The Boise Hive: A haven for Boise’s music community

The Boise Hive has served as an aegis of the arts and overarching music community in Boise for over a decade. 

Officially opened in 2014 by Gabriel Rudow and Jason Ringelstetter, the nonprofit organization provides artists with affordable rehearsal space, educational workshops, drop-in support groups and free mental health counseling. 

The Boise Hive’s history

The Boise Hive building looked a little different in the 1970s — originally hosting the Kwik-Kafe, a haven for sergeants who lived in the Boise Bench area and worked at Gowen Field. 

Years later, business partners Donald Cederstrom and Paul Franklin transformed the Kwik-Kafe into Custom Recording and Sound, which quickly became the Treasure Valley’s premier audio and video recording studio. 

Known for producing the music of Paul Revere and The Raiders, Kings of Swing and Curtis Stigers, Custom Recording and Sound offered video broadcasting and production services to the larger Treasure Valley. 

Jason Ringelstetter, a local audio engineer and drummer, was the co-owner of The Tonic Room Recording Studio, a neighboring studio to Custom Recording and Sound. After opening The Tonic Room in 2005, Ringelstetter produced over 250 records with various artists, including Joe Jackson and Josh Ritter. 

With studios only five minutes away from each other, Ringelstetter and Cederstrom quickly became acquainted with each other’s studios.

After hearing of the passing of Cederstrom and Franklin years later, Ringelstetter connected with Franklin’s widowed partner, Sylissa, to help her sell the remaining audio equipment left in the building. 

Ringelstetter was hardly prepared for the amount of leftover gear within the space. Nor had he anticipated the dusty mystique of bygone tape machines, vintage McIntosh stereo amplifiers, tube testers or the massive thousand-dollar cameras left behind. He even found a tape machine identical to the one Elvis had recorded with in the 1950s — one that’s still featured in the Boise Hive today. 

Eventually, the space was cleared and Ringelstetter had a clear vision in mind for repurposing it.

During a brainstorming session, He and his business partner Gabriel Rudow recalled Nuçi’s Space in Athens, GA. — a community space in his hometown that combined affordable mental health resources with rehearsal space and equipment for musicians. 

With a mutual understanding that Boise was in need of a space like this, Ringelstetter and Rudow got to work. With the endorsement of multiple organizations and local musicians, the Boise Hive was born.  

A music space for all

Ringlesttter stresses that rehearsal spaces have historically been spaces ridden with alcohol, drugs and occasional run-ins with police, leading to the decision to make the Boise Hive an all-ages drug and alcohol free space. 

This sentiment resonates with many local musicians, too. 

Kat Falcone, a musician from local band The Mall Goth Moths, emphasized the importance of sobriety and mental health resources in musical spaces. 

“It’s super important to have a place in the music community that promotes sobriety and mental health,” said Falcone. “That’s what keeps the industry sharp and professional.”

In addition to being an all-ages space, the Boise Hive is also volunteer-run. 

“The biggest highlight [of volunteering at The Hive has been learning] how many people credit The Hive for being responsible for saving their lives. Everyone’s path to a positive relationship with their mental health and overall well-being is different. The Hive has a plethora of ways to achieve that,” Volunteer Esmé Ringelsetter, Jason Ringelstetter’s niece, said. 

“For some, working with our amazing counselors who offer both individual and group sessions is the perfect fit,” Ringelsetter continued.“For others, it might be volunteering and or serving their community time through the Hive that is what they need. Others might just find what they’re looking for by coming to a show or jamming with friends in a practice space.”

For Rudow and Ringelstetter, choosing to name the space the Boise Hive was an easy decision. The organization’s name was chosen as a tribute to board member Scott Schmaljohn’s late brother, who he lost to suicide. His brother played in a band called The Hive. 

“[Idaho is] a high-risk state for suicide,” Ringelstetter explained, emphasizing the importance of the Boise Hive’s mental health resources. “I think this year we’re [ranked] fifth or sixth [in national statistics].”

One of the organizations supporting the space is the Idaho Suicide Prevention Coalition, which donated $1,000 to the Boise Hive with the hope that musicians would be more inclined to receive support through the Boise Hive than a clinic.

“I’ve been utilizing rehearsal spaces and going to shows at The Hive since 2014, but just this year started taking advantage of the counseling services and attending the support group they have for survivors of suicide loss,” Danika Chandler-Haas, a musician from local band Vexed Vixen said. “Suicide is a huge problem, especially in the musician community. The fact that the [The Hive offers] counseling services alongside music resources is really meaningful to me as someone who has always used music to cope with my mental health issues.”

Making music and building community

Alongside live shows every Saturday, the Boise Hive offers multiple drop-in support groups, such as a survivors of suicide support group, transgender support group, addiction support group, music therapy for teenagers and a “GI Jam” for veterans. 

These recurring events offer professional opportunities for musicians and volunteers alike. Bands have the chance to step out of rehearsal studios and perform in a low-stakes environment while volunteers are given the chance to hone their skills as budding videographers, audio engineers and light technicians. 

Alex Gamble, a local musician from the band Looom and audio engineer for Duck Club, volunteers at the Boise Hive by running the studio recording program. He notes that the space has given him the opportunity to meet like-minded musicians and develop his audio engineering skills

“[Volunteering] progressed into starting to help out with the Live at the Hive every Saturday. I started filming, because pretty much anybody could do that. Then I started telling them that I was really interested in helping run the board,” said Gamble. “I got to do that a few times, and then took over. I did that for two years — working with two or three bands every week in a low-consequence environment and learned a ton doing it.” 

Ringelstetter emphasized how the Boise Hive offers the community a unique opportunity to learn the basics and more. 

“When I was a young engineer, the hardest thing was getting into [the profession]. You try to get an internship —  it’s hard. The biggest thing is you want to experience it in fly-time, I call it. You want to get behind it and start making mistakes. That’s exactly what this is,” Ringelstetter said. 

As a space run by and for Boise’s community, each piece of equipment donated by community members serves as a reminder that the Boise Hive exists for the democratization of musical and mental health resources.

“[The Hive’s] conception occurred around the same time I first started playing music outside of a school setting. An affordable place to rehearse as young students was incredible,” Esmé Ringelstetter said. 

“Though, at that time I wasn’t able to fully appreciate the larger focus of The Hive which is community and mental health,” she continued. “I feel incredibly grateful to have been able to be there from its birth as a studio and venue space with some mental health resources to a full-fledged mental health nonprofit that is positively impacting lives on a daily basis.”