Welsh farm produced four decades of legendary rock music
A recording studio on a farm which has seen the likes of Queen, Coldplay and Oasis produce some of their greatest hits is now the star of a film. David Owens reports
IT’S the legendary recording studio in the heart of the Welsh countryside which has welcomed some of the greatest names in rock ‘n’ roll through its doors.
Now the story of Rockfield Studios is to be told in a new film - Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm.
The first trailer for the movie has just been released.
The movie chronicles the journey of two Welsh brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward, who created one of the most famous recording studios in the world at a farm in Monmouthshire in the 1960s.
It quickly became renowned as the world’s first residential recording studios, whose walls reverberated to the sounds of some of the most important songs and albums in rock history.
It was where Queen famously recorded Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975, where The Stone Roses spent five years attempting to record their highly anticipated follow up to their eponymous debut album, and where Oasis soundtracked a generation with the recording of ‘What’s The Story (Morning Glory) in 1995.
The film features many of those who have recorded there - including Liam Gallagher, Manic Street Preachers, The Stone Roses, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame, Tim Burgess of The Charlatans, Simple Minds and Jim Kerr.
The official synopsis for the movie reads: “This is the unlikely tale of how two Welsh farming brothers turned their dairy farm into one of the most successful recording studios of all time, producing four decades of legendary rock music.
“Fifty years ago, deep in the Welsh countryside, brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward were starting out in the family dairy farming business. But they yearned to do something different - they wanted to make music.
“So, they built a studio in the attic of their farmhouse and started recording with their friends.
“Kingsley’s new wife, Ann, left her job in the local bank to do the books, and they continued farming all the while. Animals were kicked out of barns and musicians were moved into Nan’s spare bedroom.
“Inadvertently, they’d launched the world’s first independent residential recording studio: Rockfield.
“Rockfield’s reputation spread like wildfire, quickly garnering international acclaim as the place that bands wanted to record.
“From Black Sabbath, Hawkwind and Queen, to Simple Minds, Iggy Pop and Robert Plant, and later Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, Manic Street Preachers and Coldplay - an unbelievable roll call of artists have recorded there over the decades.
“Rockfield is an extraordinary story of rock and roll dreams intertwined with a family business’s struggle for survival in the face of an ever-changing music landscape.
“Amazingly, Kingsley and his wife Ann, now in their 80s are still at the helm today, with daughter Lisa ‘front of house’. What is it about this small Welsh farm that made it a major competitor, holding its own against studios such as Abbey Road and Electric Lady.
“In this film, the bands share with us tales of how they ended up at Rockfield, what it was like, and revisit some of the magical moments of musical genius that resulted in some of the best-known songs of our time.”
The movie will be premiered at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas next month.
The film is directed by Hannah Berryman.