Lee Mitchell and Alexandros Brits have set up Sort Rehearsal Rooms in the Baltic Triangle just outside the city centre with £50,000 backing from Merseyside Special Investment Fund. Tony McDonough reports
A professional rehearsal, recording and storage space for Liverpool musicians has been opened thanks to the £50,000 backing of Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF).
Lee Mitchell and Alexandros Brits have set up Sort Rehearsal Rooms in the Baltic Triangle just outside the city centre.
MSIF has provided two £25,000 Start-Up loans for the venture.
Both business owners have musical backgrounds – Lee is a musician and tour manager and Alex is a musician and producer.
Their vision was to create a space that could facilitate and support local musicians and artists by providing a professional rehearsal space at a price that was accessible to everyone.
They have created six, purpose-built soundproof pods, five of which work as rehearsal spaces and one pod which functions as a recording studio and teaching space.
The building features a flat loading ramp, making moving equipment an ease for the musicians and is the only studio in Liverpool that offers this facility.
Sort will also be directing its marketing budget towards investment in promoting unsigned bands instead of promoting the business.
Popular musicians such as Ed Sheeran and Two Door Cinema Club have heard about the plans and have posted about the venture on social media.
Lee Mitchell said: “Sort is a great space for musicians to utilise, and we’ve already received a good number of new clients and enquiries in the seven weeks we’ve been open.
“It’s great to provide a professional space for these bands and be a part of helping them to achieve everything they’re capable of.
“Without the loan from MSIF we simply wouldn’t have Sort Rehearsal Rooms. We’d reached our limit on our own funding.”
“The space we’ve created has been built ready for expansion. In the future we’re planning to build more pods.
Steve Hitchen, investment manager for MSIF, added: “Lee and Alex have introduced a unique product to Liverpool, something very fitting with the ever growing music scene of Liverpool.”