New studio is in tune with music industry
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AGUITARIST who learned to produce music as well as play has opened his own recording studio in Runcorn.
Gareth Dickie, 33, launched Industrial Studios after having learned the production ropes when his band was struggling to find somewhere they could afford to record and achieve the sound they wanted.
He said that from ‘messing around with a four-track’, his skills in recording and mixing progressed to the point where his group was receiving requests from bands who liked their work and it ‘made sense for us to get a studio’.
Industrial Studios now occupies a corner unit at the EBL Centre business hub on Picow Farm Road, with a interior built from scratch featuring rooms divided by double-walls and gaps with buffer materials to keep the noise where it is supposed to be. A network of wires now feeds back to a main mixing desk and console at the back of the studio.
Gareth said music scene word of mouth has helped to generate interest around the town and its reputation has branched further afield with acts travelling from Chester, Liverpool and even Scotland to record.
Acts who have recorded in the studio include Gareth’s own band Stoneblood, Inhuman Remains, Two Of Substance and blues band Firebird Smith.
One track Gareth did for Runcorn indie outfit The Fireflys also earned the praise when it was sent for some finishing touches with world-class mastering engineer Pete Maher who has worked with famous names including The Rolling Stones, Madonna and Linkin Park – an endorsement of which Gareth, originally from Carlisle, remains ‘proud’ that he had said his work was ‘one of the best mixes he’s heard’,
Industrial Studios has also produced musical keepsakes for customers purely recording for fun including stag and hen parties and a ‘pop star’ offer where visitors ● Some of the facilities at Industrial Studios whether for birthdays or corporate clients have a go at being the next big thing for the day and take away a disk of their tracks.
The purpose-built facility is a far cry from when Gareth’s band was using blankets for makeshift sound insulation.
He said: “I started off playing guitar when I was 16 and ended up in bands and looking for recording studios.
“It was so expensive we were never getting the results we wanted.
“So we had a unit and built it out of pallets and duvets originally.
“I was messing around with a four-track and did that and found that for the money we were paying I could get a better result.
“We were getting requests from the bands and it made sense for us to get a studio and people liked our work, so I started recording and mixing for people.
“This is the first big one I’ve owned myself.
“The only things in here was that toilet and that brick wall and everything else in this room was built from scratch.”