both 100 Block Rock Projects were done during Covid so it was pretty convenient that no one else was really using the studio… It’s way chiller here than it is in a professional studio” Rossini points out eluding to the safe and comfortable space the Choms studio was able to provide to the artists of 100 Block Rock.
The project aimed to provide a platform for artists from one of Canada’s most marginalized neighbourhood’s through providing the means to produce a recorded piece of music. The result is a compilation of 11 unique artists of a wide array of genres. With Choms initially hired to record the project, the group took a larger role within the project with many members providing backing bands for artists, assisting songwriting and providing support to project lead Eris Nyx.
Beyond the many Choms bands upcoming releases and the gradual pickup of shows, the collective hope to utilize the studio to a greater extent hoping to extend the space and their talents to more artists. With accessibility in mind the group provides some of the most reasonable prices for high quality recording services in the entire city. While Covid slowed activity within Choms, it has also provided time for many to create, numerous projects from Choms artists ready to release or in the midst of production. “That's the cool thing to see that things are finally getting back in shape” comments Short on the increase of activity as the world eases beyond Covid. Members of Choms are also working on a sequel to the 100 Block Rock Project that will see an entirely new set of artists, though this time around the project will be recorded in a different studio.
The positive vibes found within the space have made for some incredible music. Explore the embed link above to hear some of the acts that call Choms their artistic home. If you’re looking to record in Vancouver, check out the services they offer. And finally, keep your eyes peeled for Volume 2 of the 100 Block Rock Project which is set to arrive in January 2022, Pre-orders available below.
- Kennedy Pawluk
