A place to play: Sound Union in Redwood City is a private club and a public concert venue

John Avilla has been playing music since childhood and still cherishes it for the emotional, mental and social boosts it provides. But, as a bassist who thrives on collaborating with others, finding the right space to do so hasn’t always been easy.

“‘We always have to go to some guy’s garage, bring in all our gear, set it all up, play for a bit before the neighbors start complaining at 9, shut it all down, pack it all up and leave,'” Avilla’s friend and business partner Tom Zazueta recalled Avilla saying. “He looked around and was like, ‘… How do we create a space that’s a great place for musicians to go play and meet other musicians?'” 

With that idea in mind, Avilla and Zazueta founded Sound Union, a private club where members, be they music makers or simply music lovers, can socialize, jam, rehearse and more. They liken the concept to a health club or gym, but for making and enjoying music. 

Located in downtown Redwood City, Sound Union offers three large studio spaces; three smaller studio rooms (including one with podcasting equipment); an acoustic lounge; an upstairs venue space that seats around 125; plus communal seating and co-working areas, and a kitchen. 

The space also makes available instruments including electric and acoustic guitars, Fender amplifiers, multiple digital pianos, ukuleles, basses, keyboards and drum sets, plus PA systems. The venue sourced much of the equipment from Gelb, the longtime music shop nearby. 

“Our members come in, we have all the equipment, we provide everything,” Avilla said (members can also bring their own instruments). Sound Union has a mobile app, which members use to schedule sessions and reserve space, find out about upcoming events and network with each other. 

“We run some sessions (for example, a three-week jazz workshop, and a clinic on overcoming stage fright). Other times our members, using our platform, will reach out to the community and say, ‘Hey I’ve got studio number three on Tuesday night. Who wants to play?’ And then we’ll get anywhere from a half a dozen to a dozen people who come in and play together,” Avilla said.

One of the goals is to facilitate collaborations without the pressure or expectations that might come with, for example, a band audition or even an open-mic night. 

“We don’t care if it’s the first time someone has picked up an instrument or it’s the 5,000th time. If you are here and want to play, you’re a musician. It’s helped us create an environment where people feel comfortable doing that,” Avilla said. At a holiday showcase, for example, “we had a singer who had never sung in public before being backed by a jazz guitar player who’s played for 50 years,” he said. And at a Valentine’s concert, 11 different Sound Union combos performed. “Everybody is just there to play and have that catharsis, that fun that music does for you.” 

The upstairs space hosts private performances and gatherings for members, but it’s also open to the public as a music venue, with a goal of offering several public performances per month. 

“We have touring, independent musicians that we’re bringing in so that our members and the public can experience some really cool acts in a very intimate setting,” Avilla said. 

Upcoming performances include The Bills on May 29 and bluegrass icon Laurie Lewis in August. Public concerts are ticketed, and members attend most for free. 

“It’s also how we grow our membership,” Avilla said. “Every time we have a concert people become members.” 

Sandra Vickers decided to take a tour of Sound Union after two separate musician friends recommended she check it out. 

“It was really a leap of faith because the downstairs studios weren’t even built yet,” she said of the tour she took in January. “Just the way they explained the concept, I was sold on it. I joined, like, that afternoon.” 

She’s come back to playing the guitar and singing after not doing so for “a really long time,” she said. “Since finding Sound Union it’s just become so easy to meet other people and play.”

Vickers works for a biotechnology company by day and has enjoyed taking part in jam nights and was a participant in the Valentine’s showcase.

“It’s like belonging to a country club but instead of playing golf you’re playing music,” she said. 

Membership options vary, including $350 a month for an annual membership, with different perks and levels of service depending on membership level. 

Avilla is a longtime Redwood City resident, so opening close to home has been gratifying for him, but eventually the plan is to open additional Sound Union branches at locations across North America (San Jose, where Zazueta is based, could be next). 

“We’re not going to be the only place people play,” Avilla said. “We just want to be the favorite place.”

While Sound Union has been taking memberships for a few months, the project has been in the works for some time. Avilla and Zazueta – who share a background in the advertising world and first met about 18 years ago – started working on it during the pandemic and incorporated in 2021 (unlike Avilla, Zazueta is not a musician himself but said he is the sound, lighting and “technology guy”). Before opening the Redwood City location, they hosted jam sessions at a friend’s space in San Carlos to test their concept. 

“Part of our due diligence was for the last few years … building a community of people who like to play,” Avilla said. “We spent a good two plus years doing lab research and understanding really what we could offer to our community so that it was a community-first-based business.”

Lisa Gleaton is a lead singer in the band Smokin’ Slice of Mojo, which performs dance hits of the 1960s and ’70s at events around the Bay Area. Mike Claire, the keyboardist in the band, suggested to Gleaton that she check out the “test kitchen” sessions Sound Union was hosting in San Carlos. 

“I’ve always sung. I have no stage fright. I have never seen a microphone I didn’t like,” she said, laughing. However, while she’s an experienced vocalist, she hadn’t yet tried a jam session, at which musicians mix it up and improvise with each other.

“That was an absolutely eye-opening, life-changing evening,” she said. “I’ve never felt so encouraged to try things with singing before.” 

The experience was so meaningful that she joined Sound Union at the highest level, as a lifetime member.

“I probably come three times a week,” she said, sometimes for organized events, like acoustic night on Wednesdays or weekend concerts, sometimes for planned practice sessions, and other times spontaneously. 

“It has made my retirement,” she said. 

Gleaton, a former teacher and administrator with the Sequoia Union High School District, retired from her day job during the pandemic, and said she loves having the time to utilize Sound Union in different ways. She can bring her guitar and saxophone and practice as loudly as she likes (something she’s not able to do in her San Mateo condo complex). And if she has a gig coming up, she can rehearse her vocals through a PA system.

“You can have people practicing Metallica in one room, reggae in another room and violin in a third one and they do not cross at all,” Gleaton noted of the soundproofing.

‘Sound Union exposes her to all sorts of musical styles, she said, and has also led to opportunities she didn’t expect, such as being asked to record backing vocals on a band’s album, and guest with another on stage. She’s even been putting her administration experience into good use by volunteering to help with the logistics for the public events. ‘Sound Union exposes her to all sorts of musical styles, she said, and has also led to opportunities she didn’t expect, such as being asked to record backing vocals on a band’s album, and guest with another on stage. She’s even been putting her administration experience into good use by volunteering to help with the logistics for the public events. 

And she’s brought friends into the Sound Union fold as well — two Sequoia Union colleagues have joined so far, and when they play together, the three call themselves The Teachers’ Lounge. At the time of this interview, the group was preparing to perform at a Sound Union showcase organized by several members, including one who’d casually sat in with them on drums a few times as they practiced.

“That’s the best part about it, how friendly and supportive everybody is about everyone else’s music,” she said. 

Sound Union is located at 2625 Broadway St., Redwood City. More information is available at soundunion.com.