The concert venue ordered soundproofing to stop the noise affecting the upstairs club

A live music venue has been ordered to install soundproofing by the end of the year to stop loud noise disturbing performers and audiences at a similar club above it. Three Nine Five Studios, which opened 15 months ago on the ground floor of a building in St Jude’s, has been taken to a premises license review hearing by its upstairs neighbor Jam Jar in a bid to end disturbance.

Avon & Somerset Police and Bristol City Council’s neighborhood watch team told a group of councilors that both had already issued formal warnings to Three Nine Five for breaching licensing conditions, including not using a noise limiter. Hadie Abido, the co-founder and director of folk music venue Jam Jar in Little Ann Street, told the licensing sub-committee: “The noise from Three Nine Five disturbs our performers and the audience.

“Most of the problem comes from playing music in a space that isn’t right for it.” He said there was a lack of soundproofing in the narrow gap between the ground floor ceiling and the floor of the Jam Jar.

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Mr Abido said some artistes pulled out of the show due to noise issues. He said: “It affects us financially when artists won’t pour their heart and soul on stage because of the bass levels downstairs and we’re frustrated that it affects our reputation.

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“It’s not a chicken and egg situation – the soundproofing should have been in place before it opened as a live music venue. Artists cannot rehearse or perform in our space.”

He said the Jam Jar has been open for 10 years and has never had noise issues from downstairs, even when it was a music studio. Mark Curtis, Bristol City Council’s senior pollution control officer, told the meeting on Thursday 16 May: “I totally agree that the main issue is the lack of sound insulation between the two properties.

“This makes it very difficult to operate two music venues, one on top of the other. It relies on a lot of communication between the two parties to solve it, which I thought would be a problem solver, but it didn’t really work.

“Noise affects Jam Jar’s ability to run a business. The fundamental problem is sound insulation and I don’t see anything on the table to solve it. It’s frustrating and I don’t see a way out.”

Megan Davis, the borough council’s senior enforcement officer, said she issued a formal warning to Three Nine Five in February after finding two loudspeakers were not connected to the noise limiter. Avon & Somerset Police licensing officer Louise Mowbray said she found breaches of the license in May 2023, just three months after it was granted, and issued a formal warning in October for further breaches relating to the lack of a limiter of noise and security.

She told the panel: “It is concerning that a newly opened premises has received so much police attention. They paid little attention to the license they were given.

“It was like they felt, ‘We have a license, we can do whatever we want.’ It was run pretty chaotically from day one.

“No one has really taken this license and made sure the terms are being followed.” But she said the situation had “definitely improved” since the October warning.

She asked the subcommittee to either restrict licensed activities to 11pm or suspend the license for three months to isolate the venue. Lawyer Ewen Macgregor, representing Three Nine Five, said the license suspension would effectively cancel it.

He said the dispute was a private one between two neighboring businesses, so it was up to them to resolve it. Mr Macgregor said: “It is a private nuisance rather than a public nuisance that you are asked to deal with and which is outside your remit as a committee.”

He said Three Nine Five also reported unpleasant noise coming from the Jam Jar in their premises. The lawyer said the venue was a community and creative arts space, as well as hosting concerts, and was popular with marginalized sections of society, including the LGBT+ community and victims of sexual abuse who felt safe there.

He said: “There have been positive changes in recent months. The speakers have been removed from the ceiling and all speakers are connected to a noise limiter.

“My clients have never had a complaint from the residents, nor have the responsible authorities. These two spaces share the same owner and we cannot undertake to install soundproofing without their consent and this would also require assistance from Jam Jar.”

It would cost £15,000 to carry out the work, councilors heard. Announcing the decision, subcommittee chairman Cllr Richard Eddy (Conservative, Bishopsworth) said: “We considered suspending the license while various improvements are made, but we don’t think that would be appropriate as the issue is fundamentally about noise pollution and soundproofing. is the necessary solution for this.

“Any suspension would affect that by stopping revenue in your business.” He said the panel had unanimously agreed that the existing conditions should be kept unchanged, apart from an amendment suggested by Mr Curits to improve those relating to the noise limiter.

Cllr Eddy said: “We are adding an additional condition – that by December 31, 2024, the premises install soundproofing to satisfy Bristol City Council’s pollution control.” Mr Abido said afterwards: “Soundproofing is the only thing we want.

“We are happy to continue to communicate with Three Nine Five and hope that the relationship can improve to the point where a future review is not necessary. It remains our position that the license is not as effective as it could be in protecting neighboring residents and businesses.”