Breakglass Studios becomes more than a Montreal recording studio | The Main

From an Influential Recording Studio to a Musical Nerve Centre of Montreal

Breakglass Studios started with dumpster-dived CBC equipment and ultra-cheap rent. 20 years later, it's expanding into a full creative ecosystem with a record label and immersive installations.

ByJ.P. Karwacki

September 25, 2025 · 8 min read

From an influential recording studio to a musical nerve centre of Montreal

Inside Breakglass Studios' legendary live room, where artists have been capturing Montreal's sound since 2005. | Photography by Marie Rousseau / @marieourse & Ian Cameron @glimmerglass

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It's a day before a core crew will be crouching over a maze of circuit boards and vintage electronics on the third floor of Breakglass Studios, methodically installing the final components of a Spectra Sonics console. The rare 1970s mixing board—once the most popular in the world for exactly one year—has spent months being painstakingly refurbished in Tim Herzog's workshop. Tomorrow, it becomes a centrepiece of one of Montreal's most quietly influential recording studios.

Music producer, audio engineer, mixer, composer and co-owner of Breakglass James Benjamin talks about this incoming equipment with the mixture of excitement and exhaustion that comes from waiting years for a crucial piece of equipment. "We're an analogue studio with no desk right now. We have tons of tape machines, and we have analogue preamps and stuff, but this board? It's the centrepiece."

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From an Influential Recording Studio to a Musical Nerve Centre of Montreal

Breakglass Studios started with dumpster-dived CBC equipment and ultra-cheap rent. 20 years later, it's expanding into a full creative ecosystem with a record label and immersive installations.

ByJ.P. Karwacki

September 25, 2025 · 8 min read

From an influential recording studio to a musical nerve centre of Montreal

Inside Breakglass Studios' legendary live room, where artists have been capturing Montreal's sound since 2005. | Photography by Marie Rousseau / @marieourse & Ian Cameron @glimmerglass

The Main is reader-supported. Subscriptions are what keep us independent. Five dollars a month — the restaurants, the guides, the weekly bulletin, and what to do each weekend. Support us today.

It's a day before a core crew will be crouching over a maze of circuit boards and vintage electronics on the third floor of Breakglass Studios, methodically installing the final components of a Spectra Sonics console. The rare 1970s mixing board—once the most popular in the world for exactly one year—has spent months being painstakingly refurbished in Tim Herzog's workshop. Tomorrow, it becomes a centrepiece of one of Montreal's most quietly influential recording studios.

Music producer, audio engineer, mixer, composer and co-owner of Breakglass James Benjamin talks about this incoming equipment with the mixture of excitement and exhaustion that comes from waiting years for a crucial piece of equipment. "We're an analogue studio with no desk right now. We have tons of tape machines, and we have analogue preamps and stuff, but this board? It's the centrepiece."

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For readers who care about Montreal

Create a free account to read this story and access 3 articles per month, plus our weekly Bulletin.

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