A new business at Eastridge Mall will offer local artists access to a recording studio, photography and other multimedia services.
Nathaniel Jones opened Legacy Music in October on the second floor of the Eastridge Mall near Belk’s.
“We want to highlight more artists in the Carolinas and bring a family-friendly place for artists to collaborate,” said Jones, 49, who has been involved with music for more than 10 years.
The multimedia space offers two recording studios with a full vocal booth, a rehearsal room, podcasting services, and a classroom for music industry and business fundamental workshops.
The space also offers a 1,240 square-foot photography studio with an infinity wall made for easier photography and video editing along with a collaboration room in between studios to allow artists and producers to meet.
“I was very intentional about including the collaboration room to let people organically meet each other in between sessions and network,” Jones said of the room filled with Ping-Pong tables and lounge areas.
The business also has the ability to broadcast two radio streaming platforms, Raw 704 and WRDR, where artists receive pay for their music being streamed.
Artists can also use the same radio station equipment for their own podcasting services.
Costs for media services range between $60 to $100 an hour depending on the services requested. Most media services require a two-hour minimum for session bookings.
“We want to give people more reasons to come to the mall other than just to shop,” said Jones.
Jones grew up in a family where music was always present from his father’s deejay events to his aunt being a music executive in Atlanta.
He studied audio engineering at Elizabeth City State University and worked in Atlanta as an audio engineer, managing artists, doing club promotions and more for more than 10 years.
“When I was first starting out, I was frustrated because I wanted to do what I have here with Legacy Music and that frustration made me leave music for a while,” said Jones.
He always maintained a day job to feed his music dreams including working in real estate and property management.
“I feel really blessed to see how God has taken everything that I’ve touched to get me to this place,” said Jones. “I always knew I would get back into music but I wasn’t sure how.”
Jones left Atlanta and came to Gastonia in 2007 with his wife of 19 years, Teneia, to manage the Eastridge Mall and be closer to family.
“It wasn’t until my son, who was 9 at the time, told me he wanted to do music that I saw how God was bringing it back into my life,” said Jones.
Jones was looking for studio spaces for his son in the Gastonia area when staff with Eastridge mall told him about the studio space.
“It wasn’t until I walked into the space that I got the vision to create studios since we were spending so much on studios already, why not own one?” said Jones. “Then, I just thought about everything he would need and how it could become a service to others.”
Jones began building the studio 11 months ago in hopes to create a safe, family-friendly environment for young and older artists.
His son, Prince Navon, now 16, and his other two children, Idrius and Ghaliyah, also participate in creative arts and music at the studio.
“I couldn’t do this without my family and the amazing teams I have around me,” said Jones.
Legacy Music operates from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day and by appointment only after mall hours.
Reach Janiya Winchester at 704-869-1842 or jwinchester@gannett.com