The narrow stage, wall-hugging bar and tiny bathrooms inside of the Bali Satay House, 2424 Lincoln Way, are long gone.

Bali Satay owner Iwan Muljadi and his contractor/musician friend, Waleigh LePon, have made the formerly cramped venue bigger and have added a new sound system, a lofted sound booth — which also serves as a recording studio — TVs, and video cameras, which LePon will use to broadcast live shows via television.

LePon says Muljadi has been planning to add on to the Bali Satay for a while, and had originally asked LePon just to add on to the bar itself.

“He showed me the building next door that he wanted to turn back into a pizza store,” LePon says. “So we put our heads together and realized it would be better to expand the restaurant more.”

LePon says Muljadi was able to acquire Home Team Pizza after its lease ran out.

“I guess Home Team Pizza just didn’t make it,” he says. “The building came up for lease auction and he bought into it. It’s kind of a joint venture; I’ve got all this recording equipment and Iwan bankrolled the whole project.”

LePon says his goal is to make recording an album an easy process for any band who would want to use the Bali Satay’s recording facilities. He hopes the tradeoff will attract bands that have a good following.

“We want to be kind of like a blue-collar studio,” he says. “We want to be able to have it so musicians can afford it. And maybe through trading services, we can get a good band in here and draw a big crowd.”

LePon says long-term plans may include buying out the theater next to Bali Satay and using that as the stage area.

Muljadi and LePon will be helped by the Bali Satay’s current booking agent, Jeff Hart, who says he thinks the new changes will help him out with booking.

“I’m hoping it will make booking easier because we’re planning to add stuff that will give the capability to record bands live and videotape them for broadcast on the local public access channel,” Hart says.

The idea for broadcasting the shows came from LePon, who has been involved in broadcasting for more than 20 years. He was once involved in broadcasting shows at Blues on Grand in Des Moines, and that is why he has decided to broadcast shows at Bali Satay.

A new feature of Bali Satay is that people who attend shows will be able to sit in the bar and eat, but not miss out on any of the show because of the addition of the video cameras and televisions.

“You can sit here and watch the band, then look over and say ‘Hey, that’s what they look like on TV,'” LePon says.

It’s these features that make the new Bali Satay House stand out and other area venues pale in terms of competition, LePon says.

“I don’t think we’re going to have to compete,” he says. “I think we’re gonna be the new kids on the block for following ’cause we’re gonna be putting people on television.”