Pathway Studios

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Pathway Studios was a very notable, tiny, North London studio run by producer Mike Finesilver for many years. Among the well-known artists who made early recordings there are Madness, Elvis Costello, Squeeze and John Foxx. The studio was famous for its great atmosphere, cold temperatures, distinctive smell and excellent recordings.

Tim Crowther described it thus:

"The studio was very small, about 8 x 8 metres with a 2 x 2m control booth in the corner and an upright piano next to it. You could just squeeze three people into the control booth! The tape deck was a Brennell 1 inch 8 track. The monitors and desk were custom made, and they had a pair of Auratones as well, fed from Quad power amps. The desk was quite small, pushed hard against the front wall with the custom monitors hung above and the Auratones on the meter bridge. Outboard was very basic: a Bel delay line, an Alesis digital reverb and Drawmer gates, but they had a nice plate reverb in a cupboard in the office upstairs. I can't recall all the mics but they were the industry standard stuff. We got big warm sounding mixes and despite the cramped conditions the mixing process seemed effortless compared to the difficult digital learning curve I have been on in the last two years."

Photos by Lawrence Impey of Squeeze at Pathway Studios are available here.

Details about Madness's early recordings here, are here.