As PUP ascended through the music industry during the past decade, they skipped what many bands consider to be an important rite of passage: getting their own consistent practice space. They bounced between friends' privates facilities, a room in the headquarters of Royal Mountain Records, and bassist Nestor Chumak's parents' basement. That finally changed in the pandemic, as the Toronto punk band rented a room in the Geary Avenue location of Rehearsal Factory and began working on the songs that would become their fourth album, THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND.
"That was the first time we had really had a monthly room," guitarist Steve Sladkowski tells Exclaim! "We wrote the whole new record basically in that room. It was sort of the only place I would go, or any of us would go, when we felt safe enough to be in a room together."
The band were uprooted in January when they showed up to the space to find a letter informing them that they were being evicted following the sale of the building to C3, an Australian megachurch with welcoming messaging ("We're about loving others," the church's Toronto website promises) and homophobic policies ("Marriage … is exclusively between a man and a woman," says C3's global website). All of the bands were evicted from 322 Geary, while the neighbouring 330 Geary will continue to operate as a practice space for the next few years.
"It's fucking reprehensible," says an audibly exasperated Sladkowski of the building's new owners. "The church has openly promoted the most narrow view of marriage, and how social organization should happen, and how society should be run. It takes no interest in people who whose gender identities don't conform to binary norms, whose sexual preferences don't line up with a dumbass interpretation of the Bible."
It's the ultimate insult to a music scene that's already hurting from the closure of Rehearsal Factory buildings across Toronto, putting a huge dent in the availability of practice rooms and making the city increasingly inhospitable for up-and-coming bands.
As recently as 2021, Rehearsal Factory operated seven facilities throughout Toronto, Hamilton and the GTA, including hourly spaces and monthly lockout rooms. Owners Chris and Evon Skinner have since sold off the various buildings; some tenants have already been evicted, while other facilities have rebranded. (In the case of the Geary Avenue and Hamilton locations, they are still open under the name Main Stage Rehearsal.) As of this writing, only the Etobicoke location, at 160 Islington Avenue, continues to operate under the Rehearsal Factory banner. This means that many Toronto bands suddenly find themselves without a home base.
Luckily, some arts-minded entrepreneurs are stepping in to meet the demand.
Jesse Seberras previously worked in retail management for nearly 20 years, but after losing his job in late 2021 due to his store closing, he decided to turn his attention to the arts. As a musician with the long-running garage rock band Starship Experience, he had witnessed the recent closure of Rehearsal Factory spaces and decided to open his own facility.
His new facility, Space Station Rehearsals, recently opened right around the corner from Main Stage Rehearsal's Geary location, near the corner of Dufferin and Dupont. Construction isn't quite complete on the common areas, but demand is so high that he opened in late March with six rooms: four monthly rooms, one monthly room rented out by days of the week, and a monthly drum room. Seberras isn't offering any hourly rooms — a risky move, considering that the profit potential is higher for hourly rooms, but he knows that monthly rooms are the most affordable way for indie bands to put down roots.
"I am not happy with what I am charging per room, and the only reason I am able to even offer a rate as low as I am in the location I am is because I'm in a position where my wife's income can support both of us long term," he acknowledges to Exclaim! "After construction costs, I will not see any profit until May 2023 — estimate — at which point I will be making just above a minimum wage salary. It's not glamorous work but it's important work that needs to be done."
Photo: Jesse Seberras
If Space Station is successful, Seberras hopes to open more Toronto locations of similar sizes and "make my income through volume and not margin." With luck, he'll be able to lower his rates even more as he expands. "Musicians have had a horrible time in this city for years, and not just from COVID," he asserts. "For many years now, venues have been closing due to condo development, lack of insurance or noise complaints. Then, add to that the staggering cost of living, combined with lack of space to rehearse.
"I am just hoping that it's not too late and we haven't scared all the music out of Toronto," says Seberras.
Alexandre Fazio, who operates Main Stage Rehearsal on Geary, is similarly ambitious in his plans to accommodate Toronto bands looking for a place to practice. He tells Exclaim! that 330 Geary will remain a practice space for at least three years, with "a possibility of extension for five years," and he plans to keep the room rates at the same price that they have been for the past decade. They hope to expand with more locations in the future.
"We are building Main Stage to be community-oriented," says Fazio, who previously worked at Rehearsal Factory for nearly 20 years. "We want to be a place where musicians can come and find support and connect with others in the industry."
Photo: Josef Fazio
Despite the difficult situation Toronto bands currently find themselves in, these spaces give musicians a reason to be optimistic, proving the resilience of the local community. Artists will continue to make music, even if Toronto struggles to new and upcoming bands.
"Toronto has this idea that it's a music city, and I don't actually know if that is commensurate with the experience of musicians," reflects Sladkowski, who suggests that practice spaces may be forced out into the city outskirts. "Musicians and artists are resourceful, and this is something that people are always thinking about and have always been trying to push against. So I just hope that we're going to continue to be able to figure it out."
"That was the first time we had really had a monthly room," guitarist Steve Sladkowski tells Exclaim! "We wrote the whole new record basically in that room. It was sort of the only place I would go, or any of us would go, when we felt safe enough to be in a room together."
The band were uprooted in January when they showed up to the space to find a letter informing them that they were being evicted following the sale of the building to C3, an Australian megachurch with welcoming messaging ("We're about loving others," the church's Toronto website promises) and homophobic policies ("Marriage … is exclusively between a man and a woman," says C3's global website). All of the bands were evicted from 322 Geary, while the neighbouring 330 Geary will continue to operate as a practice space for the next few years.
"It's fucking reprehensible," says an audibly exasperated Sladkowski of the building's new owners. "The church has openly promoted the most narrow view of marriage, and how social organization should happen, and how society should be run. It takes no interest in people who whose gender identities don't conform to binary norms, whose sexual preferences don't line up with a dumbass interpretation of the Bible."
It's the ultimate insult to a music scene that's already hurting from the closure of Rehearsal Factory buildings across Toronto, putting a huge dent in the availability of practice rooms and making the city increasingly inhospitable for up-and-coming bands.
As recently as 2021, Rehearsal Factory operated seven facilities throughout Toronto, Hamilton and the GTA, including hourly spaces and monthly lockout rooms. Owners Chris and Evon Skinner have since sold off the various buildings; some tenants have already been evicted, while other facilities have rebranded. (In the case of the Geary Avenue and Hamilton locations, they are still open under the name Main Stage Rehearsal.) As of this writing, only the Etobicoke location, at 160 Islington Avenue, continues to operate under the Rehearsal Factory banner. This means that many Toronto bands suddenly find themselves without a home base.
Luckily, some arts-minded entrepreneurs are stepping in to meet the demand.
Jesse Seberras previously worked in retail management for nearly 20 years, but after losing his job in late 2021 due to his store closing, he decided to turn his attention to the arts. As a musician with the long-running garage rock band Starship Experience, he had witnessed the recent closure of Rehearsal Factory spaces and decided to open his own facility.
His new facility, Space Station Rehearsals, recently opened right around the corner from Main Stage Rehearsal's Geary location, near the corner of Dufferin and Dupont. Construction isn't quite complete on the common areas, but demand is so high that he opened in late March with six rooms: four monthly rooms, one monthly room rented out by days of the week, and a monthly drum room. Seberras isn't offering any hourly rooms — a risky move, considering that the profit potential is higher for hourly rooms, but he knows that monthly rooms are the most affordable way for indie bands to put down roots.
"I am not happy with what I am charging per room, and the only reason I am able to even offer a rate as low as I am in the location I am is because I'm in a position where my wife's income can support both of us long term," he acknowledges to Exclaim! "After construction costs, I will not see any profit until May 2023 — estimate — at which point I will be making just above a minimum wage salary. It's not glamorous work but it's important work that needs to be done."
Photo: Jesse SeberrasIf Space Station is successful, Seberras hopes to open more Toronto locations of similar sizes and "make my income through volume and not margin." With luck, he'll be able to lower his rates even more as he expands. "Musicians have had a horrible time in this city for years, and not just from COVID," he asserts. "For many years now, venues have been closing due to condo development, lack of insurance or noise complaints. Then, add to that the staggering cost of living, combined with lack of space to rehearse.
"I am just hoping that it's not too late and we haven't scared all the music out of Toronto," says Seberras.
Alexandre Fazio, who operates Main Stage Rehearsal on Geary, is similarly ambitious in his plans to accommodate Toronto bands looking for a place to practice. He tells Exclaim! that 330 Geary will remain a practice space for at least three years, with "a possibility of extension for five years," and he plans to keep the room rates at the same price that they have been for the past decade. They hope to expand with more locations in the future.
"We are building Main Stage to be community-oriented," says Fazio, who previously worked at Rehearsal Factory for nearly 20 years. "We want to be a place where musicians can come and find support and connect with others in the industry."
Photo: Josef FazioDespite the difficult situation Toronto bands currently find themselves in, these spaces give musicians a reason to be optimistic, proving the resilience of the local community. Artists will continue to make music, even if Toronto struggles to new and upcoming bands.
"Toronto has this idea that it's a music city, and I don't actually know if that is commensurate with the experience of musicians," reflects Sladkowski, who suggests that practice spaces may be forced out into the city outskirts. "Musicians and artists are resourceful, and this is something that people are always thinking about and have always been trying to push against. So I just hope that we're going to continue to be able to figure it out."
