Foot In The Door

Upon leaving high school in 1991, I felt unsure of which direction I wanted to take in life, all I knew was that music needed to be a part of my future, and that it wasn’t going to happen sitting at home watching Top Of The Pops.

The day of my interview, the singer from Neds Atomic Dustbin walked across the courtyard, eating a banana, I knew this was the place to be! I was also shown the piano that Freddie Mercury composed Bohemian Rhapsody on while ‘bumming’ around the studios during the 1970s.

The place was rambling, and the outside farmyard views could not prepare you for the ’state of the art’ studios inside. To a 16 year old lad, It was like being inside a space control centre.

The Charlatans

I started off as a trainee tape operator, with one of my favourite indie bands of the time ‘The Charlatans’. I can remember sitting in awe of the band, being asked to make tea & coffee for band members, the producer, engineer and record label staff… I was a bit panic stricken, as I couldn’t remember all the different requests; some with sugar, some without, white, black, strong, weak, and so on. I delivered the tray shaking slightly, sitting there watching them drink with trepidation.

It was like a dream working those early days, moving the lead weight tape reels around, narrowly escaping getting crushed to death by the portable sound proof walls, setting up microphones, watching and listening to the endless rehearsals and band banter.

In Between 10th & 11th

The album we worked on was ‘In Between 10th & 11th’, and although the studio takes were raw and rocky, the finished product was mixed down very synthy.

I remember one time, being totally bollocked by FLUD, for playing my own dance music demo over the studio speakers, just as the band were rolling in for a days recording, it was my first effort at ‘Rave music’ created on a Commodore Amiga, that track ended up getting played on BRMB Radio.

Rob’s Departure

The band returned to Rockfield in later years, and Woodside Studios down the road, to record subsequent albums. I took a copy of my first white label record down for Tim some years later; when he was getting into DJing.

The band were sitting on a table in front of a signed picture hanging on the wall, which showed them posing… with Rob. The atmosphere was a bit sombre as we sat there sipping our pints of Murphys, Rob was much missed, but I am sure he was around in spirit.

Since my Rockfield days, I have stayed in loose contact with the band, and it’s nice to see they’re still the same old ‘down-to-earth’ group of guys, that I remember from my days at Rockfield.

Black Sabbath Practical Joke

By the time Black Sabbath came to work at Rockfield I had reached seventeen, the L.A. riots had kicked off and Freddie Mercury had died.. both events were watched in the studios on T.V. by bands recording there at the time.

I don’t think I really understood the importance of Black Sabbath back then, and being into rave and techno music, heavy metal was not something that really inspired me. Their eerie sounds would drift out of the studios, as I waited in the winter darkness for my brother to collect me in his battered old Ford Escort.

I wasn’t supposed to be working with the band, however, as usual I was often somewhere I was not supposed to be, and on this occasion, I was lounging on the sofa while the band were telling dirty stories of their hedonistic days. I had gained a reputation as a ’space-cadet’ by the band, as I didn’t really say much and often drifted off into my own little world.

Tony Iommi asked me if I could go and check the large, powerful speakers in the sound proofed studio in front of the mixing console. 

Paris Angels – Not From Paris And Not So Angelic

Some of the bands I worked with at Rockfield were: The Charlatans, Black Sabbath, The Damned, Crush, Naked Truth, Clannad, Kinky Machine, Paris Angels, Pop Will Eat Itself, Saw Doctors, X.T.C., Rumblefish and various other soloists.

The Paris Angels were another favourite band of the time, these guys were from the “Madchster” indie scene and we got on really well, there were a lot of them, and certain band members were often up to mischief, asking me to get them ’stuff’ from the stores… usually Marlboro Reds!

They were often back and forth to Manchester to bring ’supplies’ down. The sad thing is, that E.P. they were working on never made it to release, they were really very talented but a little unorganised, much to the frustration of the Sound Engineer at the time. I seem to remember him puffing on a lot of roll ups.

Their track ‘Perfume’ is possibly one of my all time top songs from that era.

Captain Sensible & The Damned

I knew a few Damned songs but I was never really a massive fan, so when I was told I would be working with them I couldn’t really say I was over the moon. I actually can’t remember the music they were recording, although this can be said for most of the bands I worked with.

Probably the funniest moment of the band’s stay at Rockfield was when I walked into the living quarter early one morning to discover pellet holes in the walls, the clock on the wall had pellet holes in the plastic cover too. I took the clock off the wall and the pellets rolled around inside like a cheap travel game, I think Mr Sensible had gone crazy with a ball bearing gun the night before. This kind of behaviour was normal for some bands. He must have been quite bored, or maybe angry (I remember PWEI smashing up a guitar for fun).

Music Calling

Towards the end of my time at Rockfield, I found myself drifting into my own music more and more, I ended up day dreaming about being in the band rather than behind the mixing desk.

I was getting a little stuck for things to do, and so I decided to remix some late 70’s Hawkwind and Bad Manners, during studio ‘down time’.

We had an 80s band in the studios soon after, and I was a little uninspired at the slow progress. One morning I made some tea for the producer and engineer, the producer turned around and spat it out, claiming I’d made it out of the hot water tap, hissing “that’s disgusting, go and make it again”.

I did make it again, paying special attention to what went into the mug, and then took great enjoyment watching him drink it down, it was at this point I realised it was time to move on. Rockfield was an experience that I will always remember, and I feel lucky and grateful to have lived that dream.

Oasis Vs Stone Roses

After I left, Oasis and The Stone Roses recorded some of their best material at the studios, and I still keep an eye out for albums being recorded there now.

In my opinion, Rockfield is one of the finest recording studios in the world… through it’s idyllic location, the warm friendly staff and a rich musical heritage. I hope that the studios remain popular and stay vibrant and used, they have already helped shape Britain’s audio identity, and the bands just keep rolling in through the doors.

With all the technological advances in audio formats over the last few decades, vinyl is still going strong, record collectors and dance music enthusiasts have been keeping the sound format alive when major record labels lost interest in the late 1980’s. More recently record labels in Japan, North America and Europe are getting back into the groove by releasing special limited edition Albums and 45 records by popular demand.

Disc Jockey

Disc Jockeys came about in the U.S. during the 1930’s, but beat matching didn’t arrive until the late 1960’s and early 1970’s through people such as Francis Grasso of the Bronx.

One of the first people to use twin turntables for continuous play was British DJ and T.V. personality Jimmy Savile. Jimmy paid a metalworker to weld two domestic record decks together, this was at the very beginning of ‘twin-deck’ DJing, this allowed two records to be played back-to-back continuously at discos.

Hip Hop DJs in New York, took vinyl record play to a new level, with scratching and beat juggling in the 1970’s, vinyl records have since become an intrinsic part of the dance music scene.

Digital Jockey

Some DJs now use laptop computers or
purpose built digital modules to mix. Beat Matching software, is designed to beat-match, digital tracks with great accuracy.

The software can effectively beat-match for you, if you need it to, some working DJs now openly admit to having never bought a vinyl record in their life.

Some people embrace the new technology 100% for its ease of use, whereas others regard this style as untrue to the roots of DJing, others simply work between vinyl and digital by burning downloaded digital files to CD.

Analog

(Image courtesy of Ian Watkins)

Downsides of vinyl include the large amounts of space they take up, the weight, scratches, specks of dust and wear to the disc which can be heard as noise or static. Records should always be placed back in their sleeves avoiding touching the vinyl surface with greasy fingers.

Cd’s that are lightly scratched become totally unplayable and are prone to jumping, whereas vinyl records that are scratched often still play, the CD is just as fragile if not more so than the vinyl record. Record collectors accept light surface noise on certain records as it allows the audio a unique history, and can indicate years of loving play.

Vinyl can be placed on the turntable in an instant, you can pin point exactly where the needle should fall accessing any part of a song immediately with no forward tracking, there is a physical response from the needle to the groove, through the turntable into the mixer and then into the amp, and then out again through the speakers, 100% analog.

Channels are grooved into the vinyl disc when an original sound’s waveform is recorded. Little audio information is lost. Record players emit sound as analog, they feed directly to the amp with no need for conversion i.e. analog to analog rather than analog to digital and then back to analog.

In an image conscious world, musicians can create detailed artwork and fit large graphics on a record’s jacket, or sleeve. Also, you can choose the colour of the vinyl rather than having to settle for a silver CD or non-tangible MP3, put simply digital formats lack the permanent aesthetic benefits of vinyl records.

Digital

MP3s are easy to store on CD or on your P.C., and work for many people as their only sound format. With the development of the I-Pod, portability is digital’s forte. With format tools such as ‘Serato’, digital tracks, can be transfered to a ‘mock’ vinyl disc on a turntable, this can give the appearance and feel, of the digital sound being a traditional vinyl record.

Digital recordings don’t degrade over time, however if your computer is not backed up, any crash or virus that effects the p.c. could result in total loss of your record collection, it’s the equivalent to your house burning down in vinyl terms. Backing up your digital music collection is time consuming but can save you time and money, this will need to be done whenever you upgrade your p.c. Downloading music files can also be stressful, some files may become corrupt or damaged.

MP3s can be burned to disc but CD-Rs often have a much shorter shelf life than both vinyl and normal Cd’s, depending on quality and storage conditions. A down side of MP3 is reduced sound quality. Original sound is analog by definition, vinyl doesn’t sample sound it records it in a natural state as a vibration.

Digital recordings take approximate snapshots of an analog signal at a certain rate, this means that, unlike vinyl, a digital recording does not capture the complete soundwave, it makes up the bits in between so you will get a less true sound of the original source.
A stereo, computer or CD player simply converts a digital recording back into an analog signal which is then fed to the amplifier, the amp then increases the voltage of the signal to drive the speaker.

Digital sound is sometimes described as narrow, flat and compressed for these reasons, whereas vinyl is often described as sounding more analog, a deep, rich, wide sound, the qualities of the original recording are more audible on vinyl. However, some vinyl records, especially LPs, can be extremely quiet and will not match up to the ‘fuller’ more compressed sound of digital.

The Future? 

Vinyl’s strength has always been it’s superior sound quality. Dance music DJs and record collectors have helped keep vinyl a cool format. Other music formats and electronics manufacturers, have simply chosen to work with vinyl rather than against it, ensuring the formats longevity.

Record labels are still releasing popular records on vinyl, thin plastic discs remain an appealing part of the music industry, in fact the music industry has built its reputation on them.

Vinyl records will never be as popular as they were in the 1960’s, but if used in conjunction with other modern formats, vinyl will continue to reign as a champion sound format.

Amiga 600 Idea 1997

Well it’s finally arrived!!! – After a few months of twiddling and reworking… ‘Woman (She Want My Money)’ is winging its way around the globe again on home grown label ‘Music For The People’.

‘Woman’ was first conceived back in 1997/98 when I was living in Symonds Yat West, England. I was signed to D*Fusion Records in London and had already released ‘Long Board Blues’. The MD liked the ‘Woman’ demo and I spent several days in an East End studio working on an acid jazz ‘live’ mix with an Italian house music producer named Marco.

The mixes were raw and funky, created on my little Amiga 600 computer. It wasn’t easy translating the track to a professional recording studio but the end results were pleasing. The studios were owned by ‘Paul Weller’ and we had ‘Shola Ama’ recording upstairs, a really nice vibe and cool studios.

Eastern Bloc Canada 1998

The mixes were finished and I sent an album’s worth of material to D*Fusion for them to digest, however, an epic journey to Canada was calling and I sold my entire studio in a week, to embark on a jouney, thousands of miles away.

Summer of 1998, I backpacked from East to West across Canada with my partner and I took with me a remix of ‘Woman’ on cassette by my friend Sam. The MD from D*Fusion hooked me up with the manager of Eastern Bloc Records in Toronto and, after an interesting meeting and (not) getting us on Industry guest list, he agreed to distribute the record should we ever get it pressed… when we finally returned to the UK, it took me a while to settle and the demo was once again put on hold.

A year or so later, I bought back the equipment I had sold to visit Canada, and tentatively fired up the studio in Herefordshire again. I revisited ‘Woman’ and sent off a few remixes to various places such as Catskills Records (who were interested), but it just wasn’t strong enough.

A Promo Makes It To Vinyl 2002

In 2002, Sam got back on the case and we spent a few intense weekends in the studio.
Sam’s mate ‘Dave Cotterill’ had played some nice guitar over another track and I suggested we try it over ‘Woman’. As soon as Sam laid it down we knew it was the final touch to a great mix. We released it ourselves in 2002 on Sam’s ‘Steppin’ Stone’ Records as a promo 45 vinyl release; just breaking even.

It had a great review in Muzik Mag stating “Put it on an advert and it’ll reach number three in the charts” (click here to read).
It was played across the world with little or no promotion with two of the fans being ‘Tim “Love” Lee’ and ‘Ursula 1000′ both in New York.

Time fleets by, and end of last year, Sam and I decided to really push the music out there again. With plenty of new ideas and pending releases in the wings, what better track to kick things off with than a re-visited version of ‘Woman’.

A Full Release For ‘Woman’ 2009

And so, again, on Sam’s label, and funded by us… we have released ‘Woman’ (semi) officially and this little record continues to beat it’s own path around the world.
So far, ‘Woman’ has: reached number 2 in the Juno Records download ’single chart’, featured as “Record Of The Week” at Manchester’s ‘Fat City Records, been playlisted on Nemone’s BBC Radio 6 weekly afternoon show (click here to listen), plugged on ‘Tim love Lee’s’ East Village radio show straight outta New York (click here to listen), playlisted ’prime time’ on Craig Charles’ Saturday night funk show on BBC Radio 6 (click here to listen) and was used as the opening track to a recent Don Letts radio broadcast also on BBC radio 6.

Woman Spinnin’ Into The Future…

The psychedelic-hip hop ‘B’ side to the original promo was used as backing to BBC Manchester United Ball Skills DVD ‘Play Like Champions’ which was distributed worldwide, and this time around, the ‘B’ side ‘Where Stars Are Born’ (click here to watch) is equally as heavy.

I handed a copy of the first mixes to ‘Afrika Bambaataa’ some years back and this week, friends ‘Roy Roast Beef’ and ‘Rick’, of Birmingham DJ night ‘Funk Box’, handed a copy to ‘Maceo’ from De La Soul… so this mash-up really has done the rounds over the years and I wonder where it will travel next? or where it’s already been? maybe another dimension!?!

‘Woman’ is now available on 45 vinyl (best quality) and also digital download via Juno Records (only)… (On Youtube), it is now also available on a Universal Records chillout compilation ‘Ram Cafe 4′, along side the likes of Belleruche, Mayer Hawthorne, Nitin Sawhney, Amy Winehouse and Jose Feliciano.