HISTORY
All musicians know that recording studios are sacred spaces. The Church is quite literally so, a beautiful old place of worship in north London, whose stone walls and stained glass have reverberated for 170 years to the sound of prayers and some of the greatest music ever made.
To sing in The Church today is to play a part in music history that has included Adele, U2, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Annie Lennox, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, Lana Del Rey, Tom Jones, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Florence + The Machine, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Mumford and Sons, Seal, Spiritualized, The Stones Roses and The xx.
There are very good reasons why such extraordinary talents come to The Church: history, technology, and location. Three state-of-the-art studios provide anything a musician could ever need. Set in verdant Crouch End, just 20 minutes from London’s West End, The Church is a sanctuary, home, and shrine set to worship the very spirit of music. From Eurythmics’ break out hit “Sweet Dreams” to Adele’s record shattering album, 25. The sound of The Church has resounded around the world.
There are other recordings studios. There is only one Church.
1850BUILT
The church existed solely for religious purposes, serving local residents of the Agapemonite sect.
1980INTRODUCTION OF CREATIVE SPACE
The Church splits into two; one half serving as a traditional church as it does to this day, and the other half bought by acclaimed animators Bob Bura and John Hardwick.
1984SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS)
By ’84 Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox of the then newly-formed Eurythmics were renting the vast upstairs church room. Stewart and Lennox converted the space into a brand new recording studio where they completed their debut album, 1984’s Sweet Dreams, and from that moment on The Church Studios was an established marker on the London recording map.
1988BUILDING ON A LEGACY
As Eurythmics’ fame and fortune grew to huge heights over the remainder of the 1980s and beyond, they purchased the building from Bura and Hardwick and set about building on its legacy.
19881988 ANNIE LENNOX STUDIO TOUR
Annie Lennox studio tour
1993“WILD” (LIVE AT THE CHURCH)
Seal live at The Church
1998“SNEAKIN’ IN” (LIVE AT THE CHURCH)
Herb Alpert live at The Church
2004NEW OWNERSHIP
In 2004 The Church was bought by David Gray, who brought the studio into a new era when he acquired its ownership exactly 20 years after the release of Sweet Dreams. His tenure at the building lasted the best part of a decade.
2013THE CHURCH IN CRISIS
In 2013, by which time Gray had made the decision to move on, The Church too seemed under serious threat of being forced into the hands of property developers much to the sadness of the local community who rallied to keep the building’s creative legacy alive and well. Fortunately a saviour was not far away. When it became known that leading UK Producer Paul Epworth was on the hunt for a studio facility of his own, Gray made the call and a changing-of-the-guard was eventually agreed in October 2013.
2013REFUBLISHMENT
Epworth completely refurbished the upstairs and downstairs floors to present three incredible new studios: a vast tracking room featuring a 72 Channel Vintage EMI Neve console; an incredible SSL studio, so high-spec that it borders on the future; and a brand new, state-of-the-art writing suite to compete with the very best writing studios around.
2014U2 – SONGS OF INNOCENCE
2015AN INTERVIEW WITH PAUL
Paul Epworth and SOS magazine
2015“HELLO” & “WHEN WE WERE YOUNG” (LIVE AT THE CHURCH)
Adele live at The Church