This is the very first of many posts to come, and will probably be one of the longer ones due to a lack of previous online insights as to what exactly goes on out there in Monks Horton, a small village just outside of Folkestone - for those of you who don't know.
I will start by taking you back to December 2009, a wonderous month for myself and Marcus (co studio-leasing guy) where we were lucky enough to find a beautiful DDA DMR12 88 input analogue desk (designed by Dave Dearden who now designs Audient consoles) which currently has pride of place as the central hub of our control room. In order to make the installation an extra special occasion we refurbed the control room, treating it to a new carpet, new paint and some nice furnishings too - so anyone who remembers the old thread-bare carpet of the Astra/Absolute/Barewires/Anchor Baby/Quantum Leap (insert whatever other studio name here) days can be safe in the knowledge that it has been laid to rest.
The desk itself was in perfect working order, having just been serviced (although oddly enough none of the VU meter bulbs were working - perhaps a dodgy fuse) and it sounded absolutely fantastic - especially after our ears had adjusted to the somewhat brittle/non-responsive EQ of its predecessor - a Soundtracs Virtua digital console, and before THAT a Soundtracs Inline analogue board (which to its credit actually worked out pretty well when the Kid Pang and Keith James records were tracked through and mixed on it). I only wish we'd had the beloved DDA when Jairus recorded our EP last September, which was tracked through the Virtua and mixed in the box.
Skip past Christmas/New Year and into January:
During a VERY snowy weekend I had the Tortilla Army lads in to record their new album (out now and called 'One For The Living') - a really really well rehearsed band and top bunch of guys. Due to severe weather in Monks Horton (the entire village got snowed in) we ended up spending the night in the studio, and carried on recording throughout the night until 10am the following day. Due to time limits I had to continue mixing through the night (not advisable if you want a good sounding mix) whilst the lads slept on the control room floor around me - I can remember watching the clock ticking past: 1am, 3am, 5am, 7am. In fact, I was petrified of listening to the mix a few days later due to the circumstances under which it was mixed, but to my pleasant surprise there were only a few tweaks to be made. A few weeks later the mastered copy (Thanks Oz) was in my car stereo and sounding HUGE! Great album release show too...
So, since January I have had some incredible bands through the studio doors, including Delta Sleep (new EP out soon), Stations In The Valley (new band from the Secondsmile lads), The Blues Shift, Klaus, Facades and one of the best bands I've ever heard: Phoria - a new band from Brighton.
Phoria really are something else - I discovered them at the Dirty South in Lewisham when I went to see Tener Duende (awesome gypsy-jazz trio) back in March. I knew as soon as I saw them that I had to record them, so a month or so and a few Myspace messages later they were walking towards the studio doors to record their new EP for a week, armed with a suitcase full of food and some wooden bear that they take everywhere with them. A few weeks (and some stray cats, marmite sets, location recording in a ballroom and country house, out of tune pianos) later and we're putting the finishing touches on the mixes, then it's off for mastering. This record will be something TRULY amazing by the time it's finished. Expect to see plenty more of this band very soon!
In other exciting news, the Jairus EP 'Build My Gallows High' has had some rave reviews from Rockmidgets.com, Rocksound magazine and Terrorizer magazine. Comments so far have mentioned how huge and beefy the production sounds, thanks guys! We are also pleased to announce that we will be playing alongside Sepultura, Glassjaw and a whole host of other amazing bands at the Hevy festival in August.
Well, that's about it for the first blog. The studio is going from strength to strength, and has now been treated to a lovely new set of windows all round. The sun is out, the garden is mown and there are plenty of exciting bookings lined up for the Summer.
I will make an effort to update this blog daily, so if you're interested in what's going on - or may be considering recording with me then please keep checking the blog out.
- Dan Lucas.
