In Conversation

Behind every hit is a mix engineer that hears those bits the producers don’t. We caught up with acclaimed mix engineer, producer, and Ten87 stalwart , Alex Evans after a particularly hectic month of mix work to hear the stories behind his favourite mixdowns.

We sat down with grammy nominated mix engineer Alex Evans to hear his favourite mixdowns he’s worked on and the stories behind them.

You’ll be sure to hear more of Alex’s sonic fingerprint in the future no doubt – until then have a gander at Alex Evans’ Twitter, Instagram and website.

For info on how to join Alex as a member of our community be sure to get in touch here

At Ten87 Studios we offer long term studio hire and day hire music studios. Each recording studio is acoustically treated and sound proofed to optimise any type of audio recording and music production. We are home to a large community of musicians, producers, engineers and audio professionals working in the music industry. Our main day hire studio is a world class tracking facility equipped with the best in recording studio gear, instruments, outboard and backline. We’re based in Seven Sisters, Tottenham with easy transport links to the city centre – ideal for anyone looking for a London recording studio.

In the coming months Ten87 will be hosting an exciting series of events led by the newly formed Trans* Creative Collective – co-founded by studio favourite Charlie Deakin-Davies, record/mix engineer Max Blue Churchill, visual producer Nelly Rodrigues and music producer Jesley Faye.

All four have taken ownership of the need for better resources and representation for the trans, non-binary and LGBTQ+ community in their respective creative industries and established TCC as a safe space and platform for like-minded creatives to truly express themselves.

The TCC use the term Trans* as an umbrella term that refers to many identities within the gender identity spectrum, including, but not limited to non-binary people, trans women, trans men, gender fluid people, essentially anyone who identifies outside of being cis-gendered.

Ahead of their first live event, we sat down with Charlie, Max and Nelly to talk about what The TCC stands for, their journey so far, and the shape of things to come.

Jules:

Hey! Could you start by introducing yourselves?

Max:

My name’s Max, my pronouns are he/him. I’m a recording and mix engineer, and co-founder of The TCC. Within The TCC I have been working on event ideas, connecting Trans* creators, and community outreach.

Nelly:

I’m Nelly, my pronouns are they/them. I’m a non-binary filmmaker, also working in radio. I focus on getting marginalized people involved with big names, because it’s great to say, we support you and then it’s another thing to actually do it. I focus on doing it.

Charlie:

I’m Charlie, my pronouns are they/them. I’m a record producer/writer and engineer as well, like Max. Within The TCC I’ve been involved in organising things generally – I collaborate with everyone and oversee what’s happening to make sure our ideas get launched.

Jules: 

Can you tell us a bit about the collective, what does TCC stand for?

All:

Trans* Creative Collective!

Charlie: 

Last year during trans visibility, Max said “Charlie, it’s Trans Day Of Visibility. We should do something”. I was like, “Why don’t we do a documentary with Abbey road?” and then we did and it was amazing! We brought in a production crew, including Nelly and Jesley, and we filmed a documentary about trans visibility. From doing this, it sparked this whole other idea, and we suddenly realized there was a massive community that we didn’t know was there, so we decided to do something about it. We spent about eight months developing the concept behind The TCC. A lot of really long zoom meetings! We ended up managing to launch this year.

What The TCC is to me, is a community of creative people who are often marginalised from certain groups and events – the goal is to create a totally accessible and welcoming space for our community. The collective is also very action based rather than just an online community, which is amazing. 

Nelly: 

All the conversations we were having when making the documentary played a major part in me coming out. From the moment I met you all I felt like I had a voice, I have a platform that you’ve brought me onto, which is now The TCC. And it’s been a year since then! I feel like so much personal growth has happened.

Max:

As a trans guy who is trans masculine presenting, I went to a lot of events where I felt there wasn’t enough trans representation. I remember saying to Charlie, “It would be really cool to see someone like us on panels” and then Charlie was like, “Max, I think it’s gonna have to be you!”. The TCC is a space in which I feel I can be myself, and now I feel I can also inspire others, giving back to a place I’ve taken so much from.

Jules:

That’s so great. Do you feel like things are moving forward in terms of trans* inclusivity in the creative industry or do you feel it’s still an ongoing challenge? 

Nelly:

I can only talk from a video perspective, but it’s a challenge. The company I work for is the biggest of its kind in Europe, and the LGBTQ+ people I come across, they all either work in makeup or talent – the more glam roles. When it comes to the production team, I am sometimes the only black person there, let alone the only non-binary person – hello, unicorn! I had this joke about it with the head of my company, where I said, “I’m a unicorn in this environment. I’m a black, asian, non binary child of a first generation immigrant”. But it feels very lonely in those spaces. 

Max: 

Having a network of trans* identifying people creates a safe space where you don’t have to deal with issues of being misgendered – which is what happens a lot. Having this sort of community is also a really good way of getting people from the outside to understand, and for normalizing gendering people correctly, because it should be normal.

Jules: 

Can you talk about your upcoming events and what you hope will lead the change that needs to happen? 

Charlie: 

Women’s events tagging non-binary onto the end of the description is not enough. It’s too much to assume that an all female led event will know enough about the requirements of the trans* community. So our events will exist as a celebration of the previous events that have come before us, such as 2% Rising and Redbull and NormalNotNovelty, but we’re creating a version that people in our community can come to in a space where they feel completely understood. With The TCC community you’re not being misgendered or being grouped in as ‘ladies’. We want to educate people in the community too. If you want to run events that are trans* and non-binary inclusive, then here is a really good example of how to do it well, and we want to help.

Max:

It feels so vital that events for the LGBTQ+ community are hosted by people who have shared experience. The limitations sometimes encountered as a trans* identifying person are very specific. For example, there’s been parts of my career that I’ve had to tweak because of surgeries. How do you navigate those things? It’s just little conversations about things like this that will bring the community closer together. Since we launched The TCC, we’ve had many people reach out wanting to talk about their experiences, so by hosting events, this means that people have a place to talk openly about more sensitive topics in a safe space, as well as sharing in our creativity. 

Jules: 

What has the initial response been like? And what are you hoping to see happen in the future?

Charlie: 

The way we pitched it was that The TCC is a safe space for trans* creators and allies, and after we launched it was clear there was a demand for it. We now have a collection of other people that are keen to do anything they can to help The TCC grow. It’s overwhelming because we’ve all experienced lots of discrimination, all in different capacities. I remember we were talking about this – it was scary – the thought of doing the first launch and thinking, “are we going to get any backlash?” We didn’t know if we were just suddenly gonna get an influx and all of our social accounts doxed – and that was just a risk that we agreed to take. 

Since then, we have only had positive responses, you know, tens of thousands of views on our first few posts! The only negative response was on TikTok – someone reported our video and our account got shadow banned – I got it appealed – but we’ve seen our views massively capped since then. 

Nelly: 

I have already been doxed for being black – being black and trans, I’m worried that could happen again, but I know that I have a good community behind me now. I’ve had to learn how to deal with discrimination myself, so I want people to have access to legal information to know what their rights are. There are trans* and trans* ally lawyers out there that want to support us.

Charlie: 

One of the core reasons why we launched The TCC is the directory. It’ll include producers, artists, solicitors, managers, A&R’S, and so on. It already exists, but it would be amazing to improve and expand it further, and basically create a green list for the music industry. People can go on this list, find trans* and trans* ally creators, who are skilled and understand what’s going on creatively right now.

We are so excited here at Ten87 to be partnered with The TCC, and can’t wait for what the future holds. Thank you so much to Max, Nelly and Charlie for chatting with us about the project.

The Trans* Creative Collective’s first showcase event is happening here at Ten87 on the 5th February, the event is free and tickets are available here. Until then go and check out their Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook.

At Ten87 Studios we offer long term studio hire and day hire music studios. Each recording studio is acoustically treated and sound proofed to optimise any type of audio recording and music production. We are home to a large community of musicians, producers, engineers and audio professionals working in the music industry. Our main day hire studio is a world class tracking facility equipped with the best in recording studio gear, instruments, outboard and backline. We’re based in Seven Sisters, Tottenham with easy transport links to the city centre – ideal for anyone looking for a London recording studio.

Yorkshire born singer songwriter and Ten87 resident Billie Marten has been busy in the studio working away on an exciting new album. With her career starting at just 12 years old, signed at 15 and nominated for the sound of 2016 award, the indie folk singer-songwriter’s delicate acoustic sound continues to inspire audiences worldwide. 

On a cold and gloomy January afternoon she was kind enough to invite us into her world to talk about her musical process, her sources of inspiration and new endeavours in self-production on her latest project.

What are the key aspects of your process, and tools you need for writing music? 

The most important thing for me is an actual physical urge to write, I can’t sit there every day and wait for something to happen, it has to be more of an instant feeling, knowing that I have something to say. Noodling around is also helpful however, and any ideas I get I’ll note down for later use, but mostly it’s spontaneous. Sometimes you have to creep up on it too, pretend you’re not even trying to write. I need a good pen, my moleskine (classically), my ’58 Gibson, and the inspiration of course.

Where is your favourite place to write music? And where do you seek inspiration when uninspired?

If I’m feeling uninspired, I keep quiet and go into my introspective self, ingesting lots of other peoples’ work as reference, in search of that common creative thread. If music dies down I’ll get really into reading and listening, and then the circle comes back around again.

At home our table sits in front of big windows, and the window is quite hidden from the world, so it’s a great place to observe and write. I love to walk around London’s busyness and green spaces, with my headphones in but not listening to anything, so I’m removed from society in a way and people don’t notice me listening and taking in their character or their words. It’s a great hack for new lines.

What’s the music that kept you going through 2021?

Lots of music has been heard, that’s for sure. My favourite thing in the world is being a music fan, more than making it myself. Diane Cluck’s album Oh Vanille / Oh Va Nil has been a real saviour, in terms of what one can make with so little. Gerry Rafferty’s Right Down The Line has been on constant repeat, the band Coco who seem to have just arrived from nowhere are brilliant, El Michels Affair, DANGERDOOM, Sam Evian’s new album, a lot of Labi Siffre and The Beatles back catalogue of course, and recently this girl PACKS from Canada who I think is real cool.

What are you working on? 

I’m beginning to feel out the next album, slowly digging my way into the production world, and just seeing how far I can get without asking for help in the usual places. It’s a real experiment, and I lose faith sometimes and make daily mistakes, but it’s getting there. I’m finding a lot of joy in simplicity and sparsity at the moment, amidst all the constant noise, so it’s more about capturing the perfect recordings and what fits perfectly with the ears, tonally speaking.

How has your experience been being a part of the Ten87 community?

This is not a forced response I promise – it has been a real blessing finding Ten87. I felt immediately welcomed into the community and there are wondrous people hiding in the studio cubes, people with completely opposing tastes and musical backgrounds but somehow it really works. If you need to borrow a really specific piece of gear someone next door is bound to have it, and everyone is always on hand to help. There’s no element of competition and you can be as close or as far removed as you like.

I put forward my song Liquid Love recently for the beat club, and it was incredible to hear so many peoples’ interpretations of it. Little creative projects like that keep you going, and it’s a real treat to be here. My work ethic has gone right up also!

Thanks again to Billie for giving us an insight into her musical world. We’re really excited about the new paths she is taking with her upcoming project, and can’t wait to hear it. If you are not familiar with Billie Marten’s music already, go and stream her latest EP here, And check out her website, and socials on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

At Ten87 Studios we offer long term studio hire and day hire music studios. Each recording studio is acoustically treated and sound proofed to optimise any type of audio recording and music production. We are home to a large community of musicians, producers, engineers and audio professionals working in the music industry. Our main day hire studio is a world class tracking facility equipped with the best in recording studio gear, instruments, outboard and backline. We’re based in Seven Sisters, Tottenham with easy transport links to the city centre – ideal for anyone looking for a London recording studio.

Introducing Adam Miller, over a decade spent in-house at AIR studios, Adam has perfected his craft on feature films and classical records, games, and major stadium shows, working with the best and most innovative in the industry.

Adam co-engineered the soundtrack for Hans Zimmer and Jacob Shea’s BBC Planet Earth: A Celebration, recorded Bobby Krlic’s transfixing score for Midsommar, mixed music for large arena shows and has been involved in countless other exciting projects.

What initially drew you to work on music for film?

Originally – like a lot of people – I wanted to work with cool bands and artists, and I really only had vague notions of how film music worked. But I somehow managed to land a job at AIR Studios where film and tv work with orchestras is the bread and butter, and the first time I heard an orchestra of top players run down the first take of the first cue of the day was something special. From that moment I started to think that perhaps working in this field might be for me. It’s something about the energy of teams of hugely talented people all working together to produce something extraordinary in the service of an artistic vision. 

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve been remixing the George Michael album Patience into Dolby Atmos. It’s certainly been an interesting challenge – there’s the newness of working in spatial audio, combined with the intricacies of respecting an artist’s original vision, making the most of the environment whilst retaining the punch and immediacy of a pop record. George was all over every aspect of the record-making process, and everything he did was deliberate and considered – so it’s got to be true to the original, whilst showing off the capabilities of the format.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?

Probably time. There’s rarely enough of it because music is normally one of the last things to be completed in the production process. It forces you to work efficiently and make decisions quickly though – that’s tough when you’re starting out, but hugely powerful once you’re used to it. 

What bit of studio kit can you not live without?

Protools. It’s not a very exciting answer, but it’s truly the only essential item. If AVID ever goes under I’ll have to retrain as a shepherd or a sommelier or something. 

In terms of recording and production, what’s the album you turn to as your as a rock solid reference?

It’s perhaps only obliquely relevant to the kind of stuff I’m normally working on, but Mezzanine by Massive Attack is the pinnacle of human sonic achievement. There’s no hope I’ll ever be able to make something sound as good, but I’ll keep trying. 

Can you highlight a few projects that have been your favourite to work on?

I recorded and co-produced an album for Peter Gregson called Patina (we mixed it @Ten87) that was a pretty special experience. We started it off in lockdown part 1, so for once there was the luxury of time – actually being able to try things, digest, revise and perfect them was refreshing. 

I mixed a short called Stuffed a couple of years ago, with music by a fantastic composer called Joss Holden-Rea. It was one of those unusual enquiries that lands in the inbox – a musical about human taxidermy? Turns out it’s absurd genius, a real labour of love, and a privilege to be involved with. It was nominated for a BAFTA this year, you can and should find it on VIMEO. 

Many years ago I was fortunate enough to spend 3 days in the studio with Stevie Wonder, assisting the late great Steve Price on the faders. It was pretty much everything you’d hope for. That was almost a decade ago and the project still hasn’t come out, so I’m not holding out much hope… You’ll just have to take my word for it that it happened, and it was cool.

What’s been the most challenging project you’ve worked on to date?

Good question… I guess things are challenging for different reasons, but one that sticks out is recording and mixing the music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2017 Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games (it’s an Olympic event apparently). It was taking place in Turkmenistan, which is a bit like North Korea but with more shiny buildings. We were recording with local musicians, and had to ship absolutely everything we might need in from London. We’d record in the day and then mix in the evening on headphones backstage under the stadium… I think we recorded and mixed about 4 hours of finished material in the end.

On day 1 of our tightly scheduled recording plan we discovered that it was ‘Melon Day’, which was of course a national holiday and therefore no-one was allowed to record a single note. On day 2 I discovered that any software that relied on cloud authorisation wouldn’t work because of the countrywide firewall implemented to block dissident Adobe Photoshop subscriptions. To compound our problems, on day 3 of our stay the President enacted a nationwide alcohol ban for the entire period of the Games.

How have you found being a part of the Ten87 Community?

It’s such a great place to be – just the rooms and the vibe of the place is spot on, and it’s run by some of the nicest people around!

We feel very lucky to have Adam in our musical community. It was a real pleasure learning more about his process and his fascinating career journey, and we really look forward to catching him around the studios. To find out more about Adam Miller’s work you can delve deeper through visiting his Website.

At Ten87 Studios we offer long term studio hire and day hire music studios. Each recording studio is acoustically treated and sound proofed to optimise any type of audio recording and music production. We are home to a large community of musicians, producers, engineers and audio professionals working in the music industry. Our main day hire studio is a world class tracking facility equipped with the best in recording studio gear, instruments, outboard and backline. We’re based in Seven Sisters, Tottenham with easy transport links to the city centre – ideal for anyone looking for a London recording studio.