“Bottom line, we could not have achieved what we did without Mark Russell and I will for ever be grateful to him for giving me my dream studio and making the process such a wonderful experience.”
“Moving and building a 3 room mixing and mastering facility is a daunting task (one my business partner and I were apprehensive about to say the least) but meeting Mark Russell changed all of that. From our first meeting, it became clear that Mark had a unique understanding of exactly what was required but also a real skill in how to listen to what we as clients needed. He managed us and our expectations beautifully….He was realistic and sensible. There was no bullshit. He put together the perfect team of architects, acousticians and builders for our needs and budget. The planning and execution were flawless. NOTHING was too much trouble for Mark and his team. EVERY small detail was explored, thought about and investigated.
We pretty much built to time and to budget which is insane given post Brexit / post Pandemic Britain. We were seeing building supplies going up in price by the day and Mark used his knowledge and supply chain options to keep us on track. He was continually tweaking and re-assessing throughout the project, it was always about the end result and whether Cass & I were happy. And we are! Mark worked tirelessly to give us a set of studios and a work environment that we could never have imagined. His passion and enthusiasm over a 2 year period were unbelievable and it is for that reason alone that we have something we are immensely proud of. Mark investigated countless ideas / finishes / details and presented everything to us in a clear, uncomplicated fashion. What was initially quite a scary process actually became a really fun one, and I immensely enjoyed my time working with Mark. That’s mental. I was working full time as an engineer for the duration and to have someone to take the enormous burden from our shoulders and deal with everything was insane. There were no dramas, there was very little stress, and on a build of this size I am astounded by that. I have built studios before, and I have renovated houses and I have always fallen out to some degree with builders and designers. I have very high expectations and a keen eye for detail, which can cause friction! That did not happen on this project and that is totally down to Mark. His communication is second to none, his attention to detail is unreal and his effort and enthusiasm is unparalleled. We have what we believe to be a world class set of studios and that is solely down to the efforts of Mark. He cared about EVERY small detail, more than I did (and that’s pretty much impossible!). I never thought once about the legal / compliance / building reg side of things, that was kept fully away from me by Mark. I was just able to think about the fun, nice side of things! That’s huge.
And then there’s the sound. SO many studios I have been in over the years look wonderful but sound like crap. From day one Mark got that it could not be style over substance. You can’t “test drive” a studio, so putting your faith in someone to deliver is massive. When Cass and I started seeing the construction of the rooms it was very clear where all the money was going. No one else will ever see what we saw, but the rooms are an absolute thing of beauty. The design, mass, structure, acoustic treatments going on behind our fabric walls are a work of art. I’ve seen other studios being built, and they aren’t like this! They are ridiculous, end of. And then the end result! Wow. The detail, depth, immersion. The solidity / consistency of the bottom end around the room! Mental. I and many others have shed a tear listening in these rooms. Whilst its lovely to have a “pretty” room, they ultimately live and die on their sound and I (we) could not be happier with the end results….and our clients too. We’ve only been open a few months and I have had countless amazing artists, label bosses and producers saying that my room is the best studio they’ve ever been in (and these are people that have been in them all!)
Bottom line, we could not have achieved what we did without Mark Russell and I will for ever be grateful to him for giving me my dream studio and making the process such a wonderful experience.”
Kevin Grainger, Owner / Mix & Mastering Engineer, Wired Masters