Meet Prabhs Matharoo | Knife Maker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Prabhs Matharoo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Prabhs, what’s the end goal, career-wise?
This is a loaded question! There’s a lot of things business owners want. For me, it’s the freedom to work on my own schedule, be financially independent and feel passion and fulfillment that I’m taking control of my dreams and achieving them. Too many times I feel the “safe” route is working towards making someone else’s dream come true; I don’t think I or anyone else was put on this Earth to push our goals aside and work relentlessly, 40 hours a week for sub-par pay, potentially working a job one hates just to scrape by with the rising tide of inflation and greedy corporations…then again, I say that while working a full time job on top of trying to run this business so maybe I should take my own advice!

Ideally, we’d love to have a home, out in the desert with a detached shop/office area where I can spend my days, grinding, forging and designing, knowing the years we ate dirt, shit and all the stress lead us to overall peace where we can live our days knowing it’s on our terms

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We originally started Studio Singh to make the most beautiful knives the world has ever seen. Coming from the world of Architecture, I focussed on simple and minimalist designs. I picked up several working styles, mindsets and techniques from various other knife makers around the country and the world only to find myself losing the vision. I started spending hours on a tiny detail, making sure everything was polished to a mirror finish so everyone could see how good they look or aligning every single tooling mark to be 100% parallel to the material direction but in the end (and 5 hours later) it didn’t seem like I was moving forward. I spent so long trying to make things perfect and I was chasing this enigma that one can never get to and it was wearing me down

In the end, I set standards that would give all of you a fantastic product that didn’t sacrifice quality or functionality and we still spend time making sure all the details fit, look and feel great in the hand; we’re just not spending 3 hours on it. I ignored what other knife makers were doing, I stopped following their accounts, listening to their podcasts and the only things running through my ears were the sweet sounds of heavy metal while I was banging heavy metal. Lighting the forge again, set ablaze a fire in me to move forward in the direction that we needed to, not to follow one already made by the hundreds of makers out there

There were times where I didn’t know where I was going, hell I still don’t, and I’m finding that direction with each idea I bring to life

We have some big changes coming with this year (with some fancy new age tools) to open so many more doors on how we can bring our products to all of you and how we can address your needs even more

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d take them to every hole-in-the-wall restaurant I know of. Currently China Pasta House is my go-to that I share with everyone, even if they’ve been in Tucson for years. Not a lot of people know about it but they have the best Chinese food at the best prices; I always tip heavy since I feel guilty by how little they charge for so much food!

To drink, I’d 100% take them to Juniper. My wife and I went to this gin bar, downtown, a few weeks ago and even if you don’t like Gin, the cocktails (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) are carefully crafted and the staff are hospitable, chill, professional and have some great conversation. Honestly, it’s worth going to watch them work; they’re so smooth, it’s almost as if you’re watching a performance

To top it all off, drive out to the desert, load up the firearms and take them shooting. Nothing like popping off a few targets to get some aggression out!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My wife and son, 100%. They put up with my crap and love me even when I’m covered in metal, fiberglass or carbon fiber dust. It’s always great to see the smiles on their faces when I walk through the door after a few hours of beating metal and playing with fire!

Isaac Stockton deserves all the praise and love in the world. He’s the only photographer I use to document any of my work and he’s an overall gem in the world full of negativity and hate. His attitude, passion for his craft sets him apart from all the other photographers I’ve met in town

Website: www.studio-singh.com

Instagram: @studio.singh

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Studio-Singh

Image Credits
Isaac Stockton