Wise Music Studios: London’s Hidden Hub of Rehearsal, Recording, and Rock Historical past

Tucked away on Brewery Highway in Decrease Holloway, simply north of Holloway Highway and the Nag’s Head business district, lies a London establishment you may not know by title however nearly actually know by status: Wise Music Studios. Formally a part of the London Borough of Islington, it’s ideally positioned, only a quick stroll from King’s Crossand proper close to Tileyard, one of many metropolis’s key artistic clusters. For many years, Wise Music has quietly powered a number of the largest names in music, providing a house away from dwelling for artists, producers, and touring crews.

For me, visiting Wise Music felt like stepping again into my very own previous. Years in the past in Los Angeles, I co-owned a studio enterprise with two rooms, one with an API console and the opposite with a Neve, alongside gear rental, lockouts, and a thriving rehearsal area. We ran that enterprise for twenty years. It was a multi-use facility at a time when that wasn’t the norm. Strolling into Wise Music, I instantly felt a well-known buzz. That is a kind of uncommon locations that understands methods to preserve issues working easily for working musicians.

Based within the early Eighties, Wise Music started life in Notting Hill earlier than relocating to its present Decrease Hollowaydwelling in 1992. Through the years, it has grown organically into a totally built-in studio complicated. At present it presents two world-class recording studios, long-term lockouts, backline rental, and tour manufacturing providers, all underneath one roof. It’s a music trade Swiss military knife.

Wise Music Studios is co-owned by two multi-talented professionals: Shelby Logan Warne, a progressive rock musician in addition to a seasoned recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, and Grace Hayhurst, a classically skilled multi-instrumentalist and artistic media specialist.

Shelby’s work focuses on rock and pop manufacturing, with a selected love for progressive rock, metallic, and synth-pop. As a progressive rock artist in her personal proper, she brings a deep understanding of musical dynamics and complexity to her productions. Her credit embody collaborations with Placebo and Adam Anderson of Hurts, together with post-production and recording work for the BBC, Aardman Animations, Sky, Anvil Video games, and extra. She brings each technical finesse and a musical ear to each session, a uncommon and invaluable mixture.

Grace grew up immersed in classical music, taking part in piano and French horn at a excessive degree in orchestral settings earlier than increasing into guitars, bass, and synthesisers. Her vary spans orchestral scoring, heavy metallic riffs, and every little thing in between. Along with her musical skills, she can be a skilled photographer and presents on-site media creation, an added bonus for artists seeking to doc their classes or create compelling visible content material whereas recording.

Studio A: The Coronary heart of Wise Music Studios

The principle recording area at Wise Music is Studio A, a superbly designed suite made up of a spacious management room and two adjoining cubicles, totalling roughly 500 sq. toes. What units this room aside is its seamless tie-line connection, 56 direct traces, to Studio 4, the 1,000-square-foot multimedia or dwell room, making it superb for full-band recordings, string sections, and even full-blown orchestral classes.

Studio A was redesigned by Chris Partitions of Stage Acoustic Designs and dropped at life by Justin Spier of Studio Creations. On the centre of all of it sits a SSL AWS948 Delta console, delivering the tactile energy and workflow flexibility engineers dream of. The management room was purpose-built to deal with soffit-mounted PMC BB5 XBDs, which supply gorgeous readability, energy, and translation. It’s a monitoring setting that merely by no means disappoints.

To the left, giant sliding glass doorways open into the primary sales space, a super area for drums, vocals, or something that should breathe. Intelligent use of floating gobos permits engineers to change the acoustic response by rotating between absorbent and reflective surfaces, making it a flexible and sonically versatile area.

A second sales space, as soon as Wise Music’s tape room, now serves as a re-amp zone, vocal sales space, or perhaps a non-public writing or programming suite. It’s that sort of flexibility that makes Studio A so properly cherished by each artists and producers.

Wise Music additionally boasts a deep assortment of classic and fashionable outboard gear, a fastidiously curated microphone locker, and a wide-ranging backline stock. From traditional guitars and drum kits to synths, keys, percussion, and amps, it’s all accessible, seven days per week.

A Legacy of Legendary Shoppers

As we walked by way of the constructing, I used to be struck by how well designed every little thing is, not simply visually however sonically. This can be a place that has hosted the likes of Noel Gallagher, Mark Ronson, and PJ Harvey, and it’s straightforward to see why. The artist roster is astounding: The Rolling Stones, Blur, Suede, Grace Jones, Woman Gaga, U2, Ed Sheeran, and plenty of extra. And in case you are questioning simply how deep the legacy goes, from Amy Winehouse to Whitney Houston, a number of the most iconic voices in music historical past have handed by way of these doorways.

Wise Music Studios operates by a easy however highly effective mantra: world-class studios, world-class information, world-class gear. With over 35 years of expertise within the music trade, the crew has labored with everybody from iconic chart-toppers to tomorrow’s breakout artists. Impartial or main, established or simply beginning out, they supply a second-to-none service constructed round bringing out the easiest in each efficiency.

What units Wise Music aside is not only the gear or the gold information, it’s the environment. This can be a family-run studio, constructed on belief, relationships, and a deep love for music. That ethos permeates every little thing. There isn’t any arduous promote, no crimson tape, simply actual individuals serving to artists do their greatest work.

Additionally they run a full backline and tour manufacturing service, one thing few different studios supply. Want your drum package tuned, your gear maintained, or your total European tour prepped and packed? Wise Music has you lined. That degree of in-house help is an enormous time saver for bands and crews alike.

It’s uncommon to discover a place that balances the heat of a boutique studio with the firepower of a significant facility, however Wise Music does simply that. Whether or not you’re an up-and-coming indie band, a touring legend, or a producer in search of a dependable artistic area in London, it is a place the place you’ll really feel not solely revered however impressed.

So right here is to Shelby, Grace, and the entire Wise Music crew. You’ve got constructed one thing really particular. And in case you are studying this from a cramped flat or a loud rehearsal room, dreaming of an area the place every little thing simply works, you would possibly wish to give them a hoop.