Of the many great people we have met through long connection to Cardiacs family of friends, it’s been a pleasure to get reaquainted with Dave Chelsea this year. His lifetime experience building recording studios for others, informed his desire to create a residential production palace of his own that accomodates such varied interests where he can now share these skills.
Late in 2022 he took possession of a grand Victorian church on edge of Salisbury Plain and began fitting it out for live-in recording and celestial sound mixing in a relaxed rural setting. These images barely do the place justice, it is immense, well attuned to it’s ecclectic vicar and a most fabulous retreat for any patrons seeking rehearsal, recording and production.
The glass celebrates arts and music with depictions of life in the warm embrace of creativity. Harsh winter weather was a massive test for Dave as he struggled to move in and draw together a lifetimes collection of production resources to the church.
The huge wood burner was insatiable yet barely took the chill out of the air, so he was pleased the electric heat exchangers worked out. We kept out coats on until Dave offered up a set of hooded fleece cloaks for us to wear over everything, great solution!
It’s still early days for this great project and the installation process has far to go before operational continuity required is in place. Meanwhile there have been regular sound tests as work with local band The Blunders continue recording their next release.
It’s way out in the country and broadband services are limited so there have been numorous attempts to improve on the basic and rather slow ASDL offered by BT and others.. a 4G equipped router may well be the best option for now.
He promises guided tours for all whom attend the monthly ‘Sunday Service’ socials during the coming summer months for BBQ, country walks and crafted sounds.
