Miloco, Flood and Alan Moulder present...
Assault & Battery 2
August sees the launch of a hugely exciting joint venture between Miloco and leading producers
Flood and Alan Moulder, who are both proud to announce the arrival of Assault & Battery 2, the UK's most complete
recording experience.
Based in the revitalised Battery complex, this is truly one of the last great sounding recording spaces left in London. At the heart of the studio
is the vast high-ceiling and day-lit
live room which is supplemented by two large and dynamic isolation booths to one side, which between them provide a range of live
and dry sounds, and house one of the best selections of rare analogue synths in the business. The control room is centered around a newly installed Neve VR60, Protools
HD3 Accel running on an Intel 8-core mac and Quested monitors. Enhancing the spec is
Flood and Alan's outstanding selection of microphones, mic amps and outboard, plus an arsenal of backline comprising a beautiful collection of guitars, amps and
pedals.
Assault & Battery 2 can comfortably cater
for large bands and even small orchestras, but what makes the space that extra bit special is its truly inspirational and atmospheric themeing. Bands are
not only invited to settle in and spread out for recording purposes, but to also make the space their very own hang-out throughout sessions...
A dream for all producers, engineers and artists...
Assault & Battery 2 is made up of countless groundbreaking features which no other studio around is able to offer. It firstly boasts a vast day-lit
main live space measuring 77 square metres, and two huge additional isolation booths both measuring 30 square meters each. The first booth is a 'live sounding'
space which is excellent for recording drums, and the second is a dry booth for a more controlled sound. Currently one is set up as an additional programming
space and the other is a keyboard laboratory featuring 2 Roland System 700 modular systems and a
vintage Moog Modular, which are joined by a whole arsenal of other rare analogue delights.
Clients can get their teeth stuck into an equipment spec dressed head-to-toe in some of the coolest analogue toys and instruments ever produced, which Flood and
Alan have collected passionately throughout their careers. Whilst synth fanatics can indulge in their own personal promised land, the guitarists and bass players amongst you will no doubt make full advantage of an equally impressive selection of
beautiful guitars, pedals and amplifiers, including rare Fender, Gibson and Musicman models, and which have all appeared on many of the huge records produced by Flood and Alan, including
The Killers' Sam's Town and Depeche Mode's Songs of Faith and Devotion, to name a few. There are plenty of awesome-sounding amps on hand including a Marshall
JCM800 Head & Cab, Ampeg SVT810E and the super-rare Audio Kitchen Amplifier, so pick your amp and then choose one of the countless brilliant microphones to record it through!
Through the glass divides, the control room is as equally up-to-speed as the recording area. Assault & Battery 2 now boasts a newly-refurbished Neve VR60
console which joins a dream control room featuring an incredible array of outboard. Particularly highlighted in this selection is Flood
and Alan's many mic amps, which comprise of Helios, Trident, Summit, TLA and Focusrite. The Protools HD3 rig is on a newly installed Intel Mac
with a host of plugins.
The studio's unstoppable formula of vast recording spaces and awesome equipment selections has been masterminded by two of the world's most respected and
influential producers. You can now understand why Assault & Battery 2 ranks as one of the most inspirational recording environments in the UK.
For full details on Assault & Battery 2's formidable equipment spec, follow this link: www.miloco.co.uk/studios/assault&battery2_equipment.php.
A New Studio in a Historic Building...
Battery Studios was established in 1975 by Clive Calder, who bought the now famous building in Willesden Green as part of the Zomba group who owned the complex up until the early
2000s, when it was sold to BMG. It was not long after Battery was founded when it began to impose itself on the recording industry, and by the early 1980s was recording some of the most successful
records of the time, including Iron Maiden's Killers, The Cars' Heartbeat City and Billy Ocean's Suddenly.
Zomba formed Silvertone Records in 1988, who then went on to sign The Stone Roses shortly after, paving the way for the making of one of the studio's most significant albums in its history,
The Stone Roses, which of course went onto become one of the most acclaimed records in the history of British music. It set the tone for a successful decade throughout the 1990s, as
artists including Robbie Williams, Skunk Anansie, Tom Jones, Dodgy, Simply Red and Joe Strummer all regularly used the studio to make popular records.
In 2004, after a brief spell of ownership by BMG, the building was bought by Parks Investments who began leasing the tracking room, Studio 3, to Criterion Studios,
a facility set-up by
producer Mark Williams and Battery's long-term maintenance engineer Barney Herbert. The Criterion era continued the studio's prolific draw of big names, with the likes of
Biffy Clyro,
Placebo, The Cribs, Fightstar, KT Tunstall, Go:Audio, Tom McCrae and Nine Black Alps all making successful records in the studio. It was also during the Criterion period when Battery
welcomed The Killers through its doors. The band came in to do overdubs on their second album Sam's Town with producers Flood and Alan Moulder, who had since 2005 based themselves
in the complex having taken-over its top-end mix room, Studio 4, which they had named Assault & Battery 1.
Having always been admirers of the tracking studio ever-since they had first used it, Flood and Alan became immediately interested in the space when they learned in 2007 that it
was to become available. So in 2008, in collaboration with Miloco Studios, they set about regenerating the studio into a vision
they had both shared
since the early days of their careers - to provide recording artists with a facility of maximum choice, variety, inspiration, individuality and quality. Hence Assault & Battery 2 was born.
By this time there were already signs of a huge revitalization project at the Battery complex. Singer-Songwriter Steve Rhodes was now occupying the building's second mix room, which he had
renamed Alpha Centauri. After taking over the room, Steve committed himself to transforming it into the highest spec'd mix room in the UK, and installed a
prolific collection of top-end gear based around a Solid State Logic SL4060 G+ Console with Total Recall, and a brilliant monitoring setup including some Dynaudio M4+ custom built active speakers.
When Steve decided to open the room as a
commercial studio in the first half of 2008, he too joined forces with Miloco to operate the venture.
During the early summer of 2008, at the same time as the huge overhaul of Assault & Battery 2, all parties invested in the massive refurbishment of the entire Battery building, to
reaffirm the complex's status as a studio institution on the leading edge of the recording industry. It now houses three top-of-the-range and cutting-edge studios: two SSL mix rooms and a
Neve VR tracking space. There are also numerous programming suites occupied privately by some of the hottest producers and writers around. It has a resulted in a hugely creative and
forward-thinking working environment, involving a wide and healthy dynamic of studio professionals who are all working together to welcome in a fresh new era for the
recording industry.
To find out more on the vision and concept of Assault & BAttery 2, you can now read an interview Flood & Alan Moulder did for the Miloco website.
Follow this link: www.miloco.co.uk/studios/assault&battery2_insight.php
We're Booking Now!!
That's right. The lines are open for bookings and enquries for this incredible
tracking studio, and it couldn't be easier! Call Vicki at the office on
020-7232-0008, or email vicki@miloco.co.uk.
For information on Assault & Battery 2's incredible equipment spec follow this link: www.miloco.co.uk/studios/assault&battery2_equipment.php
Check out the official Assault & Battery 2 webpage: www.miloco.co.uk/assault&battery2
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Studio Roundup
Come rain or shine, July was another swelteringly busy month across the many Miloco abodes. It was practically a full house across the land last month, and here's a few
highlights...
Producer Colin Richardson started off the month in the place where he finished it, in our flagship mix and tracking studio The Engine Room, where he wrapped up his
Slipknot mix session with Interface engineer Matt Hyde to take a well-earned break. It didn't last long though, as less than a week later he was back in the studio
to begin a long mixing session with Trivium. It's been great to have him in this summer.
Recent NME single of the week claimants Magistrates filled in the gap, tracking material with producer Dave Taylor and Miloco in-house engineer
Daniel Rejmer. It was great to see Magistrates at Miloco for the first time, as it was to see Kid British, who worked a few sessions last month upstairs in
The Toyshop with Interface producers Steve Dub & Segs, and Miloco engineer Laurence Aldridge.
Meanwhile The Pool was enjoying the company of drummer Seb Rochford, who brought one of his many bands, Death Ray Trebuchey, to work for a few days with Miloco
in-house engineer James Aparicio. We also had a couple of marvellous days when Travis came in to use The Pool to film a forthcoming music video, and
Dirty Pretty Things booked it out for a photo shoot.
Whilst Carl Barat was posing for the cameras in SE1, his old chum Pete Doherty was further north in Shoreditch tracking material with producer Jake Fior
in The Garden, and his old chum, Amy Winehouse, had booked into Musikbox in Kentish Town with producer
Salaam Remi. Meanwhile The Yard was waving goodbye to Madness after their long stint of mixing with producers Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley, and
Interface engineer Finn Eiles. Similarly, The Square was bidding its final farewells to Mr Jamie T and engineer Ben Coupland. It's been a pleasure guys!
Finally, over in our West London hangouts, we had DJ Ironik in the recently unveiled Alpha Centauri, working with producer/engineers Agent X and
Sie Medway-Smith. Sofa Sound all the while was thrilled to roll out the carpet for the glorious return of Bucks Fizz, who worked a session with Miloco in-house
engineer Jon Olliffe. Our Chiswick SSL room also welcomed back the exciting Franko, who spent a session with producer/engineer Jim Lowe.
Finally, Assault & Battery 2 was being taken for a test spin by The Hours, who were working with the one and only Flood.
For all studio bookings and enquiries call Vicki on 020-7232-0008 or email vicki@miloco.co.uk.
For information on the Interface producers and engineers, call Linda on
020-7232-0008 or email linda@miloco.co.uk
www.miloco.co.uk/studios.
www.interfaceyourmusic.com.
A 5-a-side Thankyou!
July also saw the welcome return of Miloco's infamous 5-a-side football showdown on Battersea Park. The fifth instalment of this increasingly
popular annual event welcomed 16 teams of fully determined athletes - some of whom were clearly brilliant, the others who were clearly there to
take part! Either or, we are forever grateful for everyone's efforts into another hugely successful day of 5-a-side football, and would like to
take this moment to applaud all players, spectators, referees and organisers into making the day special.
A particular congratulations is in order for the day's triumphant warriors, 1st place Fireproof Entertainment, Runners-up PSurreal Kilburn, and
bronze-medallists Aspire Entertainment, who between them won assorted amounts of silverware, champagne and free time at selected Miloco studios.
Photos, score sheets and the full day's report can be found on the Miloco site by clicking on this link.
So let's hear it for another successful celebration of the wonders of 5-a-side football, as interpreted by the music industry. We'll be in touch
next year to round up the troops once more! Ta da!
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