Some time last year I was speaking to  the father of one of my best friends, who recently retired from a long career as a sound and stage engineering (Four Seasons Centre, Princess of Wales Theatre, etc.). I was looking for advice on getting my career rolling. Unknown to me, in the early 70s he and a few friends partnered up to open a studio in Kensington Market. While this acquaintance no longer has any involvement, one of the original partners continues to operate out of the same space. Soon I was introduced to Vezi Tayeb who runs Kensington Sound lean, relying on word of mouth to bring in clients and focusing mostly on independent musicians. He seems content in this, and I wonder if his restrained sort of ambition is possibly to thank for this incredible longevity. I’m not aware of many (any?) other studios in Canada who’ve kept the lights on uninterrupted for this long. Not being the type to cyclically break the bank for the latest piece of over-hyped gear, this cautious approach is probably to thank for the studio’s resilience in the midst of a receding studio landscape. That being said, the previous four decades have been plenty of time to assemble a cache of really handsome equipment, like the one of a kind 24 channel Midas recording console, outboard processors, a collection of vintage microphones, guitar amplifiers and so on. Perhaps most valuable is the spacious and inviting live room. Sight lines within the room and into the control room are great and there’s enough floor space to record a typical 4 or 5 piece band live off the floor, affordably. A rarity, these days!