Hen House Studio
Encyclopedia
Hen House Studios an independent record label, and documentary film/video production company located in Venice Beach, California was founded in 2001 by composer and film director Harlan Steinberger and his long time friend and video producer and editor Tucker Stilley. These two collaborative artists set up Hen House Studios to produce an affordable outlet for bands, the Spoken Word
and other forms of creative genre. This recording Studio has grown rapidly producing many cds & videos.
Director Harlan Steinberger describes this time as extremely fruitful as there was no exchange of money between Hen House and the musicians who recorded there. “What we were left with was a pressure free, extremely creative environment that led to not only great performances but to one heck of a good time.”
Today, Hen House Studios no longer records bands for free and but still concentrates on developing musicians, making music and videos and its ever-evolving music label.
Ray Manzarek
has composed for Hen House label improvisational music collaborating with the Spoken Words of poet Michael C. Ford
Another musician from The Doors
drummer John Densmore
also done collaborative work under the Hen House label. Hen House Studio produced a cd of Native American singer and actor Floyd Red Crow Westerman
titled “Floyd Red Crow Westerman – A Tribute to Johnny Cash” won the prestigious “Native American Music Award”.. After a long hiatus Maria Vidal
an internationally renowned artist, whose hit single "Body Rock" of the Billboard hit song cut a 2009 Hen House cd titled "Living in Radical Radiance".
’s cd Going Down the River in a Hayloft Coffin and Ellyn Maybe’s cd .
This recording studio also has produced anthologized cds with a group of several voices poets on a particular subject such as baseball poetry. Such voices included actor and poet Harry Northup
, Fred Voss, and Joan Jobe Smith.
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
and other forms of creative genre. This recording Studio has grown rapidly producing many cds & videos.
The Hen House History
The Studio was built from what was originally a hen house. During the first five years of the company’s existence, Hen House recorded bands for free in the exchange for the right to film them. (The Hen House Experience)Director Harlan Steinberger describes this time as extremely fruitful as there was no exchange of money between Hen House and the musicians who recorded there. “What we were left with was a pressure free, extremely creative environment that led to not only great performances but to one heck of a good time.”
Today, Hen House Studios no longer records bands for free and but still concentrates on developing musicians, making music and videos and its ever-evolving music label.
Hen House labeled musicians
Former Keyboardist from The DoorsThe Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
has composed for Hen House label improvisational music collaborating with the Spoken Words of poet Michael C. Ford
Michael C. Ford
Michael C. Ford is a poet, playwright, editor and recording artist.-Bio:Ford in Chicago, Illinois and moved with his parents to Pasadena, California toward the end of World War II. Between 1974 and 1977 he co-edited a prose/poetry journal called The Sunset Palms Hotel...
Another musician from The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
drummer John Densmore
John Densmore
John Paul Densmore is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer of the rock group The Doors.-Early life and The Doors:Born in Los Angeles, Densmore attended Santa Monica City College and Cal...
also done collaborative work under the Hen House label. Hen House Studio produced a cd of Native American singer and actor Floyd Red Crow Westerman
Floyd Red Crow Westerman
Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman, also known as Kanghi Duta was a Sioux musician, political activist and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life, he became a leading actor depicting Native Americans in American films and television. He is sometimes credited simply...
titled “Floyd Red Crow Westerman – A Tribute to Johnny Cash” won the prestigious “Native American Music Award”.. After a long hiatus Maria Vidal
Maria Vidal
Maria Vidal is an American singer who had one hit single with the song, "Body Rock" in 1984; it also reached #8 on the US dance charts, and #11 in the UK.Vidal was originally a member of the band, Desmond Child & Rouge, but went solo with a self-titled debut album...
an internationally renowned artist, whose hit single "Body Rock" of the Billboard hit song cut a 2009 Hen House cd titled "Living in Radical Radiance".
Hen House labeled Spoken Word artists
Other poets than the aforementioned Michael C. Ford that the Hen House Studio producer & composer Harlan produced and composed his own original score for were poets Robert PetersRobert Peters
Robert Louis Peters is a poet, critic, scholar, playwright, editor, and actor born in an impoverished rural area of northern Wisconsin in 1924. He holds a Ph.D in Victorian literature. His poetry career began in 1967 when his young son Richard died unexpectedly of spinal meningitis...
’s cd Going Down the River in a Hayloft Coffin and Ellyn Maybe’s cd .
This recording studio also has produced anthologized cds with a group of several voices poets on a particular subject such as baseball poetry. Such voices included actor and poet Harry Northup
Harry Northup
-Life and career:Northup was born in Amarillo, Texas. He lived in seventeen places by the time he was seventeen, but mostly lived in Sidney, Nebraska, where he graduated from high-school in 1958. From 1958 to 1961, he served in the United States Navy, where he attained the rank of Second Class...
, Fred Voss, and Joan Jobe Smith.