The Church Studios
 | |
| Recording studio | |
| Industry | Music |
Area served | London, England |
| Website |
thechurchstudios |
The Church Studios is a recording studio located in a former church in Crouch End, North London. It was rented and then owned by Dave Stewart in the 1980s and 1990s, and was used to record Eurythmics’ debut album Sweet Dreams. David Gray acquired ownership in 2004. In 2013, UK leading music producer Paul Epworth bought and refurbished the studio. It has since been used by notable artists such as Adele, U2 and London Grammar.
History
Built in the 1850s, the building existed purely for religious purposes for over a century. As a result of the social changes that took part in second half of the 20th Century, the building became desired within the creative industries and eventually split into two halves; one being a traditional church, and the other that has been through a number of creative studio ventures since the 1980s [1]
In the beginning of the 1980s, animators Bob Bura and John Hardwick bought the building and several years later were renting the church room upstairs to Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics. Stewart and Lennox converted the room into a recording studio, used to complete their debut album Sweet Dreams. As the popularity and success of the Eurythmics increased, they purchased the building from Bura and Hardwick, and recorded much of their catalogue in the studio. The Church Studio’s legacy continued to be established, with artists such as Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Elvis Costello, Depeche Mode, My Bloody Valentine being welcomed [1].
In 2004, singer-songwriter David Gray acquired ownership of the studio, bringing it into a new era. Gray’s ownership lasted for almost a decade, however due to the decline of record sales changing the landscape of the music industry, Gray decided to move on and the studio became under threat of falling into the hands of property developers. Eventually music producer Paul Epworth, who was looking for a studio facility of his own, bought the studio and took it over in October 2013 when a large refurbishment project began [1].
Refurbishment
In 2013, Epworth, along with the Walters-Storyk Design Group and Miloco Builds, set about transforming The Church Studios into a modern recording complex. Both the upstairs and downstairs floors were completely refurbished to offer three studios: a large tracking room featuring a 72 channel vintage EMI Neve console, a high-spec SSL studio, and a state-of-the-art writing suite [1].
Artists
Well-known artists who have worked at The Church Studios include: