The Harmonie Park area in downtown Detroit, a hot spot for art, culture and music, can add another claim to that list — music production and live broadcasts. UDetroit Cafe an innovative club in the city’s cultural epicenter, is a one-stop-shop for music production and broadcast all under one roof and resulting in the most technically comprehensive music experiences in Detroit
The venue is a bar, a lounge, a recording studio and a broadcasting base for local stations — in short it is the ultimate in nightclubs. Established and emerging artists frequent the saloon-style bar and restaurant to enjoy the laid-back atmosphere on the first floor, beats and VIP treatment on the second floor and the state-of-the-art Harmonie Park recording studio on the third floor.
Rolling out spoke with proprietor Brian Pastoria about the club and the venue. –roz edward
Describe the club’s concept.
We have a media cafe, that is what we’ve coined it, and basically we do Internet TV webcasting and broadcasting all about Detroit music, sports and culture and what’s happening here. It’s like a social media MTV type of thing; you can see it if on Ustream or UDetroit.tv or you can listen to it on any smartphone on the Tune-in application
What inspired the media cafe?
There’s always been this discussion about Internet radio and Web TV. … If we could discover new talent and had a vehicle to put it out and let people hear it [would make] it really accessible from any computer and mobile phone. It’s a great opportunity to create a model that can be done in other cities as well. It’s part of the UCity Network and you can have a UNashville, UChicago, UNew York … we could connect music cities together and be all about new music discovery.
Which artists have recorded here?
We’ve worked with Aretha Franklin, LL Cool J, Eminem … a lot of different vocal artists doing music production and working with people on their albums and their projects. We also do music for commercials and advertising here. It’s all about the converging of bands and brands in the entertainment industry.
What’s your musical background?
My brother Mark and I were in a couple of bands here in Detroit called the Adrenalin and then BT Drive … We were signed to Capital Records and MCA. We got a lot of great experience opening for bands like Aerosmith, 38 Special, Cheap Tricks and Bob Seger.
