A Major Player in The Recording Industry Emerges: Miloco Studios
Growing at the speed of sound and gobbling up studios at the speed of light, a major player in the recording industry has emerged – Miloco Studios, and it is has expanded to what is the largest independent owner and manager of studios and music facilities throughout the world having more than 90 studios in its stables.
Milo Music was originally founded in 1984 by Henry Crallan and John Deacon in a small recording studio in Hoxton East London known as The Square. The studio continued to grow until 2016 when various pressures caused it to close. The Miloco team had already purchased Orinoco Studios, their HQ, in 2000, and already being in the business of managing The Garden Studios, owned by Matt Johnson of The The, so started the Miloco business model. In 2012, after 35 years of very successful operation, and bowing to business issues, Matt Johnson grudgingly decided decided to close The Garden Studios. From the mid 2000’s on Milo continued to grow, managing and acquiring studios in both the UK and abroad, becoming the major player that it is today.
The Miloco headquarters are based in central London on Leroy Street and it doesn’t just own studios, it provides a full and very comprehensive range of world class music facilities and services that include:
- Recording Studios – Residential and Non-Residential
- Mastering Studios
- Concert recording
- Engineers
- Equipment rental
- Construction and more
In 2012 they saved ‘my’ studio, I didn’t own it, I had worked there for several years, Livingston Studios in Wood Green, London, and the rest is just history.
A Personnel Walk Through The Livingston Memory Lane
Having spent several years as a professor teaching Recording Technology and Techniques, Electronics and Acoustics, I decided to put my academic skills to the test, in a real world setting. I joined the Livingston Studio team in Wood Green, London N22 as a maintenance engineer, eventually becoming the facilities Technical Manager. Those years at Livingston under the guidance of two of the joint owners, Jerry Boys and Nick Kinsey, taught me most of what I know about recording studio technology, techniques and design. The other two owners at the time were Alan Tomkins and Michael Smee.
During my years there Livingston grew from the two studios on Brook Road that were contained inside an old church, to four studios, two on Brook Road and two on Guillemot Place, just around the corner from the church. The expansion included major upgrades to both studios one and two and the addition of rehearsal rooms, programming suites and bar/restaurant facilities at the expanded facilities at Guillemot Place. In order to fill the newly acquired square footage at Guillemot Place a new company was formed, Kinsey Fitzgerald Associates (KFA). A partnership that used the outstanding skill sets of Nick Kinsey for studio design and Michael Fitzgerald for building construction, KFA became well respected for building Radio Studios, Recording Studios and other music facilities. I also worked for KFA providing acoustic and electronics design consulting services. After building Livingston Studios 3 and 4, KFA turned its attention to the design and release of one of its first widely accepted studio products, ‘The Box’.
The Box – A High Tech Acoustically Controlled Environment
The low tech name hid some very high tech construction and acoustic techniques that meet the International Broadcast Authorities (IBA) acoustical requirements for Independent Radio facilities. It also found its way into a number of recording and production facilities.
So Many Years Ago – Yes, That’s Me Working in Studio 3.
The studios flourished and grew until the financial down turn in the early nineties when it eventually had to close its two largest and most comprehensive studios (3 and 4) and retreat to its original building on Brook Road. It was at this time I moved on to other technical challenges.
Here are some of my pictures of the original four studios:
Studio 1 Control Room
Boards – MCI upgraded to SSL 4056
Main Monitors – Eastlake TM3
Multitrack 24 track analog -Otari MTR90
Mastering 2 track analog – Otari MTR12 (1/2″) & MTR 12 (1/4″)
Studio 2 Control Room
Boards – Amek M2500 upgraded to Westar then SSL 4040
Main Monitors – Eastlake TM3
Multitrack 24 track analog -Otari MTR90
Mastering 2 track analog – Otari MTR12 (1/2″) & Studer B62 (1/4″)
Studio 3 Control Room
Board – SSL 4064
Main Monitors – Eastlake TM3
Multitrack 24 track analog -Otari MTR90
Mastering 2 track analog – Otari MTR12 (1/2″) & MTR 12 (1/4″)
Studio 4 Control Room
Board – SSL 4064
Main Monitors – Eastlake TM3
Multitrack 24 track analog -Otari MTR90
Mastering 2 track analog – Otari MTR12 (1/2″) & MTR 12 (1/4″)
Livingston Studios continues to provide an outstanding recording environment, with both studios one and two being upgraded at least twice since its purchase by Miloco Studios. See the current Studio 1 here and Studio 2 here.
This year (2017) Livingston Studios won Studio of the Year Award by Pro Sound News.
NOTE: I have absolutely no affiliation with, or business interests, in Miloco Studios.
