{"id":2383445,"date":"2026-04-21T21:47:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2383445"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:47:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:47:47","slug":"desert-songs-how-sonic-ranch-cut-a-new-trail-in-the-competitive-music-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/desert-songs-how-sonic-ranch-cut-a-new-trail-in-the-competitive-music-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Desert Songs: How Sonic Ranch cut a new trail in the competitive music business"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: This story was co-published by Puente News Collaborative, a bilingual nonprofit newsroom and funder dedicated to high-quality, fact-based news and information from the U.S.-Mexico border and Minero Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Recording in the desert: Sonic Ranch support artist amid a rising AI world\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZXRXAOeaGHI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>TORNILLO &#8212; Sonic Ranch is a working farm on 1,700 acres hugging the Rio Grande and Texas\u2019 border with Mexico, some 40 miles east of El Paso, in this small town. There\u2019s open desert on all four sides, broken up by rows and rows of pecan orchards.<\/p>\n<p>But Sonic Ranch\u2019s true commodity is the prized music that has emerged from its quiet, no-pressure environment. The ranch and nearby homes have enough rooms to accommodate artists. The six studios, pool, basketball court, and well-stocked kitchen add to the capacity and create something of a creative commune that musicians from around the world have come to love.<\/p>\n<p>A long parade of artists, from Fiona Apple, Ely Guerra, Zo\u00e9, Natalia Lafourcade, to Portugal. The Man, and rising hard-rock sisters The Warning, have stayed and recorded several dozen albums in the unconventional Sonic Ranch setting since owner Tony Rancich relaunched it as a recording haven in 1989. Since then, musicians and engineers have found a seemingly endless array of musical instruments in studios where vintage gear sits alongside modern recording equipment, connecting musicians to past and present. The mix helps each project find its own sound.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no clock that manages studio use or the length of an artist&#8217;s stay. Studio chiefs here insist on filtering out the noise and distractions of the music world.<\/p>\n<p>Diego Cruz, Sonic Ranch\u2019s social media manager and audio engineer, emphasized the core values \u2013 creative freedom and deep commitment to artistry \u2013 that distinguish the ranch from traditional studios and built lasting loyalty among artists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe only do this for the love of music. It\u2019s never been about profit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Felipe Castaneda, an audio engineer at Sonic Ranch, added, \u201cAt some point, there&#8217;s a lot of boredom here, which can be good. There&#8217;s nothing around. There&#8217;s no bars, and<\/p>\n<p>there&#8217;s no restaurants\u2026 Some people feel like, since they don&#8217;t have anything to do, they think, \u2018Well, I&#8217;m gonna just write a song.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many artists on the studio\u2019s roster arrived in search of an affordable place to make music. S0me that have found major success now choose to return to Sonic Ranch\u2019s humble setting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn example that a lot of people would know about is Beach House,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cThroughout all that success and acclaim, they&#8217;ve remained close to their roots. And they still see the beauty in coming back and doing it this way instead of choosing to go anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beach House, based in Baltimore, Maryland, recorded the album \u201cBloom\u201d here in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz said the studio is run more like a desert retreat for artists \u2013 a home away from the bright lights and blaring sounds of a city. Musicians often meet over meals, sharing stories with people they might not have encountered elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don&#8217;t ever feel lonely because you come here, and in the mornings, you go grab breakfast in the kitchen, and you&#8217;re greeted by this really lovely staff. And, you&#8217;ll likely have breakfast with the other bands that are recording at the moment,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s the cats. Birdy, Nacho, Aishi, Pato, Edgar and Monkey roam freely. Some wander into studios while artists are recording. Having them nearby helps ease the stress that too often marks a recording session. One of the cats, Squeaker, who passed in 2025, was even featured on the album cover of the latest Futurebirds release, titled Deluxe Company.<\/p>\n<p>Some of Sonic Ranch\u2019s studios are set apart from the main house, but artists are always close enough to step outside, play basketball, swim in the pool, or grab a snack from the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>More often than not, however, it\u2019s the vintage instruments and sound equipment that occupy the skilled musicians when they need a distraction. The gear is sometimes featured on the final albums, but for many musicians, just holding these instruments makes the recording process feel more real.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople come down here and they use a guitar, a pedal, and an amplifier that they&#8217;ve always dreamed of using since they were kids. So that&#8217;s special to see and be able to provide,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cWhen people use this specific gear or instruments, they feel that they have an expectation to live up to. That brings out the best in them and their performances.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every inch of studio space is designed with purpose, from the furniture to the colors and designs on the walls and ceilings. Vibrant blue, red, and green carpets complement the hardwood fixtures that shape the tone of each space and contribute to the attitude of every person involved in the process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like, some sort of Oasis, without the water. But the water is the music,\u201d said the singer-songwriter Rome, in a post on YouTube.<\/p>\n<p>Sonic Ranch has a track record that shows it still matters where the music is made. Technology has made music production fast and possible almost anywhere. But instead of chasing trends or algorithms, Sonic Ranch invests in patience, teamwork, and forging real human connections \u2013 elements that prove how a record is made is as important as how it sounds.<\/p>\n<p><em>Alyda Muela is an independent journalist based in El Paso, Texas where she covers investigative, economic, and cultural stories. @alydamuela<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kvia.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor\u2019s note: This story was co-published by Puente News Collaborative, a bilingual nonprofit newsroom and funder dedicated to high-quality, fact-based news and information from the U.S.-Mexico border and Minero Magazine. TORNILLO &#8212; Sonic Ranch is a working farm on 1,700 acres hugging the Rio Grande and Texas\u2019 border with Mexico, some 40 miles east of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2383446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2383445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Desert-Songs-How-Sonic-Ranch-cut-a-new-trail-in.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2383445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2383447,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383445\/revisions\/2383447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2383446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2383445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2383445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2383445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}