In 1975 Pink Floyd bought a three-storey block of church halls at 35 Britannia Row in Islington and recorded the Animals album.
Their deal with record company EMI, for unlimited studio time in return for a reduced percentage of sales, had expired, and they converted the building into a recording studio and storage facility.
Its construction took up most of 1975, and in April 1976 the band started work on their tenth studio album, Animals. Parts of The Wall, including the famous school chorus on “Another Brick in the Wall”, were also recorded here.
Sound engineer Nick Griffiths recruited the kids – an entire music class (and its teacher) – from the Islington Green School, located around the corner from Britannia Row facilities.
In the 90s the studio moved to a new location in SW6 and since then it’s recorded a string of leading artists and albums – Soul to Soul’s “Club Classics Vol.1″, Pulp’s “His ‘n’ Hers”, Snow Patrol’s “The Final Straw”, Embrace’s “This New Day”, The Verve’s “Forth” and Wolfman with Pete Doherty’s “This is for Lovers”.
The old Britannia Row space in N1 is currently used as a training facility for the London School of Sound.
Britannia Row
Pink Floyd – Animals Vinyl
Roger Waters at Britannia Row Studios on the 70s
Britannia Row interior
Britannia Row interior
