EVEN as they are about to head on tour with Zebrahead, Cwmbran’s Maddison have been extremely busy – opening their own studio.
JC Studio is located on the Ty-Coch industrial estate in Cwmbran and was created as a more expansive rehearsal space and recording studio for the quartet.
But after recording their forthcoming album in the space, the band want to branch out and help others.
When Maddison started, the band would rehearse in frontman James Chorlton’s home studio but then thought that they would benefit more from a larger space.
“We never planned to make it available to the public as it was just for Maddison originally,” said Mr Chorlton.
But now they have decided to combine their experience and professional space to help upcoming artists with the full recording experience, stating the reasoning as wanting to help develop future musicians.
“The Welsh music scene used to be amazing and we want to put some fire back in the dragon.”
Guitarist Pete Edwards added: “We’ve all been in bands for around 20 years and as Maddison, we have always done everything ourselves, so we’ve learnt along the way how to do things properly and we want to pass that knowledge on.”
“We’ve made mistakes and we want to help other bands not make the same mistakes we did,” added bassist Benj Allison.
Mr Chorlton continued: “Between the three of us, we can do everything – we can write, record, film, mix, master, engineer and produce.”
“We are fully self-funded and self-released all our own music ourselves so have done everything that gives us the experience and knowledge needed.”
They officially opened JC Studios to the public at the start of January and have already had a lot of interest from musicians wanting to use the space and benefit from the knowledge of the trio.
The band said they have also had a good response from other producers and mixers in the industry after sending them examples of their mixed songs.
“We mix everything in house and then sent it to other mixers in the industry who said that they were sonically perfect,” said Mr Chorlton.
It took the best part of a year for the studio to be set up – with it being fully converted into a recording and relaxing space all in one.
The purpose-built studio was created by 3D rendering which showed the location of the best place for the acoustic panels, and it has been acoustic treated to make it fit for live performances.
“We are really particular with the sound and the rendering worked perfectly as it gave us the positions for the panels to provide an optimal sound.
“When you are mixing and mastering a song, you want it to sound exactly the same in the car as it does in the studio, so we made sure that by sorting the acoustics out like we have, that it keeps the quality of the sound no matter where it is listened.”
“We also care and want to help,” said Mr Allison.
“We want to help develop the artists if they need it. So, if someone comes in with a half-finished song, we can help them to finish it and help guide them to make it sound the best it can for them.”
All of this is for a competitive price – where they aim to give full professional studio recordings for a mid-range price.
Masquerade, the first single from Maddison’s third album, will be released on Friday, January 10 and is the first taste of music recorded, mixed, mastered and produced in the studio.
Any musician or band who would like to use the studio can inquire by contacting JC Studios on Facebook or email jcstudio@maddisonband.com
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