After teaching voice lessons for nine years at Moravian University, Justen Blackstone, now the founder of Foundry Studio, wanted to find a place where musicians like himself could learn, grow and do great work through practice.
Curious about recording studios, Blackstone researched them and found one located near Moravian. He then met Jason Wegfahrt, who later became the studio director at Foundry Studio.
Wegfahrt gave Blackstone a tour of the recording studio he worked at — Real-Recording Studio — and a few lessons on recording.
“I instantly fell in love with the whole process, because I love the technical side of things,” Blackstone said. “As a musician, you’re very detail-oriented, and there’s a lot of detail in recording as well.”
Wegfahrt grew up in Bethlehem while Blackstone moved to the area in 2015, giving them a shared connection to the community.
Blackstone said Bethlehem has a lot of diverse people and industries, and they wanted to put the city on the map as a place for musicians to work and learn. So Blackstone suggested he and Wegfahrt open up a studio together.
He said Wegfahrt agreed to the idea if they could make their studio something different from a commercial one.
Blackstone said the hardest part of the process was finding the right building because the ceilings had to be high enough for musicians to practice their vocals when recording.
The mixing room at the new Foundry studio is pictured on Sept. 29. The studio was founded as a space for artists to create and learn about music. (Will Smalley/B&W Staff)
After six months of construction, Foundry Studio, located on the North Side, opened in July and hosted their first networking event on Sept. 18, where Bethlehem community members were invited for instrument demos and studio tours.
Blackstone said his original passion for opening a recording studio came from teaching music to college students at Moravian from 2016-2022. He listened to his students talk about their needs for a place to practice what they were learning.
He said the most consistent feedback he heard was that students were learning how to practice their music and vocal skills but were not implementing what they learned.
“When I went and studied voice teaching, I practiced under a master voice teacher,” Blackstone said. “I watched her teach and learned how she taught, and then I became her disciple. I think a facility like the Foundry Studio can really lend itself to that.”
Blackstone said they struggled to choose a name for the studio because they wanted it to hold meaning and hold a connection to the SteelStacks.
“The name foundry, like a metal foundry, is where you take raw materials and melt them down until they form into something valuable,” Wegfahrt said. “You see that same idea with this. You come in with a raw idea or song, and you work on it, melt it down, refine it into something beautiful.”
The Foundry Studio is located on the North Side of Bethlehem. Foundry also offers master classes where individuals can learn from professionals in the industry. (Will Smalley/B&W Staff)
Wegfahrt said the space was formed to be a creative home for artists, musicians, producers and creatives to work, based on three pillars — access, community and education.
He said it’s important to provide tools musicians need to be successful. The studio does this by hosting open mic nights where individuals can record themselves and take their recordings home with them. Foundry also offers master classes where individuals can learn from professionals in the industry.
Ali McGuire, a platinum award-winning vocal producer and mix engineer, blends separate audio tracks from a recording session into a single. She grew up in Allentown and lived in Los Angeles for eight-and-a-half-years before returning to the Lehigh Valley.
McGuire said she came back because she wanted to have the opportunity to share her knowledge and experiences with other musicians in the Lehigh Valley through mentorship and teaching.
“Two weeks before I moved back to Bethlehem, my friend told me about the Foundry Studio, so we went on a tour one morning, and I was blown away when I saw it,” McGuire said. “I thought, ‘I can’t believe this actually exists in Bethlehem.’”
McGuire started a community co-workshop on Tuesdays, where she gives advice to aspiring musicians. She said her purpose is to help people live out their dreams in a healthy way.
McGuire said Blackstone and Wegfahrt’s goal is to show aspiring musicians in the Lehigh Valley that they don’t have to leave — they can do it all here.
“It’s not about the records,” Wegfahrt said. “It’s about the people you work with and the community you build that’s the most valuable.”