There was a ranch in Novato California on Novato Blvd., just north of town. It was on about 30 acres of land, in a pleasant location, with a stream running through it, several out buildings and a barn. What made this property unique was a couple, who were very much into gardening and were personnel friends of Luther Burbank's (some of his thornless artichokes were still on the property) had made it their home for thirty five years. The husband was in the merchant marines and would bring exotic plants from around the world back to the ranch after each trip. A few years after the couple relocated ,Tor Olson & Phil Hirsch, along with the rest of the members of the band "The Only Alternative", were lucky to rent the property . This was in 1966. After some rehab work the band converted the barn into a rehearsal space. It was in this unusual and somewhat idylic setting that Tor and Phil lived, rehearsed and wrote music. They eventually arrived at a shared approach to music that was to become the basis for their reuniting in 1988 to form Clubhouse Records .

During the late sixties, when so many bands were active in the Bay Area, there seemed to be a general approval (or at least tolerance) of originality, creativity and experimentation. The atmosphere created by the values of that era fueled The Only Alternative's success, resulting in a contract with Warner Bros. in 1967. Clubhouse was formed with the idea of emphasizing originality, creativity, and experimentation in all music production. Additionally the company was set up to employ elements of friendship, teamwork, common business and musical goals that were in the development stages at the ranch. In 1979 Phil opened a recording studio in Forestville California. Recording (and sometimes producing) over 24 album projects. When Phil and Tor teamed up again in 1988, Phil's recording studio and engineering skills became the foundation that Clubhouse Records was built on. Tor had been involved in architecture on and off since the late sixties (becoming a registered architect in California in 1979) and contributed his organizational skills to the company.

Now Clubhouse has two studios. One is a 32 track facility in Santa Rosa, California adjacent to Julliard Park (formerly Luther Burbank's residential property), the other is a 24 track studio located in Phil's house in Sebastopol. Our products are distributed nationally by Distribution North America. We have four New Age distributors: Pyramid, White Swan, Music Design, Devorss . Foreign distribution in Europe is Star Sound Universal,in Southeast Asia it is Cisco Music, in South America it is Alcione.