During Orlando's music recording heyday in the late 1990s, some of the biggest names in music recorded at a studio in Altamonte Springs.

  • Renowned Central Florida recording studio revived
  • Chart-topping artists used studio in late 1990s
  • Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys recorded at Parc Records
  • Studio has new owner, hoping to revitalize recording scene

After sitting vacant for many years, artists are again recording there and hoping to revive Orlando’s music scene.

“Orlando for a while was running the industry,” said Will Snyder, an owner of WJSP Entertainment.

In the late ‘90s, the studios were known as Parc Records, where the Orlando-bred Backstreet Boys and NSYNC recorded some of their first hits.

“Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, the list goes on and on,” Snyder said. “And they loved this place."

Then, after changing hands several times, the studio sat vacant for years. Snyder heard it had been gutted.

But “I walked in, and the place was completely intact,” Snyder said. “I fell in love, literally fell in love with this place, and I thought, 'I have to have this spot,' " he said. "And that was a year and a half ago, so it took that long to get the right team together to bring this place back to life."

Now, with a team that includes Grammy-nominated producers, the chart-toppers of tomorrow are recording there again.

“My message to everyone is, 'We’re back, the sound is back, the producers are back,' ” Snyder said.

“I can see them topping charts, pretty much immediately,” said Patrick Woideck, an owner of WJSP Entertainment. “We have some pretty hot stuff coming up and coming out of here."

Guitarist Jonathan Holt said it’s exciting when you first walk into the studios.

“It’s very inspiring, but a little bit intimidating,” said Holt, the lead guitarist for the band Theory of Us. Holt hopes to become a part of making Central Florida again the place to make hit music.

“You begin to figure out how to craft what you are trying to craft, and hopefully you’ll become one of those greats they mention, in the future,” Holt said.

WJSP Entertainment offers tours of their recording studio in Altamonte Springs. WJSP can be reached at wjspent@gmail.com.