Mad Oak | Record, Release, Caffeinate - Let’s Boogie.

In the late, late 90s, Mr. Riggs, then and current frontman of the rock band Roadsaw (Boston, MA) realized that much of his band's revenue was being spent on studio time. He became determined to build and open a local recording studio catering to musicians with limited income who did not want to be forced to compromise the recording quality of their music for financial reasons. He and partner Frank Pagliughi (later joined by PK Pandey in 2005) took over a wood-working shop called Mad Oak Wood Working at Rugg Rd in Allston, MA. After adopting the woodshop's name, Mad Oak Studios was born in the year 2000. In 2013, the Rugg Road building complex (hosting the Studio and other local artists) was sold and demolished, forcing Mad Oak, the tenants, and the rats to relocate and rebuild a few blocks down in its current location on the main drag (Cambridge St). Resident in-house engineer Benny Grotto also became co-owner in the transition.

Building on the start-up mantra that gave the studio life, Riggs expanded the Mad Oak brand in 2012 and started a small record label for his various side projects and other bands that recorded at Mad Oak. In an effort to give artists greater control over their music, Mad Oak Records has adopted a co-op model approach where bands and folks with various skillsets join forces as members under one umbrella to share resources and promote better working arrangements across the label. Support 101.

After the new studio location opened, Riggs decided to once again build on the Mad Oak brand around his lifelong coffee addiction. In 2017, Mad Oak Coffee Roasters was born. His specialized cold brew can be found at local bars and offices across the Allston area (visit Lulu’s across the street from Mad Oak Studios and give it a spin). Mad Oak typically sources Guatemalan and Costa Rican beans for light roasts, Rwandan and Peruvian beans for medium-bodied roasts, and Sumatran and Papua New Guinean for dark roasts. He regularly roasts and bags beans for sale locally as well. Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love.

Our Partners

The Mad Oak catalogue can be exclusively found through direct partnerships with our friends and colleagues below:

Europe