Bally Rehearsal Studios.
Tottenham Hale, N17. London. 

January 2005: - Jimmy applies to the Princes trust for funding to start a recording studio

 

March 2005: - Application and business plan all completed and submitted to the Princes trust

 

June 2005: - Funding finally approved start Bally Rehearsal Studios in London, with The Princes Trust and Barclays putting up 50% of the money each.
- Location found in Bermondsey for soundproofed units

 

July 2005: - On first day of the recording studio being opened, within the first two hours, we suddenly realise that the units are not soundproofed enough for recording live bands with the drum kit, so studio is put on hold until we can find a more suitable location.

 

September 2005: - while guitar shopping in Palmers Green, Jimmy spots an advert for Sync City, a 2 room rehearsal studio complex in Tottenham Hale. Jimmy and Francesca go to view the studios with a view of renting one of the rooms in downtime, but currents owners announced they are looking to sell the business.

 

October 2005: - at the eight (8th!!!) attempt, Jimmy and Francesca finally gets 50% of the money needed to take over the business. 25% of the money needed is raised through credit cards and 25% is deferred so that we get six months to pay off the remaining quarter owed. Jimmy and Francesca takeover Sync City and rename it Bally Studios. On the first day, all extra hire fees for equipment are abolished and the kettle is bought for free teas and coffees. Jimmy also adds his personal guitar amps to the studios available stock, a Fender Princeton chorus guitar amp and a WEM dominator MKII

 

November 2005: - Main office is split into 2 and one half is let out to a courier service company. 
- Start to offer incense to all of the bands that want it in the rooms for free
- Extra soundproofing work is done on what is to become studio 3 to convert it into another rehearsal room in London. This is rented out on a permanent basis to band The Super Nashwan Kids, who are signed to Blue Mountain Music. This money goes immediately to the former owners to help pay off the remaining balance. 
- Tape recording facilities added to the room for bands to record their rehearsal session

 

December 2005: - Jimmy and Francesca sell three guitars they own to cover the rent through the quieter Christmas period.
- Extra soundproofing takes place on studio 2
- introduce the free herbal teas at the studio. Eight different varieties.

 

January 2006: - due to requests from bands to set up a small shop in the office, owing to the 20-25 mins it was taking for the bands to walk the petrol station and back, we set up the Bally tuck shop. Only selling Coke and Diet Coke, and 4 different chocolate bars. 
- A business on the industrial estate decides to throw away a shipment of rugs. Bally Rehearsal Studios in London suddenly has rugs and all their rooms!!

 

February 2006: - The Super Nashwan Kids move out of rehearsal studio three and it becomes the 3rd permanent rehearsal studio. Brand-new PA system, Laney RB4 bass amp and Mapex M Series drum kits bought for new rehearsal room. 
- Repaint all of the rehearsal rooms
- extra soundproofing takes place on all doors, outside Studios 1, 2 and 3.

 

March 2006: - Work starts to split the current office into a much smaller office and a new Studio 4. 
- Whilst on a walk home one day from wood green, Jimmy and Francesca see 2 Brown leather armchairs been thrown into a skip by a house clearing firm. Jimmy carries them 1.8 miles to the rehearsal studios in London, and two of the studios inherit an armchair

 

April 2006: - Ownership of the studios finally transferred to Jimmy and Francesca after the remaining money owed is paid off . Jimmy and Francesca move home to live at the bottom of the Mill Mead Road due to working so much at the studio.

 

May 2006: - Studio 4 is completed. Brand-new PA, drum kit, Peavey bass amp and Fender front man guitar amp purchased

 

June 2006: - Old Diamond drum kit is upgraded with new Premier Cabria drum kit

 

July 2006: - PA system in studio 2 is upgraded from 800 Watts to 2,400 Watts 
- TV finally bought for the office. World Cup final penalty shootout is watched by 34 band members in the office. 
- 1911 Pianette bought to the studios and put in studio 4.

 

August 2006: - Air conditioning installed into rehearsal studio 4

 

September 2006: - Guitar supplies shop is finally set up at Bally rehearsal Studios in London, stock being provided by Holiday Music in Leytonstone

 

October 2006: - Air conditioning installed into studio 2

 

November 2006: - 1970's GEM organ bought and put in studio 4

 

December 2006: - Air conditioning installed into studio 1

 

January 2007: - new armchair is bought for the office for bands and staff to sit down on.

 

February 2007: - Air conditioning installed into studio 3

 

March 2007: - expand the range of herbal teas that we offer at the studio to 20

 

May 2007: - Epiphone triggerman combo and epiphone triggerman head and 4 x 12 Cabinet added to studio stock.

 

July 2007: - Different lighting scheme is installed in each of the studios, with different colours for each one.

 

September 2007: - Industrial fan installed in studio 1 to cool the room along with the air-conditioner.

 

October 2007: - Industrial fan installed in studio 3 to cool the room along with the air-conditioner.

 

November 2007: - Vox AD50ST added to studio stock.

 

December 2007: - Marshall MG100 DFX added to studio stock.

 

January 2008: - Crate 120 Watts guitar amp added to studio stock.

 

February 2008: - Industrial fan installed in studio 4 to cool the room along with the air-conditioner.

 

March 2008: - Hayden 4 x 12 guitar Cabinet added to studio stock.

 

May 2008: - The Fractured City Collective is formed, a group of six bands that rehearse at the studios that decide to combine resources,

such as a van, PA system, bass amp, etc and start putting on their own gigs.

 

July 2008: - Hughes and Kettner guitar amp added to studio stock.

 

October 2008: - Fender Performer 1000 added to studio stock

 

November 2008: - Purple Pearl Export drum kit added to studio stock.

 

December 2008: - Fender Frontman 212R added to studio stock.

 

January 2009: - Hartke 2 x 10 bass cabinet added to studio stock.

 

February 2009: - Marshall MGX 100 guitar head and 4 x 12 Cabinet added to studio stock.

 

March 2009: - Peavey TKO keyboard/ bass combo added to studio stock.

 

April 2009: - As we are now having long periods in advance with all the studios are booked up, we decided to split studio 1 into a new smaller studio 1 and a brand-new studio 5. Work starts on spits in the room

 

May 2009: - The smaller studio 1 is now opened, with bands having to walk through the work in progress studio 5.

 

June 2009: - three months after putting in a request to have manhole in studio one looked after noticing damage on it, manhole gives way during torrential rain in and studio 1, 3 and 5 are flooded. These studios are closed for five weeks, as the initial work done on manhole proves to be inadequate and the studios are flooded again 15 days after initial flooding. Landlord finally completes the work, and after 11 days of drying the rooms out with industrial dehumidifiers, and have in the rooms treated for damp, studios 1 and 3 are opened

again. 2 power amplifiers and three amplifiers are lost in the flooding, but new manhole cover means we never have to worry about it happening again.

 

July 2009: - Studio 5 is finally opened. Brand-new red Pearl drum kits is bought, as well as Peavey Transtube guitar amp, and Laney linebacker bass amp.
- Old Trace Elliot 8 x 10 bass cabinet which was being stored in studio one and had not worked years is finally revived, and new Gallien Krueger bass head is purchased for it.

 

August 2009: - first member of staff, Simon King, starts working at Bally Studios, having previously rehearsed at the studios with his band. 
- Industrial fan installed in studio 5 to cool the room until the air-conditioner is installed.

 

September 2009: - One message board is opens outside studio 5. It is soon followed by a second, third and fourth one within two weeks as so many bands are putting up adverts for gigs.

 

October 2009: - acoustic treatment is applied to all five studios, in some rooms to bring out the natural acoustics and in others to dampen down errant frequencies. Takes one week to do and is unanimously met with approval from the bands.

 

November 2009: - CCTV installed in the studio complex. Before this, just the corridors were covered by CCTV

 

December 2009: - extra TV is added to the new internal corridor outside studio five so that bands do not have to keep running around the office to check the scores of football games.

 

January 2010: - Laney world series 100SC guitar amp added to studio stock. Bought from rehearsal studio 7k in Seven Kings.

 

February 2010: - Extra rewiring at the studio takes place so that each room has two different power supplies to spread the load evenly in all of the rooms.

 

March 2010: - introduce a new digital recorder so that bands can record their sessions, for only £3 a session, including the CD being burnt.

 

April 2010: - Mark Edwards starts working at Bally rehearsal Studios in London, having previously rehearsed at the studio doing solo drum sessions

 

May 2010: - Brand-new sofas brought for studio 2

 

June 2010: - Peavey Express 112 guitar amp added to studio stock.

 

August 2010: - Industrial fan installed in studio 2 to cool the room along with the air-conditioner.

 

September 2010: - Vox ADVT 120 Watt guitar head added to studio stock.

 

October 2010: - Small chill out zone is created outside studio 3 so that bands have somewhere to sit down and relax.

 

November 2010: - Industrial fan installed in studio to cool the room along with the air-conditioner. 

- Laney TF200 guitar amp added to studio stock.

 

December 2010: - Air conditioning installed into studio 5

 

January 2011: - Bally studios starts to make a minimum of 25p donation for each session that we have at the studio to charity, raising

up to £600 a year for worthy causes

 

February 2011: - We start giving away free Bally Studios badge and Bottle openers

 

March 2011: - buy brand-new sofa for studio 2.

 

April 2011: - introduce a 2nd new digital recorder so that bands can record their sessions, for only £3 a session, including the CD being burnt.

 

May 2011: - after spotting a small hairline crack in the ceiling in studio 2, we decided to replace it with a much sturdier soundproofed ceiling. Two hours into the job we suddenly realise that extensive work is needed on the ceiling, and studio two is closed for seven weeks while a brand-new soundproofed ceiling is installed

 

June 2011: - Tom Oakes starts fixing Bally Studios guitar amps.

 

July 2011: - We finally stop using MySpace despite having 130,000 friends as by now we are getting about 100 messages a day that are

all spam. Switchover to Facebook instead

 

August 2011: - London riots caused by a police shooting nearby in Tottenham means that Mill Mead Road has to shut for four days. First time since opening six years ago that sessions are unavailable at the studio.

 

September 2011: - Vox Escort 50 watt guitar amp added to studio stock.

 

October 2011: - Bally Day Hire Recording Studio is opened, meaning that bands and sound engineers/producers can hire a room at Bally and all of the equipment and record their own sessions

 

November 2011: - Christopher Pinkston starts working at Bally studios, having recently moved into the same apartment block that Jimmy and Francesca used to live in, at the end of Mill Mead road. 

- Simon King stops working at the studio having moved to the other side of Essex. 

- Bally makeover is completed with different themed portraits and professional photos in each studio.

 

December 2011: - spend £600 replacing small things such as XLR cables, microphone stands, microphone clips, etc, to make sure that

everything is in top notch condition.

 

January 2012: - Tesco just down the road from us opens, meaning a new cashpoint for the bands.

 

February 2012: - Bally studios starts the hunt for a new location to open another branch of Bally studios. 

- Expand the range of herbal teas that we offer the studio to over 60, with them still being free of charge

 

April 2012 - Buy a CD burner so that bands can take away a rough mix  of their recordings at the end of recording sessions

 

May 2012 - Brand New PV 215 Speakers installed into Studio 1, which are double the size, both in volume and size of the last ones.  

 

June 2012 - After committing to the project for over 4 months, HSBC pull out of funding the new studio 4 days before building work is due to start.  In 23 days, we manage to switch our objectives, and by the end of the month, we now have a new mixing studio all set up in Muswell Hill, which means we can take on extra work which will hopeful give us the opportunity to self fund the new rehearsal studios.  The timescale is unclear as to how long it will be before the new rehearsal studios are set up, but the studio is still moving forward with new mixing facility, which incorporates full analogue and digital interfaces, with full outboard.

 

July 2012 - Start selling Moen Guitar peals at the studios, all of which are brand new, and will a 12 month guarantee.

-  Loads more photos of the studios and Tottenham Hale in general are uploaded to the wesbite. 

 

August 2012 - Upgrade the recording mixing desk from the Allen Heath GL2200 to the GL2400, which is very much like the old one, but just better!!

 

September 2012 - Horror Film "The Voice" is filmed at the Studios, staring our very own Francesca De Luca.

- Studios WIFI, which is still free of charge, is doubled in speed.  

 

October 2012 - Installed brand new tweeter arrays in Studio 2 to make sure that the high frequencies are as crisp as possible.  We now have 8 tweeters taking on the high frequencies, as oppose to the 2 we had before.  

- Brand new website, the one you are looking at now, uploaded, with extra sections, etc.  Extra features include our new blog section,

lots of examples of stuff that has been filmed and recorded at the rehearsal rooms in London, as well as over 35,000 words of recording advice. 

 

November 2012 – Carpet washer is purchased, meaning that every two weeks, the studios can now have their carpets properly washed.

 

January 2013 – New stage lights are installed into studio 3 and 5, so that bands can rehearse under gig conditions.

 

February 2013 - Jimmy moves away from the UK, and so stops working at the studios, with Thomas Oakes replacing him.

 

March 2013 – New 4 x 10 bass cabinet is purchased.

 

April 2013 - New Hiwatt Bass cabinet, with 1 x 15inch speaker, is purchased for the studios.

 

May 2013 – Thomas Oakes stops working at the studios.

 

June 2013 - Major spruce up of the old amplifiers that were broken, fixing 6 of them, and servicing many more of them, meaning that we now have 4 guitar amps and 2 bass amps for each room, as well as at least 1 guitar/bass cabinet for each room.

 

July 2013 - Jimmy comes back to the UK, and starts working at the studios again, as Francesca heads out of the UK, to go to New York.

- New Stage lights are installed into studio 4.

 

August 2013 – Studio 4 gets a renovated, with new rugs, and new stage lights installed into the studios.

 

September 2013 – New Stage lights installed into studio 1 and 2, meaning that now all of the studios have stage lights installed in them.

 

October 2013 – New Staff member Massimo Zeppetelli starts to work at the studios, as Jimmy moves away from the UK again.

– New Automated system that allows bands to check availability of sessions is launched, making it easier for them to plan their rehearsals.

- New internet modem installed outside of studio 1, 3 and 5 so that the bands that are using these studios can get much better wifi when they are in these studios.

 

November 2013 - Brand new Bally Studios website launched.

 

January 2015 - New Mackie speakers and new Maple drumkit put into Studio5.

 

May 2015 - Studio 2, our largest studio, starts taking day bookings for the first time in 2 years after long term booking leaves.