Dream studio becomes reality for N.C. man

Fabio Rojas is bringing the noise to National City.

The 29-year-old from Bogotá, Colombia had been operating an underground recording studio in National City for the past two years.

He wanted to do things the right way and legitimize himself as a businessman, so he was approved for a business license and held a grand opening on Feb. 11 at the recording studio at 1633 Hoover Ave.

Soon after he qualified with the city as an official business he became a member of the National City Chamber of Commerce.

Rojas said since the recording studio has been established as a legitimate business he has seen many business opportunities arise such as recording jingles for NBC, Televisa and Univision. He recently produced a cut for for a radio show on KNSJ 98.1 FM.

Currently he is working on a jingle for the city of National City, he said.

Refugio Music was a childhood dream for Rojas.

“The idea of Refugio started when I was a little kid,” he said. “I wanted to have a place of refuge, a place just to chill, a place to hang out, a place to make music, a place to just escape a little bit.”

He said that dream is slowly becoming a reality.

Rojas said the long-term plan is for Refugio Music to be more than a recording studio.

“Right now we are just a music studio,” he said. “But we are expanding the vision calling it Refugio Music because we focus on education, entertainment and audio production.”

Rojas said the education component focuses on the fact that he holds private lessons for anyone wanting to learn about music. He also is the music teacher at Olivewood Gardens for the Kitchenistas program.  He said the entertainment portion focuses on the fact that he can provide music entertainment at events and parties. The audio production aspect is what the recording studio is primarily used for.

The studio is decorated with a Latin America theme.  Refugio Music’s logo is a Muisca with headphones.  The Muisca is an ancient Columbian tribe.

Rojas said he tried to open the studio at several places but for one reason or another things did not work out. Either rent was too high, neighbors complained of the noise or a city just did not want that business. But he said he found National City as a welcoming mat.

“It wasn’t a decision that I wanted it to open in National City,” he said. “It was the situation that brought me here and the opportunity.”

He attended Musictech College, which is now known as McNally Smith College of Music, in Minnesota were he studied music engineering.