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Meet Rob Richardson of The Music Range in West Colfax

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Richardson.

Rob, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I founded and ran a cannabis-focused garden/hydroponics supply retail store in Boulder County for eight years. I sold that business in July 2018, but prior to selling, I knew I needed to find out what to do with the next chapter of my life. Burned out from a life in retail and the cutthroat slog the Colorado cannabis industry had become, I was looking for a big change. I am a lifelong amateur musician, intense lover of live music, a Hi-Fi dabbling audiophile and, at times, an obsessive vinyl collector. Music fills each day for me, whether playing on a stereo, streaming from a device or on the radio in my car while I also constantly have songs running inside my head. I’m essentially curating the soundtrack to my life at all times. Having just turned 40 prior to selling my previous business, I knew my next foot forward needed to be in the direction of where I could hang my hat, so to speak. I needed to do something I was passionate about, something that would inspire me for the long haul.

So I went directly to the core of who I am and what I love most, which is music, and I looked for an opportunity to carve my niche into the Denver music scene. I wanted to do something that didn’t require outside influence in my business plan and I wanted to do what I’ve learned I do best: take a business model, deconstruct it completely and then rebuild the concept how I would want it if I were the consumer. That is what I did with my retail shop in Boulder, which did well in the face of fierce competition, so it is my hope that fundamental concept proves successful here. From the 50,000 foot view, my vision was simple: I wanted to offer clean, stylish, quality-minded rehearsal spaces for musicians in an automated 24/7/365 facility. I wanted to essentially make a clubhouse for Denver’s musicians that was always open, never closes, and designed and operated from a perspective that is mature and caring. Now, what was only an idea spinning in my imagination two years ago, is a real, functioning business off West Colfax!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Oh, definitely not smooth. To start, I am not a wealthy developer, nor did I solicit investment money. I wanted to do this alone. So my wife and I got a bank loan, which required a healthy down payment, which took all of the proceeds from selling my hydro shop plus everything in our personal savings account. We have two small children, so this plan leveraged us in a way that creates anxiety and stress as a baseline. Then adding to that stress, we got caught up in the government shutdown drama from early 2019. I qualified for an SBA loan that was in process during the shutdown. The SBA is a government program, therefore everything was “up in the air” until the shutdown ended. Long story short, our government got back up and running prior to my loan closing date. But the psychological stress from those months of uncertainty, the potential of losing earnest money, etc. all took its toll. Then once we got inside the building to start making it resemble my vision, we were met with setbacks that cost us time and inflated our estimated budget. I had planned on opening in June 2019 and that eventually was pushed to late October 2019.

So, by the time we were open for business, we honestly felt pretty beat up and exhausted from stress. But when I had that much financially invested and two young children at home counting on me, there was no lying down. When we opened, it was a very slow burn getting clients in the door. But within a month or so I started to notice regulars and beginning in January 2020, our sales were on a steady rise. And then COVID-19 rears its ugly head. March 2020 was looking to be my best month by far but once Americans woke up to the reality of this pandemic, things ground to a halt on March 16th and then we were forced to close with the “stay at home” order on March 27th. To give you an idea how well March was going, it still resulted as the best month for sales even though half the month was a wash from COVID-19! That is both great and sad news. We were finally hitting our stride and then we, along with the rest of the world, got punched right in the nose.

Please tell us about The Music Range.
The Music Range is a collection of seven unique music rehearsal studios. Each room is different and they range in size. I offer a high-quality backline: microphones and a PA system, Fender tube amps, high-quality drum kits. The rooms are rented by the hour and are offered at affordable prices ($15-$25 per hour depending on the room). What sets us apart is the service is completely automated and truly a 24/7/365 facility regardless of weather. We use a high tech secure access system where all doors are controlled by an automated locking system, which is directly linked to our automated booking system. The way it works is a customer books a room via our online booking system and during the time of their booking, they are able to unlock the doors to the building and their room via an app on their phone. Once their booking is over, they no longer are able to unlock the doors with the app. So this takes away the need to have personnel present to give the customer access while it also keeps the building inaccessible from anyone other than customers. This also means as long as there is power and an internet connection, we’re open. Christmas, Thanksgiving, blizzard… there’s not a day we aren’t open!

What were you like growing up?
I guess I was a mischievous kid. I had an active imagination and when it wasn’t put to good use, it definitely got me in trouble. I loved riding my bike around with friends more than anything, especially school. School was a big bummer for me growing up. My dad always had a guitar lying around and at some point, I started seriously getting into music. I started spending money on cassette tapes (before CDs were a thing) and watching copious amounts of MTV (when they actually played music videos). Eventually, I started trying to make the sounds on MTV with my dad’s guitar. This progressed into self-teaching myself on the guitar. In high school, I fell in love with the Grateful Dead and eventually Phish. I spent the better part of my late teens chasing both bands and gaining a general obsession with seeing live music.

Pricing:

  • Small room – $15-$18 per hour
  • Medium Room – $20 per hour
  • Large rooms – $22-$25 per hour
  • We offer 6-Pack Bundles (bulk purchase six hours at once) at 20% off the rack rate

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
All photos courtesy of The Music Range, Inc.

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