Come Thru is a weekly social media takeover series from HipHopCanada that puts a spotlight on the people and places moving the culture forward.
For the first three weeks of our new Come Thru series, we’re focusing on highlighting three different studios in Toronto whose teams are not only helping artists create music, but are also supporting their development, growth, and sustained success. This week, we showcase Sandbox Studios.
The studio brands itself as “the ultimate playground for Toronto’s creatives” and it’s definitely a place HipHopCanada and many others like to play, create, and connect. We shoot our The Narrative Of… and The Massacre series at Sandbox Studios and some notable Canadian and international artists have also rolled through their doors.
Located right at Lakeshore Blvd. East and Carlaw Avenue, Sandbox is easy to find and even easier to create in. I’m big on vibes, and in the creative world, catching the right vibe is everything. Over the last several shoots I’ve completed at Sandbox, I’ve gotten to know the team pretty well and their dynamic follows a trend I’ve noted in other successful squads – they move like a family, they hold growth (for themselves and their community) in high regard, and they are client-centred.
The Sandbox Studios Team (Photo: Maricel Joy Dicion)
In addition to offering clients a beautiful white canvas to play in for photo/video shoots and events, Sandbox Studios offers affordable recording studio sessions staffed by an engineer and producer to guide clients through the process. Budget hack: I strongly encourage any artist reading this to check out the studios’ Night Owl rate, $20 an hour from 12:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
Putting yourself out there as an artist or creative in a city working on shaking itself free of its cliquey and crab-in-the-bucket mentality can be challenging af. Stepping into the industry by recording your first track, completing your first photo shoot, or shooting the first episode of your web series can be daunting. Now, layer in stepping into an established place built by an established name in the business (shout out Rookz); intimidating. But the really dope thing about the Sandbox team is whether you have 10 followers or 100K, no streams or a million – you work there and leave there with the feeling that what you created matters.
Sandbox Studios team includes: Rookz, director; Sir KR Moore, Senior Engineer; Dymika, Graphic Designer; Kish, Executive Assistant; Samson, Office Admin; Trystan, Special Projects Manager.
For more information about Sandbox Studios, visit SandboxStudios.ca.
Sandbox Studios is located at 1 Carlaw Avenue in Toronto.
You can follow @SandboxStudios on Instagram.
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Written by Maricel Joy Dicion for HipHopCanada
Studio photography by Maricel Joy Dicion for HipHopCanada
