By Karl Quinn
A Melbourne recording studio that has been used by many of Australia’s leading musicians has been destroyed by a suspicious fire.
The blaze that took out Head Gap Recording Studios in Dundas Street, Preston, also destroyed Shub Guitars, a workshop in the same building, in which Jon Shub crafts unique custom-made electric instruments.
Finn Keane (left) and Rohan Sforcina, whose business Head Gap Recording Studios was destroyed in a blaze on Friday morning.Credit: Instagram/headgap
Run by Finn Keane and Rohan Sforcina, Head Gap has won multiple ARIA and Music Victoria awards for its work with the likes of Courtney Barnett, Paul Kelly, Emma Donovan, Jeff Lang, Ashley Naylor, RVG, the Dirty Three, Telenova and many others.
Nine fire trucks and 50 firefighters tackled the blaze early on Friday morning.
Fire Rescue Victoria said crews arrived at the scene within six minutes to find one factory well alight and the blaze spreading to adjoining buildings.
“The cause of the fire is not yet known but it will be investigated by FRV specialists in conjunction with Victoria Police,” it said.
A distressed Shub, whose guitars take months to make, posted on Instagram on Saturday.
“I don’t know where to start,” he wrote. “Woke up to a phone call at 3.50am from the police saying someone had intentionally torched the burger shop next door. It quickly spread and everything is gone.”
A neighbouring Royal Stacks burger outlet was also destroyed.
“I thought our little compound was safe but wasn’t counting on arson,” wrote Shub. “I can stomach losing 20 years of my tools, parts and timber, but knowing I had a number of your instruments in the racks absolutely devastates me … I plan to be back in business, in some way, as soon as I can. For now I’m just f---ing heartbroken.”
This image of the fire was posted to the Darebin Community Noticeboard.Credit: Facebook
A gofundme page established for Shub Guitars on Saturday had by lunchtime on Sunday slightly exceeded its $40,000 target. A separate page for Head Gap was sitting just under the same target. Musicians including Angie McMahon, Laura Imbruglia and Kim Salmon were among the hundreds of donors pledging support to the two businesses.
“We really appreciate the support and we’re so touched by the community outreach,” Head Gap said on Sunday. “We’re really feeling the love from the amazing Australian music community.”
The Royal Stacks outlet destroyed in the fire is one of 10 in the rapidly expanding chain created by entrepreneur Dani Zeini. However, it was operated by a franchisee, Rashpal Singh.
Singh indicated in September that he was planning to move overseas and was looking to sell the business. On Saturday, he posted an image of the blaze to Facebook.
“It is with a heavy heart I would like to share the news that my burger shop (Dundas Street Preston) has tragically been destroyed in a fire purposely [lit] by someone unknown last night,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, this means I will no longer be able to serve our wonderful community.”
Victoria Police said an investigation into the suspicious fire was ongoing.
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