What happens when a music producer meets a furniture designer?

They talk. Then, they talk some more and start fleshing out ideas about different things. Eventually, they decide to make some stuff they’ve been discussing.

And when that works out, they set up a company offering innovative furniture solutions for audio production needs. They call it Plank Audio.

PART 160 OF “AM I EVER GONNA SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN?” A RANDOM COLLECTION OF UNKNOWINGLY OBVIOUS FACTS ABOUT AUSTRALIAN MUSIC SCENE

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Obviously, Plank Audio‘s story is slightly more complicated. It didn’t happen in one day, either. But, as far as I understand, it all started with Aaron Dobos and his (re)search.

Aaron is an acclaimed Melbourne-based music producer and engineer. He’s collaborated with artists like The Avalanches, Britney Spears, Angus and Julia Stone, and Alex Lahey. 

If you’re familiar with music professionals’ work in a (home) studio setting, you’ll know they’re surrounded by some pretty impressive equipment.

Most likely, they’ll have some sort of Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) controllers, laptops, mics, pedals, headphones, and complex audio interfaces. Even physical instruments, like guitars, form part of their gear. In other words, it’s heaps of buttons, strings and dials.

I’m sure you’ll also agree it can take a lot of space to fit it all in one room. It doesn’t even matter if it’s a bedroom or professional working space.

Those never-ending cables would certainly drive me nuts. And I’m pretty sure I’d get them all mixed up fairly quickly. So, as funny as it might sound, being organised and tidy in this line of work can really make a difference.

Hence, Aaron’s quest to find a simple furniture solution for his production/engineering needs. But not just any solution. He was after something that would allow him to do his work more efficiently without disrupting his creative process at the same time.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be virtually no mixing desk on the market that would fit his vision. The only option left was to have it custom-made.

Enter Tim Denshire-Key. He’s also a Melburnian, whose creativity and “making stuff” skills proved pretty handy in this scenario.

Tim’s background is completely different from Aaron’s. He’s a designer and thinker with experience in exhibition work, bespoke recycled timber furniture and intermittent experimental sculptural practice.

On top of that, he often reworks, re-imagines and re-purposes discarded things or – simply put – “waste” into alternative outcomes. No wonder he has lectured on Circular Economy and Sustainable Design at the RMIT University.

And this is, in a nutshell, how the first Plank Audio desk was conceived. A music professional needed something innovative yet functional for his job. The craftsman had the skills and will to make it happen.

Check out how the founders tell this story in their own words:

Nowadays, the company mostly makes desks and rack boxes. It’s no longer so much about custom-made pieces but perfecting the designs they already have. The focus is more on the product range itself.

But because of the founders’ backgrounds, Plank Audio takes two things particularly seriously in their manufacturing process.

Firstly, they’re all about sustainability and recycling.

This is definitely Tim’s department. He sources the wooden parts that become the foundation of the finished furniture pieces.

You can tell he loves working with timber and bringing out the best from the seemingly unusable elements. That gives their creations a unique character.

But Aaron also ensures the furniture is practical.

With his first-hand experience in music production, he can surely anticipate clients’ needs. According to him, “It’s important to have a welcoming environment to put people at ease, and seeing a professional setup does that instantly.”

Plus, the pieces are modular. You can mix and match them. It is a big advantage when your music toys inventory grows spontaneously, or you just like to upgrade it now and then.

Now, believe it or not, the company launched in August 2020. Most of the world was already in lockdown then. But they seemed to have had a pretty good start.

Sadly, the pandemic eventually caught up with Australia, too.

I contacted the two gents for an interview about a year into their creative venture to check whether they were still going. They confirmed Plank Audio was alive and kicking.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Plank Audio (@plankaudio3056)

But June 2021 in Melbourne wasn’t the best time to chat. So they got pretty quiet on their socials.

Thankfully, the stalker in me has recently ordered me to investigate their life cycle again. And it looks like they’ve been back for a while. New desks and racks have been finding a new home since at least November 2022.

It’s good to see the Plank Audio workshop busy again. So if you need a functional and sustainable piece of furniture for your recording studio, make sure you give them a shout.

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