![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0603-MC-NilesCitySound-06-1024x683.jpg\")
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)<\/p>\nChris McGaha held up scribbled handwritten lyrics to his face, waiting for his cue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lead singer was recording vocals for band PVC Street Gang\u2019s upcoming debut studio album at the renowned Niles City Sound studio in Fort Worth\u2019s Near Southside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a signal from music producer Jimi Bowman, the punk rock instrumental track played from his headphones and McGaha unleashed his song \u201cSecret Society,\u201d belting lyrics from deep within:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Look out your window now,<\/p>\n
It is a long way down and there\u2019s no turning back \u2014 this is a simple fact.<\/p>\n
We have a job for you and this is what you do.<\/p>\n
We have a job for you, we\u2019ve got some work to do.<\/p>\n
In the Secret Society, it was written you lie.<\/p>\n
This was one of the band\u2019s first professionally recorded sessions after years of live shows at smaller North Texas venues.<\/p>\n
The producer asked the singer to rerecord the words a few more times, but McGaha wasn\u2019t worried. He knew the Niles City Sound team was working their magic to bring the song to life \u2014 the same way they\u2019ve done for so many Texas musicians for more than a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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)<\/p>\n
The nationally renowned Near Southside studio is known as the place where Fort Worth musician Leon Bridges recorded his debut album \u201cComing Home\u201d in 2014. The singer\u2019s legacy was honored by city officials last year with street toppers outside the building<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other notable Texas musicians who\u2019ve used the studio space include Dallas\u2019 Cure for Paranoia<\/a> and Cowtown\u2019s Academy Award-nominated Abraham Alexander.\u00a0<\/p>\n Described as an \u201cabsolute mecca\u201d by Alexander, Niles City Sound quickly became a favorite after opening to other artists in early 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n For Niles City Sound co-founder Chris Vivion, who is also a guitarist for PVC Street Gang, the studio\u2019s success comes from a dream to prioritize raw performances, artist collaboration and sound on vintage recording equipment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCurrent day pop music sounds like there\u2019s so much seasoning on it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t 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\u2019s just something about that electricity passing through tape that they don\u2019t make anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Building a home with Leon Bridges<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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\u2019t tell that a music studio is tucked inside \u2014 an intentional decision to keep the space secluded for artists, Vivion said.\u00a0<\/p>\n While building out the studio, the partners met a young Bridges during a performance at Magnolia Motor Lounge in the city\u2019s westside. The Niles City crew believed the singer was the perfect fit for their vision so they offered the studio\u2019s vintage equipment at low cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bridges became the first artist to record at the makeshift studio, and the rest was history.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt 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,\u201d he said. \u201cBoy, was I proved wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cComing Home\u201d 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.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Bridges did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Transporting listeners inside the studio<\/p>\n The Near Southside studio opened its doors to other musicians two years later and quickly became known for what Vivion coined the \u201cNiles Sound.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He described that signature as music that transports listeners inside the recording booth and avoids being \u201cheavily\u201d produced.\u00a0<\/p>\n The studio\u2019s first floor features dozens of classic acoustic instruments for musicians to choose from. The producers\u2019 control room sits in a small second-floor space, which looks like it came out of a 1960s catalog. Wooden panels line the room\u2019s walls. Classic vinyl records fill up a shelf next to a midcentury modern bench where most musicians hang out in between sessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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\u2019 debut album<\/a> before spreading his wings to earn a 2025 Oscar nomination<\/a> for his song \u201cLike a Bird.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just a studio, it was the church where I found my identity as an artist,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just a room to record in but a sanctuary where I felt safe enough to dismantle my own walls. \u2026 Without that specific environment and place, my path would have looked completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n McGaha said the studio\u2019s collaborative nature allows him to feel the music in ways he can\u2019t when recording at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMillions of people can record stuff in their bedroom or little garage, but when you have an actual room that\u2019s professionally built with equipment, you get your own unique sound of that place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Other notable musicians that have stepped foot inside the space include Jon Batiste and Gary Clark Jr.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n The new crop of leaders are focused on growing the studio\u2019s reach beyond Americana and country-based musicians while keeping the vintage sound alive, Bowman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve done a lot of crazy stuff here in the last few years that are different to Niles prior,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s metal or hip hop, we\u2019re growing with the times.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n During the PVC Street Gang\u2019s recent session, the band spent nearly five hours on the mic recording background vocals. They\u2019ll soon be back at the studio to figure out arrangements for one more song, McGaha said.\u00a0<\/p>\n An exact release date for the album has not been determined.\u00a0<\/p>\n But once fans do get a hold of the music, all they\u2019ll have to do is close their eyes to feel that they too were in the studio when they became members of the \u201cSecret Society.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0603-MC-NilesCitySound-02-1024x683.jpg\")
A certified gold copy of Leon Bridges\u2019 \u201cComing Home\u201d hangs on the wall of Niles City Sound\u2019s 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)<\/p>\n![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0603-MC-NilesCitySound-05-1024x683.jpg\")
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)<\/p>\n