How The Backdoor Studio Started Out
During the 2014-2015 school year, several concepts to fill the vacant space were brainstormed by students including additional food services, a satellite SDSU Bookstore, and a shipping/mailing/phone store and more. The A.S. President at the time, J. Cole, brought the concept of The Backdoor Studio forward based on his involvement with the Aztec Music Group. This concept was the most intriguing due to its uniqueness to the Aztec Student Union and that other proposed options were set to be included in the now completed South Campus Plaza.
During the 2015-2016 school year, the A.S. Board of Directors asked that The Backdoor Studio concept be explored further. Campus experts were identified to help serve as consultants to the project:
- Chris Warren is from the School of Music and Dance where he teaches recording and music technology. His expertise in designing and building recording studios will be valuable in guiding the audio recording and editing aspects of The Backdoor Studio.
- Ena Newell, who directs the production department at KPBS, was asked to help guide the video recording and editing aspect of the Media Studio. Ena recently received an Emmy for her part in the KPBS News Special, Evening Edition Special – Remembering The Fall of Saigon. She has a vast background in production including live stage, live TV, and recorded projects will be highly valued on this project.
Both Chris and Ena have toured the proposed The Backdoor Studio space have agreed that it will be a valuable added resource on the SDSU campus. Once it was determined that this was a viable and feasible service to be added to the Aztec Student Union, Platt/Whitelaw Architects were brought in to design the space and Idibri was hired as the acoustics consultants. Shortly thereafter, TechArts Creative was hired to design and install the audio-visual components within The Backdoor Studio.
