STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Like many people who want to "make it big" in the music industry, Brian Crowe left his home on Long Island when he was 21 years old and moved to Los Angeles.

A musician since the age of 12, Crowe quickly found work through a relative in a high-profile recording studio. It gave Crowe the opportunity to tour Germany with several bands, including Devil Driver. He also toured with and engineered live sound for Foreigner, among other bands.

"I was always a studio guy, but then I broke into live sound," he said.

It wasn't long before the musician -- who has played drums, guitar and bass -- found he liked working behind the scenes producing live sound as much as he enjoyed being on stage.

In 2011, he stopped touring and decided to devote his time to producing up-and-coming musicians.

"I came back to New York and got together with some friends from high school who I always played with. We started writing, and we said, 'Let's find a spot so we don't have to pay studio time anymore,'" said Crowe.

'THE END'

So they took "all the money they had" and built a studio, called "The End," in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn.

"We had a 10,000-square-foot space on the waterfront. It was insane," he said. "It was really successful. We produced a lot of bands on the Brooklyn indie scene and several Brooklyn hip-hop legends," he said. Crowe said he also worked with Neil Finn on engineering the theme song for "The Hobbit."

"Greenpoint was an epicenter for music at the time, and I was right there," he said.

FINDING THE KREISCHER MANSION

But the studio owners only had a five-year lease. Once the landlord shared his plans to tear down the studio building and construct condos, Crowe and his partners were devastated.

The rent for similar-sized spaces were just too expensive, so Crowe sought to move the studio.

Having only been to Staten Island to "drive through" on his way to New Jersey, he knew little about the borough.

However, one of the artists he produces urged him to look at the Kreischer Mansion in Charleston, which is up for sale by its owner Isaac Yomtovian.

"It was always my dream to live in an old Victorian home with a wrap-around porch," he said, noting he envisions summer concerts where the stage is the porch of the mansion.

"[Kreischer Mansion] was ideal. In our last studio, we tried to create this feel. As soon as I came here, I knew this was perfect," Crowe said, noting he is currently leasing the mansion with the option to buy it.

The home, which local lore says is haunted, is rich in history. It was built by wealthy brick manufacturer Balthasar Kreischer for his son, Charles, in 1885 and was landmarked in 1968.

Some of its history is somewhat marred by more recent events. The mansion was the scene of a grisly 2005 murder of a Bonanno crime family associate.

But Crowe -- who said he's yet to see any signs of hauntings -- plans to create a "new history" for the 43,000-square-foot mansion: one rich with tales of musicians "making it big."

BANDS CROWE HAS PRODUCED

Crowe's studio, which relocated to the mansion in September, has produced many artists, including Mac Miller, Yeasayer, King 810, A$AP Rocky, Talib Kweli and Mos Def.

Since moving in, Crowe has upgraded the interior of the home. But he left many of its fine details, such as the leather wallpaper, handcarved fireplaces and 12-foot-high ceilings.

He offers temporary lodging on the third floor of the sprawling mansion for artists who record there.

"I want all bands and artists to know the doors are open here," said Crowe.

KREISCHER MANSION RECORDING STUDIO AT A GLANCE

Address: 4500 Arthur Kill Rd., Charleston



Website: www.thekreischermansion.com



Contact: crowe@theendnyc.com

New Businesses in Focus is a weekly column that relates the stories of new Staten Island businesses owners.

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