Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Bands on the Run

Pann, singer-guitarist with circaNow, says the musicians who rented space at Universal Sound rehearsal complex near the Sports Arena were not happy when they found out they had to vacate the property.

“We got notices that said the lease for the building ran out on [January] 27 and that we had to be out by the first [of February]. A lot of bands got really pissed off. They basically trashed the place. There were busted lights. The walls were trashed. A mannequin was shoved through a wall.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Pann says he tried to get in contact with Universal owner Sean Brandes. “I tried to get ahold of him a bunch of times, but it was obvious his voice mail was flooded. You couldn’t even leave a message. We still owe past rent that we wanted to pay and are still willing to pay, but we couldn’t even get a hold of him to pay that. I think he was busy. I think he had a lot on his plate. I think a lot of people ripped him off. Some of the bands that practiced there were big jackasses. They really trashed the place bad. A bunch of the metal bands were really being idiots. They were really disrespectful. That was not cool.”

The Sports Arena Universal Sound complex included 20 rehearsal rooms. Universal still operates a 40-room rehearsal complex at 8840 Miramar Road. SDPD Detective Anderson says that she has reports of four different rooms at the Sports Arena complex that were broken into and robbed of equipment in mid-December. “From what we heard, a total of eight rooms were cleaned out,” says Pann.

Pann says his band had been paying $400 a month for a 10-by-14-foot room at the Sports Arena complex for over a year.

“It’s sad to see it go. We really need to have a place nearby. It was good to have [24-hour access] so when we came home at four in the morning we could unload. There is an absolute need in that area for more practice space. I used to go there and play music every single day. We need a new place pronto.”

An employee named Dale answered a call to the Universal Sound facility on Miramar Road. He said that Brandes was in London.

Brandes responded by email: “Let’s just attribute it to a tough economy. There are not enough bands that can pay at the moment and the profit margin is too thin for the business to survive.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Time’s up for Doubletime Recording Studio

Owner Jeff Forrest is trading El Cajon for Portugal
Next Article

Time’s up for Doubletime Recording Studio

Owner Jeff Forrest is trading El Cajon for Portugal

Pann, singer-guitarist with circaNow, says the musicians who rented space at Universal Sound rehearsal complex near the Sports Arena were not happy when they found out they had to vacate the property.

“We got notices that said the lease for the building ran out on [January] 27 and that we had to be out by the first [of February]. A lot of bands got really pissed off. They basically trashed the place. There were busted lights. The walls were trashed. A mannequin was shoved through a wall.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Pann says he tried to get in contact with Universal owner Sean Brandes. “I tried to get ahold of him a bunch of times, but it was obvious his voice mail was flooded. You couldn’t even leave a message. We still owe past rent that we wanted to pay and are still willing to pay, but we couldn’t even get a hold of him to pay that. I think he was busy. I think he had a lot on his plate. I think a lot of people ripped him off. Some of the bands that practiced there were big jackasses. They really trashed the place bad. A bunch of the metal bands were really being idiots. They were really disrespectful. That was not cool.”

The Sports Arena Universal Sound complex included 20 rehearsal rooms. Universal still operates a 40-room rehearsal complex at 8840 Miramar Road. SDPD Detective Anderson says that she has reports of four different rooms at the Sports Arena complex that were broken into and robbed of equipment in mid-December. “From what we heard, a total of eight rooms were cleaned out,” says Pann.

Pann says his band had been paying $400 a month for a 10-by-14-foot room at the Sports Arena complex for over a year.

“It’s sad to see it go. We really need to have a place nearby. It was good to have [24-hour access] so when we came home at four in the morning we could unload. There is an absolute need in that area for more practice space. I used to go there and play music every single day. We need a new place pronto.”

An employee named Dale answered a call to the Universal Sound facility on Miramar Road. He said that Brandes was in London.

Brandes responded by email: “Let’s just attribute it to a tough economy. There are not enough bands that can pay at the moment and the profit margin is too thin for the business to survive.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Rapper Wax wishes his name looked like an email password

“You gotta be search-engine optimized these days”
Next Article

San Diego Fix it Clinic, Gaslamp Holiday Pet Parade

Events December 14-December 18, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader