Journey To The Studio: Behind the Faders

The Early Days: Plugging into a Dream

Music has always been a constant in my life. When I was about eight years old, I stumbled upon my dad’s record collection and found Made in Japan by Deep Purple. From the moment the needle hit the vinyl, I knew I had found something special. I must have listened to it five times that day, soaking up every riff and every scream from Ian Gillan. That moment opened the floodgates to a new world, leading me to discover bands like Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, and Metallica. The raw, heavy sound became my obsession, and from that point on, Top of the Pops just didn’t cut it for me anymore.

Discovering new music wasn’t as easy back then—there was no internet to fall back on. Friday nights became my go-to, tuning in to Tommy Vance’s Rock Show on Radio One. That show introduced me to many of the bands that still inspire me today

Strumming Along: My First Guitar

At 15, I finally scraped together enough money to buy my first guitar—a white Marlin Sidewinder. It wasn’t much, but to me, it was everything. Without an amp, I plugged it into the mic input of my hi-fi system, cranking up the gain for a raw, gnarly tone. It was rough, but it felt like the beginning of something big. I recorded on old C60 cassettes, and while those tapes are long gone (thankfully!), those first experiences were priceless.

Leather Jackets over the Boom Box to professional studio

By the time I was 17, I had joined my first band as a guitarist and vocalist. Recording our rehearsals wasn’t exactly cutting-edge—we used a boom box, with a leather jacket or two draped over it to muffle the sound. That band was short-lived, but after it ended, I found myself jamming with other musicians until we formed a group called Malakai. Soon after, we recorded an EP in a professional studio.

While the experience was exciting, looking back, it felt impersonal. The engineer didn’t seem interested in helping us shape our sound, and we left with a rushed final mix. That experience changed during a UK Battle of the Bands contest, where studio time was the prize – we won! This time, the engineer worked closely with us, and it was in that session I realised I wanted to be more involved in the recording process.

Diving into Digital

In the early 2000s, I formed a death/black metal band called Slaughter of Souls. We recorded our first demo on the Yamaha MD5 and I then transferred the tracks to a computer for mixing. It was my first foray into in-the-box mixing, and while the process was clunky, it was a great introduction to using my first Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).

Recording at The Academy: A Metalhead’s Dream

Slaughter of Souls went on to record two more EPs in professional studios, with our last one produced by Mags at The Academy Studio in Dewsbury. As a metalhead, working with an engineer who had recorded bands like My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, and Cradle of Filth this was a brilliant experience. Mags pushed us to get the best performances, and I soaked up as much as knowledge from him as I could from a recording/mixing perspective.

Stepping into the Producer’s Role

In 2007, I started another band, Soul Corruption, where I took on the roles of recording and mixing. We recorded two EPs in our drummer’s garage. Though the setup was far from ideal, the sound we managed to achieve surprised a lot of local bands, some of whom asked me to record them as well. Those early projects were crucial to my growth, teaching me how to capture a powerful performance, even in less-than-perfect conditions.

Life, RSI, and Stomper Six Studio

In 2012, life threw me a curveball—I developed severe RSI, forcing me to stop playing guitar. Music took a backseat for a while, but by 2019/2020, the pull to mix and produce drew me back in. After years of learning, experimenting, and refining my skills, I launched Stomper Six Studio in 2023, combining my passion and experience to help musicians bring their music to life.

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