Wave Street Studios is a multi-use, community-based television production company that seats a live studio audience.
Programs are filmed for future television broadcast and streamed live to a worldwide audience via LiveNetworks.tv.
Musicians, authors, visual artists, actors, educators, business professionals, youth, and a multitude of others–including, not least of all, the aficionados–are served through this unique venture and facility.
Designed and built in 2006 by studio co-founder Rhett Allen Smith, the property was originally home to the historic Quock Mui House, built in 1919. Building on this historic site provided a nearly insurmountable obstacle to intensifying the use of the property. The solution: dig a two-story hole underneath the historic house, build the new facility there, and set the house back down on the roof of the newly constructed facility.
Wave Street Studios was purpose-built from below-the-ground up to function at a professional level, with or without a studio audience. The facility features remote air exchange, sprung ballet-quality dance floor, poured-concrete control room, custom copper-clad doors and windows, and a 90,000-lb rock diffuser and video backdrop.
The studio design is paintless, using natural finishes from stone, steel, glass, copper, integral-color plaster, brick, and wood. A radiant-heated outside bench and fiber-optic illuminated fountain are two of the many details that set the facility apart.
Since the first public concert here in 2008, popular consensus is steadily growing: Wave Street Studios is destined to be a cultural hot spot for years to come.
What goes on at Wave Street Studios?
Performance/Recording/Broadcasting Studio
We provide locals and visitors with a unique behind-the-scenes experience as part of the studio audience for our live television broadcasts. The studio audience is a critical component to creating our signature sound and supporting our artists, who are here to make a top quality DVD of themselves in performance. These artists put on the very best show they can. The experience of seeing an artist in this setting and under these conditions is in a class of its own.
Never heard of an artist who is playing? Take a chance and go to the show. We guarantee a professional entertainment experience in a stunning, intimate venue, and we know you will leave enriched.
A Very Special Stop on the Monterey Bay Recreation Trail
Come check us out! Whether you’re basking in sunshine here on the coast or are chilled by a foggy coastal day, our Quock Mui Tea Room is a terrific place to stop on the rec trail. Our tea room serves specialty teas from around the world and is an integral part of our facility. We offer over 80 herbal and other teas, including black, green, white, red, maté, and oolong, along with other beverages, organic chocolates, vegan cookies, and many unique gifts. And if it’s one of our foggy days, you can warm yourself on our radiant-heated benches.
A Unique Site for Your Own Special Events
Our facility is a spectacular location for weddings, receptions, dances, corporate off-site events, and private parties. Along with our timeless aesthetics and ballet-quality sprung dance floor, our computerized lighting, pro audio system, recording and broadcasting capability, and more all make Wave Street Studios unrivaled on the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit our Facility Rentals page for more details.
On-Site Retreat House
As outlined above, valiant efforts ensured that the historic Quock Mui House, built on the property in 1919, remains undisturbed from the outside. Inside, however, this house is fully modernized, with luxuries that include copper door and window jambs, bamboo floors, a European bath, and a gourmet kitchen featuring top-of-the-line appliances. Also featured is a private rooftop party space.
Located above the studio, this historic house, which sleeps four, is available as a secluded rental right on Cannery Row and just ½ block from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Please visit our Facility Rentals page for more details.
The Educational Arts & Media Society
Wave Street Studios is also the home of The Educational Arts & Media Society (TEAMS), a California 501c3 public nonprofit organization that teaches media production to area students of all ages. TEAMS provides students with hands-on studio experience and credit while producing programming important to our community and beyond. Donations to TEAMS are fully tax-deductible and are critical to fund our instructors.
If you would like to donate to TEAMS, please make your tax-deductible check payable to The Educational Arts & Media Society, and mail your donation to: TEAMS, Wave Street Studios, 774 Wave Street, Monterey, CA 93940.
When designing Wave Street Studios, since the output of sound and video was of foremost importance, it was decided from the beginning that only the best would be good enough. For a small-sized studio (2,400 square feet), we are amazingly well-equipped. We have five professional high definition Panasonic VariCams, mounted on various jibs and cranes. These are operated by skilled camera crew, managed by an expert video director and a live switch operator.
