After five years of recording bands and hosting concerts, Audiowild Studios is being forced to close its doors.
The Independent has chronicled Audiowild and owner Brian Parnell’s history of big concerts, locally adored fests and financial difficulties, as well as his successful effort to get IRS approval for a religious nonprofit, The Church of Divine Vibes. Along the way, Parnell has used social media to air his grievances and keep locals updated, on both his successes and struggles at 54240 Ridgeview Drive, in Idyllwild-Pine Cove
On June 28, he posted on Facebook: “Some of you may have noticed some papers that were taped to the studio door at the beginning of this month. One of them was a 60-day notice stating that the latest owners have decided not to renew my lease. I’m supposed to be out by Aug. 1.”
Parnell elaborated during a recent phone interview.
“There were two notices on the door,” he said. “One was a pay-or-quit notice, because I was still late on May’s rent, and then there was also a 60-day notice of non-renewal of lease. Since it’s a commercial lease, they don’t have to give me a reason, so they technically have not given me a reason for why they’re canceling the lease.”
Parnell said the owners informed him the non-renewal decision was final.
“They weren’t asking for money; they weren’t asking for anything to change,” Parnell said. “It just seems like maybe they think that they’ll be able to flip the space super-quick and get somebody easier to deal with in there.”
After receiving the non-renewal notice, Parnell said he actually felt relief.
“To be perfectly honest, with all the struggles that I’ve been going through in fight-or-flight mode with this place for the last 5 1/2 years, there’s a certain element of relief for me personally,” he said.
Then came the outpouring of love.
“Once people started reaching out and telling me how heartbroken they were, it really sunk in. … It’s not just about me and my struggles and all of that; it’s what (Audiowild) represents for the community, and the heart and soul of so many musicians up here,” he said.
Parnell’s Facebook page has long been a place to read about the harsh truths of owning a music venue in 2026.
“Deciding to share everything publicly, it’s not something that every business owner does—but I’m not every business owner,” Parnell said. “Authenticity and being genuine mean a lot to me, and it’s also a precautionary tale to other people. There’s such a myth: ‘You can just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make yourself something from nothing.’ I don’t think there’s enough emphasis put on how difficult it is to start a business and to be able to make money from a business if you aren’t already wealthy to some degree. I also wanted to be public with it, because I’m in a small town. Rumors start very quickly, so if you hear it from the horse’s mouth, that maybe combats a little bit of that. … The online stuff was sort of like my therapeutic, almost journaling kind of thing, just keeping people informed. Plus, maybe when people know what’s going on, then they’re more willing to reach out and try to help support and all that.”
“Had I been able to acquire a liquor license, that would have been the game-changer that we needed.”
Brian Parnell
While Parnell said being behind on rent is the major reason his lease is ending, other factors contributed to Audiowild’s closure—including his inability to serve alcohol.
“Had I been able to acquire a liquor license, that would have been the game-changer that we needed,” he said. “I make the joke that you could put a bar in a broom closet in Idyllwild, and people would still be there three nights a week. The space itself doesn’t necessarily matter; people just want the libations.”
While the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control offers a specific liquor license for music venues, Riverside County rejected Parnell’s attempts to get a license, because Audiowild’s zoning status doesn’t allow for music venues—but it does allow for churches. Enter The Church of Divine Vibes.
“Having a religious nonprofit makes it a lot easier to be able to pull permits, and to be able to do alcohol sales as a form of fundraising,” he said. “It was amazing news that everything got approved, and it seemed like the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Unfortunately, Parnell’s landlords said no.
“I did not anticipate the current owners and their real estate lawyer deciding that even if I have the permits, even if I have the security, they don’t want alcohol sales on the property, whether it’s for fundraising or for whatever,” Parnell said.
Parnell said his financial difficulties kept him from even finishing construction at Audiowild.
“(The owners) are not from here, and it’s just an investment opportunity to them,” he said. “… Construction isn’t even done, so it’s pretty much impossible for me to be able to adhere to the lease and get everything returned to its original status, and all the fixtures returned, and the drywall, and all this other stuff, before Aug. 1. I am honestly fully expecting to get sued by them.”
Parnell wants to be clear: The Church of Divine Vibes was not created as a tax loophole or a way to save the venue—it’s a legit religion.
“I do believe that music is sacred, and that its performance and teaching it and recording it are all sacred acts,” he said.
Despite the end of Audiowild, Parnell said The Church of Divine Vibes will live on.
“I don’t know where necessarily,” he said. “I considered the low desert, but obviously, there’s an epidemic of venues closing. … The vibe in the high desert is so amazing, so I really considered it—plus it’s San Bernardino County, and not Riverside County, so I’m curious what their music venue zoning is.
“I got a call from a guy, a TV and film producer who had a comedy club in Austin for a while, but they live in the desert. They came up for some event that we had, and they loved the place so much that when they saw the news that we’re going to have to close, they were like, ‘Oh hell no!’ They’re looking for a place to be able to do their thing, a comedy club, and the wife is a baker. We’ve been going back and forth on potential locations, but maybe there’s a glimmer of hope that I would still be able to do the venue thing.”
Audiowild will join the long list of music-related spaces to close down as of late, joining The Oasis on Miles, the Academy of Musical Performance, the “World Famous” Repairland and Little Street Music Hall, among others.
“I think a lot of it, unfortunately, comes down to the whole political nonsense that we’ve been having in the country that’s been exacerbated over the last 10 years,” Parnell said. “There are a lot of people who view the arts as libtard shit. It doesn’t get the respect that it deserves. … Who knows where the idea for a song comes from? Half the time, you just tap into something, and then all of a sudden, it’s there. The inspiration comes from somewhere, and that’s not just music; that’s all forms of artistic expression. I feel like people are doing not just a disservice to humanity, but a disservice to wherever these things come from. It’s like slapping God in the face.”
Parnell said he remains hopeful—and grateful.
“I know how lucky I am,” he said. ‘I know how fortunate I am. I’m very, very grateful for everything that I have, for all the support that we’ve had, for just being able to, against all odds, stay the course for as long as we have. If this was three years ago, getting the lease termination notice, I would have lost my shit. Thankfully, I’m in a place now where I can see it as there’s another door opening; this door closes; that’s fine.”
