Towards the end of 2019, Metropolis and Record Store Day joined forces to work on the RSD 2020 launch party which took place last March. Off the back of our live to vinyl series with Mastercard Priceless Cities, the collaboration felt like a no-brainer so went about devising a plan which ended up being a big media launch event at the studio, featuring a very unique live to vinyl experience with The Big Moon and a 60 guest strong silent disco. Little did we know then that that would be pretty much our last event at the studio before the first lockdown.
Fast forwards twelve months across a horrendous pandemic and an unrecognisable live landscape from which we are all slowly emerging. Metropolis has been very lucky to have been able to continue operating over the last 12 months but we have had to make some serious changes to the way we do business. It has not been easy but we have worked hard to support our clients and staff safely and in turn, the clients and brands that we work with regularly have trusted us to find alternative ways and means to forge onwards.
One of those partnerships which we are supremely proud to nurture is with the wonderful Record Store Day. Our friends Megan Page, Phoebe Scott and the rest of the ERA team worked tirelessly last year in the most challenging of circumstances to support independent vinyl retailers up and down the country, something that Metropolis finds both inspiring and aspirational.
The ambition has certainly not diminished this year. We are attempting to pull off an eleven-person live to vinyl experience with the awesome band Squid on Warp Records, featuring strings and horns and other delectable delights. We will cut two tracks live to vinyl, fully analogue, taking a feed direct from the Live Room in Studio A up two floors to Stuart Hawkes in Mastering where he will cut both racks in real-time on to lacquers which will in turn, be an official RSD 2021 release. Just to make things super complicated, we are going to broadcast one of those tracks live to Steve Lamacq’s show on 6 Music. So if you want to experience the tension yourself, tune in to his BBC 6 Music show on Wednesday 7th April from 5-6pm.
Arthur from Squid, said ahead of the recordings:
“We’ve been busying ourselves away on some scores, arranging orchestral versions of two of our favourite tracks from Bright Green Field. The process is the same as ever, starting off with no clue of what we’re doing, stumbling along together, each inputting our ideas into the music until it starts to take shape. We’re so excited and also quite terrified to release this little gem for Record Store Day 2021.”
Gavin Newman from Metropolis Studios said:
“as you would expect, Metropolis has had to go above and beyond Covid protocols over the last 12 months in order to operate effectively and support our incredible roster of clients. Being able to provide that safe platform from which artists can create, perform and broadcast has been overwhelming. We sincerely hope that this live to vinyl experience with our friends at RSD, Warp Records, Sound Performance and BBC 6 Music will help kickstart the wider live community with a newfound confidence for the year ahead.”
Remember, tune in to BBC 6 Music on Wednesday 7th April from 5pm to watch Squid’s live to vinyl session!
