Meet The Owner of a Recording Studio

Full Moon Studio, located at 10 School Street, has been a Watkinsville mainstay for many years.  The studio's client list is  long and impressive, with some of the southeast's top musicians gracing our community in the process of recording there.

Recently Charlie Garrett took over the studio and has been busy with his newly acquired gem, upgrading equipment, booking sessions  and serving Oconee's future rock stars with the continuation and expansion of the Oconee School Of Rock.  My husband, Michael, and I are friends with Charlie.

Here's Charlie's take on owning a business in Oconee County:

Patch:  When did you start your business?

Charlie: I bought Full Moon Studio and the Oconee School of Rock in August of 2009 from the original owner, Mark Smith. He started the studio in 1991 and I believe the School of Rock was started in 2004.

Patch:  What interested you about the business?

Charlie: Music has always been my first love.   It just felt like a natural fit.   I recorded my first album there and I had been teaching guitar lessons for Mark at the school for about 2 years before I bought the place.  There had been some discussion about me buying the place in early 2008, but at the time I was still in school and I wasn't totally sold on the whole thing.   Owning your own business is such a challenge, especially right now, not to mention a huge financial risk. However, after months of soul searching,  I eventually decided that I wanted to take that risk. 

Patch: What is your favorite thing about Full Moon Studio?

Charlie:  On a bad day I'm still getting to do what I love and make a living at it. I don't think the majority of people can say that.

Patch:  What is most challenging about running a studio?

Charlie: Studio work is very spotty. Some months we are slammed and others there's not much going on.  This is pretty normal though.  Money management is very important because of this.  As far as the School of Rock goes, trying to keep everyone happy can be a challenge.   Anytime you provide a service to a large amount of people,  some aren't going to see eye to eye with all of your policies. The best I can do is just make sure that parents know what our policies are before they sign up a child for lessons. There have been times when I've spent 3-4 hours re-arranging schedules to accommodate a new student, only to have a parent call the day of their first lesson and say they've decided to not take music lessons...very frustrating.  (This has happened 3 times in the last 2 weeks).   I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but these are the most challenging aspects of my business. Overall, it's very rewarding. 

Patch: What are your long-term goals for Full Moon Studio?

Charlie: I want to see both sides of my business grow.  I always want to add more students, and if the demand is there, I'll be able to add more teachers.  We have upgraded a lot of equipment in the studio, but there is still more to be done. I want to be able to attract more bands, local and regional, to the studio. I feel like we'll be able to do this in the coming years as long as we keep pushing out a good product and steadily keep the upgrades coming.

Patch:  What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start a new business in Oconee County?

Charlie:  This is a tough question.  I have two businesses in one and both have very different target markets. The Oconee School of Rock pulls in students from all surrounding counties. I get kids from Oconee to Commerce to Madison. As far as the studio goes, basically all of my business comes from Athens.   Location is always huge, it can either make of break a business.   Being in downtown Watkinsville, I see a lot of businesses come and go, but there have been some that have stayed and had success. Providing a good product that's always consistent is the key to me personally. 

For information about studio hours and lessons, call 706-769-4100.