Painting Rock and Roll Doors
There are some places you work that stay with you long after you leave.
Rock and Roll San Diego is one of those places.
It was a music haven. Lessons, repairs, rehearsal rooms, it had everything a musician could need, all under one roof. But the real draw was the rooms themselves. You could play as loud as you wanted, for as long as you wanted, and no one was going to knock on the door and tell you to keep it down.
It felt like freedom.
I came into the job with a lot of small-business experience and quickly found myself helping build the day-to-day operations: setting up the POS system, creating open-and-close procedures, and keeping things running smoothly. But what made the place special wasn’t just how it ran. It was what it allowed.
You were encouraged to try things.
I learned how to change and tune a drum head, how to set up a room with PA systems and mics, and how to send off a guitar to Willie, the resident repairman who could bring just about anything back to life.
And then there were the creative opportunities.
We threw a concert for the five-year anniversary. I started photographing bands as they came through, using those photos to cross-promote both the artists and the business. I ran the social accounts, updated the website… anything that helped tell the story of what was happening inside those walls.
Then, I had an idea:
What if I painted the doors?
Each rehearsal room was named after an iconic song: “Eruption,” “Detroit Rock City,” “War Pigs.” The names were already there. They just needed to be seen.
The answer was yes.
“Eruption” came first. It felt like the right place to start. I pulled directly from Van Halen’s Frankenstrat, the one with the red base and black and white stripes. From a distance, it almost looked like chaotic paint splatter streaks, but up close, there was structure, rhythm, and intention in the lines, just like the music. I finished the door with the name in that unmistakable Van Halen-style font.
Then came “Whatsername.” A little simpler, but still bold. Black background, the title in red and white, and the bleeding heart grenade from American Idiot. I added a parental advisory sticker in the corner because… why not? These doors were fun so I wanted to have fun with them.
The last one I tackled was “Yellow Brick Road.” I reworked the classic imagery with the road, the rising sun, and the sparrow so it fit the shape of the door. One thing I changed: I took Elton John out of it. He wasn’t the one walking into that room; the musician was.
Those doors became something people noticed. Something they remembered. Small moments of identity in a place that already had so much energy.
It’s still one of my favorite things I’ve made.
And honestly, it makes me wonder why more doors aren’t painted.
So… do you have any doors? They should be painted.
