Space Sequoia

I can generally be found creating something. Be it writing songs, playing guitar, piano or double bass, performing in various bands, tinkering with electronics,  building acoustic treatment and recording studios and of course recording music!

My fascination for recording sound began at 16 ,scouring second hand shops for ‘reel to reel’ tape machines that had the facility to record then bounce in mono while recording a second source. The whole rhythm section would go down live with just a few mics to a mono track. Performance was key and balance and tone was determined in the room and with careful mic placement. Vocals and a few overdubs could then be added bounce by bounce but once each one was recorded that was how it would sit in the mix. 

This whole process created hours of fun and such valuable lessons learnt. To this day capturing the magic live in the studio is still the holy grail for me.

Recording music soon became the thing that I was being asked to do more than anything else. It wasn’t long before a career in music followed within a recording studio environment.

In 1998 I opened Delta Studios in Canterbury and spent the next 13 years working a busy commercial studio. Literally thousands of recordings with hundreds of musicians and the fondest of memories.

The intensity of Delta had certainly been all consuming and in 2011 I took time out to play live music with half a dozen bands for the pure love of of it with my hand still involved in the occasional recording project.

However within a few years an inspiring opportunity arose to build a recording studio from scratch in a beautiful tranquil setting - Space Sequoia was born. Time to start professionally recording again!

With the benefit of 30 years of recording literally every genre of music I gave considered thought to what I had learnt. Ironically the bulk of my experience had shown me - ‘what not to do’. All the tech in the world counted for a small part of the end result but most importantly musicians perform best when they feel at ease in the studio.

I have built up a sizeable collection of high end microphones and preamps over the years and this front end along with many years of experience and experimentation can not be found in the huge number of home and lower end studios. Pro tools still remains the industry standard back end for me.

Space Sequoia is a residential studio set within the heart of nature providing a retreat experience. Quite simply musicians are able to disconnect from the chaos and focus on making great music and lasting recordings.