Meet Peter Dyson | Owner and Director of Studio West The Recording Arts Center

We had the good fortune of connecting with Peter Dyson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Peter, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
I’ve faced so many situations that in retrospect should have made me at least consider giving up on the business but whenever a situation like that has presented itself, it only seemed to make me more determined to succeed. There’s something about a deeply challenging situation that brings out the best in me and makes me want to fight to succeed. Getting to truly know yourself is something that comes with time and experience and understanding what motivates us is absolutely critical to any kind of success.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As the owner of a recording studio and school for recording arts, I’m obviously a lover of music of all genres and since I can remember, I’ve loved drums and drumming. I’m around incredible musicians and am very aware of my limitations as a drummer. Unfortunately I never took the time to learn to read drum notation which becomes a hugely limiting factor over time but I take great pleasure in being recognized as a drummer with good ‘feel’ for the music. Recognizing my limitations is an important part of my story as what I’m really good at is recognizing the talent and skills that others bring to the production process. Putting together a team to make something happen in a production setting isn’t a question of finding all the best people but the people who are right for a certain project or business objective and making them work cohesively as a team and able to meet challenges head on.
I think if I’d got too deeply into any one part of the production process, as a musician, engineer, producer, teacher or whatever else, I wouldn’t have been able to have the 10,000 foot overview of the whole process that is essential to building a business that is actually two businesses in one, a recording studio and a school for recording arts.
That is a truly unique model and one that I’m immensely proud of.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
San Diego is a city that I’ve come to love in my 20 years here so this would be an easy thing to do. As a native of England, the beautiful climate is something that they would love and the scenery not just of the coastal areas but the inland deserts would be on the itinerary. Balboa Park is a true jewel and I’d spend time visiting a lot of the museums there and I’d cover some other parts of downtown San Diego that same day. I love the Star of India and have performed there many times at Sea Chantey Festivals so that would be on the list.
As for food, the Kearney Mesa area has really taken off as a hub for all kinds of affordable yet delicious cuisines from around the world, We own another recording studio called Satellite that’s right in the middle of this wonderful part of town so I’d show my guess some of San Diego’s finest musicians recording there and then go for lunch at one of the fabulous restaurants nearby.
I’m a huge soccer fan and the addition of SnapDragon Stadium to replace Qualcomm has been awesome so a visit to a San Diego Wave game would be in order and I’m looking forward to the arrival of an MLS team in 2025.
A week long visit to San Diego wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Tijuana… I love that we are so culturally close to this exciting city.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
It’s very hard to call out one person who I can offer a shout out to as there’s many people who have supported me in the journey of owning and building this business but ultimately I would have to recognize my wonderful wife, Amy Dyson as the one to recognize. It was almost 20 years ago that she went along with my idea to relocate our family to San Diego and buy Studio West, an existing recording studio with a plan to start offering education in the recording arts. In the intervening 20 years, along with the satisfaction of growing an idea into reality and having a positive effect on so many people’s lives, we’ve faced many challenges and given up many things that would have come with following a more traditional path in life.
She’s ALWAYS been supportive and encouraging, even when I’ve not reciprocated in the ways I should. We are approaching 32 years of marriage and have two wonderful kids who are finding their own paths in life so she’s definitely the center of my story.
I’d also say a word about my business partner, Dave Fishwick. He’s an old college buddy from London and although he plays no active role in the business, he’s been incredibly supportive of my whole vision and is a true patron of the arts. I included a picture taken a couple of years ago with him and his partner Samantha in England. We’ve been playing the same music together for almost 40 years and I can’t imagine a more meaningful friendship.

Website: www.studiowest.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StudioWestSD/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlBIK9cTPS4

Other: I only include the You Tube link as it was one of my most memorable recording sessions we hosted at Studio West.

Image Credits
Brian Keim