How Did Labs Studios Start?

By Edward Clyde Hicks II

There wasn’t a grand opening.

There wasn’t a ribbon cutting.

There wasn’t a five-year strategic rollout deck.

Labs Studios started as a feeling.

A quiet but persistent realization:

Creative people needed a home.

And Atlanta didn’t quite have the one we were looking for.

It Started With Frustration

I’ve always lived in multiple worlds.

Architecture.
Construction.
Music.
Business.
Art.

And I kept noticing the same thing in every industry:

The spaces where creativity was supposed to thrive felt transactional.

Studios felt rented.
Meetings felt performative.
Collaboration felt scheduled.

Nothing felt sacred.

And that word matters.

Because creation is sacred.

The Warehouse

The first time I walked into the warehouse that would eventually become Labs Studios, it didn’t look like much.

Concrete floors.
Raw walls.
Industrial bones.

Most people would have seen square footage.

I saw possibility.

Not because I’m overly optimistic.

Because I understand something about buildings:

They hold intention.

And intention compounds over time.

If we could build a space that was architecturally inspiring — not flashy, not corporate, not sterile — but deeply human, then the work created inside it would change.

So we started building.

It Wasn’t About Music

This surprises people.

Labs Studios did not start because we wanted a recording studio.

It started because we wanted a gathering place.

A space where:

• Artists could perform without politics.

• Creators could experiment without pressure.

• Conversations could happen without a timer.

The studio equipment came later.

The stage came later.

The brand came later.

The heart came first.

Built to Inspire

I’ve spent years in architecture and construction through Earthcore Group, shaping environments that influence how people live.

So when it came time to shape Labs Studios, we didn’t treat it like a production facility.

We treated it like an ecosystem.

Wood.
Open air textures.
Warm light.
Movement.
Flow.

Every room was built with intention.

Because environment shapes identity.

And if you want artists to rise, you don’t just give them microphones.

You give them belief.

The First Nights

The early nights were small.

A few artists.
A few chairs.
Some cables running across the floor.

But something happened.

People stayed.

They didn’t rush out.

They talked.

They collaborated.

They came back.

That’s when I knew.

We weren’t building content.

We were building community.

The Shift

Then something clicked.

The Backyard Stage was built.
The Lab Sessions started.
The energy grew.

Not because we marketed harder.

Because the space started doing what it was designed to do:

Make people feel seen.

And when people feel seen, they create differently.

It Was Never Just a Studio

Labs Studios exists at the intersection of:

Art
Architecture
Technology
Human connection

We embrace AI.
We use modern tools.
We produce high-level content.

But at the core?

We are human-first.

That has always been the thesis.

Why It Still Matters

We’re in a time where:

• Everyone can upload.

• Everyone can stream.

• Everyone can broadcast.

But not everyone feels connected.

Labs Studios started because I believed physical presence still matters.

That rooms still matter.

That creative energy is amplified when humans share air.

It started with frustration.

It grew through construction.

It lives now as a sanctuary.