Utility Muffin Research Kitchen (UMRK) was the name given by Frank Zappa to the recording studio he built at his Laurel Canyon home in 1979. The name of the studio came from a location in one of Zappa’s songs; “Muffin Man” from the album Bongo Fury. The concept of a “Utility Muffin Research Kitchen” also appeared in Zappa’s rock opera, Joe’s Garage, with the plot ending with the protagonist, Joe, giving in to conformity and getting a job at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, where he decorates muffins with icing rosettes. Zappa had previously lived in the cavernous Laurel Canyon ‘Log Cabin’, originally built as the Laurel Tavern in 1913, it was home to the silent-era film star Tom Mix. It burned down in a suspicious fire in 1970.

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