Recording

I recall vividly the wonder I had when I first laid my hands on a four track tape recorder. I was 16. The ability to record and overdub new tracks on top of each other completely blew my mind and I have been smitten ever since. Technology has moved on a little since the 90s but many of the central components remain the same - great songs, interesting sounds and good vibes all still make for a great result.

I have chosen three artists below that hold very fond memories for me. Their records were all made in a home environment which is my favourite way of working.

I am however very happy recording at home, on location or in a studio - whatever suits the project and budget best.

Roo Panes

I recorded Roo's debut EPs with my friend Robbie Moore and they were made in his house and mine. Aside from a killer voice, Roo has a fantastic musical imagination. These were his first records and so my main job on this project was to help him realise his ideas and capture what he could hear in his head. The tracks have been streamed millions of times and I was enormously proud when Know Me Well was made 'hottest track' in the Sunday Times and 'next hype' on Radio 1. Roo has gone on to make some wonderful music and amass more than 200 million streams on Spotify.

Lexie Carroll

I have been teaching Alex since 2012 when she was 7. It was clear quite early on she liked writing songs and whilst she may not be quite as fond of her early efforts as I am, she showed distinct flare even then. We recorded these songs at home for her first releases. Part of what I wanted to do with these recordings was to teach Alex how to record and also put out records. Thanks to making several Spotify playlists, Alex has already been streamed hundreds of thousands of times and in April 2022 she was BBC Introducing Featured Artist for London.

Alice Gun

To come clean immediately, I am married to Alice 'Gun'. I love her work and so making an album with her and our friends Sam Walton and Robbie Jarvis was awesome. We recorded it at home in London and in an old farmhouse in the Lake District. My rig is portable and this means recording wherever everybody is most inspired. We are all multi instrumentalists and were able to experiment with loads of ideas. Blanket in a Box was the first track recorded. It went down very fast - sometimes it just works and thanks to Tom Robinson, was the song that got us our first band BBC session. More here