Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher has been heading up a new venture the band have gotten involved in their hometown of Atlanta, GA. The group have purchased the former home of the Othello Event Hall in the city and are aiming to renovate it into a new practice space facility for bands as well as a possible recording studio. The group have chosen to name the facility “Ember City“—after their song of the same name. Speaking to Creative Loafing, Kelliher said when asked if the band will ever record there themselves:
“After we get rehearsal rooms established I do want to buildout a nice recording studio. Probably in the back, away from this building so it’s a little more separated. There’s a lot of land back there. But everything depends on how well we do financially — if we can keep this place up and running. I think we can do it, if it’s done right.
This is a pretty big thing to swallow. But I’ve looked at a lot of buildings in Atlanta. And when I walked in here I thought, this place has a lot of potential. It has really nice floors, and a really sturdy foundation. There’s a lot of land here, too. I like all of the greenery. You can go outside and roll around in the grass if you want to. The building itself doesn’t have any load-bearing walls. I could knock down every wall and just build rooms. That’s basically what we’re going to do. I’ve fallen in love with it, for sure.”
Kelliher hopes to have the facility up and running by the summer of this year. For more on it from him head to Creative Loafing. Meanwhile, it would appear that Mastodon vocalist/guitarist Brent Hinds has also gotten into the property game himself:
