Simon Humphrey

James Mottershead

James Simpson

Oliver Sekunda

Neil Ferguson

Simon has been a top flight music recording engineer for over thirty five years and continues to record and produce music based at the ChairWorks studio complex in West Yorkshire. Starting in 1973 at London’s prestigious CBS Whitfield St. studios, Simon gained a grounding in recording techniques at the highest level in all styles of music, working with classical artists John Williams, Daniel Barenboim & the English Chamber Orchestra, jazz singer George Melly, show singers Michael Crawford and Bruce Forsyth as well as recording spoken word albums with Peter Ustinov, Vincent Price and poet laureate Ted Hughes. Simon worked on West End show albums, film scores, TV jingles and ‘musique concrete’ albums, as well as recordings by guitar legends Duanne Eddy and Bill Haley, comedians Tommy Cooper and Ken Dodd and many other international recording artists. Pop music recording was to be Simon’s main work however, working with many of the seventies well known names. Abba, the Glitter Band, David Essex (including an appearance in the film ‘Stardust’), Marc Bolan, Argent, Hot Chocolate, Tina Charles, Pan’s People (!), Sailor, Smokie among many others.

In early 1977 punk arrived at CBS in the shape of the Clash, and Simon was chosen to capture the band’s seminal early recordings, now acknowledged as one of punk’s great albums, and for which the band presented Simon with his first gold album in recognition. Simon also recorded the Vibrators first album, gaining his first production credit (London Girls ‘live’ at the Marquee), also the Only Ones’ Another Girl, Another Planet, a young and unsigned XTC, Manchester’s the Drones and many other New Wave hopefuls. In later years, Simon would also work with Talking Heads’ David Byrne and Television’s Tom Verlaine.

Along with fellow ‘young gun’ Steve Levine, Simon left CBS in 1979 to pursue a freelance career in production and songwriting, releasing his own albums of disco and pop songs, having chart success with bands Secret Affair, the Jags and the Techno Twins, and setting up his own recording studio (‘Hot Nights’) in west London. During the eighties Simon mixed Culture Club’s massive second album, including UK & US number one ‘Karma Chameleon’, recorded Bros’ multi hit debut ('When Will I Be Famous?'), played bass on a Beach Boys album, engineered for film score ubermaestro Hans Zimmer, made the Birdie Song, and engineered and produced in most of London’s growing number of pro recording studios. In the late eighties, Simon was ready for a new challenge and formed his own band as a writing/production vehicle. Beijing Spring signed to MCA/Universal in 1990 in a million dollar deal as an attempt to emulate the golden period of English soft rock recording artists such as Fleetwood Mac. But despite a vast recording budget spent at Ridge Farm, and Simon mixing alongside the legendary Chris Lord-Alge, only moderate chart success followed, and the band disintegrated in legal & musical acrimony two years later. (emulating the ‘Mac’ in this sense only…VIEW!) After a period working in Denmark (producing five gold selling albums with harmony rock survivors ‘Smokie’), in 1997 Simon relocated to Yorkshire, rebuilding and designing the Radar Rooms studios (now the ChairWorks), and continuing his career as producer and engineer. Simon has also contributed to the government’s New Deal for Musicians scheme as an industry consultant and currently lectures at the University of Leeds on music production.

Simon has had a unique and varied career in music recording as an engineer, producer, musician, programmer and studio builder and his love of the recording process is as undiminished today as when he assisted on his first session in 1973 (for the Shadows' Tony Meehan & Jet Harris).

recent projects...
Cut Out Shapes
Chris Black
Stone & Steel ft. DJ Markham
Hollie Merrington
Mick McConnell (Smokie)
Tim Hunter
CreeHill
Kit Holmes
Lee Negin
George Goldman feat. Vivian Lady
Grey Cooper Love Party
Shakinouts
Junction 31
Trace
visit the Simon Humphrey Myspace

talking about recording the Clash

James Mottershead

Inhouse Producer/Engineer

James Mottershead is our inhouse engineer/producer for The Big Room. He's worked with many well known artists including British Sea Power, Gavin Friday, Susheela Raman, Kensington, N-Dubz, & Smokie.

He's worked as an engineer alongide producers such as Ken Thomas, Simon Humphrey, James Kenosha, Lars Pederson, Afreex (Kelvin Avon) & Matt Foster and has release credits on labels including Rough Trade, Universal, Rubyworks, All Around the World and King Prawn Records.

James Simpson

James Simpson is the resident engineer for The Tower and was instrumental in it's refurbishment and redesign as a powerful, raw tracking room. He's worked with many up and coming Leeds based bands as well as label work for UK & US based record labels including; Bella Union, Slumberland Records, V2, Split Records.

In 2011 he set up the Jam Jar recording company who also work out of The Chairworks recording complex alongside post production outfit Six Audio.

Here's a bunch of people he's worked with....
Story Books
Smoke Fairies
Veronica Falls
White Light Parade
Morpheus Rising
Shakinouts
Tres Belle
Jamie & The Portraits
Silent Circus
My First Addiction
Trace
Richard James
Hollie

Oliver Sekunda

Oliver Sekunda is our resident synth programmer. He has an extensive knowledge of all synthesis types and electronic music. Oliver is also a producer and engineer in his own right. When it comes to anything pop, dance and R&B Oliver’s your man.

Neil Ferguson

After tasting a small measure of success with his power-pop band “The Donkeys”, Neil Ferguson founded Woodlands Studio in 1980, re-locating it to Castleford in 1984, subsequently stepping aside from running the studio in 1997 to go freelance.

He has had great success as a recording engineer, producer and musician for more than 30 years, working with clients that include Chumbawamba, Black Lace, Smokie, Wedding Present, The Ukrainians, Terrorvision, New Model Army, Credit To The Nation, Chris Norman, John Langford, Yorkshire Television and the BBC. He has been a member of Chumbawamba for 12 years, and has recorded all their albums and singles since 1985.

One of Neil’s recent production jobs, Coope Boyes & Simpson’s “As If…” was nominated for a Radio Two Folk Award for “Best Album” in 2011.