BB Studio from original idea to the here and now:
October 1993, rainy day, phone rings. A Warwick University friend (now a practicing vicar) of Roger Greasby calls for some assistance in a new venture. Meeting in the Admiral Lord Rodney pub (now Rainbows nightclub) in Parkside, Coventry, a plan is made to turn the office premises over the road in the old Rolls Royce factory into a recording studio to help train budding radio presenter DJs. 2 pints and 1 packet of crisps each consumed.
During the next 2 years Cued Up Recording & Rehearsal Studio flourished and was home to many great bands including Swamp Donkey, AFB, Set Against, Trauma, Touching Cloth, Aurora, Kid Gloves, The Invisible Man and many more.
Summer 1995 plans revealed by council to demolish the old factory so new premises are sought.
December 1995, snowy night, equipment and materials moved onto farmland in nearby village of Ansty to commence construction of the renamed Den Studios (now Born in a Barn Studio) in recently acquired premises of the old milking parlour Mobbs Wood Farm.
June 1996, blistering day, first band hardcore outfit Set Against crank up amps to take the first rehearsal in the newly constructed live room. Pigs n Robots, New Traffic Island, and many more benefitted from a very newly created building.
December 1998 studio rented to practicing bands amongst many the infamous Tra La La for 3 years whilst new funds sought elsewhere!!
Roger moves into free lance sound engineer work and touring band truck driving work for companies like SSE PA Hire Ltd. and FBN Trucking Ltd., Birmingham. A rollercoaster few years. Meanwhile studio is used for private band use. Experience gained working with bands such as Salamander, Charlatans, Gomez, and Stereophonics in their early years.
Spring 2001 the studio is given a reconstructive overhaul and the 2 main rooms split into 3 whilst the upstairs area developed into the Chillzone.
Rogers last band D-Fex (metal band) move in as the sole users of the studio for 2 years.
Summer 2004, hot weather all round. Sound Control (now reverb) supply and install the state of the art computer based ProTools HD2 platform; the new studio is born and test driven on Manchester indie band The Spinning Fields.
November 2004 Born in a Barn Studio is launched with many great local bands enjoying the studios new facilities including Warwick Universitys’ The Rrrs, The Standoff & Pink Spider (Pink Widow), Coventry’s The Circle, Puriton, Fujiwara Armbar, Uncle Ghost, Echopark and further afield Soul Weighs Three Quarters, Vigilante Wing, The Dirty Backbeats, RadioDaze, Beat Civilian, Anasarzy (now The Chairmen), in just the first year.
2006 saw many great artists in the studio such as The Chairmen, Abraxus, V8, At the Zoo, Amy C, Medeas Revenge, Sick City Club and many more with BBS 1st download success Ist with single ‘Im Jesus and You’re Not’ being played on Nottingham Radio within an hour of being mastered!
Spring 2006 upgrades to studio including second DigiDesign interface & more Focusrite preamps, new mics plus ProTools software upgrade & more Mac memory.
2007 & 2008 saw many interior improvements to Chillzone and Live Room, new furniture, sound enhancement in Control Room, the development of the Bunky Bedroom and redesign of the hospitality facilities and ongoing software upgrades.
There was a big increase in corporate work and privately commissioned projects whilst bands including Ego Armalade, Revelers Riot, The West Midlands Police Brass Band, Fridays Last Kiss, Dutch Courage, Russian Gun Dogs, Temba, Hot Monocles, The Void, The Steptoos, Dirty Laws breezed & blasted through the studio.
Most importantly 2008 brought new arrival Grace in March, Rogers 1st daughter with his wife Rachel. It was a quiet end of year for business as the credit crunch developed leading to the desire for a new website.
2009 saw the new website launched in April and general upgrades plus some new furniture. The farm had a brand new road put in which vastly improved the access to the studio. Bands included Pressure Pill, Random Perception, Audio Narcotix, Anitdote, Bromptons, Redfoot, The Chairmen, Free Harmony and Crackerman whilst the recession encouraged us to look for more ways to add business so our very own Pop Star Party was developed and we took on an audio restoration project for recordings of the Coventry Cathedral Organ. During the year we did a lot of new style work including a song for The Childrens Society charity, work with the local council to help under priviledged young people, some live recordings of local singers and work on behalf of local network groups. There was a big increase in solists and tribute singers including Madeline Brown who launched her own brand.
At the end of the year in 2009 our site was rebuilt courtesy of WSI HO in Toronto (since the previous one had problems) and was launched NYE '09. Further to this BB Studio won a national remix competition held by Scottish indie band Oswald, after an intense social media campaign before Christmas (thanks to the good folk of Coventry for voting) and was finally announced in Jan '10. Release set for Feb 22nd.
2010 - let's do it all again!