| Le Studio | |
| Opened: | 1972 |
| Closed: | 2003 |
| Demolished: | 2020 |
| Address: | Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada |
Le Studio (later renamed Studio Morin Heights) was a residential recording studio in the Laurentian Mountains near the town of Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada. Built in 1972 by recording engineer and producer André Perry, along with his wife Yaël Brandeis and Nick Blagona, the studio was seen as one of the top recording venues in North America during its existence, renowned for its retreat-like location and state-of-the-art equipment.[1] Numerous notable Canadian and international artists recorded and stayed at Le Studio, including Rush (most notably),[2] The Police, David Bowie, the Bee Gees, Cat Stevens, April Wine, Nazareth, Queensrÿche, and Celine Dion. Perry described the facility as "like the United Nations. I had people from London, New York, Quebec, all over the world."
Originally having used a Trident A Range recording console, Le Studio then became one of the earliest studios to install a Solid State Logic SSL 4000B mixing console and RADAR digital recording equipment.[3] Perry sold the studio to new owners in 1988, and it remained active for fifteen years before its closure in 2003, after which it was neglected and fell into disrepair.[4] On 11 August 2017, the building was partially destroyed by "a suspicious" fire.[5] What remained of the complex was demolished in 2020,[6] and in 2021, the entire property was cleared and put up for sale for $850,000.
André Perry gained fame as a recording engineer working for John Lennon, and in the early 1970s was looking to expand his studio, built in a downtown Montreal church. He moved to the remote town of Morin-Heights, where he owned a lake, and built his studio there,[3] with his wife Yaël Brandeis. The idea was to give recording artists a venue where they could record and live in a creative atmosphere, near the Laurentian Mountains.[2] The Bee Gees, who recorded portions of Children of the World (1976) at Le Studio, stayed for five months.[7] Initially it included a guesthouse about a half-hour's drive away, but it was accidentally burned down by Roy Thomas Baker and Ian Hunter, according to studio designer and engineer Nick Blagona. A new house across the lake was later acquired and expanded.[7]
By the early 1980s, Le Studio gained a reputation as a premier recording venue after Rush, The Police, David Bowie, and April Wine recorded albums there. The studio was particularly associated with Rush, even being called their own "Abbey Road"; the band made seven studio albums there between 1979 and 1993 during "the peak and the end" of the Terry Brown era, the albums being Permanent Waves (1980), Moving Pictures