“I’ve worked with Neil on multiple different projects, most recently recording a collection of songs for a new solo project (‘nathy sg’). Neil is a well-respected DJ himself and is someone who brings a wealth of production, engineering and music industry experience to his professional practice. He will work with you and follow your lead on your projects, and is happy to be as hands-on or hands-off as desired in terms of the creative input side. He has a pragmatic, no-nonsense approach, is really efficient, and offers competitive rates and value for money. The fact that I’ve recorded with him so many times, across several projects, is an endorsement in and of itself. Through their work together under the Rocking Horse banner, Neil and his brother Rich have contributed to the health of the local music scene for well over a decade now too, making sure local bands of all backgrounds and genres have a space where they can rehearse, learn and grow”.
“I am a singer songwriter and guitar player and I have been recording with Neil at the Rocking Horse Studios for over ten years both in Durham and at their new premises in Coxhoe and have completed 11 albums of material with Neil. I have found Neil has a better understanding of recording engineering and producing music than anyone I have previously worked with. He has such a great ability as a producer/musician to take any idea for a track and add any elements himself, such as natural sounding programmed drums, bass guitar, keyboards or anything else the song needs (along with his vast array of musician connections) to turn it into a fully complete releasable mixed/mastered track is fantastic. I have also recorded videos with Neil and his Brother Rich which can been seen on the Rocking Horse website. The Lads have done a great job at their new location which is rapidly becoming a cultural hub for music in county Durham. A well satisfied customer!
We recorded our 8 track EP with Neil at rocking horse studios, myself and our drummer Ian had previously worked with Neil at the old rocking horse site , we rehearse at rocking horse so it was our logical decision to record there. We have known Neil for a good few years so we knew what to expect. On the day of recording we arrived set up our gear sound checked everything then set about recording. Everything was easy to do no unneeded hassles and was a pleasure to work with Neil in his new studio. The recording and mixing process was a pleasure to do and we had some good laughs along the way, Neil’s was very professional helping us to get the sound we wanted during the mixing process after a listen to the first mix we asked for a small amount of tweaking to the mixes which he carried out and we were happy with the results . All in all a great 2 days of recording and mixing and we had the finished recordings off to the pressing plant within 2 weeks of recording the tracks. All in all a great comfortable and friendly set up with a great bloke n sound engineer which made the recordings very stress free and enjoyable!
We recorded our previous Eps with Neil at the Original rocking horse studio in Durham, and we’re really happy with the results.
We were really impressed with the new studio they have and knew we wanted to record with him again. Our latest recording of Concrete and Plastic EP was recorded in a one day session, late 2024. We recorded the music live with no click track.We’ve always liked working with Neil it’s always a relaxed atmosphere but always very professional, no time wasted with every minute spent on recording, he’s always happy to give advise if needed but not over bearing. On a previous recording he added synth parts for us on one track which we were really happy with. Got the first mix back really quick and only needed a few adjustments,, as always really happy with the end result, and will certainly be using them again very soon.
During my time at Durham University, we recorded many projects with Neil. He engineered the Live Recording of our 17-piece University Big Band, as well as our 8-piece Brass Band called Chronotic Brass, something that we couldn’t have achieved anywhere else in the local area. After recording, Neil took so much time and care editing and mixing each individual part, and I was in awe of his absolutely magical ability to pull out great sounding results each time. Whether it was avant-garde Modern Jazz or floor-filling Pop Bangers, Neil made it sound incredible and we still listen back to the recordings regularly. During the entire process, his patience was remarkable and he’s an all-round pleasure to work with. Couldn’t recommend more!
Another project I am involved in was the joint creation of a recording studio and record label in Mauritius (https://babani.bandcamp.com/) for which I helped built the recording studio and regularly visit to record/produce bands from Mauritius and surrounding areas. I have mixed/mastered every release for the label there, also creating/producing music for music videos and adverts (such as Toyota). I also was the head producer for the 1 hour opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Games 2019, which included contributions from 10 different artists including classical pieces, hip hop tracks and dance music.
I’ve made over 18 albums in the 48 years since I started my career way back in 1977 with original punk band The Lurkers. I’m still working on new material with 999 whom I’ve played bass with for 34 years. I can honestly say after finding Rocking Horse studios, I wouldn’t use anywhere else. The whole recording process on many projects I’ve done there has been effortless with Neil at the helm, the guy’s a genius! I’ve been recorded by Martin Rushent (The Stranglers, Hazel O’Connor, The Buzzcocks etc) and Vic Maile (Motorhead), The Inmates, Girlschool. Pat Collier (The Wonder Stuff. Katrina And The Waves) and Dave Allen (The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, The Damned, Neneh Cherry, The Mission). All great, but Neil is 100% up there with those guys!