In the early 1960’s two Welsh brothers named Kinglsey and Charles Ward bought a reel to reel tape recorder and made a demo of their songs, and somehow they managed to score an impromptu meeting with George Martin the legendary producer at EMI Records. He didn’t sign the group but was impressed that they were the only band that had such a machine. The duo realized that there were no studios that weren’t owned and operated by a record label and they could fill a void.
In 1963 Charles and Kingsley managed to convert their massive family farm property into a recording studio where bands could live where they worked. Kingsley claims that it is the world’s first home recording studio, a fact that is not confirmed but one that artists repeat, due to hearing it from Kingsley so often. The studio started in their attic, before gradually taking over other parts of the complex where animals used to live, as they compiled bigger and more impressive recording equipment.
The film features plenty of interviews with the likes of Black Sabbath (they claim using this studio helped them invent heavy metal since they could play as loud as they wanted) to Hawkwind (which featured early appearances from Motörhead’s frontman Lemmy Kilmister) to Liam Gallagher from Oasis (Liam bringing back partiers from in town, which may have indirectly lead to the start of the falling out between him and brother Noel) to Chris Martin from Coldplay (who used the ability to see stars, something vacant from the polluted London skies as the inspiration for their breakout hit Yellow).
The studio was home to just about every major UK artist from the 1970’s onwards, specifically rock groups. The documentary has plenty of archival photos of artists like Ozzy Osbourne, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Stone Roses, Simple Minds and more all at their peaks with artists and Ward family members sharing tales. Since not all artists were interviewed, either by choice or by no longer being alive, we got enjoyable little animated sequences where hand drawn characters with photo cut outs of the faces recreated (in)famous moments in this little studio tucked outside the pressures of big city life.
If you are a fan of rock music, specifically in the heydays from the 70’s through the 90’s, this documentary will have you hooked. While there may be some elements of the brothers possibly exaggerating stories, there is no shortage of the wild tales being backed up by the impressive list of guests that director Hannah Barryman managed to snag.
Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm was seen during the 2021 Hot Docs Festival. Thank you to the festival and Route 504 PR for the screener. Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm comes out on June 1st on VOD and Digital platforms.
