Miloco Studios

Miloco Studios are a leading independent group of recording studios based in London, England. There are currently twelve commercial recording studios underneath the Miloco umbrella, plus a selection of private long-let programming rooms. The group is made up of studios both owned by Miloco and represented by them in collaboration with other studio owners, and are mostly located in various areas of London. Miloco also have two residential studios based in Surrey, England; and Andalucia, Spain. The twelve studios vary in terms of their aptitude for tracking, mixing or overdubbing; the consoles that occupy the control rooms; their recording spaces; their outboard gear and monitoring systems.

Some of the artists known to use the studios regularly include The Chemical Brothers, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, UNKLE, Spiritualized, Audio Bullys, KT Tunstall, Luke Haines and Kate Nash.

History

Miloco was formed out of the merging of three former London recording studios: Milo Music, The Garden and Orinoco Studios.

Milo Music began in 1984 as a small studio in east London’s Hoxton Square (the studio is commonly referred to as simply ‘The Square’), which was used by the likes of Tricky, M People and The Brand New Heavies in the early years of its life. In the early nineties they took over another building nearby to The Square and used it to build seven programming suites for artists and producers to use for long-term periods. Today, Miloco still operate five of the seven rooms, and people filling them currently include pop producer Richard X and Swing Out Sister. In the late nineties, Milo Music also became the parent company of producer Howie B’s Pussyfoot record label, whose roster of artists usually recorded at the studios.

The Garden studio, located in the Shoreditch area of East London, was built in 1981 by Ultravox’s John Foxx and the well-renowned studio designer Andy Munro. It became a regular choice of studios for the likes of Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure and Depeche Mode, as well as Matt Johnson of The The who ended up buying the studio for himself (he still owns it today). Milo Music became the studio’s representative from the mid-1990s, when for the first time The Garden was run as a commercial enterprise.

Orinoco Studios was founded in the mid-1980s and came to prominence with the release of Enya’s Orinoco-produced ‘Watermark’ album, which included the hit ‘Orinoco Flow’, apparently named after the studios. Orinoco was central to both the dance explosion of the late 1980s and the indie / Britpop era of the early to mid-nineties. The studio’s top-end Neve mix room (known as The Engine Room) has always been integral to Orinoco’s appeal, and since the early 1990s bands such as Oasis and The Chemical Brothers mixed groundbreaking albums such as (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and Dig Your Own Hole respectively, in The Engine Room. All of The Chemical Brothers’ six albums have been mixed in the room, and the dance act also regularly use The Toyshop programming room, located in the same building as The Engine Room. 1997 saw Orinoco produce more number-one albums than any other UK studio, apart from EMI’s Abbey Road.

When Milo Music bought Orinoco in 2000, the Miloco name was created. 2006 saw Miloco open three new studios. The first was the former Innovation Studios on Highbury Corner in North London, renamed ‘The Yard’ after the road on which it is, Swan Yard. After opening The Yard came the addition of dance producer and DJ Pete Heller’s Kentish Town studio, Musikbox, and then producer Ben Hillier built a unique live tracking studio in the former Orinoco building, which is now called The Pool.

2007 and 2008 saw the company expand considerably further, forming partnerships with various established producers and recording artists to re-open a number of formerly private studios as commercial ones. The first room added during this expansion period was legendary producer Hugh Padgham’s, Sofa Sound Studios in west London, which Miloco took over in the summer of 2007. At the start of 2008, Miloco unveiled their very first residential studio, El Cortijo, which they opened in partnership with studio owner and session drummer Trevor Morais. Based in a 7-bedroom Andalucian villa, El Cortijo became the first facility Miloco opened outside of the UK. In the summer of the same year, Miloco opened a brand new tracking studio in the famous Battery complex in Willesden Green, Assault & Battery 2, in collaboration with the famous British rock producers and studio owners, Flood and Alan Moulder. Flood and Alan's SSL mix studio, Assault & Battery 1, which is also located at the Battery Complex, came under the Miloco umbrella a year later in the summer of 2009.

The first UK residential studio facility Miloco opened was Fisher Lane Studios near the town of Guildford in Surrey, which came under Miloco operation in the Autumn of 2008. Since the early 1980s, the studio has been famous for its association with bands and artists such as Genesis, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, The Cure and Mike + The Mechanics. Under the new representation of Miloco, Fisher Lane has been developed into the closest rural residential recording studio to London, having acquired two 4-bedroom cottages next-door to the studio.

The Studios

The Engine Room – a mix and tracking room containing a Neve VR60 console, based in Bermondsey

Assault & Battery 2 – a tracking and mix studio containing a Neve VR60 console, based in Willesden Green

The Square – a mix and tracking room containing an Amek B2520 console, based in Hoxton.

The Garden – a tracking room containing a Neve V3 console, based in Shoreditch

The Yard – a mix room containing an SSL G Series console, based in Islington.

The Toyshop – a programming and overdub room based in Bermondsey

Musikbox – a mix and overdub room containing a Neve VR60 console, based in Kentish Town.

The Pool – a live tracking room based in Bermondsey.

Sofa Sound – a mix and tracking room containing an SSL G+ Series, based in Chiswick.

El Cortijo - a residential recording studio and holiday villa based in Benahavis, Andalucia, Spain

Fisher Lane - a residential recording and mix studio containing an SSL E Series console, based in Surrey

The Chairworks - a residential recording and mix studio containing an SSL G+ Series console, based in Yorkshire

Artists

Well-known artists who have worked at Miloco studios include:

Adele
Alphabeat
Arctic Monkeys
Audio Bullys
Badly Drawn Boy
Beth Orton
Björk
Black Kids
Bloc Party
Coldplay
Crashcarburn
Crystal Castles
DJ Ironik
DJ Shadow
Editors
Elastica
Enya
Foals
Franz Ferdinand
Funeral for a Friend
Gallows
Glasvegas
Groove Armada
Idlewild
Jamie T
Jarvis Cocker
Kasabian
Kate Nash
Late of the Pier
Liberty X
The Long Blondes
Luke Haines
Madness
Mark Ronson
Mystery Jets
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Oasis
Rachel Stevens
Razorlight
Roots Manuva
Spiritualized
Sugababes
The Auteurs
The Chemical Brothers
The Futureheads
The Horrors
The Hours
The Prodigy
The Rascals
These New Puritans
Trivium
Turin Brakes
Twelfth Night
UNKLE

Albums

2008 Miloco albums include

Bloc Party - Intimacy
Sugababes - Catfights and Spotlights
The King Blues - Save the World. Get the Girl
Roll Deep - Return of the Big Money Sound
Trivium - Shogun
DJ Ironik - No Point in Wasting Tears
Will Young - Let It Go
The Metros - More Money Less Grief
Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone
Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
Sparkadia - Postcards
Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
The Rascals - Rascalize
Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
The Music - Strength in Numbers
Alphabeat - This Is Alphabeat
Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
Adem - Takes
Hadouken! - Music For An Accelerated Culture
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
The Long Blondes - "Couples"
Foals - Antidotes
Mystery Jets - Twenty One
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
Adele - 19
These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid
Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

Past Miloco albums include

Kate Nash – Made of Bricks
Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Newton Faulkner – Hand Built By Robots
The Horrors – Strange House
The Chemical Brothers – We Are The Night
Shitdisco – Kingdom of Fear
Roll Deep – Rules and Regulations
The Maccabees – Colour It In
Mr Hudson and the Library – A Tale of Two Cities
Battle – Break The Banks
Enya – Watermark
Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Ash – 1977
The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole
EGO – The Garden
Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again
John Foxx – The Garden
Roots Manuva – Awfully Deep
Audio Bullys – Ego War
The Cure – The Top
M.I.A. – Arular
Richard X – Richard X Presents His X-Factor Vol. 1
The Auteurs – How I Learned to Love the Bootboys
Gene – Olympian
Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis
Fionn Regan - The End of History
Black Box Recorder - The Facts of Life
Plan B - Who Needs Actions When You Got Words
James Yorkston - The Year of the Leopard
Shed Seven - Ladyman
Luke Haines - Das Capital

Interface Engineer Management

In 2007 Miloco set up a sister company, Interface, a studio engineer and producer management company. The Interface roster currently manages the following UK-based engineers and producers: Pete Hofmann, Finn Eiles, Matt Hyde, Matt Foster, Ferg Peterkin, Joe Hirst and Ben Thackeray.

External links

• Official Miloco Site
• Official Interface Site