The Studio

The Magpie Cage is the recording studio of producer/engineer J. Robbins. Located in Johnston Square, on the Eastern edge of Baltimore’s Mt. Vernon neighborhood (a lively and picturesque historic area that includes some great restaurants and bars), walking distance from Penn Station and an easy drive from I-95 and I-83, the studio features a spacious, open-sounding sunlit live room with wooden floors and high ceilings, and ancillary recording spaces with a wide range of cool sonic character. In the 1990’s this space was home to Oz Recording Studio, where bands such as Shudder to Think, Girls Against Boys, Texas is the Reason, and many others made records of enduring appeal and influence. Producer/engineer J. Robbins’ life-long love of recording really blossomed in this space when his band Jawbox recorded their Atlantic Records debut "For Your Own Special Sweetheart" here in 1992, and his career as a producer began here as well in 1994 with Texas is the Reason’s seminal album “Do You Know Who You Are,” so in 2012 it was with great joy that he seized the opportunity to make it the new home of the Magpie Cage. Since then artists as creative and diverse as Clutch, Lemuria, Roomrunner, the Dismemberment Plan, War on Women, Coliseum, Pentagram, All Eyes West, Black Anvil, Tiny Moving Parts, Self Defense Family, The Sword, Black Clouds, Boister, Andy Bopp, Have Mercy, Franz Nicolay, and even Texas is the Reason (returning to record two previously unreleased tracks for inclusion on the re-release of DYKWYA) have done some of their best creative work in this room, adding to a studio and producer discography that also includes great records by Against Me!, Murder by Death, The Sword, Jimmy Eat World, Forgetters, Dope Body, Lionize, Braid, Ponytail, Pilot to Gunner, Paint it Black, The Promise Ring, and many more.
The studio building also houses Big Crunch, Baltimore’s best tube amp design and repair shop, and engineer/producer Matt Redenbo’s new mix/overdub suite.

Staff engineers:

J. Robbins (Jawbox, Clutch, The Sword, Texas is the Reason, Braid, countless more) magpiecage@icloud.com - blog at jrobbins.net

Sean Mercer (Jackson Dean, Us and Us Only, Lauren Ruth Ward, Yo No Say, Mobtown Studios) Sean@wolfstreammedia.com

Matt Redenbo (Clutch, Eyelet, Jawbox, J. Robbins) redenmat@gmail.com

Brooks Harlan (War on Women, Office of Future Plans) bigcrunchbrooks@gmail.com

Branden Funkhouser (Dot Dash, Holy Fingers, H.R. [Bad Brains]) brandenfunkhouser@gmail.com

The studio is also available to trustworthy and qualified independent recording engineers - feel free to inquire.

 

For your mastering needs, we highly recommend Sun Room Audio.