Coach House Studio

I worked with Tom at Coach House Studios on my recent EP with Saffron Records and he went above and beyond to help me actualise the sounds that were in my head and translate them onto a track. It makes such a difference having a multi-instrumentalist to develop music with who is also incredibly musically diverse. From the start of the project to the end Tom was a joy to work with, offering up suggestions and being totally open to collaboration from the song structure to the recording (the studio itself is very well equipped with a very relaxing feel about it, encouraging experimentation) to the actual mixing of the tracks. I cannot recommend Tom and Coach House Studios enough - no money was ever better spent!

I recorded an album with Tom at the Coach House this winter, which he produced and mixed. The whole thing was a fun, collaborative experience, that came together pretty quickly and without stress. The day rates at the studio are really reasonable, too.

Tom's a great producer. He sees the bigger picture and has a real composer's ear, drawing together the various elements, cutting away unnecessary fat and using instruments in creative, inventive ways, along with found sounds and cleverly deployed effects. He works quickly and unfussily, and bends his methods to the sound the band are looking for - he's got a diverse taste in music, his reference points are really cool, and he listens to what you're trying to achieve.

The studio itself has a welcoming, laidback vibe, but you can tell it was built by someone with a keen ear for sonic detail. Massive Attack recorded there with good reason. Getting a good sound in the live room was never a problem, the control room is a cool, relaxed space to work on mixes with a cup of tea, and there's a really interesting array of studio tools – guitars, amps, pedals, synths, mics… available to use. If you're lucky you may even catch a brief glimpse of one of the two studio dogs being picked up for their walkies… :)

You'll struggle to find a more inviting studio with a better producer for prices anywhere near this in Bristol.

Working with Tom Hackwell at Coach House Studio has been a real boon for Erotic Secrets of Pompeii. As a producer/mixer, his flexible approach ranges from no-nonsense studio craft to far-out Enoesque experimentation. For ESOP’s debut album ‘Witness in the House of Pox’ we exploited a happy equilibrium of these two methods, keeping in line with our philosophy: “make it catchy, make it weird”.

Coach House Studio has a relaxed, easy-going atmosphere, and Tom brings patience, professionalism and a whole lot of wisdom to the field of music production – wisdom beyond his years. He also has a great knack for reading how comfortable each musician is at being pushed beyond their mind-forged manacles, diplomatically encouraging them to try new ways of working (be it methods, techniques, etc.) helping them exceed their potential without alienating them. Tom is an open-minded musician actively working across multiple disciplines, which means he is not bound by any dogma, and can freely move between genres and styles, both as a musician and producer. He aims to work alongside an artist, offering valuable advice and creative input where appropriate, to get the best out of the recording session without dominating or railroading the artist’s original vision.

The studio boasts a spacious live room, a wide range of analogue effects, plug-ins, unusual instruments, mind-boggling percussion, and a whole host of mics – from industry standards to rare vintage mics to the full selection of Wasaphone lo-fi mics (built in-house at the studio). We made full use of the studio’s gear including the (Beatles’ favourite) vintage AKG D19 mic, the excessive percussion (including a fire extinguisher), the beautiful standing piano, a banjo, an oud, and even a recorder.

The balance of digital and analogue equipment means you can get the best of both worlds, a balance of old and new, vintage and modern. The end result of working with Tom at the studio was fantastic – it was a pleasure to listen to the finished album and find that all the hard work we (and he) put in had paid dividends. I would definitely recommend Coach House Studio to any musician, from experienced artist looking for something different to those looking to cut their teeth and press their first demo.

We recorded with Tom at Coach House Studios from the Friday 10th May to Friday 13th. The recording process was enjoyable, Tom is very patient and provided us with some great ideas how we could build up our recordings and add additional layers to our (otherwise fairly simple) songs. We recorded 3 songs over that 4 day period which was a bit of a rush due to working around our band members’ schedules but we finished on the Monday afternoon feeling confident we had recorded something useable.

We were billed for the recording process on May 16th and paid the same day. We then received a further email from Tom the next day to say he would be in touch in the next week for a first draft of a track for us to listen to and critique.

We heard nothing for several weeks and eventually contacted Tom on May 28th to ask how it was coming along. Tom responded that day that he had made some headway on the tracks but was still heavily involved in finishing a previous project, again he promised he would have something out to us “next week”.

Once again we heard nothing and contacted Tom again on June 12th, his response was that he had made some headway on the drums and that the tracks were “coming together”, no promises were made as to when we would have any drafts to listen to.

July 8th we contacted Tom again to ask how it was going, Tom did not respond.

July 10th, two months after our initial tracking session my bandmate sent Tom a pretty strongly worded email with our concerns and asking for updates on progress and dates we could expect tracks. Tom did not respond.

July 29th, I contacted Tom to ask about progress again and he responded that he was still being held back on a previous mixing project and that he was working to a mid-late August deadline for delivery of our 3 recordings.

August 12th Tom emailed me to indicate he nearly had a mix ready for one of our songs and it should be ready in the next few days, sure enough on August 15th we got the first draft of one track through to listen to and give feedback on.

We then continued to go back and forth we Tom over the coming weeks with feedback and tweaks to recordings until finally on October 9th I emailed to say we were happy with the recordings and were happy to proceed, we received the final .WAVs on October 15th.

Tom had sent us an invoice for the mixing for the full price of £390, I called him to discuss the possibility of a £90 discount given that it had been nearly 5 months since our initial tracking session and he had initially promised us we would “hear back in a week”, which did not happen. On the phone Tom cited various reasons for the setbacks including again that another project had taken longer to finish than anticipated but also various personal reasons (I think it was the fact he had moved house) but to his credit he said he would consider a price reduction.

However after our phone conversation Tom emailed me again to say he would not offer us a discount, mainly due to the fact these tracks had been “a lot of work” and that he had “dedicated more time than normal to the mixing”. Not wanting to get into a prolonged argument we accepted this and paid the full fee.
If we had known it would be 5 months before we had our final mixed recordings we likely would have gone elsewhere, Tom’s promises of “next week” consistently went unfulfilled and while we are mostly happy with the final product to have to constantly chase for any updates and progress (and not receive any kind of reduction in fee) was unacceptable in our opinion.

TLDR;
Tom’s a good producer but his organisation and communication are lacking. We were promised we would hear “in a few weeks”, after considerable chasing and cajoling we received our 3 final recordings 5 months after our initial session. While he clearly knows what he’s doing in the studio, if you are under any time constraints I’d recommend looking elsewhere.

Nice vibe, great room, great service!

Chris is an extraordinary producer. I was amazed at the speed and accuracy of the whole process - laying my tracks down was a breeze. Cannot recall too much hassle with the mixing process or any waits - this is irrelevant in rock and roll anyway. I recorded a handful of rhythm and lead guitar tracks here for CJ Moore. Very high quality multi-timbral system and general accommodation. Andy is really encouraging and professional. Coach House is a very polite and highly commendable recording venue.