Earlier this year, Selena Gomez opened up to Vogue about just how pivotal her next album will be to her music career. The megastar said her next project will be “different” and even hinted at the possibility that it may be her last. Currently, Gomez is in the process of bringing it to life. The Only Murders in the Building star has been camped out in Interscope Geffen A&M’s brand-new studio, which label chairman John Janick spent the past three years bringing to fruition with the help of interior designer Severine Tatangeleo, founder and principal of California-based Studio PCH.
It was a labor of love for Janick, and it seems to have been a success. “The new Interscope studios are absolutely beautiful,” Gomez told AD over email. “They did an amazing job of designing an environment that feels very comfortable. It’s been great getting back into the studio and running into other artists in a space that lends itself to creativity.”
The studio features a bar and, behind it, Interscope memorabilia is on full display.
What Gomez describes is exactly what Janick envisioned for the space, which features two main recording rooms, a few smaller writing areas, and a large performance space. “In our studio, artists can record, rehearse, create visual content, and hang. We wanted a space where artists bump into each other and, hopefully, new creative relationships are formed. We think we’ve achieved that here,” he says.
Another goal was merging a relaxed design with a technologically advanced studio. Custom furniture by Artless was created for the space, and Tatangeleo worked with an engineer to choose wall coverings that were not only decorative, but also enhanced acoustics. “We selected and reviewed each fabric for all the furniture pieces with Mike Cronin of Michael Cronin Acoustic Construction, who served as the acoustical engineer for the studio,” Tatangeleo says. They wanted the design to be so seamless, it wouldn’t interrupt the artists’ creative flow. “We designed long, floating sofas, perfect to fully lie down during a long, all-nighter recording session, that blend colorwise with the walls to create a continuous visual within the room, so no exterior elements would interfere with the creative process.”
Although the state-of-the-art studio is brimming with the most advanced and future-minded equipment available, many of the design pieces pay homage to the record label’s past. Art books and one-of-a-kind items from three decades of Interscope can be seen on coffee tables and on the bar of the main room. “We worked closely with the team to properly curate these items,” Tatangeleo says. “There are a variety of pieces gathered throughout the years, from instruments to signed items to large pictures of key moments with artists. We didn’t want to create a museum, but by understanding Interscope’s vision and culture, we intensified [its legacy].”