Real World Studios | Legendary | Peter Gabriel
I’ve been a fan of Peter Gabriel’s music since a friend shared his song I Don’t Remember from his Melt album. Delving into all things Peter Gabriel lead me to discover that he co-designed and built a recording studio in the town of Box, England about half-way between London and Bristol and within 15 minutes of the ancient Roman city of Bath.
What was once a small industrial area was gradually returned to nature by the removal of a lot of steel and concrete and the planting of trees and grass. His “Secret Garden,” so frequently referred to in his music, was in part planted by his team of horticulturists so that his children had a place to play while he recorded in his studio.
Box started as an old mill-town and was later transformed into a light industrial area. Gabriel kept the stream that powered the old mill and an offshoot of it feeds the pond in front of the studio and runs underneath the transparent floor of one of the office buildings on the campus of Real World.
A few years ago (2014) our Null Paradox project had the opportunity to record our album Gertrude & Grace in the Big Room at his studio. Here’s a documentary of what we saw, set to the music of what we recorded when we were there.