- Funding finally approved start Bally studios, with The
Princes Trust and Barclays putting up 50% of
the money each.
- Location found in Bermondsey for soundproofed units
July 2005 - On first day of the recording
studio being opened, within the first two hours, we suddenly realise
that the units are not soundproofed enough for recording live bands with the
drum kit, so studio is put on hold until we can find a more suitable
location.
August 2005 - while guitar shoping in
Palmers Green, Jimmy spots an advert for Sync City, a 2 room rehearsal
studio complex in Tottenham Hale. Jimmy and Francesca go to view the
studios with a view of renting one of the rooms in downtime, but
currents owners announced they are looking to sell the business.
October
2005 - at the seventh (7th!!!) attempt, Jimmy and Francesca
finally gets 50% of the money needed to take over the business. 25% of
the money needed is raised through credit cards and 25% is deferred so
that we get six months to pay off the remaining quarter owed. Jimmy and
Francesca takeover Sync City and rename it Bally Studios. On the first
day, all extra hire fees for equipment are abolished and the kettle is
bought for free teas and coffees. Jimmy also adds his personal guitar
amps to the studios available stock, a Fender Princeton chorus guitar
amp and a WEM dominator MKII
November
2005 - Main office is split into 2 and one half is let us to a
courior service company.
- Start to offer incense to all of the bands that want it in the rooms
for free
- Extra soundproofing work is done on what is to become studio 3 to
convert it into another rehearsal studio. This is rented out on a
permanent basis to band The Super Nashwan Kids, who are signed to Blue
Mountain Music. This money goes immediately to the former owners to help
pay off the remaining balance.
- Tape recording facilities added to the room for bands to record their
rehearsal session
December 2005
- Jimmy and Francesca sell three guitars they own to cover the rent
through the quieter Christmas period.
- Extra soundproofing takes place on studio 2
- introduce the free herbal teas at the studio. Eight different
varieties.
January 2006
- due to requests from bands to set up a small shop in the office, owing
to the 20-25 mins it was taking for the bands to walk the petrol station
and back, we set up the Bally tuck shop. Only selling Coke and Diet
Coke, and 4 different chocolate bars.
- A business on the industrial estate decides to throw away a shipment
of rugs. Bally Studios suddenly has rugs and all their rooms!!
February 2006
- The Super Nashwan Kids move out of studio three and it becomes the 3rd
permanent rehearsal studio. Brand-new PA system, Laney RB4 bass amp and
Mapex M Series drum kits bought for new rehearsal room.
- Repaint all of the rehearsal studios
- extra soundproofing takes place on all doors, outside Studios 1, 2 and
3.
March 2006
- Work starts to split the current office into a much smaller office and
a new Studio 4.
- Whilst on a walk home one day from wood green, Jimmy and Francesca see
2 Brown leather armchairs been thrown into a skip by a house clearing
firm. Jimmy carries them 1.8 miles to the studio, and two of the studios
inherit an armchair
April 2006 -
Ownership of the studios finally transferred to Jimmy and Francesca
after the remaining money owed is paid off . Jimmy and Francesca move
home to live at the bottom of the Mill Mead Road due to working so much
at the studio.
May 2006 -
Studio 4 is completed. Brand-new PA, drum kit, Peavey bass amp and
Fender front man guitar amp purchased
June 2006 - Old
Diamond drum kit is upgraded with new Premier Cabria drum kit
July 2006
- PA system in studio 2 is upgraded from 800 Watts to 2,400 Watts
- TV finally bought for the office. World Cup final penalty shootout is
watched by 34 band members in the office.
- 1911 Pianette bought to the studios and put in studio 4.
August 2006 -
Air conditioning installed into studio 4
September 2006
- Guitar supplies shop is finally set up at Bally Studios, stock being
provided by Holiday Music in Leytonstone
October 2006 -
Air conditioning installed into studio 2
November 2006 -
1970's GEM organ bought and put in studio 4
December 2006 -
Air conditioning installed into studio 1
January 2007 -
new armchair is bought for the office for bands and staff to sit down
on.
February 2007 -
Air conditioning installed into studio 3
March 2007 -
expand the range of herbal teas that we offer at the studio to 20
May 2007 - Epiphone triggerman
combo and epiphone triggerman head and 4 x 12 Cabinet added to studio
stock.if
July 2007: -
Different lighting scheme is installed in each of the studios, with
different colours for each one.
September 2007
- Industrial fan installed in studio 1 to cool the room along with the
air-conditioner.
October 2007 -
Industrial fan installed in studio 3 to cool the room along with the
air-conditioner.
November 2007 -
Vox AD50ST added to studio stock.
December 2007 -
Marshall MG100 DFX added to studio stock.
January 2008 -
Crate 120 Watts guitar amp added to studio stock.
February 2008 -
Industrial fan installed in studio 4 to cool the room along with the
air-conditioner.
March 2008 -
Hayden 4 x 12 guitar Cabinet added to studio stock.
May 2008 - The
Fractured City Collective is formed, a group of six bands that rehearse
at the studios that decide to combine resources, such as a van, PA
system, bass amp, etc and start putting on their own gigs.
July 2008 -
Hughes and Kettner guitar amp added to studio stock.
October 2008 -
Fender Performer 1000 added to studio stock
November 2008 -
Purple Pearl Export drum kit added to studio stock.
December 2008 -
Fender Frontman 212R added to studio stock.
January 2009 -
Hartke 2 x 10 bass cabinet added to studio stock.
February 2009 -
Marshall MGX 100 guitar head and 4 x 12 Cabinet added to studio stock.
March 2009 -
Peavey TKO keyboard/ bass combo added to studio stock.
April 2009 - As
we are now having long periods in advance with all the studios are
booked up, we decided to split studio 1 into a new smaller studio 1 and
a brand-new studio 5. Work starts on spits in the room
May 2009 - The
smaller studio 1 is now opened, with bands having to walk through the
work in progress studio 5.
June 2009 -
three months after putting in a request to have manhole in studio one
looked after noticing damage on it, manhole gives way during torrential
rain in and studio 1, 3 and 5 are flooded. These studios are closed for
five weeks, as the initial work done on manhole proves to be inadequate
and the studios are flooded again 15 days after initial flooding.
Landlord finally completes the work, and after 11 days of drying the
rooms out with industrial dehumidifiers, and have in the rooms treated
for damp, studios 1 and 3 are opened again. 2 power amplifiers and three
amplifiers are lost in the flooding, but new manhole cover means we
never have to worry about it happening again.
July 2009
- Studio 5 is finally opened. Brand-new red Pearl drum kits is bought,
as well as Peavey Transtube guitar amp, and Laney linebacker bass amp.
- Old Trace Elliot 8 x 10 bass cabinet which was being stored in studio
one and had not worked years is finally revived, and new Gallien Krueger
bass head is purchased for it.
August 2009
- first member of staff, Simon King, starts working at Bally Studios,
having previously rehearsed at the studios with his band.
- Industrial fan installed in studio 5 to cool the room until the
air-conditioner is installed.
September 2009
- One message board is opens outside studio 5. It is soon followed by a
second, third and fourth one within two weeks as so many bands are
putting up adverts for gigs.
October 2009 -
acoustic treatment is applied to all five studios, in some rooms to
bring out the natural acoustics and in others to dampen down errant
frequencies. Takes one week to do and is unanimously met with approval
from the bands.
November 2009 -
CCTV installed in the studio complex. Before this, just the corridors
were covered by CCTV
December 2009 -
extra TV is added to the new internal corridor outside studio five so
that bands do not have to keep running around the office to check the
scores of football games.
January 2010 -
Laney world series 100SC guitar amp added to studio stock. Bought from
rehearsal studio 7k in Seven Kings.
February 2010 -
Extra rewiring at the studio takes place so that each room has two
different power supplies to spread the load evenly in all of the rooms.
March 2010 -
introduce a new digital recorder so that bands can record their
sessions, for only £3 a session, including the CD being burnt.
April 2010 -
Mark Edwards starts working at Bally Studios, having previously
rehearsed at the studio doing solo drum sessions
May 2010 -
Brand-new sofas brought for studio 2
June 2010 -
Peavey Express 112 guitar amp added to studio stock.
August 2010 -
Industrial fan installed in studio 2 to cool the room along with the
air-conditioner.
September 2010
- Vox ADVT 120 Watt guitar head added to studio stock.
October 2010 -
Small chill out zone is created outside studio 3 so that bands have
somewhere to sit down and relax.
November 2010
- Industrial fan installed in studio to cool the room along with the
air-conditioner.
- Laney TF200 guitar amp added to studio stock.
December 2010 -
Air conditioning installed into studio 5
January 2011 -
Bally studios starts to make a minimum of 25p donation for each session
that we have at the studio to charity, raising up to £600 a year for
worthy causes
February 2011
- We start giving away free Bally Studios badge and
Bottle openers
March 2011 -
buy brand-new sofa for studio 2.
April 2011 -
introduce a 2nd new digital recorder so that bands can record their
sessions, for only £3 a session, including the CD being burnt.
May 2011 -
after spotting a small hairline crack in the ceiling in studio 2, we
decided to replace it with a much sturdier soundproofeded ceiling. Two
hours into the job we suddenly realise that extensive work is needed on
the ceiling, and studio two is closed for seven weeks while a brand-new
soundproofed ceiling is installed
June 2011 - Tom
Oakes starts fixing Bally Studios guitar amps.
July 2011 . -
We finally stop using MySpace despite having 130,000 friends as by now
we are getting about 100 messages a day that are all spam. Switchover to
Facebook instead
August 2011 -
London riots caused by a police shooting nearby in Tottenham means that
Mill Mead Road has to shut for
four days. First time since opening six
years ago that sessions are unavailable at the studio.
September 2011
- Vox Escort 50 watt guitar amp added to studio stock.
October 2011 -
Bally Day Hire Recording Studio is opened, meaning that bands and sound
engineers/producers can hire a room at Bally and all of the equipment
and record their own sessions
November 2011
- Christopher Pinkston starts working at Bally studios, having
recently moved into the same apartment block that Jimmy and Francesca
used to live in, at the end of Mill Mead road.
- Simon King stops working at the studio having moved to the other side
of Essex.
- Bally makeover is completed with different themed portraits and
professional photos in each studio.
December 2011 -
spend £600 replacing small things such as XLR cables, microphone stands,
microphone clips, etc, to make sure that everything is in top notch
condition.
January 2012 -
Tesco just down the road from us opens, meaning a new cashpoint for the
bands.
February
2012 - Bally studios starts the hunt for a new location to open
another branch of Bally studios.
- Expand the range of herbal teas that we offer the studio to over 60,
with them still being free of charge