The Blasting Room is an iconic studio based in Fort Collins, Colorado co-owned by legendary Punk/Hardcore drummer Bill Stevenson and his engineer counterpart Jason Livermore. Additional engineers and revered staff members at The Blasting Room include Andrew "The Silent Assassin" Berlin, Chris Beeble, and Jonathan Luginbill. Stevenson is, of course, best known for his work with Descendents, Henry Rollins-era Black Flag, ALL/Tony All, and Good Riddance frontman Russ Rankin's side-band, Only Crime. However, over the course of his storied career, Bill Stevenson has additionally spent time playing with Elevator, Higley, The Last, The Lemonheads, Minutemen/Black Flag super-group MinuteFlag, The Nig-Heist, October Faction, and Rise Against. Legend has it, ALL used the advance they received from their record label to secure a location for a studio and practice space, which, eventually, became The Blasting Room.

In addition to Bill Stevenson's own bands and passion projects, The Blast Room has either recorded, mixed, mastered, and/or produced albums for everyone from A Day to Remember to Nerf Herder. Coinciding with their 25th anniversary concert in November 2019, a crew (well, actually, two crews) started documenting the daily happening, recording sessions, band interviews, etc. at The Blasting Room for a cumulative documentary all about the studio. The Blasting Room: (Film)'s primary crew includes producer/director Aaron Pendergast, producer/cinematographer Kevin Kirchner, cinematographer John Barnhardt, camera operator/production assistant Katharine Roberts, and associate producer Jonathan Luginbill, who's, actually, a recording engineer at The Blasting Room. "We had planned on wrapping things this month, but COVID-19 happened... so, we've been pushed [back] about a year with a tentative plan to have a finished film by this time next year. We've partnered directly with The Blasting Room, so we have lots of access to the studio," Aaron Pendergast told The Witzard, via email.


"Also, my fellow producer, Kevin Kirchner, has been shooting video at the studio for nearly 20 years, so we have mountains of never-before-seen footage of bands recording there," he continued. Aaron Pendergast tells us he's been making documentaries for 11 years now and The Blasting Room is his third feature film and first feature as a director. Pendergast has been into Punk Rock since he was a kid and grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado about five miles from where the studio still stands today, adding: "so this seemed like the perfect fit for my first feature." The Blasting Room (Film) will feature interviews with the people that helped bring the studio to life, as well as many of the musicians that have called it home throughout its 25-year history. The film will explore what has changed both in the studio and within the music industry and what the future may hold for The Blasting Room.

It incorporates interviews with members of Descendents, ALL, Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, The Ataris, Hot Water Music, Teenage Bottlerocket, Only Crime, Armchair Martian, Reno Divorce, Propagandhi, Useless ID, The Suicide Machines, KEMURI, Good Riddance, Wire Faces, After The Fall, Hagfish, Audio Karate, Drag The River, and Flobots, as well as many other staff and friends of the studio. Just this past Friday, Static Age Productions shared the very first teaser trailer for The Blasting Room. It boasts interview segments with members of the aforementioned bands, as well as Bill Stevenson & Jason Livermore themselves. The Blasting Room (Film) is expected to see a wide release sometime next year. For regular updates concerning the film and its eventual release, we suggest keeping tabs right here.