CENTRAL
Projects
custom café theater
(since 2012)
Shows and events venue, transdisciplinary theater and platform of artistic reception for national and international partnerships.
This space was once the main haul of the former military hangars which in December 2003 was bought in ruins by the Custom Circus troupe with auto financing. When restoring this storehouse the troupe intended to transform it into its own theater, however, due to constant economic difficulties and much itinerant work its phased construction extended for 8 years. But perseverance worked miracles! Custom Café, the mysterious theater condemned so many times not to exist, finally inaugurated in March 2012 with the show Le Cabaret Rock, an intensive production that received more than 40 thousand spectators in 2 consecutive years, thus signing the residence of this troupe of nomadic genesis.
Its kinky cabaret ambience transcends the conventional theater and the transition from the company's underground imaginary to this venue was the result of a genuine story so scenographic that the aesthetics that Custom Circus represented in so many years on the road invade the visitor, from Dieselpunk to Bizarre Chic and Steampunk.
Link:
Contact:
rehearsal rooms-band box
(since 2007)
Studios prepared for Bands, Musicians, Roaddies, Backline, Tour HQ, Previews and national and international partnerships.
For availability of entry in the community, send a brief presentation of the project to:
The Band Box concept has generated a collective with more than 60 rehearsal studios fostering around 200 resident bands that form the most active community of musicians in our country since 2008, making the Band Box name nowadays synonymous with a rehearsal studio in Portugal, Spain and Portuguese speaking countries.
Link Video:
This idea came long before Nirvana Studios existence, sometime in 1995 when two of the future founders of Custom Circus traded old Harley-Davidson bikes in the USA; in a junkyard near El Paso-Texas, they met bands rehearsing in decrepit containers that were not just rehearsal studios but also clubhouses. This vision left them fascinated.
So when Nirvana Studios emerged in 2004, Custom Circus conceived a prototype which they ironically called Band Box* to give all troupe musicians the conditions and comfort they were not used to have. But it took 3 years of attempts with upcycling architecture and testing of various recycled materials to finally get it. In 2007 the name and brand were patented and the 1st band outside Custom Circus to join the project, the Easyway, receive the Band Box #01. That same year the concept soon lit a fuse in the national rock scene with dozens of bands calling for "political asylum" on Nirvana Boulevard. And thanks to all these artists, producers and technicians the Band Box scene was consolidated tour after tour, in backstages of festivals, jam sessions, recording studios and the stages each Nirvanian performed.
* Because originally the Band Box term designated the band's truck in a metaphor between "body & box", due to the fact that Custom Circus musicians played live on top of their trucks, whether in static or parade shows.
Link Video:
BANDS & pORTAL
Welcome to this huge family that has been the most active community of musicians in Portugal since 2008.
This was due to the courage and work of all these artists that between rehersals, music clips, shows, gigs and tours forged the mystique of the Alternative Cultural Center. Survivors or not these bands are part of our heritage, though with an annual average of over 200 resident bands and more than 100 national and international projects in transit, we've never been able to reference all groups. If your band also worked, resided or resides in Nirvana Studios and is not present here you can inform us with the name, the year of entry and the studio at:
or
Link: Bands
RESIDENCES-Custom Ville
