East London’s Strongroom Studios established in 1984 and part of the AIR Entertainment Group has come together with producer Danton Supple (Coldplay Amy McDonald Natalie Imbruglia Ian Brown) and management company 140dB (Flood Gil Northon Steve Osbourne Ben Hillier) to create a new studio within the Shoreditch complex designed to provide simple high-end recording and mixing faciities at an affordable rate. Located in Strongroom 4 the studio has been completely rewired by Langdate Technical Consulting’s Bill Ward and is centred on an ex-BBC Calrec Q-Series analogue console. The desk and a range of outboard equipment including Summit Manley Neve Chandler API and more has been carefully integrated with a powerful Pro Tools HD system to create a very simple and flexible workflow focusing on usability while offering the highest possible quality at every stage. The choice of Calrec console provides a characterful and adaptable front-end; the room can be used in an ‘in-the-box’ configuration with the option of analogue summing and 24 channels of dynamics/EQ. An adjoining spacious live area is equipped with a second Pro Tools workstation providing additional editing capability if required. The room has already been put to successful use on Radiohead drummer Philip Selways’ second solo album for Bella Union with an official launch event planned for November. “I wanted to create a working environment with the character and personality of a producer-run studio but make it easy and enjoyable for other people to use too” dsays Danton. “We’ve built it in such a way that the 140dB guys will feel instantly at home here as will Strongroom’s clients. I trained as an assistant at Strongroom in the late ’80s and it’s great to be back. The place has a fantastic vibe. For bookings enquiries email us here.
