Blog

Estudio Bola – A Legendary Recording Studio

Posted on: 15 October 2005

I am writing this blog retrospectively…

I think it was October 2005 (!) when I first set foot in the legendary flamenco recording studio Estudio Bola. And here I am with Jesús Bola himself and Pepe ‘El Marismeno’:

I was already very familiar with the recording studio because many great flamenco artists had recorded there and many wonderful albums were created there. Artists who frequented the studio whom I admired were: Paco de Lucía, Rocío Jurado, Raimundo Amador, Pepe de Lucía, Matt Bianco, Falete, Joaquín Cortés, El Lebrijano, Chiquetete… (just to name a few)

When I was studying flamenco in Seville, I was very good friends with Fran Cortés, the son of Chiquete, a famous singer. He recorded his album ‘Como La Marea ‘, and I went along a few times with Fran to see the recording process. I was blown away by the rich guitar sound and really punchy and full-bodied percussion sounds… in fact, everything sounded great!

When it came to recording my first album, ‘The View‘, my studio of choice was Estudio Bola. I recorded some tracks there, but not all of them (I later recorded the whole album ‘Your Song‘ there five years later.

I was young and found the studio scene very exciting. I would try and call into the studio as much as possible, just to watch other artists record, or just to get a glimpse of or to meet, amazing musicians. I remember on several occasions Jesús would offer to bring a mix (on CD in those days) into the centre to give to me, but I would say something like, “No, it’s ok, I have to pass by near the studio tomorrow, so I can call in and collect it”. I would then make a special trip to the studio and stay a bit and hang out, soaking up the creative vibe of talented artists and watching the recording process. I’m not sure quite what the artists made of the English kid hanging around with nothig to do!