The walls of the Alamo Rehearsal Studios echo with the sound and desperation of generations of musicians chasing their dreams. Tucked away in a once industrial part of Las Vegas, this is no ordinary rehearsal space. It’s grungy, lived in and full of scars, making it legendary to local jammers. And it’s held together by owner Kirk Moll, who is also a musician, producer and audio engineer.
“We were rehearsing in storage sheds when it was 120 degrees in the summer and it was a nightmare,” Moll recalls of his days playing guitar in the progressive power metal band Exhibit Eight. These brutal conditions were the reality of many local musicians back in the day, creating a need for habitable rehearsal spaces.
The Alamo, which sits just south of the Arts District at West Utah Avenue and Industrial Road, opened its doors on September 1, 1994. But the building had history long before that.
Musician brothers of Heroes 2 Night, Jovan Johnson, left, and Nik Johnson perform a song inside their studio at the Alamo Rehearsal Studios.
”This place actually had bands playing in it as far back as 1981, and it was called Taco Bell back then,” says Moll. “There used to be a bell that was at the top of the entrance, but somebody stole it.”
The Mission Revival-style building was built between 1976 and 1978 by Lewis Jolley, who became a grandfather figure to Moll. Jolley was a musician in his own right who played stand-up bass in the LA scene of the ’50s and ’60s. He decided to share the space with fellow musicians.
“He barely had any demand for office space … I don’t know who found out about this place first, but he started letting people rehearse in here,” says Moll.
According to Moll, it became quite the circus and Jolley eventually decided to close down shop. But Moll, 24 at the time, saw potential in the mess. He approached Jolley with a $1,400 investment borrowed from his mother and a vision to run the place himself.
The Alamo’s 30 rooms became a sanctuary for bands looking to thrash out without baking alive in a garage, annoying their neighbors or paying exorbitant rent. Over the years, each room has developed its own personality—painted, decorated and molded by the musicians who rent them—creating a living organism of music history within the walls. Local bands like Twin Cities, Viaje Nahual, Elevated Undergrounds, Dark Black, Close To Modern, Style Cramps, Cielo Impuro and Post NC are just a few who’ve carved into the walls.
“There’s been hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of bands and thousands of individuals that have played here,” says Moll.
And while the neighborhood has grown from a gritty industrial zone to a cleaned-up Arts District, the Alamo has remained a constant. The rehearsal space has been kept alive through the Great Recession, the pandemic and now the crushing weight of rising rent. Moll has found ways to adapt, like transitioning the Alamo’s operating hours to 24 hours a day.
Ultimately, he aims to continue providing musicians—some like Alura, who’ve been coming to the Alamo for over a decade—a space to practice, fall and rise. A deep connection to the music and history of the building keeps Moll motivated in his mission.
“I know this sounds cliche, but I could have let it go when it got hard … I didn’t because this place is just part of my soul, it’s a part of me.”
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