Artistic Palace: bespoke design with musicians in mind

Artistic Palace is a space designed from the ground up to meet the needs of modern musicians. Situated in Paris’ 18th arrondissement, not far from the famous artistic quarter of Montmartre, the studio’s founder Pierre Guimard, opted to build the facility as a number of great sounding, smaller rooms with great acoustics. His thinking? That it would appeal to musicians who needed a great sounding space to plug their laptops into.

With 14 high-end studios ranging from 15 to 80m2, the Artistic Palace complex can adapt to the needs of artists looking to compose, record, mix, film, showcase, playback or host promo events.

We spoke to Pierre to understand his vision for Artistic Palace and hear about some of the studio’s highlights since it opened its doors.

How did Artistic Palace come to be?

Pierre Guimard: Artistic Palace is a project that I’d had in mind for many years. Just after the pandemic, and after a lot of reflection, I decided to put energy into making it happen. Finding a place to build the studios was the first step. Then, it was a case of working on financing, designing and building. It took a year of construction and development, and getting the team and the gear together.

What was your vision?

PG: I come from a production background, but more on the artistic rather than technical side. I’ve been producing, composing and arranging for artists and bands for almost 20 years now. I’d also had two previous experiences of building or creating recording studios, having refurbished or redesigned existing studios. The first was a single studio in Paris’ 18th district, and the second was the much bigger Les Studios Saint Germain. I actually saved Les Studios Saint Germain from being shut down and replaced by a sports complex. I refurbished and ran it with some friends. Artistic Palace is the culmination of all of that. It’s the first time I’ve created something from scratch – and it’s twice the size of Les Studios Saint Germain. 

I also run a label on the side, developing different types of artists. I’m really into creation and business.

What specifically did you take from those previous experiences to inform Artistic Palace?

PG: I think the main thing is that I have sized the studio differently, compared to the others. I wanted to have more rooms but of smaller size. I’ve found that, these days, people work in groups of two or three with a computer and a bit of gear – a very good pre-compressor, a mic, that’s it. In the end, I built 14 rooms that could accommodate speakers, a computer and some writers. So I bet against the type of studio that was popular in the 60s and 70s, with big rooms, and instead focused on a studio that suited modern music, which is produced more with computers. We have one big studio where you can use acoustic instruments like drums and a piano, and the rest are more for working with a computer. 

Artists are coming with their own computers, most of the time. They plug into the studio speakers. What I provide is a nice space that sounds very good, with access to a nice lounge and kitchen area where they can meet other people. This is really a place where people can connect and work together. Some musicians know each other from Instagram but not real life – so this is where they can come and meet.

What have been the highlights since opening your doors?

PG: The first was a writing camp organised by Sony Music France during Paris Fashion Week. They rented all the rooms and put stations in each one. So it was 14 studios for six days and nights. Lots of great artists came and it was really special. 

Then we had Nigerian artist Rema come and make a video for his hit Calm Down for Deezer. The video’s really cool, and has had a lot of views. He was the first international artist we had here. After that, we’ve had people like Kid Cudi, David Guetta, Central Cee, and lots of big French artists.

What’s coming up on the horizon?

PG: Sony is hosting writing camps with us on an annual basis, and they’re going to do something really big with us in June. We also have a special beat making project with a famous sports brand around the Olympic Games – it’ll mean a lot of bookings across two months. We are the only recording facility in Paris that can handle the amount of sessions and events that we do. So we are unique in that way.

For more info on Artistic Palace, click here.

For enquiries, email bookings@miloco.co.uk