Chris McGaha held up scribbled handwritten lyrics to his face, waiting for his cue.
The lead singer was recording vocals for band PVC Street Gang’s upcoming debut studio album at the renowned Niles City Sound studio in Fort Worth’s Near Southside.
After a signal from music producer Jimi Bowman, the punk rock instrumental track played from his headphones and McGaha unleashed his song “Secret Society,” belting lyrics from deep within:
Look out your window now,
It is a long way down and there’s no turning back — this is a simple fact.
We have a job for you and this is what you do.
We have a job for you, we’ve got some work to do.
In the Secret Society, it was written you lie.
This was one of the band’s first professionally recorded sessions after years of live shows at smaller North Texas venues.
The producer asked the singer to rerecord the words a few more times, but McGaha wasn’t worried. He knew the Niles City Sound team was working their magic to bring the song to life — the same way they’ve done for so many Texas musicians for more than a decade.
Jimi Bowman, producer and engineer, arranges vocals for singer Chris McGaha at Niles City Sound on June 3, 2026. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
The nationally renowned Near Southside studio is known as the place where Fort Worth musician Leon Bridges recorded his debut album “Coming Home” in 2014. The singer’s legacy was honored by city officials last year with street toppers outside the building.
Other notable Texas musicians who’ve used the studio space include Dallas’ Cure for Paranoia and Cowtown’s Academy Award-nominated Abraham Alexander.
Described as an “absolute mecca” by Alexander, Niles City Sound quickly became a favorite after opening to other artists in early 2016.
For Niles City Sound co-founder Chris Vivion, who is also a guitarist for PVC Street Gang, the studio’s success comes from a dream to prioritize raw performances, artist collaboration and sound on vintage recording equipment.
“Current day pop music sounds like there’s so much seasoning on it,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like a document of the time when it was performed with a microphone in the room. Digital audio is closing the gap, but there’s just something about that electricity passing through tape that they don’t make anymore.”
Building a home with Leon Bridges
Vivion created the studio with friends Austin Jenkins and Josh Block after years of collecting analog gear, ranging from multitrack tape machines to mixing consoles.
The trio originally envisioned finding a home in the Stockyards, given Niles City, a historic town from the 19th and early 20th century, once existed north of downtown Fort Worth.
Plans changed once leaders found a two-story space inside an empty warehouse on South Calhoun Street. People who now walk by the signless red brick building couldn’t tell that a music studio is tucked inside — an intentional decision to keep the space secluded for artists, Vivion said.
While building out the studio, the partners met a young Bridges during a performance at Magnolia Motor Lounge in the city’s westside. The Niles City crew believed the singer was the perfect fit for their vision so they offered the studio’s vintage equipment at low cost.
Bridges became the first artist to record at the makeshift studio, and the rest was history.
A certified gold copy of Leon Bridges’ “Coming Home” hangs on the wall of Niles City Sound’s control room on June 3, 2026. Bridges recorded his first album at the Near Southside studio. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
“At the time, my mindset was that music is made in (Los Angeles) and Nashville and some in New York and no one cared what went on outside of those islands,” he said. “Boy, was I proved wrong.”
“Coming Home” released in 2015 by Columbia Records with co-writing, producing and mixing credits for the studio founders. Bridges earned his first Grammy nomination the following year for Best R&B Album.
A spokesperson for Bridges did not respond to requests for comment.
Transporting listeners inside the studio
The Near Southside studio opened its doors to other musicians two years later and quickly became known for what Vivion coined the “Niles Sound.”
He described that signature as music that transports listeners inside the recording booth and avoids being “heavily” produced.
The studio’s first floor features dozens of classic acoustic instruments for musicians to choose from. The producers’ control room sits in a small second-floor space, which looks like it came out of a 1960s catalog. Wooden panels line the room’s walls. Classic vinyl records fill up a shelf next to a midcentury modern bench where most musicians hang out in between sessions.
For Alexander, the studio gave him space to build his sound of soul, folk and R&B. The musician got his start singing background vocals on Bridges’ debut album before spreading his wings to earn a 2025 Oscar nomination for his song “Like a Bird.”
“It wasn’t just a studio, it was the church where I found my identity as an artist,” Alexander said. “It wasn’t just a room to record in but a sanctuary where I felt safe enough to dismantle my own walls. … Without that specific environment and place, my path would have looked completely different.”
McGaha said the studio’s collaborative nature allows him to feel the music in ways he can’t when recording at home.
“Millions of people can record stuff in their bedroom or little garage, but when you have an actual room that’s professionally built with equipment, you get your own unique sound of that place,” he said.
Other notable musicians that have stepped foot inside the space include Jon Batiste and Gary Clark Jr.
A peek inside the control room and mixing console at Niles City Sound on June 3, 2026. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Niles City Sound has recently seen changes in management after Block and Jenkins stepped away from the project. Vivion remains as a partner, but the studio is now mainly operated by Bowman and fellow music engineers Robert Ellis and Jay Jernigan.
The new crop of leaders are focused on growing the studio’s reach beyond Americana and country-based musicians while keeping the vintage sound alive, Bowman said.
Some major Hollywood actors and musicians are scheduled to record at Niles City in coming months, but the team of producers declined to share further.
“We’ve done a lot of crazy stuff here in the last few years that are different to Niles prior,” Bowman said. “Whether it’s metal or hip hop, we’re growing with the times.”
During the PVC Street Gang’s recent session, the band spent nearly five hours on the mic recording background vocals. They’ll soon be back at the studio to figure out arrangements for one more song, McGaha said.
An exact release date for the album has not been determined.
But once fans do get a hold of the music, all they’ll have to do is close their eyes to feel that they too were in the studio when they became members of the “Secret Society.”
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
The Fort Worth Report’s arts and culture coverage is supported in part by the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation and the Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust. At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy.
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