Thirteen years ago, music producer and engineer Kostas Kalimeris opened a recording studio in Santorini. He recalls how One Republic helped put Black Rock Studios on the map.
Kalimeris will never forget Black Rock’s first ever client. Before the Santorini-based luxury villa and recording studio had even been built, Kevin Shirley – a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for bands including Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden – booked it out for a month.
“I found him on Facebook and sent him a message,” Kalimeris reflects, smiling.
“I told him I was building a studio in Santorini. He asked me to send some photos, and I told him I didn’t have any yet – just drawings and plans. He said, ‘Okay, just send me the plans’. I sent him the plans and he said, ‘Okay, book me in for one month for next July; I’m gonna come over with guitar player and artist, Joe Bonamassa’.
"It was the first booking ever, and we were literally doing the last finishes at the time they arrived at the studio. That’s the reason Joe Bonamassa named the album Black Rock, because it was the first album ever recorded in the studio.”
Black Rock is part recording studio, part luxury villa, and its combination of world class recording technology nestled within idyllic surroundings and Instagram-worthy scenery have made it a favourite studio for artists as diverse as Justin Bieber, Björk, Bring Me The Horizon, Skrillex and One Republic – the latter which used the studio to record tracks for the band’s third studio album, Native.
This included one of the band's most successful singles, Counting Stars, which lead singer Ryan Tedder originally started writing for Beyoncé – later deciding that it didn’t sound like a song she would record. He finished the song in Santorini. Tedder said the band’s time at Black Rock was “by far the best studio experience of our lives”.
“Counting Stars was the first big hit recorded at the studio,” nods Kalimeris. “They were trying to come here for two years, but their plans kept changing. So finally, they came in 2013 and they recorded one of their best hits, Counting Stars and three or four more songs for Native.
"Counting Stars was a huge success and they did the whole production in the studio. Since then, we’ve stayed connected and they’re trying to find time to come back again for another session. Ryan Tedder is phenomenal; he is such a good producer, plus he’s a great guy.
"He spread the word about Black Rock everywhere. He’s said great things about the studio. Of course the sound and tech spec is very important for pop artists, but I think the vibe and the energy of the place is the most important,” he considers.