Happy New Year!
So farewell then, sweet 2005. A corker of a year and no mistake, it saw record numbers of bookings here at Miloco as we played host to a, frankly, superb
list of clients.
A startling variety of genres and countries were represented, amongst them: North American metal fiends, Scandewegian popsters, African hip-hoppers and a shed load of homegrown rhythm-wielding, guitar-swinging, keyboard-mashing sorts too. And, we're happy to report, 2006 seems to be giving us the glad-eye too. January's diary is already creaking under the weight of advance bookings, with 2006's Lady Sovereigns, Bloc Partys and Hard-Fis in-waiting all coming to Miloco to track, mix and remix the hits of all our tomorrows... New Miloco Weblog & Forum Relaunch
As mentioned in previous communiques, we've been busy rebuilding and redesigning our Forum. After suffering the ill-effects of a masked Turkish hacker,
our determination to upgrade this delightful technology was merely redoubled!
The stardate for your diaries is: 11th January 2006, so hotfoot it down there from then and, well, do anything you like really. Give us your opinions on the studios... offer your services as assistants or engineers... ask us about any technical issues of the day... whatever you fancy! And, as if that wasn't enough, we've also added some sparkling new Weblog functionality. Never tardy in our desire to embrace the latest technological groundswells/crazes, we're embracing the weblogging revolution with customary Miloco panache. Our aim will be to keep the Weblog superfresh with daily updates and opinion from our in-house staff, visiting engineers and producers, and, of course, the artists themselves. So whether you're craving an update on the adventures of our current Neve Room clients, a chance to sing the praises of Protools and/or caterwaul your approval of Logic, or even advance knowledge of gigs and drinks and any manner of social occasions, there's a raft of reasons to use these latest additions to our all-conquering website, and you're all duly invited. Just pop on down to: www.miloco.co.uk/forum, register your intentions and you'll be away. It is, as Talk Talk winsomely intoned, 'what you make it', so get down there and chat/rant to your heart's content. And the building goes on...
The Pyramids? So-so. The Great Wall of China? Lacking in scale. The Eiffel Tower? An insignificant trinket. In centuries to come, there will
be only one man-made endeavour worthy of note to architectural historians, and that, needless to say, will be Miloco's voracious studio improvements!
Firstly, down at The Garden, legions of mastercraftsmen have been toiling through the festive period to deliver a brand new control room. Resplendent with Boxer T2's hewn from the dear departed Whitfield Street it sounds astonishing. Stay tuned for a full report on this gargantuan overhaul next month... Elsewhere, The Square's monitors are due to be treated to a thumping subwoofer system (in an effort to harry the moles of Hoxton to distraction), and finally, plans are afoot to rebuild our Toyshop too. The room's going to be totally redesigned to allow it to cater to a small live set-up (with a separate live room and a vocal booth), whilst retaining the wondrous gadgets, vibe and what-nots that have been merrily satisfying clients over the years. Watch, as they say, this space... Studio Round-upOur best ever December. Yes, despite the multitude of parties and shindigs and mash-ups and benders so required by the approach of the top-ranking Christian festival, there was no shortage of eager music-makers beating a path to our door. And, as always, included in their number were a good few legends of past, present and future... Miloco One (The Neve Room)
Tears were shed as those loveable metallic men, Fightstar, wrapped up the recording of their debut album. Colin Richardson (who else?) was at
The Neve Room's controls, with Miloco's Matt Hyde his ever-present right hand man. Also in The Neve, Howie B was in with his Italian heroes
Ego with Miloco's Joe Hirst engineering. The Zero 7 boys finished mixing their latest album alongside none other than Phill Brown, and
there was also time for Hundred Reasons to pop in with their brand of angled rock to do a little mixing with our own Finn Eiles on the desk.
You can check out all the guys' CVs here: Matt, Finn
& Joe.
Miloco Two (The Toyshop)
Not unlike an elf-filled North Pole factory, The Toyshop was full-to-bursting with last minute pre-Xmas creativity. Ms Dynamite was in writing and
recording new material, with two of our top engineers - Pete Hofmann and Greg 'Wizard' Fleming - on desk-running duty. Next up, those delicious
verbalisers Verbalicious spent some time in The Toyshop, also with the Wizard in attendance, while Jamie T rolled in with his guitar to lay down
some tracks for his forthcoming long-player with the help of engineer Ben Coupland and Miloco's Ben Thackeray in attendance. Have a
look at the gents' CVs here: Pete, Greg,
Ben.
Miloco Three (The Square)
First up, Britain's slim and shady Plan B was down in Hoxton's The Square, working on his brand of grimy hip-hop with our very own Jimmy Robertson
running the desk. Also in were scrunchy and melodic guitarmeisters Amplifier, who were in tracking with producer Steve Lyon. Mike Grimley assisted on that one.
Last up, Verbalicious slipped in en route to/from The Toyshop to unleash a little more spit and polish under the watchful ears of Greg 'Wizard' Fleming.
Jimmy's CV can be viewed right here.
Miloco Four (The Garden)
Before we closed down The Garden for some aforementioned splendiferous speaker installation, we still had time to squeeze in a goodly number of top
clients. Paul Epworth was in with Bobby Kray, mixing a single with our Finn Eiles running tools, while Plan B nipped in when he
wasn't in The Square to help finish his debut album. Those loveable neck-nibblers Love-Bites were back in, also with young Finn shackling their
poppy utterances, and last, but far from least, Ian Wills was in as well, with Finn Eiles (again!) engineering the session.
And there you have it; our 2005 studio diary is no more. But we must not be sad. Together we must shelve those swirling recollections of festive excess, shake off those numbing cranium aches and move forward. We must make new memories! For the 2006 diary lies before us all, an expanse of virgin snow ravenously craving your sonic footprints! So step forward, brave friends, and make your mark! Sophie's waiting for your call on 020 7232 0008, and you can also drop her a line via sophie@miloco.co.uk. However you choose to do it, you'll be ever so glad you did. |
In this edition
Happy New Year!
New engineer: Matt Foster
Following hot on the heels of our delectable Sophie is another tremendous addition to the Miloco team, Matt Foster. Matt joins up with us this month after having previously worked with Morgan Khan (founder of Street Sounds)'s MWA label and as in-house engineer at The Dairy studios. Specialising in cutting-edge house, r'n'b, hip-hop and UK & US garage, his recent clients include the likes of: Gorillaz, Keisha White, So Solid Crew, Emma Bunton and Lady Sovereign. He's destined to be a great addition to the Miloco stable, so please join us in welcoming him to his new home! You can check out Matt's full CV here.
A Special Thank You!
Before the New Year gets fully underway (and our fickle hearts are lost to a new batch of fresh-faced, square-jawed, delightfully proportioned and boundlessly talented dreamboats...) please allow us to say an extra-special final thank you to the following tip-top clients who spent vast swathes of the year within our ever-lovin' arms and helped make it such a great year. Specifically, the chief metal smelter Colin Richardson (Slipknot, Fightstar, Roadrunner United, Chimaira); Steve Dub (Madness, John Truelove, Audio Bullys, Mattafix); Howie B (Ego); alongside the likes of Island, Universal, Ms Dynamite, Stephen Budd Management, 140 dB, 679, Fightstar, Zero7, Roll Deep, Phill Brown, Paul Epworth, Mike Spencer, Rich File, Roadrunner and Domino. See you all in 2006!
To the Milcy bar, kid
Yes, that's right. It's almost time for another issue of everyone's favourite dairy-themed e-magazine. More succinct than It'sGettingButterAllTheTime.com, more out there than Yo!Ghurt.co.uk, even more beloved of celebrities than NobodySaidItWasCheesy.org, MILC is the only place for music industry news, artist interviews, project profiles and more, so much more. The 16th of January will see the release of issue no.3 of this delightful online periodical, so make sure you come to the site and take a peek. It'll be in the usual spot, namely: miloco.co.uk/magazine
Winner exposes themselves!
After last summer's tremendous 5-a-side football competition we launched an equally tremendous Spot-the-Ball competition. And there was a winner! But a winner we couldn't find. However, after shining their name repeatedly upon the low cloud cover o'er old London town (not unlike a rudimentary Batman alarm signal), the triumphant so-and-so at last got in touch and claimed their prize. Phew! So congratulations again Wesley Houghton, and we look forward to seeing you down at The Neve Room soon!
Latest Releases from Miloco
For a look at all the Miloco releases of 2005, please journey to the following: miloco.co.uk/news/newreleases 2006 is looking like a spine-tinglingly exciting year for new releases from Miloco, as we look forward to albums from the likes of Plan B, The Mystery Jets, Fightstar and Zero 7, to name but a few. So watch this space for up-to-the-minute new release updates. And if you think we may have missed a release (especially one of yours...) please let us know so we can add it to the list. Keep us in the loop so we can keep on plugging you and we can all keep on keepin' on. You know it makes sense... |