SunDog Studios has opened in Starkville to provide students and locals a chance to record their own music.
John Darabos, a junior computer engineering major at Mississippi State University, created the studio as a way to support fellow musicians.
“I started this to help give musicians in Starkville a chance to be heard,” he said. “This seems like the best way to give people a way to do that.”
Located at the Academy of Competitive and Performing Arts, the former Dancing Feet Academy, SunDog Studios hopes to facilitate the spread of local music and provide artists with an opportunity they may not have otherwise.
The studio provides interested individuals with a full recording studio and allows them to create demos and albums. It also provides the ability to make music cuts, teach people how to read music and learn how to use software to create beats.
For artists who don’t have music of their own, SunDog can help make beats with both live and computer-generated instruments, including guitars, drums and piano.
Recordings are done in multiple formats, including MP3 and MP4, and are done as a demo, which contains five tracks or an album containing 10 tracks.
The studio also offers lessons in electric and acoustic guitar, bass, drums, piano, keyboard and singing for any age group.
Darabos said the studio has already signed with two local rap artists, a rock group and has several individuals interested in vocal work.
“Right now we’re not really advertising majorly,” Darabos said. “I’ve been mostly doing word-of-mouth stuff, keeping it simple, but it seems to be working well enough.”
Darabos began working with recording music in high school when his band split up and they found themselves with recording equipment they weren’t going to use.
“We had bought the stuff to save costs,” he said. “We ended up renting a studio in Norfolk (Va.) and started recording other people to pay for it.  I ended up learning a lot during that time, and I hope to use that here.”
Darabos described his interest in music as a constant learning experience.
“When I was 16, I bought an acoustic-electric guitar, and I just wanted to learn how to do everything with it,” he said. “I love meeting other people who love to play and want to learn new things to do with their music.”
Interested individuals can contact Darabos at 341-6697.
SunDog Studios is located at 105 Miley Road, next door to the ACPA main building.