Mike Mattingly, owner of Perfect Timing Entertainment, is not looking to get rich off of someone else’s talent.
The 40-year-old rents out a Garfield rehearsal space and recording studio to local bands and artists for a fraction of the cost that competing recording studios charge. Mattingly says he charges only what is necessary in order to “keep the lights on.” Rehearsal time is rented at $10 an hour, and recording time is $20 an hour.
“My goal was to make [recording an album] affordable to anybody,” he says.
Perfect Timing Entertainment owner Mike Mattingly
The studio is located in a historic home on the corner of 7th and Pierce streets, offering a unique, warm recording sound all its own to enhance music of every type.
“I don’t care what genre it is, as long as it’s real,” Mattingly says about the types of artists and acts he sees coming through the studio.
But, the beautiful, old home was not originally meant to be a recording studio, accordingly to Mattingly, who grew up a self-proclaimed “army brat,” spending his youth on a base in Germany and picking up drumming at the age of 12. His father, Tom, and his mother, Alice, opened an antique store in the States because of Alice’s love for old treasures.
Mattingly’s love for music, combined with his mother’s passion for restoring antiquities, led the family to purchase the condemned buildings at the intersection. His plan was to restore the buildings for commercial purposes with the help of the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office, which agreed to provide the family with grants to help them on the project.
The building currently housing Perfect Timing Entertainment was originally meant to be a pub and restaurant, with a patio dining area and an outdoor performing space. The recording studio was intended for the carriage house behind the home; one of only 20 original carriage houses left in Downtown Phoenix.
Inside the studio
“We wanted to create a space like Heritage Square, for the arts,” says Mattingly, who envisioned art show openings and charity concert events in the space.
But, after 10 years of struggling to meet city codes and repeated denials for funding at every turn, Mattingly now sees his dream as nearly impossible to achieve.
Mattingly’s restaurant was open for only a month before the city told him to shut down due to violations of several city codes, including the lack of a paved parking lot. There are several other businesses without problems within walking distance of Mattingly’s properties that lack paved parking lots.
Mattingly says it’s frustrating because, while he has been struggling with the city for 10 years, he has watched multiple businesses open their doors and be given the time to grow, without meeting every single code he has been told he must meet before he can open. He wants to keep Perfect Timing open as long as he can, but at this point, he says that moving to a new location is almost inevitable.
He says that he’s still in love with Downtown Phoenix, but the whole situation has made him bitter.
When Mattingly’s father died, his mother was forced to refinance the property, and though he has finally agreed to grants that would pay for the completion of the projects, Mattingly has encountered several more obstacles that prohibited him from moving forward. The Historic Preservation Office agreed to a grant of $151,000 for the remodel of the building, but Mattingly says he has received bids from construction companies in excess of $400,000.
The lenders that refinanced the property are also disinclined to grant remodeling permissions, so the project is on hold indefinitely. Mattingly would have to find a second lender willing to refinance the property and allow him to continue with the restoration, and he would need a construction team willing to work within his budget.
Mattingly says the entire process has been a nightmare. He has poured his life savings into the project and has slowly watched his dream disappear.
“It would take a miracle to finish this project now,” he confesses.
It is more likely that he will have to sell the property and move Perfect Timing Entertainment to a new location in Downtown Phoenix, but he worries about what will become of the condemned buildings if they are not restored.
“My hope is that, if I can’t finish this project, then someone else will,” he says. “I’d hate to see this area turn into a metal strip mall.”
Mike wants to remain working in the Downtown Phoenix area, despite his problems with the city, because he loves the culture and the people.
“All this hasn’t changed the fact that I love Downtown,” he says, adding that, while embittered with the city’s bureaucratic process, the city itself is still home to him. For Mike, the most important thing is maintaining the ability to help others through the arts.
“It’s never been about me,” he says. “It’s bigger than me.”
Perfect Timing Entertainment is located at 617 N. 7th St. in Garfield. Call 623.206.5097 or reserve studio time online.
