Fielder, a respected engineer and APRS board member who has extensive knowledge and experience of the studio industry, told us: "This is a large site that is already very popular with musicians and has plenty of potential as a studio complex. Although we are re-equipping from scratch, the actual studios and control rooms are already in place and will simply be re-decorated and acoustically treated. We have now opened Studio One and by the end of 2002 we aim to have the rest of the complex in use as a recording, rehearsal and post production facility."
Funding for the project comes from a combination of Government grants, private investment and investment from the Musicians Union - something that the MU has not done on this scale before. Included in the equipment on Fielder's shopping list is an AMS Neve Capricorn, which will be installed in Studio Two once it has been re-modeled by Recording Architecture. Fielder is hoping to transform Studio Three into a post-production room for ADR and Foley work, while the other 12 rooms could be let for smaller projects.
Phoenix Sound is already generating interest within the recording world. The BBC Concert Orchestra is currently using Studio One as a temporary home following the collapse of a ceiling at the Hippodrome, which left the orchestra without a base. The size of the studio makes it an ideal venue to record the popular radio programme Friday Night Is Music Night, which features the orchestra. The programme is recorded and broadcast live from Phoenix Sound and appears on Radio Two. Other clients have included Rick Wakeman, who was the first to book Phoenix Sound.
(Ruth Rossington)
