In
1984 Dave Owen, a farmer in Churchstoke, decided that his musical ambitions needed
documenting. So he started recording in his shed with two cassette recorders and a stage
mixer. Local musicians took interest in this and so for a few sheckles, their jammings
were duly also documented.
Since Mid Wales was far too nice
a place to be and nobody complained about the noise, the musicians kept coming back. More
sheckles, more toys.
In 1995 it was decided that
enough sheckles had been collected to put a few more walls up, install some serious
equipment, get some serious acoustic treatment designed and fitted, and more or less
completely redesign, build and commission a world-class facility good and proper.
So several thousand more
sheckles, concrete blocks and plate reverbs later, Backyard Studios turned into the
professional studio serving musicians all over Wales and beyond which bears little
resemblance to that shed covered in carpet oh so many years ago.
So WHY
Backyard?
As you've hopefully discovered
wandering through this site, you'll see that we're not only professional, but down to
earth too. Set away from the smoke of suburbia, we're dedicated to help musicians be
CREATIVE and not have to worry about the accounts people breathing down your neck when
you're on that 'difficult' second (or even first) album.
Couple that with rural rates that are far below that of equivalent (and lower)
city-based facilities, and personnel that KNOW all the knobs and buttons so intimately
that they're on first name terms, then you can concentrate on 'doing that thing you
do'.....
Where...
So how do I get there, then?
If you care to take a look at
the map, you will see that the studio is easily
accessible by road, rail and air (the nearest airport is based at Welshpool, only 10
minutes away)
Where do I stay?
Well, for the full studio
experience I suppose you could always rough it under the mixing console (many have), but
then again, if you've just come back from your multi-million dollar world tour you might
appreciate the home comforts a bit more, and so we have arrangements with local hotels and
B&B's to provide for all your creature comforts. Call us for more details.
What...
What else can I do while I'm
here?
For those of you that don't get out much you could always walk the 182 miles of Offa's Dyke whilst you're waiting for the guitarist to tune up which
convieniently starts a stone's throw away from the studio building.
Being as the studio is on a
working farm you can see the farm in action and go quad trekking over the farmland.
Want to know a bit more about
Wales? Go here
