- #HGWORLD
- #HGCREATORS
- #HGEXPLORE
- #HGVOICES
- #HGSHOP
- CAREERS
- ABOUT US
- CONTACT US
With the burgeoning talent of guitarists, drummers, singers, and other musicians in Bombay, skill has rarely been a roadblock--but the lack of space certainly has. Musical talent that is left untapped is a such a colossal waste, and while crabby neighbours issue noise complaints and police officers shut down loud homes, we empathize with the plea of upcoming performers. So we turned our erstwhile support into slightly more fruitful research and created a compilation of of 11 beautiful and well-equipped jam rooms in Mumbai to harbour these talents or hobbyists. Scroll on for city spaces that support your musical calling. And don’t forget your earplugs if you decide to pay them a visit.
Where: Khar/ Juhu/ Link Road/ Oshiwara
3rd Step Music is one of the oldest jam rooms there is in Mumbai. Thanks to their close proximity to The Hive, they also provide equipment and convert their space into a jam room whenever they need. They are completely soundproof, which means you don’t have to worry about angry neighbours, and you can unleash the inner James Hetfield in you whenever you’ve made a booking.
Who’s Jammed Here: From the likes of Farhan Akhtar and Vishal Dadlani, to Anushka Manchanda -- the walls of this jam room have heard some seriously insane music.
Charges: Rs. 400 per hour will seem like a small price to pay after you experience the sounds of music legends resonating within the walls of this room.
Where: Thane
Benchmark Studios is a jam room-cum-recording studio that allows you to carry out background composition, dubbing and recording. What makes their jam room special is the fact that it is actually a live room, which has been acoustically treated and made sound proof, so that you get the same experience as performing live. It acts as a great platform for amateur bands because it gives them a chance to understand how many things, including floor-monitoring, works during a live performance. They also make sure they do a sound-check for every band that walks in, and the signals are saved in their system so that the next time they have to jam, they use the same signals to ready the band.
Who’s Jammed Here: It has been just about 40 days since they opened their doors, and Albatros, Sparsh, Koshish and Aditya Narayan have already left their marks here.
Charges: It’s Rs. 300 per hour to feel the music come alive in this phenomenal jam room.
Where: Malad
Located at Link road in Malad, Crescendo Practice Pads has quite a lot to offer their musicians. The are equipped with almost everything you will need for a great practice session— a basic five-piece drum set, a 100 watts Marshall and Roland CUBE 80 GX guitar amplifiers, a 50 watt bass guitar amplifier along with mics, keyboards, and guitar cables.
Crescendo is even open 24x7, something that many would consider a luxury, especially since most jam rooms shut by 10pm. So if you have have the unquenchable urge to jam at 4am on some idle Tuesday, you know where to go.
Who’s Jammed Here: Tochi Raina, Hamza Qazi, Jonita Gandhi, Rahul Hariharan, Clinton Cerejo, Shraddha Sharma and many, many more.
Charges: Feel the music all night long for only Rs. 250 per hour.
IV. Delta Jampad
Where: Malad
Delta Jampad is a great place to head after work with your band to jam, and you can go on until midnight. Their space is big enough to hold 10-12 musicians, and provides two Lavey amps, Hartke speakers, mixers and a Tama Imperialstar drum kit. As the sounds of contemporary music legends fill the air, this jam room in Malad teems of talent, and utmost determination.
Who’s Jammed Here: The likes of Suman Sreedhar, V. Selvaganesh, Rashid Ali, Sachin-Jigar, and Niladri Kumar.
Charges: They charge Rs. 300 per hour, but if you are a 4 piece or lesser band you will be charged only Rs. 250.
Where: Malad
This 24 hour jam pad will provide you with guitars, a Boutique Egnater Tweaker 88 ‘All-tube head’ with a Egnater 2x12 cabinet, backed by another Hartke GT100 guitar head with Laney 4x12 Cabinet, Tama made Imperialstar drum kit, a 12 input Stereo Mixer and, mics, to name a few. They also provide a live Jam recording facility, as well as multi-track recording, along with a video grab of the same.
Who’s Jammed Here: Papon and the EIC, Jeffrey Iqbal, Providence, Gutslit, Minerva Conduct, Stark Denial, Spiked Crib, Pyrophoric, Punk on Toast, The Lightyears, Echoes, Anand Bhaskar Collective, Ravi Iyer, Lindsay D’Mello, Kalyan Baruah, Sarang, Vocatronica, Ryan Viktor Project and, the SAM faculty -- these are the legends that have drowned Pickle Practice Pad with their sounds.
Charges: Rs. 300 per hour if you are booking up to three hours, or Rs. 250 per hour if you want to jam for four hours or more.
VI. PlugNPlay
Where: Goregaon
With an area of 300 sq. feet, PlugNPlay is a jam room, recording studio and a performance studio all rolled into one. They have two big Peavey monitors with a big mixer, guitar amps, a bass amp, 5 piece drum kit, and mics. Once you’re done jamming, you can also record your music, and even shoot a video while you’re at it.
Who’s Jammed Here: Bands like Sceptre and musicians like Mohit Chauhan, Arijit Singh, Ankur Tiwari, Isha Sharma, Ritu Pathak, Shruti Pathak have highlighted their skills here.
Charges: Jam your heart out for Rs. 300 per hour, and you will have to shell out Rs. 500 per hour to record.
VII. Promethean Audio
Where: Malad
Promethean Audio is a recording and music production facility that had two recording studios under their name — PrometheanONE and Studio B. They provide recording, mixing, mastering, dubbing and, sound design services, which is practically everything you want in a studio. Understanding the basic needs of a band, they have ensured that they are equipped with softwares like ProTools HD2 8, Logic 9, Ableton Live 8 Suite, mixers such as Neve 8816 + 8804 Summing, Yamaha 01V96, Preamps, converters. They have various microphones, synthesizers, controllers, guitars, a drum kit, amplifiers, as well as a keyboard.
Charges: Loosen the purse-strings for Rs. 300 an hour in this incredible jam room.
VIII. Sitara Studio
Where: Lower Parel
Sitara Studio is an independently run arts and cultural venue that offers both, a performance area for theatre, music, dance and art related activities and, a mezzanine level where artists can rehearse. However, recently, they changed their policy, and now they only allow bands who want to jam for a minimum of six hours. So, if you are planning to spend an entire Sunday just perfecting your music, this is a great place to be.
Who’s Jammed Here: Vir Das and All Star Jam have flooded this space with their incredible work.
Charges: Rs. 600 an hour seems like a bargain after you’ve had one look at this beautiful room.
Where: Andheri
This is a common hangout spot for Bollywood musicians and established metal bands, we’re told. Located in Andheri, they provide really high class equipment such as a Tama Imperialstar 5 piece drum kit, Roland D-Bass 200 Watts Bass Amp, Blackstar Amplifiers, and much more.
Who’s Jammed Here: With stars walking in and out of their studio, the only names they could remember were Neeti Mohan and Ash King.
Charges: If you want to play on their high-class instruments, you’ll have to shell out Rs. 450 per hour. And if your wallet feels a little light, you can always head to their branch at Borivali, where you will only be charged Rs. 250 per hour.
X. That Studio
Where: Sion
Since 2012, That Studio has provided musicians around Mumbai with the much-needed space to jam to their heart’s content, without having to worry about disturbing their neighbours. And if you wish to record your music or have an engineer help you with the mixing, they have that covered too. In fact, if you wish to shoot a video, they will help you with that as well. So, for all those musicians with phenomenal beats, drop into That Studio and give your dream a shot, cause they’re waiting for you.
Who’s Jammed Here: Karsh Karle, Bhayanak Maut, The Scribe, Devoid, Pritam, Blackstratblues, Salim Sulaiman, and Pentagram have let the walls of That Studio soak their sounds.
Charges: For those who play for the love of music, jamming will cost you Rs. 400 an hour. And if you wish to use their studio space, Rs. 2000 an hour is what they have in store for you.
Where: Chembur
That Other Studio, a smaller branch of That Studio, is located near the RCF Police Station in Chembur. This haven of music is actually a jam room, music store and music school, all rolled into one. While they focused on recording in their Sion branch, this space served as an exclusive jam room. They provide a Tama drum kit, Line 6 Guitar/Keyboard amps, Hartke Bass amp, Stranger Vocal amps, and PVi100 mics to anyone who wishes to spend a few hours exploring their musical callings here. And for those looking to learn, they provide guitar, keyboard, and drum classes as well. While you’re there, you can also pick up some guitar cables, strings, plectrums, and drum sticks.
Who‘s Jammed Here: The sounds of Pangea and Black have bathed these walls in their music.
Charges: Experience acoustics like never before for Rs. 300 per hour
Research By: Prateek Rajagopal
