The Citizen – March 29th 2004
The Gloucestershire Echo – March 29th 2004

Yellow Shark Rocks On
A Young Cheltenham recording studio is hitting the right note. James Costley-White reports.
Yellow Shark is hitting the right note with the music community.

Since the Cheltenham recording studio opened a year ago, everyone from opera singers and Spanish guitarists to schoolkids having a birthday treat have passed through its doors.
The studio’s highest profile achievement has probably been recording the soundtrack for the Pop Idol computer game.

Two hundred and fifty tracks were recorded for the project and the session singers had previously worked with the likes of Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue.

Yellow Shark is also working on lots of single release material for local artists.

Studio manager Jeremy Drew said “It’s difficult starting any new business but we went in at the top, in terms of equipment spec, and we were always going to be in it for the long-term.

“ We’ve got an excellent pool of musicians in Gloucestershire, combined with a number of really good producers who are well known in the industry”.

“ It’ll take two or three years to get this business to the level we want but it’s encouraging, we are getting a lot of work. It’s been a year of growth”.

The studio, in the Promenade, isn’t standing still and Mr Drew has been investing in new equipment and recruiting new staff to ensure it remains THE place to record in Gloucestershire.

Vanessa Greenfield has joined Yellow Shark as marketing manager and Sarah Bowyer as personal assistant providing administrative support to the team.

Miss Greenfield said: “we joined at the beginning of January. Before it was just Jeremy and Andy Lewis our sound engineer, so we’ve doubled in size. We pride ourselves on having the best equipment, such as ATC speakers – the brand the Pope uses on the `Popemobile` - and antique mics of the type Frank Sinatra used.

“ We’ve got a Fender Stratocaster guitar and Stingray Musicman bass, and on the recording front we use Radar Twenty Four, which is the industry benchmark for the best quality digital recording.

“ We’re still investing now. We’re continuing to build our musical instrument base and have just bought a brand new Yamaha C5 Grand Piano. We’re also continuing to improve the technical spec of the studio”.

Mr Drew is shortly set to launch an offshoot record label, Yellow Shark records, with a partner who used to work for Polydor.

He also wanted to increase the profile of the studio and is hoping to attract more post-production work: corporate voiceovers and adverts.

The studio is also putting together a special package for schools, which will make use of its mobile recording facility.

Mr Drew said: “Equipment like Radar Twenty Four gives us an edge locally. It’s the best in the industry. Any artist that comes and records here can rest assured they will get the very best sound quality.”

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