Marketstall Recording

15/11/2023

COME MAKE YOUR NEXT RECORD HERE AT MY STUDIO!
I've got loads of cheap offers on because I just moved the whole set-up to a new location in London N15.
Gave the website a thorough going over too, so here's a link to a new Sound & Vision page ...
https://www.marketstallrecording.com/sound-and-vision ... which has been completely redesigned and updated to make it easier for you to get a sense of the kind of sounds we're good at making here.
Oh yeah, those cheap offers I mentioned to entice you into the new place for your next recording? They're here too ... https://www.marketstallrecording.com/special-offers
Don't dawdle or the calendar will fill up before you've booked your spot!

Marketstall Recording is an independent recording studio in London N15. Look and listen to examples of our work here.

12/11/2023

A reminder of our current Special Offer for recording in our first month in the new studio - offer closes end of Nov2023 so book now or you’ll miss these silly prices!

12/11/2023

This one’s for the home recordists & DIY artists: if you’re struggling with your mix, send it to us! Half price on remote mixing prices til the end of Nov2023.
T&Cs in full at https://www.marketstallrecording.com/special-offers or just message us and we’ll answer your questions :)

Marketstall Recording is an independent recording studio in London N15. Read about our remote mixing and mastering services here.

10/11/2023

Who wants to make a cheap record? We just moved the studio to a new location and it’s time to start recording some noise again! Taking bookings NOW for super-cheap November sessions - get in touch before the calendar fills up!

27/10/2023

Dominic Silvani, voice like a slow wave of molasses, made this record here at the studio a little while ago. I think you’ll like it. And if you do please spend £1 over on his bandcamp page to show your appreciation 🙂

track by Dominic Silvani

25/10/2023

Does anybody have a carpet cleaner (not a vaccuum cleaner) I can borrow?

25/10/2023

Shouting into the void again to see if I can get a bit of help with moving some of my studio gear … anyone with a car or van and a couple of spare hours would be a boon to me over the next few days.
Or anyone who doesn’t have a vehicle but does have a few spare hours to help me pack and tidy at the old studio.
There will be thanks and reciprocity for all the help I can get! 🙂

18/10/2023

Yep, new home, cheap recording sessions. Come help us christen the new place in n November by making a cheap record with us there!
Send us a message here to talk details and book yourselves in - these prices won’t last long, sadly, so get them while they’re hot!

https://www.marketstallrecording.com/special-offers for full details

17/10/2023

OK so I was trying to do a daily track-by-track thing of my new the march afternoons record and I got interrupted by real life. But here's where I got up to: track three of six . It's a cover of Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair's song Some Things Last A Long Time. Here it is for you to listen to:
https://themarchafternoons.bandcamp.com/track/some-things-last-a-long-time
Special features:
- the rhythm track is the sound of me ripping up a book called "Music: The Business" page by page
- the weird samples that make up the atmosphere is me ripping up old songs by my old band into bits and throwing them in the bin too.

Go have a listen at the bandcamp link, you can hear the whole six-track record there. And you can buy downloads, tapes and t-shirts too if you like them.

from the album Hi James, my name is also James! Hail Satan!

13/10/2023

***PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT***
Marketstall Recording will be leaving it's current home in Canning Town E16 at the end of October.
But don't worry! The studio will be open again for all the usual recording, mixing and mastering services at a new London location in early November.
More details to come soon, but in the meantime if you need me to do any work for you quickly, let me know ASAP so I can try and squeeze it in ahead of the move. Or if it can wait I'm now taking bookings for November in the new place.
Although the studio will likely be closed for about a week at the end of this month while we pack everything down and set it up again in the new location, that should be the only disruption.
Will keep you all posted, of course :)

06/10/2023

Oh look, another one! Thank you Jacob Wingate-Bishop and The Indie Scene for writing and publishing these kind words about my new the march afternoons record.
Here's my favourite only-a-little-bit-out-of-context pull quote from this one:
""Hi James, my name is also James! Hail Satan!" isn’t going to be the hot new album of the year"

After you've read the review why not pop over to Bandcamp and buy the record? And a t-shirt too!
https://themarchafternoons.bandcamp.com/.../hi-james-my...
Even if, like me, you're not called James, wearing a t-shirt which displays the words "Hail Satan!" on the front means that the Jehovah's Witnesses, out doing their street proselytising, will tend to leave you alone and harass someone else instead.

Chamber-pop for the strange and weary: the march afternoons’ ‘Hi James, my name is also James! Hail Satan!’.

05/10/2023

Just as I was running out of steam for all this social media pluggery that is almost all of what being an independent musician is these days, something nice pops up which means I don't have to try too hard to think of more stuff to say about my new the march afternoons record. Someone else has done it for me!
So thanks Sam Walton and Loud and Quiet Magazine for writing nice things about this 20 minutes of noise I made:
https://www.loudandquiet.com/reviews/the-march-afternoons-hi-james-my-name-is-also-james-hail-satan/

If, like me, you enjoy a deliberately misleading out-of-context pull quote, I present these options:

"the best songs ... for years"

"inhospitable, money-grabbing, opportunistic and frequently obnoxious"

Or just probably read the whole article, isn't it?
And then go buy the record, please :)
https://themarchafternoons.bandcamp.com/album/hi-james-my-name-is-also-james-hail-satan

6 track album

01/10/2023

Another very nice review of the new the march afternoons record is here, courtesy of Ged Babey and Louderthanwar.
You can listen to it here and see if you agree: https://themarchafternoons.bandcamp.com/album/hi-james-my-name-is-also-james-hail-satan
And while you're there, buy a t-shirt for your favourite James.

What connects TS Elliot, Lana Del Rey, Roald Dahl, London and Sparklehorse? Why the march afternoons of course...

01/10/2023

Lol distrokid emailed me: “we made a picture to promote your new release!”
I did not make any CDs 🤷‍♂️
You can get the new the march afternoons record on cassette tape or digital download from bandcamp though:
https://themarchafternoons.bandcamp.com/album/hi-james-my-name-is-also-james-hail-satan
Plus all the usual merch, obvs, including a t-shirt which is the best gift you can buy for anyone you know called James.

01/10/2023

It’s too early for anything clever, so here are the basic instructions: click the link now to give yourself a Sunday morning treat by listening to my new record with your morning coffee ☕️

https://themarchafternoons.bandcamp.com/album/hi-james-my-name-is-also-james-hail-satan

20/09/2023

I made another the march afternoons record for you (only two more to go after this one!) and you can go pre-get it here if you like Spotify ... (https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/themarchafternoons1/hi-james-my-name-is-also-james-hail-satan) .. or here if you're a decent person who'd rather go to Bandcamp for their music (https://themarchafternoons.bandcamp.com/album/hi-james-my-name-is-also-james-hail-satan)

You should know that I will be banging on about this for a while because I want you to give me your money and make me feel special for having created this thing, and I won't stop* til I feel like I've gotten enough of both from you.

*I will stop, sooner than I'd like to admit. I have neither the energy nor the will to really engage in this kind of behaviour these days but you should still go listen because it's a very good record, and I should know because I'm a record producer so there.

Stream and Pre-save Hi James, my name is also James! Hail Satan! - Distributed by DistroKid

18/06/2023

Look who’s back …

30/03/2023

Next workshop at studio is next Thursday evening and it’s all about microphones.
Aimed at people buying their first mic, and DIY recordists who have one or two mics at home but would like to try something new.
We’ll try out different types of mics on different sound sources, and a few in combination.
Not sure how different a SDC sounds to a LDC? Always wanted to try a ribbon? Curious about multi mic recording techniques but not sure what mic to get to add to your set up to try them out? This workshop is for you!

21/03/2023

Last chance to get yourself a spot at this acoustic guitar recording studio workshop tomorrow (Wednesday) evening. Message to book a place 🙂

17/03/2023

I’m restarting evening pay-what-you-can studio workshops with these two next week. Message me if you want to book a place - there’s only room for a few :)

12/03/2023

The studio's house band the march afternoons (i.e. just me) released this record this week, on the Unfocused Love label.
It's good, you'll like it.
And you might even listen and then think "You know what, I need a place to make *my* record* and this one sounds really good so why don't I go there?", in which case you should drop me a message and we can arrange that :)

5 track album

06/03/2023

It’s 13 years since Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse died. the march afternoons (the studio’s fictional house band, made up of just me) are named after his words, and the first song they recorded was a cover version of Junebug for God Is In The TV’s tribute to him.
Today, to coincide with this sad anniversary, the march afternoons’ first proper record GOOD LUCK FROM BARNARD CASTLE is released through Unfocused Love records:
https://themarchafternoons.bandcamp.com/album/good-luck-from-barnard-castle
Hope you like it 🙂

5 track album

08/02/2023

WRITERS! I know a lot of people who I'm connected to here like to write about music. Well, I made some, and this record (well, tape) by the march afternoons (which is my entirely made-up and definitely not real house band here at Marketstall Recording studio) is coming out on Unfocused Love records on 06Mar2023.
First proper record of my own for 14 years.
So if any of you writers feel like listening and then saying something nice about it (if you like it, of course) via whatever is your usual means of publishing such things, then I'd appreciate that.
Drop me a message and I'll send you a link to a secret listening preview. Sssshhhh 🤫

08/02/2023

BE A TRUE PATRON OF THE ARTS!
Now we're through that bit of post-Xmas austerity while everyone waits for the January paycheque to land, I’m after your money :) But it’s for a good thing:
https://www.marketstallrecording.com/pay-what-you-can
At my Marketstall Recording studio I have a suggested day rate (which is very reasonable and great value btw) but I also offer pay-what-you-can pricing to musicians who just can’t meet the suggested rate.
Times are tough, musicians are (almost) always poor, our ability to make a living through our art was devastated by COVID and Brexit and now The Cost Of Living Crisis … etc. etc. yep, we all know the story. This scheme is my attempt to help those who need it to continue doing what they do in the best way I can.
There’s been a few good records already made which otherwise wouldn’t have been because of it, but I’ve also had to say no to a few people who could only offer amounts so low as to not even cover the studio’s costs. Keeping a studio going is a costly business and the end game of me saying yes to every PWYC request is that the studio will close.
I’d like to be able to say yes to everyone AND keep the studio open though, so I’m asking for donations from music lovers (yes, that’s you, hello) to the PWYC fund in order to keep it going.
*** Follow the link, there’s a “Donate” button right there at the top of the page it takes you to ***
Any amount is helpful. A one-off sum or a regular monthly payment (PayPal will ask you which you’d like to make) … anything you feel you can spare to help keep this little attempt at Something Good going in my corner of London’s independent music world would be greatly appreciated and enormously helpful.

How the pay-what-you-can pricing system works at Marketstall Recording, and some reasons why we've chosen this model.

23/11/2022

New limited edition tees from us at Marketstall Recording - yellow print on black and navy, or black print on white, yellow and orange shirts - just £15!
Each tee comes with a free hand-cut printed patch (plus needle & thread) for you to sew on anything that takes your fancy. Get them from the studio website (www.marketstallrecording.com) or just drop me a message here and I’ll sort it for you 🙂

01/11/2022

!!NEW TEES AVAILABLE TO ORDER NOW FROM THE MARKETSTALL RECORDING WEBSITE!!
https://www.marketstallrecording.com/product-page/bands-not-brands-tees

The second limited-edition design in our series of "Having a moan about what's wrong with indie music theses days" tees is available to order now!

*** We're expecting stock to arrive from the printers in mid-November, so if you order straight away there'll be a bit of a wait ***

This one is a reminder that ...
1) The point of being an artist is not to make yourself a marketable commodity, a predictable, safe, easily digestible brand that will keep the algorithms happy and your numbers up.
Be challenging, be surprising, be difficult, be dangerous, be interesting, be honest, be human, be brave, be yourself.
2) Corporate tie-ins are always bullsh!t. Just say no.

Each tee comes with a free hand-cut Marketstall Recording fabric patch + needle & thread!
(The Velvet Underground cassette is there just for scale, sorry you can't have my tape.)
Sew it somewhere on your new t-shirt, or your denim jacket, guitar strap, jeans back pocket ... give it to a friend, throw it away ... whatever you want :)

21/07/2022

Just keeping things up to date … this is how the live room looks at the moment (number 5)

21/07/2022

Just keeping things up to date … this is how the live room looks at the moment (number 4)

21/07/2022

Just keeping things up to date … this is how the live room looks at the moment (number 1)

21/07/2022

Just keeping things up to date … this is how the live room looks at the moment (number 2)

21/07/2022

Just keeping things up to date … this is how the live room looks at the moment (number 1)

01/07/2022

I had some t-shirts made! Sales pitch goes like this:

"Designed by us as a wearable encouragement to independent music folk:

You didn't start all this to spend your days making free content for the richest corporations in the world, endlessly feeding more data to the algorithms.
We need your Art, not your social media content!

Each tee comes with a free hand-cut Marketstall Recording patch tacked on to it + a needle & thread, so you can choose where to fix it permanently yourself - whether that's on this shirt, your denim jacket, guitar strap, jeans back pocket ... anywhere you like :)"

If you like them, please buy one (or more) from here to help keep the studio going, and to look super-cool whilst out and about.

https://www.marketstallrecording.com/product-page/make-art-not-content-tees

11/05/2022

Anyone shopping for a guitar amp?
I'm having a reconfiguration here at the studio and so have a few to sell. Anything catches your eye here drop me a message and we'll talk prices 🤘😎

09/05/2022

Still looking for the right person ... could it be you?

HOME RECORDISTS!
Anyone looking for some cheap regular studio time?
Maybe you need to record drums but can’t do it at home? Maybe you’re sick of guitar amp sims and want to re-amp your recordings through real ones? Maybe you wanna do some ensemble recording with your band and don’t have enough space or channels at home?
I’m looking for a trusted person for a regular one or two days a week dry hire arrangement here at my studio in East London so I can take a regular day off without feeling guilty about paying rent on those days and leaving it idle!
It’s fully equipped with really nice gear, all of which you’d have access to as part of the deal.
Drop me a message if you’re curious or interested 🙂