RUMINATIONS ON  BAND HOUSES: HEARTBREAK CRASHPAD

         Every band needs a rehearsal spot. Dogs, cars, airplanes, and church recruiting visitors make privacy a big part of the choice of building. Some choose warehouses, storage lockers, or even the fabled garage.

         Eventually, all bands need a place where they can leave their equipment set up and store cables, mixers, amps, stands, speakers, and the rest of the usual trappings of bandhood. Few spouses, friends, or relatives are sufficiently patient to suffer a band in the house. Finally, the biggest blow to home studios is the neighbor. This long-time nemesis haunts all musicians, though it's frequently the source of as much noise as the practice room itself. The best investment is the "band house," owned, rented, or leased. The best one we ever used was Phil McCorkle's place on Riverside, in the pre-Dillard's era. An early-century three-bedroom with a living room and huge dining room (which became the actual practice studio). The third bedroom hung off the back of the house, accessible through a door in the back wall of the kitchen. This room, which we  called "the divorce porch," was private to whoever was currently out of favor at home for the usual musician's reasons. It had a single-bed with a Posturepedic Back-Saver mattress, a chest of drawers, and a dresser with mirror. The view of Capitol Hill in Little Rock was cool, and waking up in the mornings was always a treat, with coffee in the air and mockingbirds chasing bluejays around the yard.

         The neighborhood was sympathetic to musicians, with three or four bands living on the block at any time, and block parties were a common occurrence.

         There are a number of things necessary to a good band house besides neighbors.

         Adequate electrical circuitry with at least 100 amps of service available. If you're going to do any recording, you'll need a three-wire AC circuit and, if you plan to use lights in the studio, a separate circuit isolating them from your audio equipment will  avoid hum and buzz.

         For the sake of your backs, a loading-entrance level with the street is a must. Sharp inclines in either a load-in or load-out path should be avoided. A two-wheel dolly is a requirement, and a good solid path of brick or concrete will save a lot of pain.

         A back yard. Picnics, cookouts, horseshoe pits, and a barbecue setup are a big part  of bandliness. You'll entertain fans, other musicians, and each other regularly.

         A well-arranged kitchen with all the usuals, especially coffee, should be kept up. How you arrange who's the kitchen crew is up to you, but in general everyone should pitch in.

         Parking. You should have enough street parking or, if you're lucky, off-street parking, for each of your players' vehicles, plus guests.

         Security. The place must be lockable and, since locks are for your friends, one or some of your players should live there. Nothing like regular habitation to discourage thieves. Lockable indoor storage is a good thing, too. A metal door on a walk-in closet makes a very good equipment lockup. Security is often overlooked. I lost a borrowed tape deck to an unlocked band-house while at a gig.

         Room size. Your practice room should be big enough to set up your stage just as you perform without crowding.

         Rent. If you've got players living there, rent is simplified unless, of course, one of them's a deadbeat. Nevertheless, there'll be rent, utility bills, and maintenance expenses. Figure these into your monthly band budget. (You do have a budget, don't you?)

         Getting a good house is a big plus for a busy band. There are too many things that can go wrong with equipment spread all over town. Besides, where else are you going to find a good, comfortable divorce porch?