For a band, rehearsal is where everything starts to come together.
Songs get pulled apart and rebuilt, new ideas take shape and the moments that eventually end up on stage often begin in a room with a few amplifiers turned up and everyone trying to hear each other.
For thousands of Melbourne musicians, that room has been Hydra Rehearsal Studios.
Based at 18 Duffy Street in Burwood, Hydra has been part of Melbourne’s music community since 2006. What began with five rehearsal rooms has grown into a ten room facility designed around giving bands and musicians somewhere practical, properly equipped and affordable to work on their music.
The current facility opened in 2008 and each of its ten rooms measures 30 square metres. The rooms are acoustically engineered, soundproofed, air conditioned and ventilated, with each one fitted with a 2400 watt PA system, HK Audio speakers, a Mackie or Yamaha mixing desk, Yamaha foldback, three Sennheiser microphones and microphone stands.
Drum kits, guitar amps, bass amps and other backline equipment are also available for hire, while the studio provides parking and easy load in for bands bringing their own gear.
Then there is the pricing.
Hydra currently offers solo weekday daytime sessions from $20 for one hour, with drum kit hire available for $30. Other weekday daytime bookings are $40.
Evening and weekend rates vary according to the number of people and the session time. Monday and Tuesday night sessions start at $54 for a solo musician or duo, while bands of four or more are $96. Wednesday and Thursday night sessions are $78 for solo, duo or trio bookings and $96 for bands of four or more.
Friday night and Saturday and Sunday daytime sessions start at $36 for a solo musician, while Saturday and Sunday night bookings are a flat $60 for all booking types.
Hydra also currently offers a 25 percent discount for people under 25, pensioners, unemployed people and people studying music at university or TAFE, subject to the studio’s conditions.
The important thing to know is that Hydra’s listed room hire prices are flat session rates rather than hourly rates.
For drummers, the Drum Den offers solo sessions from $20 for one hour, with drum kit hire available for $30 and additional hours available for $5.
But the story behind Hydra is just as interesting as the rooms themselves.
The studio is owned by Peter, a Victorian College of the Arts music graduate whose career has taken him through performing, teaching, composing, conducting, music direction and band management.
Peter spent 14 years as an instrumental and classroom music teacher and has played in 11 bands. He was also a founding member of Martin Martini & The Bone Palace Orchestra, a group that played with artists including Paul Kelly and Tripod and featured guests including Tim Minchin, Harry Angus and Eddie Perfect.
The group received support from Triple J and performed at venues and events including the Sydney Opera House Studio, Soho Theatre in London, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Brisbane Powerhouse and Woodford Festival.
That experience has helped shape Hydra into something more than somewhere to hire a room.
Through its Band Aid service, Hydra assists customers with finding recording studios, sound engineers, gigs, band line ups and media and advertising services.
The studio also shares current industry information and contacts with its customers and has recommended, secured and organised gigs for musicians who use the facility. Hydra has also organised, staged and sponsored its own gigs and music events.
It is a useful extension of the rehearsal room.
A band can walk through the doors needing somewhere to practise, but the people behind the business understand that rehearsal is only one part of being a working musician.
That connection between the rehearsal room and the wider music industry is particularly relevant in Melbourne, a city with a long history of producing artists and bands across almost every genre.
For musicians who have ever arrived at rehearsal and realised they forgot a cable, Hydra also keeps a supply of leads, straps, power boards and other accessories available to borrow.
There is something fitting about a rehearsal studio that has survived and evolved alongside Melbourne’s music scene for two decades.
The industry has changed. The way artists release music has changed. The way bands promote themselves has changed.
But the basic need has not.
Musicians still need somewhere to turn up, plug in, play loudly and figure things out.
For a new band preparing for its first show, an established act working towards a tour, or a solo musician looking for somewhere to develop new material, Hydra Rehearsal Studios offers a space built specifically for that purpose.
Twenty years after opening its first rooms in Burwood, Hydra continues to provide a place for Melbourne musicians to get together and make some noise.
And sometimes, that is where the next great band starts.
Hydra Rehearsal Studios
18 Duffy Street
Burwood VIC 3125
Bookings: 0417 000 397 via text
Phone: (03) 9038 8101
Email: hydrastudios@bigpond.com
Current rehearsal prices: From $20, with flat session rates varying according to session time and group size.
