Sean’s studio is famous

Willamette Week loves Sean’s Rock & Roll Bed & Breakfast recording studio. Hell yes, I’m proud!

Sean Flora at The Rock n Roll BnB

IMAGE: Will Corwin

The Rock n Roll BnB (Northwest Sauvie Island Road, 971-275-6795, rocknrollbnb.com) definitely has the bells and whistles one would expect from a modern recording studio—a clutch of high-end microphones from Neumann and Sennheiser, preamps by API, and a vintage Hammond organ. Sean Flora, the studio’s owner, has an impressive résumé to boot, with engineering credits for work with the Shins, Stephen Malkmus and Cake to his name. But what makes the Rock n Roll BnB special is the view. Situated on Sauvie Island, Flora’s residential recording operation has been gaining acclaim both regionally and nationally as a go-to getaway for musicians who want to get lost in the Pacific Wonderland and live free of distraction for as long as they’d like. When they come to record, they just stay there, amid tree-lined paths and a patio-top grill. “It was such a great way to work that it always stuck with me,” says Flora, who worked with the legendary White Horse studios in the ’90s, and has more recently put in work at Larry Crane’s Jackpot Studio in Southeast. “You’re working and you’re in the head space and you don’t have to commute or leave. It’s definitely more efficient—people work better this way and get more deeply into it because there aren’t the distractions. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s a beautiful place to be.” PETE COTTELL.