Tell us a little about what makes your studio unique! What do you stand for and what is at the heart of why you are in the recording industry?
Joe Osborne: There are physical characteristics of our space that feel unique. For one, the Studio One live room has the most perfect lively (but controlled!) sound – which might be attributed to the fact we’re situated in a church with big stone walls and pretty high ceilings. It’s always been so easy to get really exciting drum sounds. And acoustic string instruments – particularly double bass, I’ve found! – just really sing in there. In fact, it’s often been remarked by players and engineers that it sounds like a room twice its size.
The abundance of natural light is great too – it really gives a serene and focused atmosphere in the studio and everyone enjoys the experience of being in a beautiful daylit space.
Beyond the building itself, I think something that makes The Crypt unique is how it has developed to sit at the intersection between 1) being a long-established commercial studio with a colourful past and the great gear to show for it, and 2) currently having a real role as a supportive and creative force for London’s underground and upcoming scenes. Personally, We’re in the recording industry to work with, and to foster community and creativity among wildly talented, challenging and genre-bending musicians. To that end, we host intimate gigs, offer reduced membership rates to unsigned/indie artists, and we’re currently working with The George Tavern, one of London’s most important grassroots venues, on a programme to help the most creative voices in our city access top studio time. It’s a great thing to host some of London’s most exciting and boundary-pushing young bands in a studio with so much great gear that is so often inaccessible to such musicians.
Are there any previous recording, mixing or mastering projects that your studio has been a part of that you are particularly proud of?
David Simpson: A standout for me was Haken’s most recent studio album “Fauna” of which I recorded the drums here at The Crypt. Ray is a fantastic drummer and works painstakingly hard at getting lots of detail into his drum parts. We’ve worked with him a lot over the years so it’s always nice having him back in the studio and spending a good couple of weeks digging into a project.
In 2021, I had the honour of collaborating with Jeff Wayne to create a Dolby Atmos version of his iconic 1970s album Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds, using all his original recordings. Gaining his personal perspective on the motivations behind his musical arrangements was such a privilege and the resulting album sounded huge. We would also always tuck into a Subway whenever he came by to check in.
What does an average day at your studio look like?
David Simpson: A typical day at The Crypt is anything but predictable, often characterized by numerous simultaneous projects both within the studio’s walls and on location. We’re frequently out and about capturing live sessions for artists including Self Esteem, MNEK and Freya Ridings as well as concert recordings for Liam Gallagher, Bombay Bicycle Club, Arlo Parks and The National. We’ve also been recording a lot of Ed Sheeran’s live session output for the past few years. Within our studio environment, we cater to a wide spectrum of clients, from supporting independent artists to collaborating with those under major labels. We also regularly work with composers, string quartets, small and large choirs, and everything in between. Beyond musical recordings, The Crypt also serves as an amazingly adaptive space for video production, offering the backdrop for a range of shoots. We also host a bunch of intimate recorded gigs to small studio audiences. No day is the same but it definitely keeps us on our toes.
Tell us about your studio staff. How do they contribute to your studio’s ethos and reputation?
Joe Osborne: As an independent studio, we’re a very small team – just David and myself, as well as studio owner Ricky Barber – and Dan Tarbuck who works primarily on post-production and composition. Ricky took on the studio from Dave Stewart (of The Eurythmics) in the late-nineties with a view of using it as a creative space for him and his friends and collaborators. And, for many years, much of our clientele had been returning artists who had recorded here for many years. As such, The Crypt has never truly developed the feeling of a commercial studio. And, despite being one these days, it maintains a really laidback and creative atmosphere which, when paired with great gear and engineers that really care about every session, makes for a great recording environment.
Having a small team also means that David and I need to be over the whole breadth of studio activity. If there’s a problem, we fix it. If there are stems to be delivered or emails to tend to, we’re across it. Every type of session, from strings for film scores, to snotty punk bands are run by either of the two of us. It’s really rewarding work and every project feels very engaging and personal to us.
From a personal perspective, my ethos is grounded in supporting alternative, underground and emerging artists and engendering a real sense of “anything-goes” creativity. Besides encouraging bands to follow their noses and get curious while in recording sessions, one way the studio does that is through hosting Works In Progress events at which esoteric and eccentric songwriters perform unfinished material in the studio to a live audience – and it’s all recorded. At the last iteration, we hosted members of indie bands such as Black Country, New Road, HMLTD and Palma Violets, as well as the acclaimed New York singer-songwriter Cameron Winter.
Coming back to the main purpose of this feature. Is there a highlight from the previous working month (or recently) at your studio that you would like to share?
Joe Osborne: A recent highlight for me has been working with Cameron Picton (formerly of Black Midi) on his first solo album – produced by Jasper Llewellyn and Mike O’Malley (members of Caroline). The three of them have an encyclopedic knowledge and their touchpoints in a studio are so particular and so esoteric. The players on the record are really intuitive and thoughtful and creative, and it’s been a lot of fun getting some unique sounds throughout the process.
David Simpson: I’ve done a fair few sessions with Clean Bandit over the years and it’s always been fun having an insight into their process. One of my first major label credits was actually on their second album. More recently we were recording a string quartet with them, which is a big part of their signature sound, so it’s lovely that The Crypt has a small part in that.
Is there anything else you would like to say about your studio and share with the Guild?
David Simpson: We very much operate an open door policy so we’re always up for having people drop by for a chat and we’re more than happy to show you around (granted we’re not on a session). The studio is a really flexible space and, as a team, we span a wide range of experience, so we’re always up for trying something a bit left-field, configuring the equipment differently or offering advice where we can.
Visit The Crypt’s website: https://www.thecryptstudio.com/
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