22 l December 2013


www.psneurope.com studioreport UNITED KINGDOM


Strongroom strengthens, rethinks AIR Studios sale


The London facility has created a new mixing room for producer Danton Supple. Meanwhile, group chairman Richard Boote says he is not actively seeking a buyer for AIR Studios, writes Dave Robinson


STRONGROOM STUDIOS has created a new tracking and mixing room for producer Danton Supple (Natalie Imbruglia, Ian Brown), as the famous east London complex embarks on re-establishing its role as a “music hub”. Owner of Strongroom and chairman of the AIR Entertainment Group has also revealed the realignment of his operations, while confirming that AIR Studios is “off the market”. Located in Strongroom 4,


Supple’s room is centred on an ex-BBC Bush House Calrec Q-Series console. A range of classic outboard has been integrated with a Pro Tools high definition system, while the whole studio has been rewired by Langdale Technical


happenings in the AIR/ Strongroom orbit. When PSNEurope last spoke


to chairman Richard Boote in May 2012, he revealed that AIR was up for sale, but not for the purpose of being “turned into flats”. Speaking with the title in November, Boote says the famous north London facility will stay in the fold. “I’m not actively trying to sell


it,” says Boote, “[But] it’s as much for sale as anything is for sale,” he says. “AIR is still a viable business and makes a profit.” “A year and a half ago it was


Strongroom Studios


Consulting’s Bill Ward. Phil Selway, the Radiohead drummer, was one of the first to use the room in recent weeks for work on his second solo album. Danton Supple – managed by 140dB, which also handles


Flood and Ben Hillier – was an assistant at Strongroom in the 1980s and says: “It’s great to be back, the place has a fantastic vibe.” The new role for Strongroom 4 is just one of several recent


very near to being sold – for development,” he reveals. “But we made the decision to sell it to someone who wanted to keep it as a studio.


“I’m not fighting developers


off all the time but they are always there in the background. If a buyer came a long who had the finances to secure it from [those] developers, I would sell AIR because it would be better.”


“I’m not actively trying to sell it... AIR is still a viable business and makes a profit”


Richard Boote


Ideally, an investor with sufficient cash could “swipe aside anyone who is trying to develop it”. But that buyer has failed to emerge. While there have been six or so interested parties, no single applicant has ticked all the right boxes. Hence, no sale. But there has been activity


elsewhere. In the last 18 months Boote has moved his family home to Portugal. The weekly commute is now more ‘easyJet’ than ‘Oyster card’. His business partner of over


two years, media lawyer and CEO Paul Woolf, has taken a more hands-on role in the day-to-day, allowing the group chairman to step back and see the bigger picture. Part of that has involved a


restructuring of the AIR/ Strongroom portfolio in recent months, with dividing lines marking out obvious geographies. AIR Studios, AIR Mastering and AIR Management are now run under one strand from the Belsize Park campus; while Strongroom, the Strongroom Bar & Kitchen and AIR Post Production form a separate strand, (all components of the AIR Entertainment Group) in Shoreditch. “Demerging has been very healthy for both businesses,” says Boote. While AIR continues to


attract film and production companies or those seeking a bigger live recording space,


Photo: Mike Banks, recordproduction.com


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