Sheep, Drizzle & Rock n Roll. Rockfield Studios

Rockfield, the studio on a farm.

Monmouthshire, south east Wales. Famous for its beautiful scenery, the Brecon Beacons, fishing and Rock n Roll. Yes really!

Situated just outside the town of Monmouth, is Rockfield Farm. On that farm happens to be a recording studio, 'The worlds first and favourite residential studio.' Which has happened to house some the best musicians ever, and produced some of the best albums and songs ever recorded. 

The studio was founded in 1963 to two brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward, the studio was set up in the farmhouse, and the two brothers used bags of pig feed (they were farmers first and foremost) to create a sound barrier. Two years later in 1965, the two brothers were inviting more and more musicians, and due to the bands having nowhere to stay, the brothers made sure they could stay on the farm, at first in a bungalow down the farm track, into which they shoved half a dozen beds. And then in converted farm buildings. ‘It was rough, but they didn’t care,’ says Kingsley.  

The studio had equipment that rivaled, Abbey Road in London so bands were willing to stay on the farm. 

As the 70s came around more and more bookings were being made. Black Sabath came to the studio to record, and Ozzy Osbourne has since said the experience was brilliant. Iggy Pop also recorded at the studio, and even had a visit from a certain Mr David Bowie.

There was even a call from Michael Jackson’s manager at Neverland. ‘It was on April Fool’s day, so we thought it was a wind up. They called three times, but we were fully booked anyway.’ Said Kingsley.

Queen put the finishing touches to Bohemian Rhapsody, at Rockfield studios. Creating one of pops, most timeless records. Which turned Freddie, Brian, John and Roger into Bonafede superstars. Queen recorded the rest of A Night at the Opera at Rockfield, and it was one the first albums that became ingrained in the Rockfield story.

The 90s was more of a difficult decade for Rockfield, the music industry was changing and with more and more competition and a big recession. It looked likely that Rockfield could close. But four lads from Manchester managed to save the studio. The Stone Roses stayed at Rockfield for 14 months! They recorded the album Second Coming at Rockfield and they were the catalyst for more bands choosing Rockfield. In 1995 Oasis, recorded What's The Story Morning Glory, at the studios and despite friction and often fights in the studio, it is said the band recorded a song a day in Rockfield.

The 2000s saw bands like Coldplay, record at the studios. Chris Martin wrote Yellow at the studios after looking up at the sky one evening, after followings words of advice from the bands producer Ken Nelson.  There are so many bands and artists who have played and recorded at Rockfield, this post can not do them all justice. 

Its a beautiful story, of how to brothers who wanted to be rock stars, helped and continue to help so many others achieve that dream.

For Charles Ward