LA’s Iconic Sunset Sound Recorders Studio Plagued by Homelessness, Crime

Sunset Sound Recorders, the iconic pop music recording studio in Los Angeles, has been feeling the heat of California’s notorious homeless crisis.

Speaking with reporters this week, Paul Camarata, president of Sunset Sound, said that his clients, which include some of the biggest names in music, have been getting harassed and robbed due to the growing homeless encampment nearby.

“The last four months, it’s just grown in huge dimensions. We’ve always had the problem, but it’s just extremely bad right now,” he said.

Camarata said this following a break-in on Sunday night in which thieves stole a bundle of blank checks, forcing the business to close its checking accounts. The studio will be sealing a door and installing a razor wire.

“The police came, took a report and took some fingerprints, but we both came to the conclusion that it was the homeless, because one, they defecated on a drum set right in the lower level,” Camarata said. “We store a lot of instruments, amplifiers and guitars and basses. A lot of them are clients’. They didn’t steal any of that.”

According to KTLA, Camarata said that the homeless encampment has been allowed to fester because a program responsible for cleaning the area every Wednesday “was suspended after the most recent municipal elections put Mayor Karen Bass and Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez in office.”

However, Soto-Martinez’s office said that claim is incorrect, noting that weekly CARE cleanings continue to take place at the location in partnership with the Department of Sanitation.

Regardless of who is to blame, the encampment is “festering” in dirty conditions instead of getting cleaner, drawing complaints from some of Camarata’s high-profile clients, including Elton John, who recently spent two months working at the studio.

Camarata said that even Elton John’s producer could not understand why the homeless encampment had gotten so out of control.

“His producer was asking us about it, like ‘Why is it so bad out there?’ You know, because the city allows it,” he said.

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.