Recording engineer, drummer and producer Pete Caigan brought Utopia Studios to Bearsville in 2022. For its four year anniversary, the studio celebrates a full calendar and a string of records made in the room.
While Utopia Studios is only four years old, the building has been used as a studio for over forty years. Before becoming Utopia, it was known as Todd Rundgren’s video studio from 1980-1984, Bearsville Studio from 1984-2001 and Radio Woodstrock WDST from 2002-2021.
Caigan, owner of service sound company Flymax Sound, first rented a small room in the building to mix a record. He took over the entire studio space in early 2023. Since then, the room has been used for what it was built for — recording musicians.
The Lumineers recorded and mixed their album Automatic (2025) at Utopia, with its first single “Same Old Song” hitting number one on the alternative rock charts. Utopia has also hosted Jack DeJohnette recording with Joseph Tawadros, God Street Wine, who recorded an album and live record in front of a studio audience, Amanda Palmer, who recorded piano demos at Utopia for a new Dresden Dolls album, the Felice Brothers Matt Pond PA, Maggie Rose and more.
“The room does most of the work,” Caigan said. “It was built right. My job is to keep it ready and stay out of the way.”
The studio runs on an API AXS console with a Mara JH-24 two-inch tape machine and a 1974 Steinway piano. The space is made up of a large live room, three recording booths, a video and podcast room and lodging on site for artists traveling from out of town.
Analog tie lines also connect the studio to the Bearsville Theater next door, allowing live shows there to be recorded live at Utopia. The studio has provided live recordings for God Street Wine, Medeski and Russo & Kline.
“The best recording room on the East Coast,” keyboardist Scott Healy said of Utopia.
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