The Path to Your Inner Sound

As the only non-musical sibling amongst a trio of brothers, Tony Mattucci had to find his niche within his familial group when they decided to go into the music business together. His two brothers, Marco and David are musicians, both of whom have been in local bands for decades. Tony, however, is the self-professed “business mind” behind the three-brother ownership of Inner Sound in the Weis Festival Center on Joppa Road and does not play at all. In defense of a non-musician running a music store in relation to his musician siblings, he summed up the arrangement thusly: “The best chefs make the worst restaurant owners.”

The combination of Tony’s business acumen along with his brothers’ music knowledge seems to have created a very successful ensemble. Rounding out this potent mix is an operational manager extraordinaire, Jonah Lenius, who completes and compliments the more than competent group. 

Those of you who have been in Perry Hall for a while may remember that the current Inner Sound location was formerly Music First run by guitarist Ron Turner. (In fact, the sign on Joppa Road still says Music First.) Ron ran a music store/ studio that catered to an upper-end clientele of experienced musicians. When Ron moved on to his next project, the location became available and Tony and his brothers purchased the business with a somewhat different vision than Ron. In fact, as Tony says, “the only thing the same about this store is the four walls.”

On their website, Inner Sound articulates their mission statement. “We are a locally owned and operated family business with children of our own in the Perry Hall school system. Our goal is to provide quality instruments and quality instruction in a clean, safe learning environment.” And the trio does their absolute best to live up to those guiding principles.

I recently spoke to Tony and he told me that Inner Sound’s clientele range from 6-65 years, with a focus on beginner students. The brothers want the store to be the first stop for local budding musicians. To facilitate that goal, Inner Sound offers a large variety of lessons for the beginner: All styles of guitar, including classical, electric, and bass; stringed instruments, such as cello, viola and violin; woodwind instruments; piano; voice; and drums.

The majority of their instructors are long-term educators, most of whom also teach in the public school system. Because of their vast experience in the academic environment, these instructors have the patience and skills to construct a rewarding experience for the beginning student as well as their parents.  

One of the most unusual and innovative things about Inner Sound’s lesson program is that parents do not have to sign a long-term contract. The parent/student’s commitment to lessons is negotiated on a month-to-month basis, currently at $96 a month. As a parent of seven children himself, Tony knows that a long-term commitment doesn’t always work for many parents—lack of resources, lack of enduring interest by kids, or lack of time can all interfere with the best of intentions. So both parents and students have a great deal of flexibility in regards to lessons which is not usually offered by music stores’ lesson plans. Students can even take the summer off if they have other commitments.

Besides offering lessons, Inner Sound is a full-service music store.  The store, in a partnership with Menchey Music, gives customers access to a wide array of retail items and instruments geared towards the beginner. They offer affordable starter guitars and all the extras such as replacement strings, slides, etc. Of course, instrument rentals are available as well. With their close ties to the public school music program, their rentals are arranged with school-approved instruments. Repairs of broken instruments can also be arranged. The final in-house amenity is a recording studio which has the capability to record, mix and master the creative output of either in-house students or outside artists. The recording studio uses state-of-the-art recording equipment including Pro-Tools digital software.

In addition to this in-house recording studio, Inner Sound also encompasses an off-site rehearsal space in nearby Parkville. According to their website, rehearsal spaces are available 24 hours a day,  have motion activated security, heating and air conditioning, restrooms and are carpeted studios with sound deadening foam in every room. As Tony stated, they are not the cheapest rehearsal spaces musicians will find but there is a purpose behind the pricing. Tony uses the pricing to attract a particular client base.

Tony’s personal management philosophy is simple, “Surround yourself with successful people in order to take care of you and your customers. Don’t lose any customers. Make students exited about lessons.”  He also credits his wife, Nancy, for her support. She is the breadwinner of the family, which in turn allowed him to quit the day job he had prior to entering the music business with his brothers. Her support also allows him to start his day after the noon hour by doing such things as picking up his children from school and spending a lot of time with them.

The Inner Sound management partnership is a win-win situation for the Mattucci family and the Perry Hall community. Inner Sound is located at 4132 East Joppa Road, 410.256.2699. Visit them online at www.innersoundstudio.com. Or you can contact Tony by email at tmatticcu@innersoundstudio.com.