Those in the music industry share a special bond and have been known to help a fellow musician during times of tragedy. Such is the case of Glen Stern, who worked endlessly to help fellow artists, music fanatics, friends, those who wished to define their craft. Spending the last 10 years buying the perfect equipment and the perfect space to share empowerment and inspiration and music……
Then suddenly all of it was gone….in a blaze of fire and destruction the “EmpowerLogic Studio” vanished taking with it everything Glen owned….Hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment, countless memories, and immeasurable dreams, all turning to ashes, destroying Glen’s vision….
On June 28th the music community will get together featuring Pink Floyd’s Scott Page and Jane’s Addiction’s Stephen Perkins in an attempt to raise money and salvage the life of Glen Stern and all those he still wishes to help fulfill their destinies. The money raised will be used to replace the contents of his residence, office and studio so that the music community can continue to thrive.
“Glen is a treasure to our music community always fighting for the independent artist and taking care of them. He’s one of the kindest persons that I have ever known. This event is all about supporting our brother who has always been there for us”….Scott Page, Pink Floyd
I spoke with the very emotional Glen Stern….and here is his story….
Glen, tell me what happened in your own words?
We built an amazing place. It’s a community place for a lot of musicians. We were never about money, we werel all about the vibe, about art, empowering each other, to create work, to create music, to create content and different things. What happened as far as the story goes, I went to sleep and about 20 minutes into my sleep I smelled smoke. I got up, I thought it was the heater, but it wasn’t. I thought it was my computer, but I looked at that and it wasn’t that. I went into the studio, and the studio was a blazing fire. I got my girlfriend and my dogs out of the house and waited for the fire department. They couldn’t go in right away because it was too smokey so they had to put holes in the roof. So it took them a while. All of my equipment was destroyed. All of the artwork was destroyed. We must have lost $30,000 in artwork, a lot of it irreplaceable. I had a pencil drawing of Elvis, it was all about music. We lost all of our equipment, drums, soundboards, a B3, a bass amp from the 60s, every bass guys dream. Of course, they thought I did it for a minute so I had to go through that. It’s been three weeks since it happened and we have a go fund me thing going on and we did an event in San Clemente which was very successful with my Orange County music family and then the 28th we will have one in the House of Blues where I work a lot, and book shows. The Fourth of July we’re going to do another one in Huntington Beach and then we’re going to do one on August 9 at the Sawdust Festival in Laguna.
You play the drums, correct?
I do.
You must have had a lot of memories destroyed?
Oh yeah. There was my dad’s clothes, I have a long history. My uncle was an entertainment lawyer and my father changed the way the industry worked. I lost a Johnny Carson cowboy hat…I did, there was a lot of things. But more importantly I really regret, I was custodian to many cool things. I had people’s artwork there that I was responsible for. There was some equipment there that I was responsible for. I let a lot of people down. Although it was an accident it was still my responsibility, it was still under my watch.
How much in equipment and items do you think you lost?
$250,000.00 and ten years. The lights alone were $25,000, the amps alone were $8000, The B3 was $15,000. The grand piano is $10,000, the soundboard is $8000. Those were the big ones. Then there was the artwork worth $30,000, the furniture, the stands, the rugs, the percussion, the digital piano, all the acoustic foam…..you’ve seen the pictures.
Where are you living now?
I live with my girlfriend in her apartment. I am trying to get back into that place although it’s up in the air. It’s a good place for what we do. We are trying to raise about $50,000 bucks which is like the bare minimum. We will run out of that second day.
From what I understand you help a lot of people in the music industry.
Everyday.
How did you get started doing all this?
It came from friendship. I was in the label business before the music business. So most of my music guys are from just being friends. I wasn’t really in music. Then all of a sudden I got a drum set and I started calling my friends to come play. That’s how it kind of started. So we got kicked out of the house because of the noise and I found a 1500 square-foot spot in Santa Ana, and we built that really pretty and people came to hang out and they stayed. This is our third place. It also started in a bar about three years ago when the bartender friend of mine said he needed music by Thursday night. I had a jam at my studio on Thursday night and I just moved the jam to the bar. They paid me to do the jam. I did it every week for two years. Then from that I made a lot of fans and I’ve been a member of The House of Blues for 20 years. Once they moved to Anaheim, I got the job of booking their music. That was for the restaurant and I did about 30 shows a month for them. Then the management switched and it wasn’t fun anymore so I don’t do that anymore. A lot of the people that play at their place came from me.
I’m close to a lot of influential people in music like Scott Page. I’m friends with the whole Polynesian community, I’m connected as deep as it can go. That’s a big thing for me. And I always help people get work. I work with Ray Goran a 19 year old prodigy. He’s on fire and about to blow up. I just network with people and introduce them. People use my name to book recording studios and they get better love. It’s never about money, I’m about experience. I changed my life, I was a label guy for 30 years. I was a label guy for clothing and then it all moved offshore and I had to reinvent myself. I reinvested myself in music. I put myself in a position to help.
I’m the kid in every group. I’m the greenest one. I’m the least experienced, I’m the dumbest, I’m the least talented. I’m all those things in every circle. But that’s what I love. I love it. You can ask Scott how much my drums have improved because of people like him. I had this place and it was paid for. It was perfectly set up and built on a membership fee which supported the place so I could create content. I went and found 20 weekend warriors like me that like to play and make noise and don’t really have an opportunity anywhere else. I gave them this place and they pay a monthly fee which supports the place so I can freely and independently and cost effectively create content. So I go to bed on May 30 and wake up to the place on fire. This has been a pretty traumatic thing for me. I’ve never really had anything like this happen. My father took his life when I was 26 and I watched my best friends dog get run over, then this. This is bad, really bad,
I feel like this will turn out ok for you though.
Me too. I just posted on Facebook yesterday, “tragedy is a horrific part of life but you will find the heroes and you will lose the zeros.” That’s what’s happening. People are showing up. It’s amazing and I’ve never had that. I’m 51 years old and they never had that. I was a garment guy and my only friends were my clients. I went to 17 schools, I was never anywhere, I never had Community, I never had family, I never had any of that. The fact that I do, if tomorrow is my last day, I’m good.
Glen Stern is one of the good guys. Please visit his Go Fund Me page or join him, Scott Page, Stephen Perkins and some of the best musicians on the planet. Check out the event on Facebook and please buy a ticket…..
Contribute to the EmpowerLogic Studio Fire Go Fund Me Account here:
https://www.gofundme.com/empowerlogic-studio
The Fire Benefit takes place on Friday June 28th, 2019 at the House of Blues Foundation Room located at 400 W. Disney Way, Anaheim, California, 92802. There will be a silent auction, $50.00 admission includes one drink. Tickets are available at http://empowerlogicstudio.com/eventpasses/
We come together to aid a cause..for a place and people dear to our hearts…EmpowerLogic Studio burnt down the morning of May 30th. All instruments, artwork, furniture, office and personal belongings were lost……Artist Inspired